Page 77 of Blood & Lace
This was all for the sake of our family. I had to remind myself we weren’t small-time anymore, we were climbing the ladder, aiming to be as big as the Vitale family.
Meeting business partners one-on-one was something I could handle. This shit made my skin crawl. I was over the fucking moon I wasn’t Damian and actually had to talk to these uppity fucks. Every single one of them left me with a grimy feeling coating my body. We weren't good people. I knew for a fact I wasn't. I'd killed more people than I'd ever saved; however, I wasn't a man pretending to be good when I knew I was evil.
“Gentlemen, this is the head of the Marino family, Damian Marino.”
We were announced like we were about to be auctioned off to the highest bidder. There were whispers around the room as they stared at us like we were wild beasts.
Damian, to his credit, moved around the room like he was meant to be there. The blood and debris were nothing more than accessories to his outfit. He shook hands and kept a calm façade as we were introduced around the room. There were plenty of rich men, their bank accounts probably holding more zeros than I’d seen in my life. With their money, I could get Onyx anything he could ever want.
There were those that flinched away from Damian as we made our way around. All of them spoke but none of it was important to me. I watched their actions. Daring any of them to try and attack. Their life would be over before they so much as had a chance to do anything to my brother.
After the meeting, people began to leave or move away from us until we were left with the man from earlier.
“Régis, are you the one I have to thank for the surprise gift earlier?” Damian asked.
“Oh no, I would never.” His words said one thing but his face said another. “However, it did prove to me and everyone in this room you’re all more than capable of what we might need done.”
Damian grunted as Régis gestured for us to take a seat. I moved behind Damian as he took a seat.
“If we’re going to work together, then there are certain people?—"
“Work together? I don’t know if that’s in the cards anymore,” Damian said, cutting him off.
Régis didn’t falter. “Sorry about that. You know how easy it is to be crossed in this world. Had to know that you were capable of handling certain matters. It’s not like your family is widely known. You’re just now starting out, and I’d hate for this chanceto slip by you and you lose what little pieces the Vitale family has given you.”
Damian’s back stiffened slightly but he said nothing in return.
The older man clapped his hands together and sat up. “You know the saying, you scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours.”
My brother’s demeanor shifted. “It sounds like you’re trying to order a hit on someone.”
Régis didn’t flinch, let alone deny the claims. “I need to know this is a beneficial relationship. I had some unfavorable circumstances prior to me leaving the state, but I’m back now, and if such circumstances appeared again I need to know that I’m covered.”
“And they are?” Damian asked.
Régis smirked and shook his head. “Nothing I can’t handle at the moment. In fact, I already set something up. I’m referring to the future.”
“You want a guarantee that we will be on your side in the future?”
“The future is never a guarantee, but I do like favors and promises,” the man said.
“And this today, you think this would guarantee a friendship?”
Régis shook his head, raising his hands in mock surrender. “I do have to admit, it was in poor taste but my colleagues are learning the truth of this world.” His smile was one that would have the masses trusting in him in seconds. “However, men like us know the truth. There is no light without darkness.”
Damian sat back, pulling out a cigarette. “Enough with your philosophical bullshit. I’m more than willing to do business. But do this shit again, and I’ll show you what it’s like to become the enemy of the Marino family.”
He looked unfazed as if he was used to rubbing elbows with the lowlifes of the world. “Noted.” Régis gestured for one of the men standing behind him to move forward.
My hand went to the butt of my gun. The warm metal fit perfectly against my palm. Steely gray eyes glanced my way momentarily, and again, he gave me that stare that made my stomach knot.
“Here is a little something to show that we are all on the same page here. I am working toward a better New York, and in order to do so?—”
“You’re not a politician here.”
“Yet,” Régis corrected. “I left for personal reasons, but New York has always been my home,, and I’m more than ready to come back. Not to mention I have plenty of business here.”
It would be so much easier to kill them all. Then again, it was probably why I was never included in decision-making. My answer when things annoyed me was either to walk away or kill them. I went back to surveying around us checking every so often for the door, just in case Prince and Nash had finished cleaning up.
