After he left, Uncle Joey took pity on me, thinking that I looked a little shell-shocked. “Don’t worry, Shelby. Like I said, naming you as my successor is just a formality. Nothing’s going to change.”
“Are you sure about that?”
He let out a breath. Now that Chris was gone, he could open up a little. “Yes. I know you don’t want it, and I don’t want to burden you. I just need to know that, if anything were to happen to me, I wouldn’t leave a mess for Miguel to clean up.”
“Of course. I understand that.”
“Good. It will just give me some peace of mind, you know?”
“Yeah. I totally get that. But what about Ramos? He would be lots better at it than me.”
Uncle Joey smiled. “Yes. He would. That’s why I’ll ask him to run the business. He knows it better than anyone.”
“Then why not name him as your successor?”
“I don’t know.” He caught my gaze. “It just seems right to name you. You’re part of the family now. I guess that’s the main reason. Be it right or wrong, I can’t do it any other way.” He was going with his gut, and it hadn’t steered him wrong yet.
I couldn’t get over the fact that he thought of me as his real niece, even though I wasn’t. It seemed a little ironic that pretending it was true had made it true in his mind.
Was that some kind of a syndrome or something? Maybe Bob would know more about it? It probably had a name, and he’d know exactly how it came about. Maybe I could ask him at my next appointment… hypothetically speaking, of course.
I met Uncle Joey’s gaze. “So does Ramos know you want to put him in charge of everything?”
His brows drew together. “Not exactly. I wanted to talk to you about it first. Once you’ve made your decision, then I’ll talk to him. Either way, I think he’d be fine running the business, especially if you’re involved. I mean… he’s always been protective of you, so it only makes sense that he’d want to be there to help you out, in whatever capacity you need.”
My eyes narrowed. “Oh… so I see how it is.”
“What?” He didn’t like my tone.
Was it okay to tell a mob boss he was a manipulative son of a… gun? Probably not. “Sounds like you know what you’re doing.”
“Of course I do. And if it will benefit everyone I love, I don’t have a problem with it.” His direct gaze caught mine in an unspoken challenge. Since I had no idea how to argue with that, I nodded instead, and he relaxed. “Now we need to talk about this unfortunate incident with my tenant.”
“Right. So what happened last night? Did Ramos talk to Slasher?”
Uncle Joey snorted, since he wouldn’t call it talking. “Yes. But he didn’t get the answer we wanted. Slasher told Ramos he was working for me, just like always.”
“So he really didn’t know?”
“It doesn’t sound like it. Of course Ramos knew there was more to it, and he convinced Slasher it was in his best interests to tell him everything about the operation. It sounds like Slasher is a pusher, but he gets the drugs from Vinny who just happens to be Victor’s cousin. You remember Victor?”
“Oh yeah… he was number three on my chart.” I’d met Victor the first time I worked for Uncle Joey. It wasn’t until later that I’d learned his name. Still, I didn’t know him well. “Does he still work for you?”
He nodded. “Yeah. Victor ran the drug side of the business, and now it looks like he’s turned it over to his cousin Vinny.”
I snorted. “That’s hilarious.” Uncle Joey’s brows dipped. He wasn’t amused. “I mean… the cousin Vinny part. You know? My cousin Vinny?”
Uncle Joey rolled his eyes. “The point is—it means that Victor has gone against my wishes to stop running the drug business. Even worse, he’s still using my name.” He shook his head. “Did he think I wouldn’t find out about it? What an idiot. I thought he was smarter than that.”
“Yeah… that’s rough.”
“And here I thought I was turning over a new leaf and getting out of the drug business. Why do these things always happen?”
“Isn’t that the truth? It’s like that saying… no good deed goes unpunished. I thought it only applied to me, but now it looks like you can’t catch a break either.”
He smiled, seeing the irony. “I know… the perils of being a mob boss. I could write a book about it.”
I chuckled. “Yeah. It could be one of those self-help books, and you could call it The Reluctant Mob Boss, or how about The Hazards of Being a Mob Boss. Or maybe, Things You Should Know Before Becoming a Mob Boss.”
His lips turned up in a polite smile, and he shook his head, thinking I was getting carried away. It might have been funny at first, but I should probably stop now.
I shrugged, not nearly as intimidated as I might have been a few months ago. “So what’s next?”
“I’m going to invite Victor into the office for a meeting. I need you to be in attendance, since I’m not sure I can trust anything he says. Can you come back a little later today? Ramos should be back by then.”
“Of course. Where is Ramos anyway?”
“I sent him to check on the other members of my organization. After hearing about Victor, I intend to find out if anyone else is going against my wishes.”
I nodded. “That’s a good idea. Ramos is good at getting people to talk, but if you need my help, just let me know.”
“You know I will.”
I grinned. “Okay. Well… I’d better get going. I’ll see you in a bit.” I made my way to the door and pulled it open.
“Shelby… wait… I just want to say… thanks
