He’d been right.
When he’d first suggested it after he’d hung up the phone, I’d told him that it was a dumb and dangerous idea. Just like he’d said though, the goons had been so worried about disarming him that they hadn’t even considered that a girl like me could be dangerous too.
Silas winked in my direction and I couldn’t help but grin in return.
As we entered the club together, I quickly noticed that it was mostly empty. Toward the back of the club was a large round table where eight men were gathered. They were all dressed in elegant black suits and each of them had a calculated bored expression painted all over their faces.
“That’s the four kingpins. Starting from the left there’s Leonardo Columbo, Vincent Gambino next to him, then Mike Bonanno, and lastly, Nick Lucchese. They’ve all brought their consiglieres with them, but their names don’t matter. Depending on how the night goes, I may let them all live, but honestly they’d all probably be better dead,” he whispered as we approached the table together.
Damon strode into the room and greeted Silas as if nothing was wrong at all. To Silas’ credit, he gave nothing away and perfectly covered up the fact that he knew that the man had betrayed him weeks ago.
Silas took the guitar case from my fingers and placed it beside the table. With a certain cool, calculated cockiness, he pulled out a chair for me and allowed me to sit before he took the seat next to me. At once, a group of waitresses surrounded us and took our orders. Silas ordered for me and I was too busy watching the men at the table to hear what it was.
Within minutes, everyone at the table had a drink, including me. A glass of champagne had been put down in front of me and I wrapped my fingers around the stem, casually taking a small sip as I peered around the table.
Leonardo Columbo cleared his throat. I gazed back at the older man with interest and pretended to take another mouthful of champagne.
“It’s good to see you, Silas,” he began.
“And you, Leonardo,” Silas answered.
“It’s nice to see Miss Banks tonight as well,” Leonardo added next, staring at me with interest. The way he looked at me left me with no doubt that he knew my real identity. My gaze passed over each kingpin and they all peered back at me with the same expression.
They all knew who I was.
I crossed my legs, sat back in my chair, and smiled.
“I’m happy to be here. It’s a great honor to be asked to perform for you a second time,” I answered. Nick’s eyes dipped to gaze at my breasts and my face heated.
“I thought we might discuss a little business first before we have you sing for us,” Leonardo interrupted.
“What business have we to discuss?” Silas asked nonchalantly.
“Perhaps we should talk about some of my businesses—Sharp Corporations, Platinum LLC, Adams and Sons Co., just to name a few,” Nick blurted out.
Silas had said he was a dick. Now I knew he’d been right about that too.
Silas tightened his lips in annoyance.
Leonardo sputtered something and Nick went quiet.
“I saw an opportunity and I took it, end of story, Nick. I shut them all down and made a lot of money as a result,” Silas finally answered, tapping his fingers slowly on the wooden surface of the table.
“Those were my companies,” Nick spat.
“Those were shams you use to launder your money, Nick. Maybe next time, you’ll hire tech guys that you didn’t find in your local supermarket,” Silas scoffed.
If Nick could have killed him with a single glance, he would have at that moment.
“It’s not just the Luccheses you’ve gone after. It’s me too,” Vincent growled.
“The Bonannos as well,” Mike added, carefully keeping his tone respectful.
“It was only a matter of time before the cops figured out what you all were doing. You were sloppy, made mistakes. Honestly, I did you a favor by taking the funds for myself. Maybe if you’d have asked nicely, I might even have given some of it back. I should warn you though, I’m not feeling particularly giving right now though,” Silas answered.
“That’s not what we’re after,” Leonardo replied.
“What do you want?” Silas said bluntly.