Caught.
“Where is he?” I ask again.
Her lips twist and she nods toward the back of the club. “In his office. But he’s a little busy right now.”
I back away from the bar, her meaning crystal clear. “Good. That’s exactly how I want him.”
Exposed and vulnerable to attack.
Chapter Twenty-Six
MASSIMO
“I can call him and tell him to meet you out—”
“Don’t bother. I wouldn’t want to take him away from his work.” I swivel around and head toward his office. As I get closer to the door, I hear a lot of grunting and groaning. My stomach roils as I grasp the doorknob, anticipating the worst once I enter his lewd lair.
Not bothering to knock, I twist the knob and push open the door.
My breakfast launches itself into my throat.
I really didn’t need the visual of the naked dancer feasting on Eddie Lugo’s fat ass branded into my memory but fuck.
Now it’s there forever.
I slam the door shut and the girl jumps off the couch, screaming when she twists around and sees me standing in front of her with a gun hanging from my hand.
Lugo flips himself over, tire rolls and all, sprawled spread eagle on the couch. He grins up at me. “Massimo. You’re a little late. I’m surprised.”
“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?”
He struggles to pull himself to a seated position while the dancer quakes in her eight-inch stripper heels, her eyes open wide like a deer in headlights. “Brandi, get out. We have business to discuss.”
She does an about-face and runs out as fast as her legs will allow considering the footwear, closing the door behind her.
Lugo grabs a pack of cigarettes and lights one, taking a long drag. “You come to my place, waving guns around, scaring my girls. That’s not a way to do business, is it?”
“We have no business, Eddie. And we never will.”
“That’s not how I see it. I think I have something you want, something you need, and you’re gonna pay me for it. Or else I might use it against you.”
“Don’t fucking threaten me. Savio made a deal with you. You stay away from Joey Napolitano and his family. That was the deal.”
His thick lips curl into a sinister grin. “Savio DeMarco. That fat fuck. He already jerked me around on this deal. Promised me that if I left your prick friend alone, that he’d get me involved in his pussy pipeline and let me sell his drugs through my club. We were all set up, had buyers ready, and then he pulled out the other night. Told me he couldn’t get me the supply we agreed on. Made me look like an incompetent ass in front of my buyers when I couldn’t deliver. And now I’m out a hundred grand because of it.”
The blood ices in my veins, my insides an arctic mess of ire and fury that long to be unleashed, but my ability to channel them is paralyzed by the harsh reality that I’ve been set up for destruction.
Savio, you motherfucker. You sent me in here to clean up your mess and possibly get my head blown off because Lugo is that vengeful.
Jesus, was this whole thing with Lugo all about Savio pulling a power play on me to prove he’ll never let me win as long as he’s alive? His way of getting the last word after Mom and I deserted him? Did he use the Ivankov girls as an excuse to keep me under his surveillance?
He dicked me around, forcing my back against a wall when I had no choice but to take the help he offered in exchange for the lives of people who care more about me than he ever did.
This is all about fucking ego.
“What do you want from me? Your deal was with Savio.”
“I want my money. And I wanna get into your friend Patty Mulligan’s pipeline.” He grins harder. “I know you guys have your own business running out of his nightclubs. I think we can work together.”
“Fuck you,” I seethe. “That’s not part of the plan. And we’re not taking on any more partners.”
“I figured you’d say that.” He strokes his chin. “I know that Mulligan wouldn’t give a shit if I iced Joey or his family. So you can blame Savio for the change in terms of our deal. Now, it’s way bigger than your little prick friend Joey. I can overlook him fucking my wife if you get me into Mulligan’s clubs. I’ll leave you all alone and we’ll make a shit ton of cash together as partners.”
“I’ll pay you the hundred grand Savio owes you.” My jaw clenches, fingers tight around the gun handle. Fuck, I wanna pull the trigger so badly, but Kristina is too exposed and Lugo has cameras all over the place and guys lurking in corners just waiting to snap limbs of anyone who dares take a shot at their boss.
If I shoot, all hell breaks loose.
If I don’t, all hell still breaks loose, just with less bodies in the aftermath.
Rage bubbles in my chest, rising like hot lava ready to spew and incinerate everything in its path. My fingertips tingle, itching to put a bullet between his eyes.
“I don’t want your money. This ain’t a one and done payment, Massimo. I want more.”
“We’re not taking on new partners.”
“Well, then, you’re gonna have to tell Mulligan that you changed your mind and convince him to take on someone new.” He walks toward me, still naked, always shameless, his crooked, nicotine-stained teeth on full display as his smile stretches wider and wider. “Because if you don’t, I’m going to have to do something to convince him myself. Maybe to your little sports charity program. It would be a real shame if the kids didn’t have a place to go, wouldn’t it? If the place suddenly went up in flames?” He pushes his face into mine. “Would be an even bigger shame if they were in it when it did, yeah?”
“Don’t you fucking threaten me,” I growl, bringing the gun to his temple. “And don’t even think about going near those kids.”
“Who’s gonna stop me?” He lifts an eyebrow. “That’s right. Nobody. You know why? Because I’m smart. I know how to hurt people, how to figure out what matters most to them. And that gives me power!”
My temples throb, pounding with vicious force. We built this program to help kids who were just like me growing up, kids who needed community because of the shit they had to deal with at home. Hearing this bastard threaten what we’ve built and the innocent kids who need it most floods me with rage and my vision goes blood-red as I swing my gun out and crack it against Eddie’s jaw. He drops to his knees with a loud grunt, swiping at the drizzle of blood oozing from the corner of his mouth. “You’re gonna be sorry you did that, Massimo.”
I kneel down in front of him and grab a fistful of his hair. “Don’t you ever threaten me like that again. Savio fucked you over, not me. And if you make a move against Joey and his family, I will come after yours, chain you to a fucking wall, and make you watch me torture and kill every last one of them.”
Lugo lets out a deep, slow chuckle. “My bitch slut wife and ungrateful kids? See, that’s where you’re missing the boat, kid. You’ve gotta go after what I care about! And I know what you care about. The kids and…” He drags himself to his feet and stabs a number on his phone. “Get in here now!”