Page 9 of Attraction (Mobsters + Billionaires 3)
Mads, who is model-beautiful, petite, and smarter than almost anybody I know, noisily crosses his arms over his puffer-jacketed chest and tries—so hard—to send me his version of a glare. I give him my best mob-boss look, the kind very few people survive the witnessing of, and he cracks up.
I wrap an arm around his shoulders and kiss his temple. “Mi fratello, I love that you are the one Anthony gave his heart to. No one else deserves it.”
Mads ducks his head, his tan skin a little flushed around his cheeks. Nodding, he answers, “Yes. Parivaar,” he says in his native Hindi, “familyis everything.”
With that, Anthony cups Mads’ cheeks with his huge pale mitts and swoops down for a kiss that lasts slightly longer than might be considered socially acceptable. I love to see it. Even if it makes my heart do that squeezy thing again.
Refocusing on the critical task of providing booze to my friends, I push the tray of drinks into Mads’ capable hands. The second Mads is loaded down with the tray, Anthony kisses the top of his head and pats it. Mads squeaks and scowls up at Anthony, but yeah, he’s not fooling anyone.
Once he’s safely back in the library, Anthony turns to me. “We haven’t talked since you spoke to Hughes. What’s the deal with the Byrne brothers?”
I growl under my breath. I fucking hate the Byrne brothers. My father’s solution would be to burn them to the ground. By reflex, I’d rather eat a box of rusty screws than do anything my old man did. But he might have a point with this family.
“Hughes is pissed that their drug sales are through the roof. I told him I don’t know what to do about that. I’m picking up on the fact that he’s frustrated the government isn’t actually interested in fixing anything.”
“Nothing new there.”
I rubmy palms over my eyes. “Take the guns. According to Hughes, if I’m not selling guns, the Byrne brothers will do it, and the way they’ll do it is bound to be aimed at maximum destruction.”
“I agree. It’s like solving one problem creates two or three others.”
I let out a frustrated breath. “It’s a fucking hydra, is what it is. I hate the idea of having to work with some government patsy to get anything done. I know Hopper has his thing with this guy, but it cuts way too close to the line.”
“Brother, we don’t have to do anything right now. We can run the status quo for a while until we figure it out. The thing with the drugs taught us a lesson. Now let’s apply that to the guns.”
“Fuck. Why couldn’t we have been raised by doctors in the suburbs?”
“Who do you think is buying all the drugs?”
I laugh, patting Anthony’s arm. “You make a good point.”
Anthony nudges me. “So. What do you think about Hughes?”
“That’s…yeah. Hopper’s favorite RICO agent is still too much of an unknown. Information is still thin on the ground with that one.”
Anthony nods in agreement. “Anemic.”
“Suspiciously so. Though he did let loose that he’s living with his grandfather.”
“How’d you get him to part with that information?”
“He asked me to tell Hopper to stop breaking into his place because his grandfather has a heart condition.”
Anthony bites back a laugh. “Good luck telling Hop to back off.”
“That’s what I said.”
Scratching his chin, Anthony does a little thinking out loud. “I know Ryder enjoyed the work she did with us, so we can certainly employ her skills again.”
Ryder is Mads’ tech guru and is scary-good at obtaining unobtainable information.
“Yeah. She’s a good one. Can you take care of that?”
“Sure thing, boss. Now let’s get back in there and let my man empty our bank accounts.”
“Sounds like a plan.”
As I walk in behind Anthony, I’m surprised when Rand stops me. He’s CEO of Wolfe Athletics, a multi-billion-dollar enterprise, and he’s probably more skittish around me than anyone else. His fiancé is from a different Mafia family, but they feel like brothers to me.
