Page 83 of Driftwood Daffodil 3

“Give me a minute.”

“For what?”

“I just need a minute, okay.”

What was her problem? “It’s just dinner.”

She rolled her eyes up to mine. “No it’s not.”

No it wasn’t.

“We could leave and go somewhere else.” Nova suggested. “There’s a great food truck by the diner.”

“We can’t go to a food truck.”

“Why not?”

“Because we can’t.”

“Yes, we can.”

I rolled my eyes. “It’s not that easy.”

“Yes, it is. We just leave. I do it all the time.”

I had to admit, it was tempting to blow everyone off, but I wasn’t her. My commitment was to the family. It was all I ever wanted. Right?

“Come on Gio, you don’t have to do everything your father tells you to.”

I tipped my head down at her. “You think I’m doing this because my dad told me to?”

“Isn’t that why you do anything that you do? He’s the reason we’re in this situation.”

Is that what she thought? “The only person you have to blame foryoursituation is your brother. So, put a fucking smile on your face and play nice with our guests before I decide to punish you for your little trip today.”

“You can’t be mad at me for going to see Kato. He’s my brother.”

Yes I fucking could. “I hope you enjoyed your visit, because you won’t be having another one anytime soon.”

Honestly, I was more pissed off that she asked Atlee to take her than anything else. Nova was mine. If she needed something, she should come to me.

Daggers of rage sparked through Nova’s hazel eyes. “Kato is ten times the man you’ll ever be. He gave up his life for us.”

“No, he gave up his life for your sister. You were just left behind to clean up the mess.”

Out of all things that I could hate Kato Ford for, this should be last on my list. That didn’t stop me from wanting to drive down to the prison and punch him in the face. He abandoned Nova. Her sister abandoned her. They left her alone to clean up their mess, and yet she still stuck up for them.

“I hate you.”

“Good.” I hissed and opened the door.

The rich scent of cigar smoke tinted the air as we stepped in the room. The crowd wasn’t high in numbers as much as it was power. There were maybe fifteen people total, a few of whom looked our way. But for the most part everyone carried on with their conversations. And why wouldn’t they? The men in this room were higher level Capos. They handled our soldiers and reported directly to the boss.

A few of them I knew, like Vincent Vitali who was standing next to the bar with my father and Aldo. He ran things for us in New Orleans. Johnny the Fish – who got his name for his preferred method of disposal – was seated in one of the armchairs in the middle of the room. Across from him seated in another chair was someone I had never met, but based on the scar cutting across his left eye, I assumed he was Nico Lombardi. He took care of our Texas interests.

Every single man in here had more respect from my father than I did. His own son. The bastard didn’t even look my way when we walked in.

“Wow,” Nova’s eyes scanned the area. “There’s a lot of testosterone in this room.”

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