Page 14 of Drowning in the Deep
Of all the guys who had taken my mother’s side, I thought I had the best chance of changing the mind of this one. But the last thing I needed to do was tip off La Rosa that I was coming for him, and if the others heard, they could let my mother know or go directly to La Rosa, a chance I couldn’t take.
“Sure, sure,” he said, gesturing to the two chairs across from him. “Have a seat.” His eyes went back to Elisa as we moved across the room and sat. Her dress was so short, it practically showed off her thong, a piece of fabric I imagined was already wet from our dance earlier.
“I won’t take up much of your time. I know you’ve got a club to run and drugs to sell,” I clarified, my voice pulling his eyes away from Elisa and back to my own.
“Take your time, Daemon. I have to say, I was a little disappointed in how the meeting went. Your mother means well, and she has done a decent job running things, but this situation with La Rosa is foreign to me. I’m anxious to hear what you have to say. When a business is suffering, we have to make hard decisions, so for now, it seemed like your mother’s wisdom was the way to lean.”
“I understand that, Nico. I really do.” It was hard to say those words, but if there was one thing I had learned from my father—and there honestly wasn’t much—it was that you couldn’t force anyone to respect you. It had to be earned. If I hadn’t reached that point with Nico yet, I had to keep trying. “I’ll cut right to the chase. I’ve told all of you before that Alexander La Rosa is behind the attacks from the Latvians.”
“Yes, but as we discussed at the meeting, I need actual tangible proof of this, Daemon. Too much is riding on this for you to be wrong. I didn’t get to this position by jumping at every rumor. It’s a serious accusation against your mother’s new husband, and even if I do hate the son of a bitch, I can’t let things get out of hand based on a hunch.”
“It’s not a hunch,” I clarified. “And this is that son of a bitch’s daughter.” I gestured at Elisa, who didn’t look proud to have her father’s name associated with her, not that that surprised me.
Nico arched an eyebrow and returned his attention to the girl, seeing her differently this time. “I won’t apologize for what I said. It’s true. But it seems you favor your mother. Lucky you.”
Elisa’s voice was shaking slightly as she said, “No need to apologize. I wish it wasn’t true myself.”
Again, Nico was surprised, but he said nothing back to her, only looked at me expectantly, waiting for further explanation. “We both know Ragno La Rosa was involved with the Savages.”
Nodding, Elisa said, “Ragno was—is—my cousin. And I know for a fact that he was there, that he was interfering with the Petrov shipments and other businesses through the Savages. He told me so himself, and I saw him there.”
For a few moments, Nico weighed what we’d said before he shrugged. Addressing Elisa, he spoke to her like she was a child. “That doesn’t implicate your father directly. Even if you know for a fact that your cousin is involved, for all we know, he could be acting on his own.” Returning his gaze to me, he said, “I’m going to need solid proof that shows Alexander La Rosa is the one who ordered Ragno to get involved and that the Latvian gang’s attacks are coming at Alexander’s orders.” His expression turned apologetic for once as he added, “And no offense, but the day I take the word of a La Rosa is the day I cut my own dick off and join the choir.”
It was a Russian saying, one Elisa clearly wasn’t familiar with. She gaped at him for a moment, unblinking.
“But that’s precisely why we’re here,” I explained. Elisa turned to me then, her head tilted to the side, still confused. “Not the dick thing. The other part. The part about taking a La Rosa’s word for anything. Listen, I didn’t expect you to just believe either one of us, so that’s why I want to prove it to you, just like you said.”
“Prove it to me?” he repeated. “That, I can get behind, but how the fuck are you going to do that?”
“I have a tip from someone who used to be close to the Savages who can tell me how to get to one of their facilities way outside the city. Once we find them, I’ll be able to make them sing clearly enough. I want you there to hear what they have to say for themselves. Right out of their own mouths. Before I make sure they can’t sing no more.”
“You have a tip as to where the leaders can be found?” he asked for clarification. I nodded, and Nico dragged a hand down his face, rubbing his chin in thought.
“You come along,” I continued, seeing I was making headway in convincing him. “Bring some of your biggest bastards—your guys, no one else’s—and we’ll get all the proof we need to take back to the others. Simple enough. They might not all take my word for it, but they sure as fuck will believe you. No question.”
“If you’re going out into the middle of fucking nowhere to slam some Savage heads together, you can be damn sure I’ll be there,” he assured me. I held my revelry for a beat or two, waiting to hear if there was a catch. “But I am confused by one thing.”
I kept my irritation hidden as I asked, “What’s that?”
“Well, this just isn’t like you, Daemon. Coming to me for help and all. I’m shocked that you didn’t just go out there and blow the fuckers up all by yourself,” he said with a simple shrug.
“Oh, don’t get me wrong, Nico. I’m not asking forhelptaking these assholes out. I have no problem going out there and making sure there are no survivors. Hell, Vin could do that all on his own. No, the reason I want you there is for the proof that we need, nothing more. So in that regard, it’s true, I am asking for your help. When we round those assholes up and start asking them questions, I want to make sure you’re there to hear it for yourself. I have a lot of respect for you, Nico. Your endorsement means a lot to me. Once we can prove that La Rosa is behind the recent attacks, no one will stay loyal to this new regime Ma is trying to put in place, especially not if you stand beside me and back me to take over as leader of the syndicate—which you know damn well I should be. Ma means well but she’s being blinded by her infatuation with La Rosa. That has to end before we lose everything we’ve been working so hard for.”
Nico pondered everything I’d disclosed but only for a few seconds before he began to nod. “That all makes sense to me, Daemon. We all expected you to take over one day. Right now, it seems there are a lot of problems, although the money has been good, the businesses are full every night, and we haven’t had a true disruption in shipment. I feel that you could be a good leader for the family, but I can’t go against your mother, not without the proof you say you can provide.” He stood and offered his hand, and I did the same, shaking to confirm the plan. “You get one of those Savages to sing a song about Alexander La Rosa, and I’ll get the other capos on board with supporting you instead of your mother and that fucking snake.”
Nico’s shake was firm.
“I can guarantee you it will happen,” I promised him, releasing his hand. “Thanks for your time, Nico.”
“Thank you for letting me know the situation. And you can be assured I will speak to no one of this. If you’re right, we can’t be sure who to trust.” His eyes roamed to Elisa again, but this time, it seemed like more of a warning.
I wrapped an arm around her waist. I was pretty sure I could trust her, despite my accusations of only a few days ago. I was beginning to think I was incapable of trusting anyone except my brothers. I put the thought out of my head.
“I’ll be in touch,” I told him. “As soon as I know the time and location, you’ll be the first to know.” We bid each other goodnight, and I escorted Elisa out of the room, through the club, and straight to the car.
She said nothing, only walked along with me, but as she climbed inside the car, I could tell she was irritated about something, maybe even angry. I had no idea what it was, and ordinarily, I wouldn’t care. But as I got in behind the wheel and pointed my car in the direction of home, an unsettled feeling gripped my heart.
I actually cared what Elisa thought about me.
