Bow Down(158)

Vince knocked and then waited. After a second, Arturo called us inside.

He opened the door. We walked in, shutting the door behind us.

Arturo’s office was the biggest in the mansion. Richly furnished with leather and expensive wood pieces, it looked like a million dollars. Probably because the place cost a fucking million, at least.

Sitting at the big desk was Arturo himself. He was an old man, balding but still large, with intense eyes and a small smile. Ernesto sat in one chair, looking back at us.

Arturo didn’t look imposing, but he was. He had built the damn mob with his own hands. He was an old man, but he was a dangerous old man, and a violent one.

Vince nodded to the bosses. “Gentlemen.”

“Vincent,” Arturo said. “Take a seat.”

We sat down in the two remaining chairs. Ernesto stared daggers but said nothing.

“What’s this about?” Vince asked. “It’s late and I’m not drunk enough yet.”

Arturo laughed. “You two know what it’s about.”

“The girl,” I said.

“The fucking bitch,” Ernesto cut in.

I gave him a look. He turned his head away.

“She’s not a threat,” Vince said. “We don’t need to discuss this any further. She’s worthless.”

“She’s not,” Ernesto said.

“Enough,” Arturo cut him off, holding up a hand. He looked back at Vince. “Out of respect for you and Rafa, we haven’t done anything yet. We were discussing it, trying to figure out what was best. But something new happened.”

I felt surprised. I had told her to lie low and not do a damn thing, so I couldn’t imagine something new had happened. As far as I knew, she was sitting in her apartment, doing nothing but working on some shitty article.

“What happened?” I asked.

“The Spiders contacted her,” Ernesto growled.

That surprised the hell out of me. “I doubt it,” I said.

“They did something with her computer,” Arturo said. “Our boys were monitoring her, and they found something weird.”

“Someone took her over. We couldn’t see what they were doing or saying, but it was the Spiders,” Ernesto added.

“How do you know?” Vince asked.

“It had to be them. Nobody else could do that.”

“You don’t know that for sure.”

“Who else would contact the girl like that?”

Vince glanced at me. I shook my head. “She’s not a threat,” I said. “I don’t care if they contacted her. She’s not stupid enough to talk to them.”

“She clearly is,” Arturo said. “I want her. I want to know what they said. I want to know what she knows.”

“No,” I said simply.

All three bosses looked at me.

“You can’t say no,” Arturo said slowly. “That’s not your place.”

“It is my place. I’m saying no.”

He cocked his head at me. Vince looked surprised.

I was standing up to the most violent, dangerous, and powerful man in the city.

“Why do you care about this girl?” Arturo asked me. “Why do you care what happens to her? She was a stranger to you.”

“She was a stranger,” I said, “but she isn’t now. I know she’s not involved with the Spiders. She’s just some innocent girl caught up in all this.”

“Doesn’t fucking matter,” Ernesto said. “She talked to them. We need to know what she knows.”

“Let me ask her.”

“No,” Arturo said. “I don’t think so.”

I was losing. I knew I was losing. I was on the verge of pushing my luck too far, and if that happened, I wouldn’t be able to do anything else for her.

The direct approach wasn’t working.

I glanced at Vince. He frowned at me.

Maybe I could try the political approach. Maybe I could try something else, something different.

I said the first thing that came to mind.

“I got her pregnant,” I said.

The men all stared at me. Nobody moved a muscle.

I didn’t know what the fuck I was doing. Why the hell did I say that? It wasn’t true. I didn’t even sleep with her.

But family meant something to the mafia. It was one of the few fucking things that really did.

“When?” Arturo asked me.

“I met her before, at the Spiller. She came in trying to talk some wise guys up, and I ended up taking her home.”

“Fat Jimmy said that was only a couple days ago,” Ernesto said.

“Wasn’t the first time we met,” I answered. “That was the second time.”

Ernesto looked at Arturo. “He’s lying.”

“He wouldn’t lie about something so fucking stupid,” Vince said, “so you watch your fucking mouth, old man.”