After a few moments of contemplation, I decided to take advantage of the fact that I was already down here and began walking in the direction of the bar.
4
Nick
The bar was a two-story building located in Biscayne Bay near the shipping docks. It was easily the nicest place in the area, but considering the neighborhood it was in, that wasn’t saying much. The Family owned larger and more luxurious bars, hotels, and casinos in Downtown Miami and along the nicer beaches in the city, but those were for tourists or for impressing particularly rich clients and partners. When people wanted somewhere to just relax and hang out, the run-down shack here at the end of the street was where they came.
I hesitated in front of the door. Even though the bar was bustling at night, and I was liable to get my ass kicked if I were to waltz in after dark, it was usually okay for me to stop by during the day. It was mostly older members, having breakfast, playing cards, and generally just minding their own business. I wasn’t about to wimp out now that I was here, though, so after a moment of hesitation, I pushed open the door and strode inside confidently.
As I suspected, the large space was mostly empty. A few men were sitting at the tables by the windows, sipping coffee and talking quietly. Some looked up at me with surprise as I passed, but they didn’t say anything, and just went back to their newspapers or conversations.
I allowed myself to relax and actually felt a little silly for getting so anxious in the first place. I could see the back of Colletta’s big, bushy ponytail as I approached the bar. I was almost there when a meaty set of fingers wrapped around my arm.
“Well, look who it is,” the man who’d grabbed me sneered. “It’s the little turncoat, himself.”
I frowned as I looked up at the man. I’d seen him before, but I couldn’t remember his name. Around me, the bar had fallen silent as people listened while pretending not to notice the exchange. This man had just addressed the elephant in the room that everyone else had pointedly ignored.
“Let go of me,” I replied calmly.
I was strong, and fast, but this guy was easily a foot taller and nearly twice as wide. I remembered him now. His name was Domenico. He was a low-level grunt whose job was basically just to be a set of walking muscles. Big, intimidating, but dumb enough that I could probably outsmart him in a fight if I wanted to.
I didn’t really feel like fighting this idiot, though. Not when I’d only come to say hi to Colletta, so I really needed to try to settle this peacefully.
“Or what?” Domenico sneered as he gripped my arm more tightly. “You gonna go run to the b--”
He screamed halfway through his sentence as he was struck in the back of the head by a spatula. I flinched at the unexpected outburst and watched as he let go of me to rub at his own head frantically.
“Or you’ll get more of this,” Colletta snapped, brandishing the spatula like a sword.
“Colletta,” Domenico whined. “That was really hot, you burned my head.”
“I wouldn’t have to hit you if you’d grow up and act your age,” Coletta scoffed. “Now go sit down and shut up. Drink some water. You need to sober up.”
He shot me a sullen glare before skulking away to a table in the corner where several of his friends were sitting. They shot me angry looks, too, but I just ignored them and took a seat at the bar.
“He’s drunk this early in the morning?” I asked as Colletta set a cup of coffee down in front of me before passing the bowl of cream and sugar my way.
I took it gratefully. I hadn’t wanted to impose on Roxanne when she’d handed me the cup earlier, but I usually liked my coffee really sweet. A fact that Colletta knew well after years of looking after me.
“Ha!” she scoffed. “Quelle’idiota. He’s been here since last night.”
“It’s almost noon,” I chuckled as I chanced a glance over to him. The group was mumbling and still glaring my way.
“You’re telling me.” Colletta rolled her eyes. “But forget about them. Let me get a look at you. How long has it been since you were here, huh? You just run off one day to start that little detective agency and never even come to visit. Don’t you feel bad for your Zia Colletta?”
I could feel eyes on my back as the other people in the bar eavesdropped on our conversation. Only Colletta would casually ask me about that like it was nothing. The entire reason I was having to deal with muscle-headed morons trying to attack me on sight was that I’d left. Usually, the only way to leave the mafia was to die, either at the hands of the law or at the hands of your own Family. Breaking the rules and walking away with virtually no consequences had thrown the entire organization into an uproar. Most of the older members just looked the other way and pretended I didn’t exist. The younger, less experienced members, like Domenico, weren’t as easy going about it.
“I’m sorry.” I smiled. “I’ve been busy.”
“Busy ratting us out to the feds,” one of the men at the table muttered
