Page 78 of Little Fury

He looks up at me and nods.“Whenever you’re ready,”I tell him.

“Stuck in the middle with you?”

“Whoa, now. It’s a really good song. And Matt selected the music. So, he gets the credit for the homage to Tarantino playlist.”

“How’d he do?”he asks.

“Good. he enjoys hurting bad men.”

“I’m not sure Caden will make it,”Marcus tells me.

“Yeah, I’m not sure, but I don’t need Caden if I have Matt. Matt and I can do the dirty work. May as well leave it to the ones who enjoy it. Caden is fucking loyal and protective as hell. I think he will be perfect for bodyguard duty with training from Harry and Wes. I don’t need both of them to be able to inflict pain. As long as he can pull the trigger when it's needed, I’ll keep him.”

“And Ben?”Marcus says as he stands from his chair.

“Ben needs some self-defence and basic firearms training, but for the most part, he’ll never be in the midst of it. And he's too good with computers for me not to make it work somehow.”

Marcus nods to me, and we head back down.

He says nothing as he walks into the room. He simply walks up to the bloody man moaning in the chair, pulls his gun out of its holster, puts it against the man’s skull, and pulls the trigger.

Theo, Wes, and Sebastian join us in New York. They are here to help clear out anyone who wasn’t feeling the management change in the Rossi organization. In the ten days that followed, 17 didn’t make it through the transition. The funniest part was that 11 of the guys turned us down because we took out Hank. They didn't care that Marcus was in charge or that Enzo was dead.

Marcus apologized to them all. He told them he understood and wished he could have spared Hank, but Hank was never going to bend to Marcus, and he was too much of a liability to leave alive. All 11 understood, and it was unnaturally civilized for people of our nature.

When the guys return to the ranch, they will take Caden, Matt, and Ben.

We booked an entire restaurant so we could enjoy ourselves with a family dinner. After the last ten days, I’m happy to sit here to drink, laugh, and eat. I’m so very done with people at the moment. The men at this table are the exception to that. I love every one of them, and I know how lucky I am to have them.

We have just finished our meals when the door opens, and in walks Frank Campano and Walter English with a handful of their men. I do my best to hide my surprise as Thomas Murphy follows them in with a few of what I assume are his own men.

I turn into Marcus, rubbing my hand across his abdomen so I can pull his gun from his holster.“Now, Ava, if we didn’t want to speak, we would not have come ourselves,”Thomas tells me, his Irish lilt bringing a blush to my cheeks like it did when I was a child.

“Still blushing, I see?” He laughs lightly at me.

“Only for you and that accent, Thomas. You look good for an old man. I was sorry to hear about Anna. Cancer is heartless, and Anna was a spectacular woman.”

“Thank you, Ava.”

The guys have already gotten up from the table, leaving Marcus and me sitting. They have placed themselves around the room close to the other men standing. Frank, Walter, and Thomas join us, sitting in the vacated chairs. The restaurant staff has cleared off the plates and cutlery. The three men sitting with us look relaxed as if this is just any other day for them.

“It seems you made some changes the last few days, Marcus,”Walter says.

“Yes, sir. My father’s time had come to an end.”

“Did he see it that way?”Thomas asks.

“Of course he did, Thomas. It just took Ava a moment to convince him.”

I slide my hand onto Marcus’s thigh, squeezing it and telling him he needs to relax. He rubs the back of my hand and takes a steadying breath.

“And will the new head of the Rossi family be expecting a seat at the table?”Walter asks.

“What table would that be?”I respond.

“Mind your fucking mouth, girl.” Frank snarls at me.

“No, she’s just fine like she is, Mr. Campano,”Marcus tells him. His voice is low and rough.“And you will remember who she is to me before you speak to her again like that. Understood?”

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