Page 79 of Little Fury

“And who the fuck is she exactly? She has no family or has ever been part of one of the families. So, I will speak to the bitch any way I please.”

“Frank, Ava may not be a member of any made or criminal family, but I promise you, getting on her bad side is a mistake,”Thomas replies, surprising everyone.

“Thomas, just because you may want to get your dick wet in that–”Thomas sighs, interrupting Frank before he can finish that thought. He looks over at Frank; he doesn’t stand, doesn’t raise his voice, but whatever the look on his face is, he has the older man shrinking back into his seat.

“Frank, you will do well listening to me. You have no idea who that young woman is. You have no idea what she is capable of. If you want to keep breathing, I would suggest you shut the fuck up and refrain from speaking to her again in such a manner. Because while we may be here together to speak to Marcus and Ava, I promise you if things go badly and Ava decides to kill you for insulting her, I will not interfere. Fuck, I’d happily let her use my gun to do it.”

Frank doesn’t reply, but he also doesn’t say anything else. These three men are here to see how Marcus is going toconduct business now. They want to know if things will be the same or if he will be making changes. They can’t come out and ask him outright, so instead, Thomas speaks to me.

“Ava, I’m sure it’s a wee bit of a surprise seeing me here.”

“A bit, yeah.”

“I knew your dad very well. We did business here and there and became friends. But your parents were not part of this world. They were more adjacent to it. I don’t know how much of their life was above board, but I know some was down here on our level.”

“I’ve been wondering that since I got a look at the bank accounts and investments and such.”

“Enough Thomas! Just ask them the fucking questions so we can leave,”Walter commands. Thomas turns to the older gentleman and, in a low voice, barely audible, tells Walter to shut the fuck up. And Walter does. I look at Thomas, cocking my head to the side a bit. That Irish bastard has something on the other two. Thomas looks at me and winks, and I sigh at the wink. I can’t help it. I still have such a crush on this man. Marcus laughs at me.“Fucking hell, Ava, get it together, woman.”

“I’m trying, Marcus, I am, but that Irish lilt is my fucking kryptonite.”

Marcus and Thomas both let out a big laugh at my admission. I see Matt and Sebastian both chuckle as well.

“Ava dear, what is the plan for the Rossi family?”

I look at Marcus, seeing if he wants to do the talking. He nods at me, so I speak.“Well, Thomas, the new head of the Rossi Family, plans to make no changes. Unless something glaringly bad comes to his attention, he sees no reason to change anything. That being said, Mr. Rossi is open to changing certain deals if both parties would like. Mr. Rossi understands some of his father’s deals were unfairly one-sided. So, in a show of good faith, he would discuss new and more equal terms.”That gets their attention.

“Why would he do that?”Frank asks me.

“Because he isn’t Enzo.”

“No one willingly renegotiates terms like the ones Enzo had. It would be stupid on his part. He runs the risk of losing out on millions,”Walter tells me, confusion lacing his words.

“Right. So, I’m going to speak very bluntly, ok?”I look at Marcus again, and he smirks at me.“Dude, you could do the talking. I’d be thrilled to sit back and stare at Mr. Murphy while you fine gentlemen figure shit out.”Marcus smiles at me again.

“Fine,”he says.“Gentlemen, my dad was a piece of shit. I’m not him. I also have zero interest in having to keep a fucking eye on you guys all the time. Do you know how much fucking manpower he wasted watching you three? And the best part? He still fucking missed pretty much every single deal Thomas did in the last three years. Sir, you are impressive. I understand Ava’s crush on you a bit,”Marcus tells Thomas. Both men chuckle.

“Happy to share some tips if you need, Marcus.”

“Thanks. I may take you up on that offer, but not around Ava because I’m not sure what she’s liable to do to you if she is forced to spend a lot more time with you.”

“Piss off. I’ve got myself under control. Just get the fuck on with it.”

“Very well, gentleman, speak to your lawyers, draw up new offers, and we will sit down and work it out. I don’t want your business. I don’t want to have to babysit. I just want to move the fuck on from everything Enzo Rossi was.”

Frank, Walter, and their men leave after a toast to new deals. I look over at Thomas.“What do you want, Mr. Murphy?”I ask him.

“Nothing, Ava. I want to make sure you’re good. Your dad was my best friend, so I wanted to see how you fared.”

“I fared well. Harry was good to me. He loves me like a daughter. The only thing that would have been better was if my parents hadn’t died. I promise, Thomas; I’m happy, I’m good.”

Thomas smiles at me, and I know I’m blushing, but the man is magnificent. He’s about six feet tall, with black hair sprinkled with grey. His eyes are a cornflower blue, framed with black lashes. His jaw is strong, and he has a close-cropped beard that, like his hair, is black, speckled with grey, He gets this tick in his jaw when he’s mad and trying to keep his temper in check. His shoulders are broad, and he has a slim waist. His ass is juicy, and his thighs are a whole other level of insanity. The man plays rugby. Even now, in his late forties, he still plays. I want to play rugby with him. I'd happily let him lift me to catch the ball like they do.

“Ava,”Marcus squeezes my leg to get my attention.

“Yeah? Yes? “

“You are in so much trouble when we get back to the hotel, Little Fury,”he whispers into my ear, his teeth skimming the shell of it. It sends a shiver through my body straight to my core.

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