There was also the fact that Gio knew too much about the organization. He wasn’t above watching it burn to the ground simply because he wasn’t in charge anymore. Power was everything to Giovanni Benetti, and without it he had no sense of purpose. Sure, he could spend his days with my mother and try to be a good husband, but there was no pride in that for him. Men weren’t going to revere him just because he remembered their anniversary.
My becoming Boss was a delicate balance. And I had to find a way to keep Gio under my thumb when it happened. I needed something that would ensure he would fall into his new role without issue. I needed the information so immoral in our world, that it’ll send Gio off into retirement without a word of protest.
I had still been contemplating everything I found out from Sal when Ciro had called me-laughing, mind you-that his bartender at The Ruby had called Ciro’s guard, Piero, to ask him to have Ciro call him because there was a brunette with crazy blue eyes demanding to see me. Since Piero was Ciro’s shadow when Ciro was acting the upstanding citizen, he’d been able to relay the message as it was being delivered. Yesterday morning, when I had Phoenix do a search on Remy, her picture had naturally come up, so Ciro and Phoenix both knew what she looked like. So, from the description the bartender had given, Ciro had called me and asked me what I wanted to do. And that’s why I was on my way to The Diamond now.
A part of me applauded her courage, but the other part wondered if she was crazy. I couldn’t think of anyone who would have the balls to do what she did. Apart from Francesca, no one would dare. I don’t even think Robbie would get ballsy like that unless one of us were in danger. If Remy were truly crazy, things would never be boring. But if she was simply reckless, well, I was going to have to rein that in.
After leaving her house last night, I had made up my mind about what to do with her. I wasn’t fanciful enough to believed I’d ever find what Phoenix and Francesca had-because, really, they’ve been in love since they were seven. That fucking shit was too epic to happen to just everybody. But I wasn’t going to ignore what Remy made me feel. She’s the first woman to cause any sort of emotion to bloom inside my chest. My dick had felt plenty over the years, but my heart? Not a fucking thing.
Until now.
Until that fateful Wednesday night.
As soon as Phoenix had finished his search of Remy, he and Ciro had gone back to try to salvage breakfast with the girls, and I had sent a text to Beverly, letting her know I needed to see her. I knew her schedule and I knew she had an hour off between her second class of the day and her third. She also knew something was up because I’ve never contacted her during the day.
My texts have always been restricted to evening hours to let her know when to expect me, and I always texted from burner phone that I destroyed as soon as her confirmation was sent back. And the texts had always consisted of one thing only: a time. Nothing more, nothing less. There was nothing complicated about what we did or why. Beverly didn’t consider it rude when I didn’t engage in unnecessary banter, and I didn’t consider it rude if she couldn’t accommodate me. Though, to be honest, that’s rarely happened in the last five years.
Beverly had met me in the parking lot, where Sensio had opened the door for her, but had enough discretion to remain outside the vehicle. At first, she’d been wary, but then that wariness had quickly turned to surprise. However, there was no sadness, to which I was extremely grateful for. I hadn’t expected theatrics, but I didn’t want to have to deal with any misplaced feelings.
In the end, Beverly had graciously accepted that she wasn’t going to get an explanation as to why, but she knew this wasn’t a breakup. This was simply an end to an agreement. She had thanked me for the memories and got out of the car without a backward glance.
Pulling into the back of The Diamond, Sensio had pulled up near the backdoor, so I could exit the vehicle while he parked. I went inside through the back, avoiding the main floor of the club. Ciro’s office doors at his clubs were always locked, so I knocked. In the days before his marriage to Robbie, I’ve had the unfortunate luck of unlocking the door myself and walking in on Ciro getting his dick sucked by some random woman. I wasn’t a prude, and I’ve seen worse, however, Robbie was Ciro’s wife. That meant I needed to learn how to knock. The woman had serious issues around me already, I didn’t need to add to them by accidentally walking in on her and Ciro. The last thing I wanted to do was embarrass her when I was trying to put her at ease in my presence.
Ciro opened the door with the biggest grin I’ve ever seen on his face.
I wanted to break his face.
I walked past him and found Remy pacing the left side of the room between the bathroom door and the free-standing bar. She was mumbling, but I couldn’t make out her ramblings. She was dressed like she’d been at work and, considering the time, she probably had to get back to work soon.
“Remy?”
She stopped, narrowed her eyes at me, and hissed at me like a
