61
JOHNNY
Ifeel like everything is spiraling out of control. For the smallest moment, I thought I had a hold on the situation, but now it’s like I’m walking through a constant minefield, wondering which step is going to cause a massive explosion.
Things were sketchy enough when Franklin was two thousand miles away, still unsure of whether or not I was alive. But with the momentary video chat where I killed two of his men, confirming his suspicions, he could be anywhere. Around any corner. Lurking in any shadow. Waiting, preparing, planning the perfect opportunity to strike.
I have no idea how to keep Claire safe when things are so fucking uncertain.
On the West Coast, I knew his hangouts, the places he frequented. I had a solid grasp of who was part of his organization. Out here? I’m totally blind to which moves he’ll take, to the people he has on his payroll.
Luckily, my sperm donor is just as powerful as Franklin is, if not more.
For the last twenty-four hours, we’ve been tucked into one of his safe houses. The only way in or out is with a retinal scan and a code that very few know. Luciano added us to the list and gave us access to our own side of the massive loft. He assured us that the windows are bulletproof, even if someone was able to get a shot off at this height, and that the place was pretty much impenetrable.
That’s all fine for now, but eventually, we will have to leave.
Luciano scratches his beard and leans up against the doorframe. “I still haven’t located Franklin.” His green gaze meets mine and then shifts to the floor. “This is very unlike him. He is usually much more predictable.”
I guess Luciano doesn’t know Franklin the way that I do. Sure, most of his moves can be anticipated, but he’s also completely irrational and impulsive. There is no rhyme or reason to some of the things he goes through with, other than to feed his twisted desires.
Claire’s phone dings, and all three of us turn our attention toward the device.
She picks it up, her shoulders relaxing once her eyes settle on the screen. “It was just an email. From one of my professors.”
I’ve forced Claire into a life where she has to lie to her teachers to excuse her absence. I hate myself for everything I’ve put her through, and if I don’t figure out how to end this for good, all of this will have been for nothing. She deserves better than what I’ve given her, and I won’t stop until I make sure that happens.
“I still don’t understand why he’s so hell-bent on killing you.” Luciano crosses his arms. “I mean, to risk coming here, on my turf, to settle a petty dispute? We have people quit all the time. You don’t see me chasing them down.”
“It was never about Johnny quitting,” Claire speaks up for me. “J was actually still technically working for him when he gunned him down.”
“Then what was it?”
Claire meets my gaze and then looks to Luciano. “Johnny outsmarted him. He saw an opportunity to help someone, and he did. He basically sacrificed a year of his life to free this innocent person for no reason other than to do the right thing.” Claire takes a breath, shaking her head. “J convinced everyone that he was this bad guy, and don’t get me wrong, he did some bad shit, but it was the most selfless thing I’ve ever seen anyone do. And once Franklin realized Johnny had the upper hand, he did the only thing he could. He had him shot.”
Luciano cuts in at this point. “Then you outsmarted him again when you faked your death. Making him look like a complete idiot.”
I shrug. “In a nutshell.”
Claire continues, “If we’re being honest here, I think Franklin is weirdly intimidated by Johnny’s altruism. Threatened, even. Like this one person could potentially ruin whatever he has going. I don’t think anyone has ever done what Johnny did and got away with it. So he’s making a point to follow through with his threats, to keep his reputation intact.”
“I could see that,” Luciano adds.
“But what about you?” I ask the man offering us a safe haven. “You said there was bad blood?”
Luciano twists his foot into the floor and glances over his shoulder briefly. “This line of business definitely isn’t for the faint of heart. But, to go about it the way Frankie does…it’s wrong. I’m not saying I’m a better man than him, we just don’t see eye to eye on the way we handle things. We never have. He was always competitive and so damn spiteful. Honest mistakes would turn into these huge pissing matches. It was childish and absolutely reckless. Petty stuff, like I couldn’t even show interest in a girl around him because he would stake this weird-ass claim.
“I tried and tried to keep the peace, but it got to the point where it was impossible. Nothing I could do was right. He got fucking mad over everything.” He lets out a long breath. “I—uh, I had gained the East Coast sector, and after that, there was no coming back. It didn’t matter that we were blood, that we were brothers. There was no reasoning with him. One day, things escalated too far. People got hurt. Good people. I couldn’t allow him to stay here and continue to fuck everything up. He went west, somehow weaseled his way into the position he’s in now, and we’ve basically been rivals ever since.”
I’ve been in denial about Luciano’sprofessionallife since the moment I caught wind of it being similar to Franklin’s. He’s my father. And to think that he could be this cruel person like Franklin—it turned my stomach. I couldn’t fathom that I had been brought into this world by that kind of person. Not when everything I’ve done has been for the good of others.
But hearing the way Luciano talks about Franklin, about how he disagreed with his ways to the point that he essentially disowned him, it gives me hope that perhaps I was wrong about the kind of man I worried Luciano was.
Sure, he’s a criminal—but he is nothing like Franklin, and for that alone, I am grateful. Maybe there is a future for us after all.
Claire breaks the silence, keeping her sights trained on Luciano. “Sounds like Franklin saw a little bit of you in Johnny.”
Is it possible we’re more alike than I thought? There are definitely some striking physical similarities, but what if Franklin noticed it, too? I could have reminded him too much of his brother. The man he would never be. I threatened him because I showed him the error of his ways. That I was good, and he was evil.