“Always seek the happiness you deserve.”
–Shani
Chapter One
Vito
Eleven Years Ago
“What time are we meeting tomorrow for the drop?” Tae asked.
The sight of this guy from his meaty, balled head to the Puma slides on his feet made my trigger finger itch. Ready to engage the gun in my coat pocket, I growled, “8 a.m., and don’t be late.”
“Oh, I’ll be there with bells on.” He sang the words like a Jodeci melody, then added, “You’ll be happy with the information I give you.”
Happy? His location got hit twice in the past month, which meant he was dropping the ball majorly. Losing money and looking weak were two things I didn’t tolerate. Now, he allegedly had information on someone plotting against me. Plotting against my existence was the biggest hell no in my book.
But here’s the thing. He wouldn’t give up the names of those plotting against me until I hooked him up with the Gomez plug so that he could make his own deals. He wanted to move up in status from working for the DeLuca Mafia to running his own major deals. Hence, the bribe for information in exchange for a meeting with my connect.
My voice rumbled with the reply, “Leave the bells at home.”
He chuckled. “It was a joke, Veet.”
A growl rumbled in my chest. A joke? Tae must’ve thought I had gone soft. No one was supposed to bribe me and think I would laugh at their corny jokes. No one was supposed to think I was weak enough to accept a bribe offer.
I was young, only twenty-one, but I had been hustling in the streets since I turned sixteen. I seared the DeLuca name in many minds and hearts of the underworld in Columbus years ago. After all my work, weaklings like Tae still had it in them to think I was a joke or in the market for a comedian.
I deadpanned, “Do you need anything else?”
“Nope, just for this hookup to go through, that’s it.” He had the unmitigated gall to chuckle.
My gaze darkened. “Yeah, well, look, I got some shit to do. We’ll get to that business in the morning. You can leave now.”
“Bet!” He reached a hand out for me to shake.
I stared at it until he put it back in his pocket. “Have that name for me the next time I see you, or we’re going to have a major issue. Do you understand?” I asked to make sure he knew that if someone really wanted me dead and he was bribing me in exchange for that information, he would be swimming with the fish soon.
“We won’t have any issues. I got you, Veet.”
“Vito,” I corrected.
He raised both hands in the air and smiled. “Got you, Vito.”
Tae strolled out of the warehouse with the stride of a man who was winning. He had no idea my blessings had allowed him to breathe another day. After tomorrow, he wouldn’t be so lucky. Tae didn’t know the full extent of my family’s dealings worldwide. He should have known better, but he treated me like an ordinary Georgia thug that worked his weight up and had a few connections with the plugs. Had he done his research and interpreted the findings, that cocky ass grin on his face wouldn’t exist.
Many didn’t know who I was when I moved here from Italy with my father. But they found out the depths of my character and the reasons to respect it before I was old enough to legally buy a beer.
Tae was a local corner boy with a penchant for moving through the ranks and getting into more lucrative business dealings. It wasn’t a crime to want to move up and do better, but there was a way to move in the streets. He would find out sooner rather than later that ‘all money ain’t good money’ as they say in the south.
I was just a prepubescent boy when I came to the United States, but I brought Don Ermano DeLuca’s principles and spirit with me and never let them go. Once upon a time, no man would have fixed his lips to utter someone was plotting against a DeLuca for fear they would lose their lives for even mentioning it. Now, punk-ass thugs like Tae thought they could come to me with anything.
Dropping Tae like a bitch ass rat was the best thing to do. If my grandfather, the Don, knew I was out here letting a sucker like Tae play games with me, he would exile me from the family. My cousin, Enzo, next in line to be the don, would probably end me on sheer principle. Enzo’s like a brother to me, and he would never hurt me, but he nor the don would dare make a deal with a crumb snatcher like Tae.
My friend, Ishmael, was cool with Tae because they grew up in the same neighborhood. He didn’t know Tae had recently worked his way up to the top of my hit list. I brought Ishmael into DeLuca business just enough to where he could help with moving the weight but not far enough to where he would understand the extent of our savagery. When someone had to be erased, I kept him out of it. Ishmael had no idea of the turmoil brewing with Tae in my camp.
Tae had become too big of a pest for me. I had to exterminate him. At the moment, I dealt with my insect problem by not turning on the light and exposing him.
I needed a big stress reliever, so I picked up the phone and dialed Lucia’s number. She’d been giving me the run around about seeing me since I got picked up by the cops last week. Some good cop fished for information and hauled me to the station for questioning. One call to our family lawyer had them letting me go and apologizing within the hour.