Page 57 of Monster

“Yes?” I asked.

Lorenzo tapped me on the shoulder. “Need your ear for a second, Mateo.”

I shrugged off his touch. “It can wait.”

“Actually, it really can.”

I finished signing off on a purchase for more women’s clothing before I turned around and gave Lorenzo the courtesy of looking at him.

But, what I really wanted to do was strangle him with my bare hands.

“What do you want?” I asked.

Lorenzo grinned. “That any way to greet a friend?”

“No.”

He clutched his heart. “You wound me with your insinuations.”

“I promise you, it’s not an insinuation.”

He sighed. “You really are a dramatic one, aren’t you?”

“What do you want, Lorenzo?”

He slid his hands into his pockets. “Follow me. We have much to discuss.”

I peered over my shoulder. “And he says I’m dramatic.”

The shop owner chuckled at my words before I nodded and turned back to Lorenzo. The difference between a man like him and a man like myself is that I had love for my hometown. I had love for the islands because they raised me, and gave me memories, and provided a beautiful home for me to settle my life in. These islands had taken care of me for years, even when all other cards pointed to my untimely death. I always felt that the island had been on my side. Even though Lorenzo and his family owned seventy-five percent of it, I always felt as if the island had my back rather than theirs.

And in my eyes, it was only a matter of time before the island devoured the Lucchese’s whole.

Nevertheless, I followed Lorenzo out to the gaudy, blacked-out town car he and his family always had to travel in. I hated the look of those things. They were so conspicuous and obvious. It didn’t even matter that the windows were tinted, everyone knew who was in those cars whenever they drove through town.

I eased myself onto the leather seat. “So, what is it you want to pay me for?”

Lorenzo chuckled as he closed the door to his side. “What makes you think I’m about to pay for something?”

“It’s your family’s M.O. You think money can buy everything. It’s why you guys give no respect.”

He nodded slowly. “You really enjoy disrespecting our family, don’t you?”

“It’s not disrespectful if it’s the truth.”

He snickered. “I’ll get right to the point, then: I’m prepared to give you fourteen million dollars for that woman I know you’ve got dwelling in your basement.”

My eye twitched. “No.”

“Are you sure? You could recoup your investment, plus interest, and unburden yourself with the dirty little secret you’ve got hidden behind closed doors.”

I peered out the window. “Women aren’t for purchase, Lorenzo.”

“And yet, that’s exactly how you came into possession of that woman in the first place.”

I drew in a slow, deep breath through my nose. “She isn’t for sale. Not now, and not ever.”

“Yet, you haven’t released her. Isn’t that right?”

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