“Uh… well. I guess if he’s double-crossing you, he’s got to go.” That surprised them both. Was I actually saying he should be killed? “But it might just be a misunderstanding, so I think we should wait and see.”
“Good idea,” Uncle Joey answered.
“Uh… since we’ve got some time, I think I’ll put my purse away in my office and maybe grab a Diet Coke.” At Uncle Joey’s nod, I stood to leave.
“I’ll come with you,” Ramos said, eager to find out what was going on between me and Manetto. He followed me down the hall and opened my office door. I stepped inside while he waited in the hall, slipping my purse in the bottom drawer of my desk.
Before leaving, I caught sight of the photo of our family taken with Miguel after his show in New York. It sat right next to the photo of me, Chris, and the kids. The phrase, “In for a penny, in for a pound,” hit me like a ton of bricks. Boy, was I ever in over my head now. Who would have thought?
I joined Ramos and followed him to his swanky apartment, situated at the end of the hall. Ramos stayed there most of the time, and his fridge was always stocked with diet soda… mostly for me. Since it was my duty to drink it, I tried to stop by as often as I could. Plus… it was a great place to take a breather from the stress of working for a mob boss.
Ramos pulled the door open and followed me inside. I went straight to the fridge, grabbed a can, and popped the lid. After taking a couple of swallows, I found a glass, filled it with ice, and poured in the rest. “You want one?”
Ramos came to my side and grabbed a cold bottle of beer from the fridge instead. “No way. This is better.” After taking a swig, he glanced my way. “So what’s going on?”
“I am in so much trouble.”
His lips twisted into a wry grin. “Tell me something I don’t know.”
“Ha-ha.” I took a deep breath for courage and let it out. “Okay. Here goes. This morning, Uncle Joey asked me to be his successor.”
Ramos’s brows rose right up into his hairline. “What the hell? You told him you’d do it?” He could hardly believe I’d agree. What was I thinking?
“I didn’t tell him yes… exactly. He gave me time to think about it, but you know him. Since I didn’t tell him no, he’s taking it as a yes. What am I going to do?”
Ramos could hardly believe it. Why would Manetto saddle me with this now? Even more puzzling was why Manetto hadn’t spoken to him about it. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he’d always thought Manetto would turn the business over to him. Not that he wanted it… but it made a hell of a lot more sense than giving it to me.
“Yeah… I agree with you, but he told me it was in name only. He wants you to run the business, not me. Sort of like we’d be partners or something.”
Ramos narrowed his eyes. “That conniving son of a bitch.” It made sense to him now. Manetto knew Ramos wouldn’t agree to take over the business, but he had to know Ramos would do it for me. “What else did he tell you?”
I shrugged. “Just that it’s for his peace of mind, and he’s not ready to retire anytime soon. Like, he wants to get his affairs in order and all that. Chris is working on the trust for Uncle Joey’s estate. But I guess that’s a normal thing people do once they get into their sixties, right?”
Ramos nodded, but a cold chill flooded over him, and he hoped that was the only reason Manetto was making changes to his will.
CHAPTER 7
“You think there’s something wrong with him?” I asked, panic catching my breath.
“I don’t know. He hasn’t said anything, but… he’s been gone a lot lately, and he’s been kind of secretive about it. Did you pick up anything from him… like if he’s sick or something?”
“No. I even asked him about that, but he denied it, and I didn’t hear anything from his mind to tell me otherwise.”
“Okay. Good.” Ramos couldn’t help the worry that curdled his stomach. He’d never considered his life without Manetto, but now… what if something was wrong with the boss? He didn’t like it. Not one bit.
“Now you know why I needed a soda, right?”
“Yeah.” He thought I probably needed something a lot stronger than that. He was right, but I was afraid if I got started down that path, I’d never come back.
We both tipped back our drinks, swallowing a few big gulps before coming up for air. “He’s going to know we talked about this,” I said. “I’m a little worried about that, since I don’t think he wanted you to know until I’d agreed.”
Ramos shook his head. “I don’t know. This might be just what he wanted. If you’re unwilling to do it, and he knows you told me, he knows I’d be more inclined to accept the position to keep you out of it. On the other hand, if you did agree, he knows I’d agree to whatever he wanted, just to help you out. Either way, he gets what he wants.”
“Wow. He’s a genius at this, isn’t he?”
Ramos snorted, thinking, no shit, and finished off his drink.
Since there was more to the story, I figured now was a good time to discuss it. I turned around and leaned back against the counter. “So… did he tell you the rest?”
“The rest? What do you mean?”
“That he’s getting out of the mob-boss part of the business? You must suspect it, since you knew he’d stopped the drug side, right?”
“Yeah. He mentioned it, and I figured
