Shit.
“This is getting more complicated by the second,” I muttered.”
“We got eyes on the place in case she’s planning anything,” Dante told me.
“She’s not.” That wasn’t what I was worried about. “She doesn’t trust us because my father probably fucked her over.”
“Mario wasn’t really nice to anyone unless he had the motivation. He did what he had to do in order to get what he wanted for our family.”
“You don’t make alliances that way. Sometimes it takes family sacrifice for the good of all your partners.”
“I wouldn’t argue with that.” Dante cracked his knuckles, and I glanced back at him. His light eyes contrasted with his bronzed skin and the tattoos across his neck. “We’ll have to keep a level head. I’ve heard about her through the underground channels.”
I checked my watch as the fall breeze picked up. It wasn’t enough to keep us cool in the Florida air, the humidity weighing everything down with it suffocating warmth. “I need a vacation.”
“You’re never going to get one.”
“Why not?”
Dante didn’t respond. He knew just as well as I did that the head of the mafia didn’t ever get to rest. That wasn’t an option.
I’d never had one to begin with.
The door swung open again but instead of an old woman, there stood the young one. Morina had the exact same shape of eyes as her grandmother. My mind wasn’t calculating fast enough but I knew the end result was going to be one I didn’t want.
“You’ve got to be kidding. Did you follow me here?” Her voice came out high pitched.
I took a step back with her statement. “I’m here to see your grandmother.”
“My grandmother?” she screeched. “You need to leave right now.”
I ignored her. “My father never mentioned Maribel had a granddaughter.”
“Probably because Maribel and I don’t tell suits like you our family business.”
Her grandmother hollered from down the hall to let us all in. I straightened a cuff link while she decided whether she wanted to obey. “We’re coming in either way, Morina.”
Her eyes narrowed, and I knew a snide comment was about to whip out of her mouth. “I’m definitely regretting the decision I made last week now.”
That would make two of us,piccola ragazza. I didn’t say it out loud. There was no need to fan the fire.
She backed away as I stepped in and took in the quaint home. A few plants lined the entryway and straight ahead, in the kitchen, a scuffed wooden table told me that Maribel was hiding her wealth. If my family knew, then most cartels, gangs, and other families did too.
Yet, Maribel hid from someone in plain sight and that was her granddaughter.
Morina waved at the table. “Well, take a seat or don’t. Grandma will be out in a minute.”
“We don’t intend to stay long,” I mumbled, hoping she’d leave. I didn’t want to discuss business in front of her.
“You intend to take our money, don’t you?” She tilted her head, her big eyes narrowed on me.
“What?”
“You’re here to collect on the town’s payment for protection and allegiance to you, right?”
“I don’t think that’s a conversation you and I should be having.”
“My grandmother’s dying, Bastian.” Her voice was quiet, whispering the pain of love for someone I’d never felt. She dragged a fingernail on the table and then over some beaded bracelets she wore. “She’s leaving everything to me. Including her debts and alliances. So that sort of is the conversation we should be having considering I’ll be paying you soon.”