I walked into Thrasher, and Jackie greeted me with a smile that turned into a frown. “Whoa, what happened to you?”
“I was working a case and got pushed down a flight of stairs by a crazy person.”
Her eyes widened, and she wondered if I was telling the truth. “Seriously?” At my nod, she continued. “Wow, that’s nuts. But you’re okay?”
“Yeah. Just some bumps and bruises. How’s Uncle Joey’s foot?”
She rolled her eyes and shook her head. “Better. I think he’s more embarrassed than anything, so I have to keep reminding him it wasn’t his fault. Did you feel that earthquake?”
“Yes, I certainly did. I’m glad it wasn’t any worse.”
“That’s for sure. Well, go on down, he’s waiting for you.”
I thanked her and began the long walk to his office, realizing I hadn’t felt this much trepidation for a while. Going to Uncle Joey’s office used to make me sick to my stomach, and today was just like that. Standing outside the door, I hesitated. I still had a choice. I didn’t have to sign it if I didn’t want to, right?
I sucked in a breath and knocked, then pushed the door open and stepped inside.
“Shelby, you made it. Come on in.” He stood, noticing my all-black outfit and wondering if I’d done it to please him, since black was his favorite color. Other than the bruise on my cheek, it relieved him that I looked so good. “Chris told me about your incident with the stairs. You doing all right?”
“Yes, I’m fine. How about you? How’s the foot?”
“It’s good. Luckily, the knife didn’t go all the way through, but it ruined my good shoes.”
He motioned for me to sit down in front of his desk, thinking that he’d saved the voice mail I’d left on his phone from that day, mostly because I sounded so worried. It warmed his heart. That’s why it was important to get this taken care of right away.
“Did you go over all the documents with Chris and have him explain everything to you?”
“Yes.”
“Good.” He opened the folder with the documents, then studied me before he spoke, noticing the anxious way I chewed on my bottom lip. He let out a big sigh, and fingered the paperwork before raising his gaze to mine. “I’ve had second thoughts about this, and I wanted to pass something by you before you sign anything.”
He’d blocked his thoughts from me, so I just nodded and hoped for the best. “Uh… okay, sure.”
“Good. Here’s the deal.” He leaned forward, resting his arms on his desk, with his fingers clasped together. His eyes held deep intensity. This was important to him, and he wanted to make sure I understood.
“After the whole drug fiasco, I started to wonder if getting out of the business was a good idea. If I’d been in charge, nothing like that would have happened, because I know what I’m doing.” He shook his head and sat back in his chair.
“Those amateurs sullied my good name and implicated me for something I didn’t even do. It made me think that the same thing could happen with any number of my other businesses. You know what I mean?”
“Yeah… sure. I can see that.” Did that mean he was keeping the mob part and still wanted me to be his successor anyway? Crap.
“So… after further consideration, you’ll be happy to know that I’ve decided to forego the plan to leave it all to you.” He caught my gaze and smiled. “In other words, Shelby, I’ve changed my mind. I’m keeping the business the way it is. I’m good at what I do, and I’ll figure out a way to divide it up if and when I ever get to that point.”
“What?” I sat up straight. “So… you’re not leaving it to me?”
“That’s right. I hope you’re okay with that.” Given how unhappy I’d been with the whole idea, he thought I’d be ecstatic. Instead, I sounded disappointed. Or was it shock?
“I’m not your successor?”
“No.”
My breath whooshed out of me, and I flopped back in my chair. “Holy hell.”
His lips twisted in a sardonic smile. “I still want you to be the executor of my estate after I’m gone, but that’s all.” He was thinking he’d leave me with a nice chunk of real estate too, but we could discuss that another time.
“Okay… sure. I can do that.” I sounded way too cheerful, but I couldn’t help it. A big weight had just lifted off my shoulders, and I could finally breathe again.
“Good. So, now that things are back to normal, I was hoping you could help me out with something.”
I smiled. “Of course. What do you need?”
His grin turned devilish. “First off, I need you and Ramos to take a message to Vinny.” He was thinking that Vinny had messed up and he needed Ramos to remind him of who was in charge. I was mostly going along for the ride, but I might learn something valuable.
I grinned so hard that my bruised cheek started to hurt, but I didn’t mind in the least. “Sounds good to me.”
Uncle Joey put the call through. Ramos said he was just finishing up a job, and he’d meet me downstairs in the parking garage.
I took the elevator with a lighter step and it dawned on me that Uncle Joey wasn’t leaving his life of crime behind after all. I’d been pleased about that, but now I didn’t mind so much. In fact, if it kept me from running the business, I was all for it. I shook my head, hoping that didn’t mean I was a hypocrite.
Exiting the elevator, I heard the approaching roar of Ramos’s motorcycle, and a little thrill went through me. He pulled up next to his car, and I met him there. After popping the trunk, he took out my helmet
