“Again, thank you.” I didn’t want to, but I tore my eyes from him and turned away.
Well, Michael, my handsome ass-kicking friend, this won’t be the last you see of me.
If my father thought for an instant that I was interested in someone who wasn’t both Italian and Catholic, he would come apart at the seams. Italian fathers are known to be protective of their daughters, but mine was even worse. He was much more than my father.
He was the Godfather.
Chapter Two
Michael
I didn’t need to look up from my desk to know it was Cap who was coming down the hallway, I could tell by the distinct sound of his footsteps. He stepped into my office and stopped ten feet in front of my desk. I wanted his stay to be short and his concerns to be about anything but business.
He didn’t need to know it, but my mind was still focused on the girl from the coffee shop. Her attitude, spunk and gorgeous looks made her difficult to dismiss as just another woman. Without shifting my eyes up from my mountain of paperwork, I acknowledged his presence.
“Good evening, Cap,” I said flatly.
“Alarm wasn’t set.”
“Door sensors are broken. I need to call it in.”
He cleared his throat. “Might wanna do that. Hope your day went good.”
I met his gaze. “What?”
“I hope your day went good.”
“It’s still going, and what the hell does that mean? You hope it went good?”
“Means I hope your day went good. Mine’s been a shit sandwich.”
I waved my hand over the top of my desk. Typically organized, it was covered in piles of paperwork. “Sorry yours was hell, but I’m nowhere near done, so it’s too early to call it. Delivery went well?”
“Kind of.”
“Kind of? Did you drop off the weapons?”
He nodded. “Yep.”
“Were they pleased with the quality?”
“Yep.”
His “shit sandwich” remark made me feel slightly uneasy. Knowing all of my customers paid in advance prior to receiving a shipment of weapons left very little to go wrong.
“I’m not interested in playing guessing games, Cap. The AK-47s we were supposed to get from Virginia are coming in late, and when they get here, we’ll be fifty short. I’m going to have some mad Bulgarians on my hands if I can’t find out a way to fix it.” I pushed my chair away from the desk. “So, enlighten me on why you’re here telling me about your shit day.”
“I was plannin’ on it.” He drew a long deep breath and folded his arms in front of his chest. “Some fucker came up to the truck and knocked on the window. After I figured out what was goin’ on, I rolled down the window, and he starts sayin’ how we’re done sellin’ weapons in Kansas City. Said somethin’ about makin’ money, too.”
Anyone attempting to interfere with my business would be met by force, and Cap’s words fell on wary ears and a retaliatory mind. I glared back at him. “Done selling weapons? What?”
“He said you’re done sellin’ guns in Kansas City. I couldn’t really hear him over the music, so I got out. Then he started lookin’ at me all crazy and talkin’ shit, so I just started smackin’ him.”
“Who the hell was he? And what did he say about money?”
“Dunno who he was, and I couldn’t really tell what all he was sayin’, I was too busy hittin’ him while he was tryin’ to talk.”
“Goddamn it, Cap. What else did he say?”
“I don’t remember what all he said, I was pretty fuckin’ mad.”
“You don’t remember?” I walked around the corner of my desk. “Why don’t you give it a good goddamned try? Where, specifically, were you? And who was she? A fed? A cop? Did you get a name?”
He shot back a look of confusion. “She? He was a him, not a her.”
“What?” I no more than spoke, and realized I had said she instead of he. It seemed odd during all of the excitement and confusion, thoughts of Terra were still lingering.
“Goddamn it; you know what I meant. Answer the question.”
“I was at I-435 and Metcalf at the gas station gettin’ gas,” he said. “And he wasn’t a cop or a fed, that much I know. He just got out his Cadillac and walked up to me and started bumpin’ his gums and talkin’ shit, so I busted him in the mouth.”
I clenched my teeth and attempted to maintain my composure. “Where is he now?”
He shrugged. “I stomped the hell out of him and left him in the parkin’ lot beside his car. Figured someone was bound to call the cops or start askin’ questions, so I just beat feet. You know, came right here to tell you what happened.”