"Are you ready to die?" Ernesto taunts.
Cesare sneezes, then whispers, "Are you?" He bends over and in a flash he pulls a small gun from an ankle holster. I don't hesitate. I pull the trigger before he gets a chance. I watch as blood and brain matter spray across the concrete floor and then, as if in slow motion, Cesare's lifeless body crumples to the floor.
"Holy fuck, Nickels," Ernesto exclaims.
I stand there, arm in the air, finger on the trigger and I wait for remorse to set in. It doesn't. Why should it? The asshole was going to kill Giovanni. That just can't happen. I made sure it didn't.
"Fast reflexes, Cage," Giovanni tells me.
"I knew something was wrong."
He nods. "Always trust your instincts."
Ernesto looks at Giovanni with a smirk. "I told you."
Giovanni nods again. "So you did."
I have no clue what they're talking about and, as I watch them pick Cesare Manzini's lifeless body off the floor, I really wish I did.
"You'll train him and we'll groom him," Giovanni tells Ernesto.
"For what?" I ask.
"Second in command," Ernesto replies.
"What? No. That's your position."
He shakes his head. "I don't want it. I knew you were the one for the position as I watched you come up in the ranks. Dedication and loyalty are rewarded."
Are they fucking with me? I'm not even blood related. Is this possible? Do I want this?
Giovanni is watching me closely. "I know what you're thinking. You, of all people, should remember, Cage, sometimes family isn't always blood. Sometimes family is where you find it."
I nod, thinking of Joan.
"Do you want this?" Ernesto asks.
Do I? Holy fuck, what they're asking me is insane. They're asking me to be Giovanni Russo's right hand. They're asking me to be second in command to the Russo organization-to la Famiglia, to replace Giovanni's brother, Lorenzo, who died last year at the hands of the Manzinis.
Do I want the responsibility? Do I want the power that comes with that position? Do I want this, really want this?
"Yes," I answer, and both Ernesto and Giovanni nod.
"Then we begin immediately," Giovanni tells me.
I expected nothing less.
Chapter Four
Cage
Past
I anticipated this but not so quickly.
I look on as Gio stands in front of the Russo Famiglia and I work to remain straight-faced and expressionless as he announces that I, at the age of twenty-three, am to become his second. I know what the responsibility of this means. I also know it's for life. This is my family.
There are no expressions of shock or outrage. Just accepting nods and murmured congratulations.
Ernesto claps his hand on my shoulder. "Let's go have a drink, Nickels."
I nod as we head toward the bar in Ernesto's (yeah, Ernesto owns the club that houses our Famiglia meetings and celebrations).
Carlo pours me a scotch, neat; then sets a beer and a shot of whiskey in front of Ernesto.
Ernesto lifts his shot glass. "Congratulations, Nickels."
"Yeah, thanks," I murmur, still adjusting to the fact I'm now his boss rather than the other way around. "You realize I still think of you as my boss."
Ernesto smiles. "And that's as it should be. Just because I didn't take the chair doesn't mean I'm not right up alongside you, helping you carry out what needs to be done as second."
I nod. "Same as it's always been."
He nods. "Same as it'll always be, unless you say otherwise."
"Not going to happen. This is yours. It was intended for you and you deserve to be part of it," I tell him straight up.
"I appreciate that," he replies.
"If you two are done hugging and talking about your periods," Giovanni says, walking up, "let's share a couple drinks and celebrate how Cage has already helped and continues to solidify and strengthen la Famiglia."
"Here, here!" Everyone lifts their glasses.
I nod and down the rest of my drink.
Giovanni rests a hand on my shoulder. "You once saved my life. I won't ever forget that."
"You and Ernesto saved mine as well, so I'd say we're even," I remind him.
Gio inclines his head in partial agreement. "I'll always owe you for not being there for your mother. If I'd known … "
"Gio," Ernesto begins, "she knew to call if she needed help. She didn't make that call."
"She knew what she was doing," I tell them. "She couldn't take any more from the old man. She barely made it through the last beating, if you remember."
