“Yeah, she’s here all right… nearly took my head off in front of the boss.” I growled, shoving his hand away so I could advance on Ryker, who just showed up. “Why the hell wasn’t she withyou?”
Ryker’s eyes widened at the snarl then narrowed as he scanned the hall for danger. “What happened? Is she okay? Did someone attack her?”
I couldn’t help but laugh at the idea of her needing Ryker to save her. “That woman doesn’t need our help. Instead, I think she needs a warning label… sexy as sin but extremely stabby.”
“What did you do?” Ryker accused, getting in my face.
It always interested me to see the darker side of Ryker. It didn’t come out often, but when it did, no one stood a chance. I should’ve known if it had to do with Astin, Ryker’s switch would be flipped instantly.
“Nothing,” I snapped. “I didn’t know who she was coming in late looking like that. I thought she was someone’s mistress or a hooker. Told her the party was closed and planned to escort her out until the boss walked up and taunted her. Next thing I know, I’m on my knees with a knife at my throat.” My hand returned to my neck as it felt like the blade was pressing there once more. “She’s goddamn fucking fast for wearing five-inch stilettos. Didn’t see it coming, that’s for fucking sure. I don’t even know where she pulled a knife from. Those clothes don’t leave much to the imagination.”
Braxton let out an impressed whistle. “I love a dangerous woman.”
I just groaned, knowing how easily Braxton got fixated on people who piqued his interest. This wasn’t the woman for him to be sniffing around, especially when she was the boss’s daughter. I still couldn’t figure out why they were calling her back now after being gone for so long. You’d think, as her father, he’d want her out of danger, not in the middle of it.
“Where are the others?” Ryker asked, pulling me out of my thoughts. “The boss wanted to talk to us all when she got here.”
“Probably in with the other guests. I’ll go grab them,” I muttered, not looking forward to spending time with Gunner and Atticus.
Over the past three years, Boss brought in six new lieutenants, including myself, saying he wanted people of the next generation running things. It made sense, but it was out of character with how most mafia bosses ran their businesses. Many of them like it being a good-old-boys’ club with the veterans doing things as they’ve always done them. Colmazio Caprioni was a different breed on many levels, but it made me respect him more for doing what was best instead of what was easy.
Atticus was the easy one to find. I just had to look in the corner where no one was. The guy might be brilliant, but his people skills were shit, and the only reason I could see why the boss kept him around was that no one could do what Atticus did. That man could do math in his head faster than lightning and was always right. After a year, they finally stopped double-checking when he did it in his head during meetings. Now we just took him at his word. He also had no concept of lying in any form. He always told things exactly as he saw them, which has led to Ryker and me having to protect him from getting punched out on the regular. We stopped taking him out with us when he almost got himself in a brawl with the local biker gang that ran the drugs we imported.
“Hey, find Ryker in the hallway. Boss wanted to tell us something when he’s done talking with his daughter,” I told him, jerking my thumb toward the door. “Don’t leave Ryker’s side until the boss shows up. We don’t have time to track you down again.”
“Why would I leave if I haven’t heard what the boss wanted to say?” Atticus asked, frowning.
I noticed he was holding a glass of whiskey in his hand which was odd because he doesn’t drink. “What’s with the liquor?”
“Luca told me it would help me blend in. Was he incorrect?”
“No, he wasn’t wrong, but you won’t need it anymore. I’ll take it,” I said, holding out a hand.
“Thank you, I was getting tired of holding it, and the smell of it is incredibly unpleasant. I’ll go find Ryker now,” Atticus stated with a nod and headed for the hall.
Groaning, I tossed back the drink, needing it with how my night was going. Scanning the crowd, I wasn’t surprised to find Gunner in a heated conversation with one of the governor’s men who had been invited to the party. That asshole didn’t know the concept of taking a night off, always finding some way to turn our fun into something work-related. Walking up, I dropped a hand on Gunner’s shoulder as their voices got a littletooloud for what was appropriate for a party.
“I already told you we can’t take that off the table. It’s gone too far through the voting process with the city council and the mayor,” James snapped.
“So sorry to interrupt, James, but I need to steal Gunner for a moment,” I cut in before G-Man could open his mouth to argue.
James threw up his hand in exasperation. “Please take him away. I came for a party not to be interrogated for a problem we can’t do anything about.”
Turning the reluctant lieutenant toward the door, I spoke in a low voice. “The boss’s daughter is here, and he wanted to speak to us once he’s done talking with her. The others are in the hall, any chance you’ve seen Luca?”
“That bastard knows how to hide better at these things than Atticus does, so good luck,” Gunner grumbled, jerking out of my hold.
Gunner might be a shrewd businessman, and his confrontational personality might get deals closed, but it makes liking him extremely difficult. Out of the five other lieutenants, there were only two of them I liked and hung out with. Luca would join us on occasion and wasn’t a bad guy, but Atticus and Gunner weren’t interested in making friends.
“You were looking for me?” Luca’s voice asked from behind me.
“Jesus fucking Christ,” I swore, jumping at his sudden arrival. “You seriously need to stop doing that to me. One of these days, I’m going to shoot you by accident.”
“I’d never let you shoot me,” he answered, walking past. “You’re not bad with a gun, Jace, but you lack awareness. Which is why I can sneak up on you all the time.”
Running a hand over my head, I growled and followed after him. This night just couldn’t get any worse—right? As I joined the others, the back sitting room door opened, and out came the boss arm in arm with his daughter, flanked by Mathis and Athos, the cream of the crop when it came to the Caprioni Family all in one group. The only one who was missing was Jamison, the boss’s bastard son he had with his long-term mistress, Casimira, who also wasn’t at this party. It wasn’t like either of them were a secret. Hell, Casimira was seen with the boss more often than his witch of a wife. Jamison was six years younger than his daughter, but the boy didn’t have what it took to be a part of this world. Too soft and too stupid—the Family would be destroyed within days if he took over.
“Busy night, boys?” Boss asked, directing his question at Ryker with a smirk on his face. “Allow me the honor of introducing you to my daughter, Astin Marzia Caprioni. Astin, these are our lieutenants and under your direct command, hand-picked by me to assist you in your rise to power.”