"Alright Noni, there has to be a reason for your unexpected visit. Don’t get me wrong, I don't mind that you are here, but it’s not without a good motive," said Noah as they finished eating.
Many things could be said about the Capo, but he respected his grandmother. His voice was calm and collected. No annoyance or anger. Even when she teased him, his expression didn’t change and didn’t have a negative effect on him. However, she wasn’t one to visit him often. It was usually him who called and stopped by her place to check up on her at least twice a week.
Luisa sighed, shaking her head. "As always straight to the point," she commented. "Your cousin wants to take down the house back in Sicily. You need to stop him."
Noah frowned. "You live here now. Why does it matter what happens with a house in Sicily? It’s not like you’re the owner, grandpa was. And now it belongs to my cousin just like most of the territory does."
"But it’s still my home, even if I don’t live there anymore. I’ve been raised there and lived decades in that house with my late husband. I won’t have it destroyed just because it’s of no use to them," she wailed.
There was a minute of silence as the Capothought his grandma’s request through. He had the power to stop his cousin. After all, Noah had appointed him to take care of the business back home, while he was expending in the States. "I will talk to Flavio and he’ll find out why it is to be destroyed and stop it," he agreed.
"No. Give me your word that you will take care ofit yourself. Your brother is an influential person, but it’s you who trusted your cousin with everything. He will listen to you rather than Flavio."
"You don’t trust me?"
Luisa chuckled. "Picciotto, I don’t trust you as far as I can throw you. You’re a mobster, and I’m not a stupid old lady who thinks of you any differently."
She had a point, so Noah wasn’t bothered by her words. After all, it was what he wished Inéz would think soon enough. Trust needed to be limited as far as he was concerned. And since his grandmother already knew that, others should learn it, too.
He nodded, agreeing to her terms. Meaningless jobs weren’t his go-to, but as long as it was a member of his family that asked for it, he would get it done. And seeing as he should have already been on his way to the meeting, it was the quickest way to end the conversation.
"Noni, it was nice of you to come here. Thank you for breakfast. I hope you are well," Noah said when he was seeing the woman off. It didn’t take long for her to realize that her grandson was in a rush. "I will visit you soon."
"Take Inéz. She’s a bright, young woman."
Noah shook his head. "Don’t meddle, Noni. She’s part of the Famiglia. It goes without saying that you shouldn’t tell anyone about her for now."
The woman agreed. "Just make sure that she’s safe. There’s a reason why women aren’t supposed to be initiated, picciotto.Sicilian or not, she’s your responsibility now."
With those last words, Luisa went into the elevator and disappeared.
CHAPTER 29
Inéz was on her way to the changing room when she heard the unmistakable loud sounds of a fight coming from Gastone’s office. Normally, she would ignore them, but finding out what it was about was part of her actual job. She moved closer to the door, focusing on the voices.
"I wouldn’t care even if the man was a fucking president. I gave you this job because I didn’t have time to take care of it myself, Alberto. So, you find as much dirt as you can on him and make him shut the fuck up. We cannot afford the prosecutor freezing our assets. Even though we have more than enough money stashed away, there’s no way to explain why we won’t stop the construction," Gastone roared.
"Don’t worry, I will."
"You’ve said that before, and look where we are now. I won’t have Flavio fucking Falcone sniffing around my business, and that’s what’s going to happen if we screw up with the prosecutor." There was a pause. "Now, tell me what you’ve found out about this Layla girl."
Inéz walked even closer to the door as she heard her fake name being said. Noah had warned her that they would investigate her as soon as she started working. Hopefully, there wasn’t anything out of place with the documents Isaac was supposed to set up.
"She’s clean. Everything checked out with her. But if you want to know more personal things about her, then Amanda got close to her. Maybe she mentioned something worth knowing. However, she is who she says. There’s nothing shady about her."
"Good."
"Are you going to call Coluccio about her?" Alberto asked.
"Why would I? She’s going to bring me a lot of money with her shy personality. Putting her in a high-end Gentlemen's Club would be a mistake. With dancing, she’s able to prove herself. It wouldn’t work anywhere else."
"Alright. I’m just asking because I saw Noah Falcone interested in her when he was in the club during her first day. He might be thinking of introducing Coluccio to her."
Gastone snorted. "Nonsense. Falcone rarely cares about which girls are involved in his soldier's business. Never before had he meddle with mine. But keep an eye out for it because I don’t want to get blindsided," he said.
"Layla?"
The girl heard a male voice coming from behind her. She whirled around, scared. Her eyes widened when she caught Julian's baffled expression. He was standing a few steps away with narrowed eyes, probably trying to figure out why she was listening in on their boss’ conversation. And she had to think quickly of an answer, that wouldn’t jeopardize her mission.
"What are you doing?" he asked.
"Sorry, I just heard my name and