Giovanni's jaw ticks. "I remember. He didn't suffer enough."
Ernesto nods. "Nickels was just a boy then and he was fucking terrified at what he thought I was going to do to him. I wasn't able to take the time I'd have liked to make that bastard suffer as he deserved."
I nod, then lift the glass that Carlo just refilled. "May the bastard burn in hell."
"I'll drink to that," more than one man says, and I realize just how many men knew my father-and hated him.
"I'm surprised he lived as long as he did," I mutter.
"You and me both," Gio replies. "But he's dead now and you've made something of yourself you can be proud of. Look forward, not back."
I nod.
There's nothing in the past to look back at now. There's only the future.
I know it's wrong for a twenty-five-year-old man to be enamored with a seventeen-year-old girl, but there's a pull to her I can't resist. She has so much growing up to do before I make her mine. It's a good thing I am a patient man-and an understanding one, or I'd have killed the boy she took to her prom, the one she lost her virginity to in a hotel room, the one she thought she was in love with. Then she caught him with another girl. My broken-hearted girl wept for the asshole who didn't deserve any of her tears. I know all of this because she and Luciana are monitored. Only a few of us are privy to the information on those tapes and images, and I make sure no one ever knows their secrets. Only me. Well, and Gio. The man knows everything.
I see her everywhere. I long for her-to touch her smooth skin, kiss her soft lips, see her smile, hear her laugh. I'd do anything for her. I'd die for her. It's been this way from the first moment I saw her.
She's across the room from me now at a Russo family gathering and I see her watching me, and when I catch her, she looks away with a blush. It's … endearing.
"Who is that?" she whispers to Carlotta.
"Oh my dear, that's Cage. Surely you've met him before?"
Sera tilts her head to the side. "I'm not sure."
Carlotta smiles and grabs Sera's hand. "Come, I'll introduce you."
Shit. My heart rate picks up and I realize I'm nervous. I can face down stone cold killers without blinking an eye, but this woman makes my hands sweat and heart beat faster. Yep. She's my one. She just doesn't know it yet … or maybe, with the looks she's giving me, she does.
Giovanni smiles as Carlotta and Serafina approach us.
"Stop fidgeting," Gio tells me, and I notice I'm flipping a nickel between my fingers. I haven't done that in … a very long time.
"Shit," I say under my breath and Gio chuckles.
"This should be interesting," he mutters.
And it is.
They walk up and Carlotta embraces me and kisses my cheek.
"Cage, it's so nice to see you again."
"You as well," I reply.
She steps back and places her hand on Sera's back, urging her forward.
"This is our granddaughter Serafina. Sera, this is Cage Nichols," Carlotta says by way of introduction.
Sera blushes a pretty pink and holds out her hand. I take hers gently between both of mine, engulfing them, holding them as the punch of attraction and awareness crackles around and through me-and from her reaction, I'd say through her as well.
She truly is my one. A smile tugs at the side of my mouth for the first time in forever, the feeling foreign. Carlotta notices and winks at me, while Giovanni's brows lift.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Serafina."
She pauses, her gaze locked on mine. "You as well, Mr. Nichols."
I shake my head. "Just Cage."
She nods. "And I'm Sera."
"Cage is a record producer," Carlotta informs Sera, but Sera just nods, her eyes locked on mine. It seems wrong to keep the fact that I'm part of la Famiglia from Sera and Lucy, and I ponder that thought as I stand here, still holding Sera's hand, relishing the feel of her warmth, her soft skin.
"Sera!" Lucy yells, hurrying toward us, breaking the spell. Sera pulls her hand from between mine and I immediately feel the loss … the emptiness.
"Hi Cage," Lucy greets. She's a friendly one. I only met her twenty minutes ago and it's as if we're long-lost friends.
I nod. "Lucy."
"Sera," Lucy whispers, "you have to come see this."
Sera looks to her grandparents for approval and they give it. She starts walking away, then stops and looks back at me over her shoulder.