Page 8 of Double Edged Hearts
Chapter Two
Alex
His eyes are on me.
Claudius Morientz didn’t become boss by not paying attention. I don’t have to wonder if he knows where I was last night. I know he does.
Suspicion lurks in his eyes when he looks at me, and I don’t like it. He has one blue eye; the other brown. When he’s pissed, the blue eye is the one that gives all the emotion away. I’ve known him long enough to tell he’s mad as fuck, and it’s to do with me.
He looks away, sits back in his chair, and focuses on what Dante is saying.
We meet like this practically every day now. We gather here in Claudius’ office at our base in the city just to check in. It’s what you do when the wealth you own is overflowing. It’s what we do as mobsters who have their fingers in many pies. Legit, and not.
More so on the legit side. I’m sure our forefathers who frequented Chicago in the early days would be shocked to shit to hear such a thing, and from guys like us who are as badass as they come.
Dante is talking. I should pay attention. I can’t, however, because my damn mind is torn. Last night I knew I was jumping into the deep end of the fucking ocean, getting in way over my head by allowing Cora back into my heart.
Now that she’s there, I can’t forget her, and worse, because I don’t want her working this case of hers any more than I want her being a fed.
Few things shock me, but when I found out she’d joined the feds, I was shocked to shit.
Eight years ago, we started this game. Because she was still in college, I saw her when I could and under wraps. Cora and I met through a cop who was helping us with a situation because he got dragged into it, not because he wanted to help out of the goodness of his heart. Cora and I hooked up then and had this covert long distance relationship that saw me and her bouncing between LA and Chicago. I even went to see her for the odd spontaneous visit when she was at MIT. It was no place for a guy like me who didn’t go to college and never planned to.
The last time I saw her, she was working for a tech company, and she came here to see me. She was gone before I could even open my eyes. I looked for her everywhere for nearly two years before I stopped and realized she didn’t want to be found. Worse, she didn’t wantmeto find her.
I did find her though. She resurfaced in LA after all that time of searching. I found her but I never allowed her to see me. I just wanted to make sure she wasn’t dead. That day I let her go from my mind, but she was still in my heart. I didn’t know what direction her life took next until two days ago when she went to the garden,our spot. It was after checking things out that I got the shocker of finding out my girl was now a fed. The worst type of thing in my world.
When I learned she was here looking for Matvey Kuznetsov, I nearly lost my shit.
He’s one mean son of a bitch who does the devil’s bidding. What the feds don’t realize is he’s not any old arms dealer, and not the usual they would have previously encountered. This guy is insane and knows people in high places.
From what I’ve dug up on him… I know that whatever shit he’s in town for isn’t anything good. Arms dealers and anybody with those sort of fucked-up arrangements are never good.
But what can I do?
Would she listen to me if I asked her not to work the case?
I doubt it.
It tears me up thinking about it and the potential danger she could get herself into. The fact that she’s a fed sent the message loud and clear that she doesn’t want anything to do with me, but last night meant she’s still my girl.
Dante continues to talk, but Claudius’ gaze shifts to me and lingers although he doesn’t say anything. I just stare back. It’s best to. He’s been doing that since we stepped in and the meeting began.
“We stand to make a few million from that, Boss,” Dante says in a hearty voice that snaps me out of my thoughts. “Definitely by the end of this year if we can get the project underway.”
He’s talking about the redesign of an old boarding school. The place is a dilapidated mess of shit. We just got an investment offer to build a complex of luxury apartments. Because it’s near the city center, we stand to make a shit load of money.
We. That’s how it works. When Claudius took over the empire from our old boss, Raphael Rossi, he changed up the hierarchy making the four of us his Capos and his father, Marcus, his consigliere. Claudius divided all the riches between us. It was like overnight wealth that would take care of our families for generations to come.
We own ninety percent of the property and a majority of the businesses in Chicago. The money we get from anything new is split four ways.
“I agree,” Claudius states, then focuses on Gio. “Gio, get this guy checked out. I want everything on him. Get Gibbs to do a thorough search too. I don’t want any nasty surprises.”
Gibbs is our PI. He’s the kind of guy who can find out anything you need and I meananything. The kind of shit people try to hide and it comes back to bite later on. We had a guy who was idiot enough to do that to us once. He now has one hand that can be deemed as functional.
That was before we met Gibbs. When I first met him the way he worked reminded me of Cora. She always told me she wanted to go into private investigation and do her own thing. I guess that all changed. I wish I knew what happened.
What changed her?
