“There’s never enough removal of body parts,” Brio mumbled under his breath. The sick fuck.
“What is it?” Lorenzo asked.
“The sister’s ex, the reason she’d been so trapped, and it had been so hard for Whitney to get her safe? The ex’s dad is the police commissioner.”
“Oh, fuck,” Emilio hissed, reaching up to rub the back of his neck.
“Yeah,” I agreed. “I couldn’t exactly go and just… take care of him. Though, trust me, I wanted to. I might have a good parole officer, but not even he can be bribed out of keeping me out of jail if that shit went down.”
“You understand the implications of this?” Lorenzo asked. “If you’re harboring this woman, if it gets out that you’re involved with her… there’s going to be a target on your back. And that impacts the whole Family.”
“I understand that,” I said, nodding. “And I get it if you’re pissed. It’s just…”
“Yeah,” Lorenzo said, sighing. “Sometimes… it’s just…” he agreed, likely recalling how he and his wife had come to be together. And, for that matter, how Brio and his woman had as well. “Alright. I need to give this some thought. Look into this sister’s ex. She’s safe with you for now, but I don’t think she should be left alone at the diner at night either. So if you can find someone who isn’t busy to volunteer to sit with her when you can’t…”
“You know, I think I have someone sitting his lazy ass on my couch right now who could be persuaded,” I said, giving Emilio a smirk.
“He fucking eats up the attention he gets when he’s sick or hurt,” Emilio agreed. “It’d be good for him to have some responsibility.”
“Alright. That’s settled for the time being. I appreciate you coming here and leveling with me,” Lorenzo said. “Even if you did fuck her when I told you not to. I get that sometimes… when it’s the right woman, you can’t control shit like that.”
I didn’t know what the future held for me and Whitney, but if she was the right woman, if that was what this sort of string was that seemed to pull me back to her over and over, then, well, I guess I could get used to that fact.
“You can go,” he said, but when Brio went to turn with me, he barked, “Not your crazy ass. We need to have a talk about appropriate punishments.”
“Good luck, man,” I said, giving him a nod as he followed Lorenzo into the dining room.
“He’s had this talk with him at least a dozen times in the past,” Emilio said, walking me out. “Don’t know why he thinks this time will be different.”
“Hey, what can you expect when you let a feral dog off its leash?” I said, shrugging.
“That’s what I said. So, you got a girl now?”
“Looks that way,” I agreed, nodding. “What?” I asked when he shook his head.
“You’re all dropping like flies around me.”
“Maybe that means you’re next,” I suggested, then laughed when his face twisted in horror.
“Take that shit back. I don’t have any intentions of settling down any time soon, no matter how many times my ma bitches at me about it.”
“Neither did I, man. And you think fuckingBriowas planning on finding someone who would love his psychotic ass?”
“What’s she like?”
I didn’t even think about my answer.
“She’s perfect,” I said, shrugging.
“Yeah? Then what the fuck are you doing here instead of back there with her?” he asked, shooting me a smirk that I felt myself return before turning and making my way back toward my apartment.
“You still got your balls?” Anthony asked when I made my way in, finding that not only had Whitney cleaned up his mess, but had clearly heated him up and brought him some of the lasagne from the fridge.
“You conning that woman into bringing you shit?” I asked, shaking my head at him. “She’s hurt too, you know.”
“She offered!” Anthony insisted, looking upset that he hadn’t considered her injuries as well. “Everything squared up?” he asked.
“Yeah. Lorenzo is looking into some shit with the guy who put his hands on her. Then he’ll get back to me. But things are fine.”