He’s right. “I know I fucked up. I accept that. By the same token Vincent, a man like Peter is hard to come by. You don’t fill those shoes overnight. The first person I thought of taking care of business while I looked for a replacement was Jonny. He proved time and time again that he could be trusted. There’s no way I thought he would do this.” That’s actually true. Vincent knows it too and that’s why his face softens.
“Okay… we need to just figure out what we’re gonna do,” Vincent states. “The last thing I want is for long standing clients like Angelo, to pull out because things have changed in our hierarchy. When shit like this happens, people are quick to blame those in charge. I don’t want that happening here. That’s my head, no matter who the lose link is. It’s on me.”
“I’ll sort the shit out. Leave me to it,” I say.
“I’ll help,” Georgiou says, and I snap my gaze to him. Vincent does too.
“Thanks, but I can figure out this myself,” I tell him
“No, I think this calls for help from someone like me,” Georgiou says with insistence. His tone suggesting that’s an order from our father.
Fucker. He never passes up a chance to make me feel like shit.
I don’t like arguing with him in front of Vincent, so I hold my tongue.
Georgiou and I are as close as brothers can be, but we don’t have that bond Vincent shares with his brothers. We have enough trust to go into business together on ventures like the club and the properties we bought together a few years back. That’s it though. He’s too far up Pa’s ass to come down to my level of thinking.
Georgiou is the way he is because if shit happens and Vincent and his brothers get wiped out, business in every aspect comes to us. Georgiou will be boss of the family. It wouldn’t be me.
I hate thinking of death, but I have to face facts. Trouble has come in the past where disaster could have happened. We all got a wakeup call when Frankie, Vincent’s older brother was killed. It showed us we weren’t above death, as bad ass as we’d like to think we are. The next call came when Sorcha, Vincent’s first wife was killed, and his baby was nearly killed too.
“I don’t care who helps who, sort it out,” Vincent says. “If feds ever find those weapons and our names get dragged in, we’re all screwed. We don’t want those kinds of problems. We’ve had enough shit with feds over the years. But this would be bad. I agree that Falcone wouldn’t have just sold the weapons on the street. We just need to know where the fuck he took them. By the same token I want to know if he’s gotten to any of our people in Europe.”
Falcone is a sneaky bastard. Getting to him is going to require using more than my fists.
“Okay, you have my word, I’ll figure this out. The shipment on the rest of the guns will go out as normal, and I’ll replace the workers by tomorrow,” I promise.
“Alright, I’ll leave it with you. I want a report every evening on what’s happening. Call me at the first sign of trouble.”
“You got it,” I reply.
Georgiou stands and so do I. it ends the meeting and signals he wants to talk to me in private. I give Vincent a nod before we leave.
As soon as we get to the foyer, Georgiou stops in his tracks and I follow suit, gearing myself up to hear whatever my overbearing brother has to say.
“Christian, I’m helping at Pa’s request. Before you breathe fire on my ass, that’s why I’m helping,” Georgiou explains.
I want to tell him he and Pa can go fuck themselves, but again I hold off.
“And why has he requested this?” I demand.
“Because the shit is worse than Vincent’s allowing you to know. Vincent was lenient, but the gravity of the situation is bad. If Angelo goes then he’ll take people with him. He’s not the kind of client to shit on and if this shit doesn’t get resolved that’s nine hundred thousand down the drain for them, and implications nobody wants. Pa’s considering shifting you back to the books, and I mean pushing pencils on the small contracts.”
All I can do is stare at him.
One little mistake and this is what happens. It wasn’t even a mistake. I was just being too careful, and not being careful enough.
Fuck… if my father does that to me, I’m out. What Georgiou is suggesting is shit you do when you just finish college. Bookkeeping and fucking shit like that.
“This is bull shit Georgiou and I’m not going to stand for it,” I argue.
“Well you have to. Pa’s serious, he’ll take it to vote if he has to. He said so. He didn’t think the others would disagree if they were going to lose out on million dollar contracts and put our business at risk.”
Moving to vote hasn’t been done in recent years. not while I worked for the company. Vincent is boss, but my father and my two other uncles will have rights in regard to the running of the business. Vincent has the final word, but his opinion can be swayed. Definitely if I’m made to look like a liability to the company, and the family.
“I see,” I say and seethe. “What about you? You want to see me pushing pencils? Did you offer your help to make sure that happens?”
“Motherfucking bastard, like I would do that to you,” he states enraged.
“Wouldn’t you, Boss,” I answer, and he doesn’t reply. He knows what I mean and I’m almost certain he offered up his help so he could make himself look good.
I cut him a crude stare and walk away, leaving him to stew in the shit of his thoughts. He can do whatever he thinks he’s doing to help and run back to Pa and lick his ass.
I have to figure this shit out myself, or in a way outside the influence of my father and Georgiou.
Instead of heading to my office like I would on the regular, I jump in my car and head to the ice locker the cleanup crew use to store the dead until we give the go ahead to dispose of the bodies.
I’m gonna see what the dead can tell me.
Maybe they can give me a lead. That’s all I need. Something I can work with. Once I get that, I’ll figure this shit out.
Chapter Five
Lilly
“Mama, can we have some more of those rainbow cookies again?” Rosie asks with a little smile.
It’s one of those smiles that make me feel like I have everything I want right in front of me. Unfortunately for me this child could smile at me and make me agree to anything.
“Sweetie, Mama doesn’t want your teeth to fall out,” I say shaking my head.
She pouts and it’s the cutest thing ever. Her little blonde curls bounce and her brown eyes sparkle. Those eyes are the only thing she got from her father and they remind me of a time before he changed into a monster.
They hold the sweetness and the care.
“But Mama, they taste so good.” Rosie holds on to the edge of my top.
“We’ll have more over the weekend, I promise.” I couldn’t give them to her now even if I wanted to.
Jenny, the amazing lady I got to take care of her, is hot on healthy food and its nearly dinner time. I want Rosie to eat dinner and not be too full on sugary things.
It’s time to go to the club again and today is going to be no different to yesterday. Yesterday I worried about the job because I didn’t know what to expect. It’s the same thing today. I don’t know what to expect after I dance.