Page 37 of Attraction (Mobsters + Billionaires 3)
Oh, look at us, way the hell north of Houston Street, and the Byrne brothers are doing business like we didn’t just make a deal. I’m not shocked, but I am irritated.
I grind my molars as Anthony and Hopper rejoin me. Anthony is as annoyed as I am. Hopper, on the other hand, is bouncing on the balls of his feet, clapping.
“I do love sticking it to the Byrne brothers.”
It used to be, a family puts a snitch on me, and I put the head of that family—and their fucking snitch—in the ground. And then fucking steal their business out from under them so they’re bankrupt before they even realize there’s a problem.
Maybe I should’ve left the people-saving to Charlie.
Maybe this is how Iaffect positive change.
“Me too, Hop,” I say, calculating what I’ll need to do to keep my involvement off the Byrne brothers’ radar—for now. Everything about the way they do business is like sticky black tar. No matter how careful you are, you’re bound to get dirty, and I don’t want them to see me coming.
And what that means right now is that Frankie is about to have a very bad day.
“I’m keeping the goods, Frankie, and unless you start talking, you won’t have much to say to the Byrne brothers. They’re not supposed to be this far north. What do you know?”
“I ain’t sayin’ shit. You have no idea what you just started,” he sneers, a little too confident.
I didn’t start shit, but I am about to finish it. I fuckingknewI shoulda put a bullet in his head.
It’s not a mistake I’ll make twice.
“Oh really? Explain it to me. Pretend like I’m stupid,” I say, eyeballing this piece of filth.
Frankie doesn’t take the bait and crosses his arms, keeping his mouth shut. Maybe he believes my Page 6 hype. Maybe he thinks I’m no longer capable of Mafia things. Too bad he doesn’t know that opening his mouth about the brothers sealed his fate.
“Anthony, get our new friends down to the car.”
“You got it, boss.”
“Hop?”
Hopper watches Anthony escort them down the hall, then sticks his hand in his pocket, coming out with brass knuckles.
“Damn, Hop. Going old-school today?”
He grabs Frankie by the throat with a tattooed hand and grins at me. “I was listening to Dean Martin this morning, and it made me nostalgic, you know?”
“Aw, that’s sweet, Hop.”
We joinAnthony and my new employees a few minutes later, with more information than we started with and a date with my dry cleaner. Hop’s already called the cleanup crew, and I’m grateful I remembered the silencer.
You know, Charlie might be onto something. There is something deeply satisfying about community service.
* * *
Anthony stepsinside my office and closes the door.
“Hey, boss,” he says, rubbing the back of his head.
“Why do I have a feeling you’ve got bad news for me?”
“Ryder looked into the burner phone. Frankie was definitely working with the Byrne brothers, but that’s not the worst of it. From what she can tell, they’ve got at least half a dozen of these little escort cells around the city.”
“Fuckin’ Byrne brothers,” I curse.
Then smile.
