“I never thought it was mine.”
Truthfully, for one delusional week, I went along with her story, hoping the baby would be the magic bullet to solve her drug problem and our flailing relationship. That fairytale crashed and burned at the first doctor’s appointment when the doctor declared Laney to be eight weeks pregnant.
Laney went crazy, first begging the doctor to check the measurements again and then calling the doctor a liar. I dragged her out of there and dropped her off at her mother’s house with firm instructions to never contact me again.
“She got out of rehab a couple of weeks ago. She’s clean again in case you were curious.”
“I’m not, but good for her. Maybe this time it’ll stick.”
I didn’t know what my dad’s angle was. He made no secret of the fact he wanted her out of my life. I wouldn’t be surprised if he had been her drug dealer at some point just to mess with us. He thought I was too young to be serious about someone I didn’t know very well. Turns out he was right. The Laney I knew wouldn’t have taken drugs and cheated on me, which meant I didn’t know her at all.
My dad rubbed his fingers through his graying beard, his dark eyes cold and calculating. “Did you take care of Carmela?”
“You gave me a week. It’s only been forty-eight hours. You’ll be the first to know if and when there are any developments.”
“I better be.” He opened the door to the restaurant owned by the DiTonnos and waved his hand. “You first, Romeo.”
“Alesio,” I shook his hand. “Good to see you.”
His eyes darted to my dad, then back to me. “Yeah. Likewise. Come back to my office. We need to go over a few things. But before we start, I wanted to talk to you about what happened the last time we met. I hoped we could smooth things over.”
“Go ahead,” I said, following him down the hall to his office.
“Renzo’s a nice kid, but he hasn’t been himself since his brother died in the car fire after getting into it with the Trassatos. He blames all of them for his death, including your friend, Carmela.”
“I don’t see why. His brother killed a made member of the Trassato family. Isn’t that how things work in your world? An eye for an eye?”
While I didn’t understand the inner workings of the Italian mafia, I knew killing a made man either resulted in death or a mob war. In the case of the Trassatos and the DiTonnos, it caused both.
The Russians weren’t like the Italians. We didn’t have familial or ethnic requirements. We didn’t have a Don calling the shots. Our organizational structure changed constantly based on who was doing what, which was good for me. I couldn’t stand all that old school shit. I needed the flexibility to act quickly, and strike while the deal was hot.
“You’re right. Most people think it was justified regardless of how it happened.”
“Do you think so?”
“From what I gathered, Marco and Rocco were messing around with the same woman, and she ended up pregnant. As you can imagine, neither of them liked the idea of another man dipping his dick into his territory. Passions were running high, and they both made bad decisions. As far as I’m concerned, they got what they deserved.”
“That’s bullshit. Rocco was engaged,” I snapped, wanting to defend Carmela for some fucked up reason.
He clucked his tongue and lifted an eyebrow. “Yeah, so? What’s your point? Men will be men.”
“What’s this got to do with us?” my dad interrupted, his tone curt.
Alesio shrugged. “I know your daughter married Gian Trassato, and I don’t want you to get cold feet because you think we’re still gunning for the Trassatos. The family doesn’t want to get pulled into that bullshit again. I’ve taken care of Renzo. He won’t be a problem anymore. He knows his place.”
“That remains to be seen.” I didn’t trust that Renzo would fade quietly into the night. He was driven by revenge, and sometimes revenge left little room for logic. I’d have Anatolyi keep tabs on him and make sure he didn’t cause trouble. That was all I could do now, but if he fucked up again or interfered in my life, he’d pay dearly.
“We’re businessmen first,” my dad said tipping up his chin and signaling the end of the conversation. My dad was never interested in emotions and passions. According to him, they interfered with business. Money was his god to be worshiped above everything and anyone else.
“Good, seeing that I asked you here to discuss expanding our business partnership,” he replied, handing both my dad and me a sheet of paper.