Page 6 of Dirty Deeds
“Grace took pictures of all the bids. We added them up and the numbers didn’t check.”
I scrub a hand over my face.
“That’s circumstantial shit, Nico. There could be a legit reason the numbers didn’t add up.”
His jaw ticks and his eyes dangerously darken. It’s uncanny how much he resembles our father when he’s pissed.
“You sound just like dad—soft and always looking for the good in people who don’t fucking deserve it.” He knocks his knuckles against the grain of the table. “Matthews is a dirty politician and he’s using our brother’s legacy to embezzle money.”
I shake my head. He’s so fucking thick-headed sometimes.
“I’m not disputing that, Nico, but a few grainy photos taken on Grace Pastore’s phone isn’t enough proof.”
“Then I guess it’s a good thing Uncle Jack is taking care of it. He don’t give a fuck about proof.”
I raise an eyebrow at that. Before our father became president of the Satan’s Knights, the title belonged to Uncle Jack and if it weren’t for his long battle with mental illness, he’d still be holding the gavel. He ran the club differently than my father does these days, though—always quick to pull the trigger and ask for forgiveness later.
“Does Wolf know Jack is taking the reins on this one?” Riggs questions, clearly concerned.
Nico shakes his head and I scoff.
I’m not surprised. Uncle Jack is forever going behind my old man’s back, taking the lead on things that don’t concern him. Sometimes it ends well, most times it ends with war.
My brother’s dark eyes find mine.
“Look, the only reason I’m even telling you any of this is because of Danica. If she’s an innocent party and like I said, I truly believe she is, then someone might want to warn her to get the hell out of dodge.”
“And you think that someone should be me?”
Nico pushes back his chair and rises to his full height.
“Did I say that?”
“No, but that’s what you implied.”
He shrugs his shoulders.
“Take it however you wish, bro.”
“She stood him up,” Riggs says. “He don’t owe her any favors.”
“Maybe not, but maybe she has the proof he needs to ease his conscience when we bury her husband.” He pushes his chair in and fixes me with a look. “You may not wear our colors, Enzo, but you know what happens when someone fucks with us. More than that, you know what happens when someone fucks with a Scotto. Frankie ain’t here no more and I swear on everything that’s holy, I’ll blow this whole city to smithereens before I let anyone tarnish his name. I expect you to do the same.”
With that he turns for the door. Riggs takes one of the tape measures from the box and places it on the table in front of me.
“Give her one of these. Maybe this time you’ll get laid.”
CHAPTERTWO
DANICA MATTHEWS
“ShouldI wear the blue dress or the green one?” I ask, hitching the phone to my ear with my shoulder as I glance at the two options sprawled out across my bed.
“Neither,” Ro replies into the line. “I don’t know why you’re even going to this thing but, there are a lot of things I don’t understand when it comes to you and that cheating prick.”
I sigh and drop my ass onto the foot of the bed. Ro is constantly giving me shit for supporting Brent’s bid for congress after the divorce. I don’t blame her, she’s the one who picked me up off the floor when I found out my marriage was over, and she was there throughout the proceedings. When the papers were signed and everything was finalized, she sent me a gigantic gift basket that included a t-shirt that read “Divorced and Looking for The D”, a state of the art vibrator, and a tumbler that said “A Wise Woman Once Said, Fuck This Shit, and Lived Happily Ever After.” Then she, along with everyone else, saw me on the news, standing next to Brent. We didn’t lie and say we were back together, we just portrayed ourselves as a united front. Two people who once were married, now banding together for the greater good of the community Brent wanted so badly to serve.
It was an Academy Award winning performance if I do say so myself—one that I keep repeating every time I pose for a picture with Brent. Then we part ways. He goes back to his Russian whores, and I come home to my empty condo. That vibrator has gotten a workout over the last six months.
