Page 124 of Driftwood Daffodil 3

GIOVANNI

Iwoke up this morning feeling great. All of the wrongs of the past were being righted. Fat Ricky found some information on Aldo. It wasn’t enough to prove that he was here when my mother was murdered, but he said it was a solid lead.

There were no more secrets between Darry and I. I’d still betrayed him regardless of what he said, but I could look him in the eyes again. While I was happy to have my friend back, I felt sick knowing that I cared for a woman like Carissa. But she would get what she deserved and then some.

Darry’s plan for his mother was fucking sadistic. It was a long game, but brilliant. Revenge was a dish best served cold. Plus, I wouldn’t have to spend any time with the woman, Nova took care of that.

Novalee Ford. She was the real prize. Kato’s precious baby sister was mine. And there wasn’t a thing he could do about it. He tried to talk her out of it when she went to visit him, but she chose me. She belonged to me and no one could take her away.

My omtreá went well. I was a made man now, I had my woman and plans to take down my enemies. Everything I ever wanted was within my grasp. I was on top of the world.

Then it all came crashing down with one phone call.

“Goddamnit,” I threw my fist into the dashboard. “Hurry the fuck up.”

I’d just finished my blood oath and was doing the rounds of congratulations and welcome to the families, when my father’s phone rang. The look he gave me caused my heart to drop into my stomach… I knew something was wrong before he said a thing.

“Why are there so many fucking people on the road?”

A lot was a slight exaggeration. There were only two other cars in our lane, but they were driving slow as shit.

“Hang on,” Darry jerked the steering wheel to the left, swerving around one car, then turned to the right to glide around the other.

Darry wouldn’t have been my first choice of driver. His curse with motor vehicles already caused us to lose a hubcap a block back and now one of the headlights kept flashing on and off. But I was too out of it to argue.

All I heard were the words Simon, gun, and Nova, and all the oxygen in the air was sucked out of the room. I stood there while the ground fell out from under me and everything started to spin.

I could barely hear what my father was saying let alone make decisions. The only thing going through my mind were the memories of my mother’s blood stained floor. Darry had to slap me across the face to snap me out of it.

Now, I just wanted to get there. I had to see if she was okay for myself.

“Come on!” I urged Darry.

“Relax,” he said while steering the car around the corner. “Romeo’s got her, everything’s fine.”

Everything was not fine. Everything was so fucking far from fine. I should’ve never let Nova go to work today? I saw the text. I knew Simon would be there and I still dropped her off this morning.

“I should’ve known.”

“Nope, we’re not doing that.” Darry stepped on the gas. “You had no way of knowing what Simon would do. He’s never been a threat before.”

“That’s cause he’s a pussy ass bitch.” Atlee added from the backseat. “Can’t wait to see how much the little bitch cries when I shove my bat up his ass.”

That was all true. Simon was sniveling weasel. I never thought he would have the balls for something like this, but desperate people did crazy things. If I’d have looked harder for him…

“This isn’t your fault.”

“Fuck off, Darry. You saw the text.” All the signs were there. “I should’ve kept Nova home today.”

Why the fuck did she have a job anyway? Nova was a terrible waitress. First thing tomorrow she was going to quit. If I had to buy that crappy diner to make sure that happened, then so be it. She was never going back there. If I didn’t send Romeo, god knows what would’ve happened. Just thinking about it caused a pit to swirl in my stomach.

We could be driving to the morgue right now. That could still happen. What if we were too late? For all I knew Simon was lurking around waiting for his chance to strike.

“What the fuck is taking so long?”

“We’re almost there.” Darry steered the car down the road to the diner.

“Did Romeo see where Simon went?” Atlee held up a 9 mm and screwed on a suppressor. “I have a few things to say to that prick.”

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