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Bad News
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Indebted to the Mafia King Business as Usual
EleniI pull into the complex of warehouses on the docks in the bright-blue sedan Dante bought me. It arrived a couple days after our run-in with Luca. At first, I was going to ignore it, like the tracking necklace I took off after that first meeting and haven’t moved from my nightstand since, but it turns out running a syndicate requires a lot of driving.Gianna turns up the radio. “Well, I think you’re crazy.”I expected her to be furious with me after I shot John. Still, I refused to let Tony give her the news, after all she’s done for me. When she hugged me and said it was a long time coming, I asked her to be my right hand. No matter what he said, Tony was still Dante’s. And I didn’t want anything of Dante’s around to make me think of him, even after I found out he was recuperating in hiding.“No one takes me seriously when I pull up in this thing,” I complain. “It’s like a neon sign, begging them to treat me like a little girl.”“It’s your favorite color!” She leans back against
Indebted to the Mafia King New Sheriff in Town
EleniI linger in the moment of Dante’s capos defaulting to me instead of him, making sure he feels it. Then, I wave my hand.“Go watch the foreman,” I say. “Nothing ranks above making sure the business keeps running.”The capos escape into the building. Behind Dante, the engine shuts off. Gianna raises an eyebrow at me.“You’re good.” I smile wryly. “At least if he kills me, we got to shut Piacere down a few times.”Gianna chuckles. “I’m just lucky I know the people who can keep my name off the no-fly list.”“You’re just lucky I’m one of them,” I say.It’s the most emotion I’ve let slip into my voice since the shootout. She sidles around me, and I turn with her to face Dante once again. Tony leans against the outside of the now-quiet sedan he pulled up in, and Gianna joins him. I knew Tony was still Dante’s, but if he’s sticking around, having my second nearby can’t hurt. Finally, I look at Dante again. Our gazes connecting rings through my limbs like the starting bell of a boxing m
Indebted to the Mafia King Shards
DanteI slump against the passenger’s seat, fighting for breath as Tony drives us back through the city streets. Standing up for a few minutes felt like running a goddamn marathon, and I can’t forget the burning in my chest anymore. Tony glances at me in the rearview mirror but doesn’t say anything. He said enough on the ride over.As soon as he told me Eleni shot Uncle John, I was on my feet. When he told me it was the same day everything went down with Luca, I put together a picture in my head. I expected her to be grieving, just trying to hold the pieces together. Instead, she doubled her kill count in a single day. The Eleni I met in The Greek Corner, the one who glowed while telling me about the after-hours gyros, would’ve broken down. That’s the Eleni I was racing for when I hurried out of Domino’s apartment while his wife yelled for me to lay back down.But as we drove to the house for a change of clothes and then where Eleni was “working,” a new story took shape. A hardened,
Indebted to the Mafia King Cut Out for This
EleniThe next morning, I wake up on a wide, soft mattress and immediately reach for where I’ve been plugging my phone in, on my right. My hand swipes through empty air. Right. Fuck. Dante came home last night and took his room back. Since I moved the bed frame out of my old bedroom to make my office, I couldn’t even sleep there. I’m just somewhere in his massive house.I scrub my eyes and sit up. My laptop shifts on the end of the bed, and I sigh. I stayed up late last night as usual, and now the red eye flight I have planned is going to suck. I climb out of bed, drop my laptop in my office, and head downstairs to make coffee. No point in changing out of the thin, oversized T-shirt I’ve been wearing to bed. I have nothing to hide from Dante, and he’s the only one here.The coffeemaker dings as I set foot on the first level. He must’ve woken up before me. I’ll just grab a cup and go. There’s nothing left to talk about. Just a few hours of packing, and then I’m on my way back to Mama.
Indebted to the Mafia King Checking Her Work
DanteI wake up in a third-string guest bedroom already pissed. The sun is coming in at an angle that tells me I’ve already slept later than I meant to, but my alarm clock is in my fucking room, which was too covered in crap to sleep in. Today is the day Eleni’s leaving. She made it very clear she doesn’t want anything else to do with me, and I’m inclined to give her that. The woman who marched out of my bedroom last night was someone I’d never seen before. I thought, for a split second, that I could still find Eleni underneath, but I think she died with Luca at that warehouse.Domino’s wife told me I should still spend most of my days resting, but if I lay around anymore, I’m going to get bedsores. I shuffle out of bed, gritting my teeth against the nearly overwhelming pain in my chest, and head down the hall toward my bedroom. I couldn’t carry more than one set of clothes last night, and like an idiot, I picked pajamas.I pass the door to Eleni’s bedroom. Slightly ajar. A little of
Indebted to the Mafia King Been Real
EleniThat night, I stride into Piacere half an hour before Gianna’s shift. I’ve been avoiding her all day because I think she’s the only one with a chance of talking me out of this. Half an hour shouldn’t be long enough, though, and I made sure one of Gianna’s favorite customers was here tonight, to keep her from delaying her shift to talk to me. It’s funny coming back here, though, especially alone. The first time I walked through these doors, I had no idea what they were going to mean to me. I had to beg my way past the bouncer instead of nodding and greeting him by name. I had to look around like a lost duckling instead of marching to the back, where I know the strippers’ dressing room is. I didn’t even know what scotch tasted like.Now, I don’t think I’ll ever drink scotch again.I push into the dressing room. Two of the other dancers, Sabrina and Crystal, sit at the mirrors already in costume.“Hey guys,” I say.“Hi, Eleni,” they chorus.Crystal turns to face me and jiggles he
Indebted to the Mafia King Queen of Saints
DanteI slide into a booth at La Dolce Vita, an Italian restaurant I haven’t been to since before Frank Lombardi killed my father and inhale the garlicky air.“Good, right?” Tony sits next to me. “I’ve been all over this place the last two weeks.”I shoot him a look. “I’ve been all over whatever the hell Domino’s wife saw fit to feed me. Do you know what that is, by the way?”“Yeah, I think she prefers a diet of ‘shut up, it saved your life,’ just like in the old country.” Tony picks up a menu. “Are you sure you’re ready for this?”As if to prove his point, my chest burns.“Yes,” I say. “And whether I’m ready or not, I have to get back into the game. She’s leaving tonight.”Tony grunts noncommittally, thankfully pulling me away from the attendant ache of that statement.“What? I thought you’d be throwing her a going away party.”He shrugs just as a waitress walks up to the table.“What can I get you guys to drink?” she asks.Tony looks up at her slowly, emphasizing his blue eyes in a
Indebted to the Mafia King Last Chance
EleniI yank on the stubborn zipper of my suitcase to no avail. It won’t shut. I release with a sigh, and the top flops open to reveal the picture of Dante and Christos I stole from his room. I swallow. I know stealing it is stupid. I don’t really know either man in this picture. But it just feels wrong, leaving this image behind in the shadow of what happened here.I want to remember them like this. Innocent and young, before the Mafia pulled them under. I don’t have any pictures of myself. Mom packed those up and took them with her to Greece. I wonder if I’d even recognize the girl I used to be.My phone vibrates, and I curse. That’s my ten-minute alarm. If I’m not in the car on the way to JFK by the time the last one goes off, I’m going to miss my flight. Gianna convinced me to talk to Dante, but he’s making it a hell of a lot harder by not being here. For lack of anything better to do, I grab a pack of the sticky notes I’ve started going through like water and attempt to write a
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