“Boss?” Benny prodded.
He waved at Benny to continue. Carver didn’t miss the looks that passed between Sal and Rio, two of his most trusted who were more like brothers to him and who’d been with him since the start of his ascension to become the most wanted and powerful man of the city. No doubt they’d heard the rumors, so he let Benny finish his projections for the next month and dismissed him.
“Carver, what’s this we hear about you keeping some curvy beauty at your place?” Sal asked, lighting a smoke.
At least Sal didn’t make the error of calling her a bitch, or other worse names. He intended to let everyone know, starting right now, just how important Yasmin was to him. If anyone dared touch her, or so much as looked at her wrong, they were dead. Carver didn’t care how possessive that made him appear, but when it came to her, nothing was off the table.
“I heard you went a little nuts around Anatoli,” Rio pointed out.
“Anatoli has a big fucking mouth,” he said calmly.
Rio scratched his head. “It’s just, nothing like this ever happened before, you know?”
“Yasmin is special to me, because she’s my woman, and she’s going to continue my legacy by carrying my children.”
Sal coughed and nearly choked on his smoke. “Fuck, you’re serious, aren’t you?”
“Completely. So, if I find out someone in my inner circle’s disrespecting her, or giving her a hard time, I’ll skin them personally and stuff their balls down their throat.”
“Jesus Christ, Carver. When you talk like that—hell. You’re serious about this chick, aren’t you?”
Carver cracked his knuckles. “Now that that meeting’s over, get back to work. I’m taking the day off.”
If his announcement about Yasmin didn’t shock them, this one did.
“You’ve never done that either,” Sal mumbled. “But don’t worry, we’ll spread the word. We want what’s best for you, too, and if this woman could do that, then good.”