Page 9 of Double Edged Hearts
Where did I go wrong?
“No problem, Boss, I’ll call him and get everything sorted out,” Gio answers, snapping my attention back to the discussion.
“Anything else we need to do with the contract itself?” I ask. I’m in charge of new contracts for the smaller businesses and business development, but because Dante is higher in the rank of our leadership, he was approached first with the offer for the school. I know there’s not going to be anything more for me to do because they would have talked it out already, but I’m asking to show interest. I haven’t said anything throughout the meeting. That’s strange even for me.
“No, nothing yet,” Claudius answers. “What’s the situation with the Scarfonis?”
“I should be closing the deal tomorrow. They needed some time to get the money together for the deposit on the hotel,” I explain.
“Make sure you make it clear I don’t want no dead bodies in my hotels. If I even hear of one and the fucker didn’t die of natural causes, they’re fucked,” he warns.
I smirk. “I’ll tell them.”
The Scarfonis aren’t known for their patience. They wanted to lease the hotel chain on the south side to start up business. Most crime families who want a hotel just use that as a front for the real business they’re covering up.
“Good. They also need to make sure they fed proof their accounts. I’m not signing anything until I see that.”
“I got it covered, Boss.” I tip my head.
“Meeting adjourned.”
Dante and Gio are the first to stand and make their way to the door.
When I get up, Claudius clears his throat. “Alex, can I talk to you for a sec?” he asks.
“Of course,” I reply.
Both Dante and Gio look at me then at Claudius before they leave. It’s rare for him to ask one of us to stay back to talk in private.
They leave, and I lower myself to sit back in my chair.
Claudius gets up, and his long black hair swishes about his elbows when he sits on the edge of his desk.
“Alex, anything else you want to tell me?” he asks. “Anything else besides closing the deal with the Scarfonis?”
I gaze at him, and feel tempted to lie. I know better though. We live by a code amongst us, and if I lied, I’d be screwing myself over with a guy I can trust with my life.
Claudius and I have been through too much shit for me to even contemplate lies. He’d know I was lying anyway.
The way I move around knowing everything that’s happening is the same way he does. So, I’ll cut to the chase and get to the crux of his thoughts.
I sit forward and stare at him. “You know about her, don’t you?” I ask, and the corners of his lips tip into a smile.
Not one of humor. It’s more crude.
It was Donny, who helped me get the intel on Cora after my street guy in the secret squad notified me that she went to the secret garden.
“Yes, I know about her,” he answers. “What are you doing, Alex? She’s a fed.”
My lips part, but I don’t know what to say.
“She’s not the person we once worked with, and the fact that she’s a fed says all,” he points out. “It means she wants nothing to do with the criminal underworld. Ever. What the fuck do you think you’re doing sniffing around her when she hasn’t been in your life for years?”
“I just needed to see her,” I explain.
His jaw tenses. “Alex… you’ve seen, what now? You seeing her again?”
I don’t know how to answer that question. If I said no and that was the truth, it wouldn’t take much for my mind to change by nightfall. This is Cora. I don’t know myself when it comes to her.
