Ruthless Empire: A Dark Mafia Collection

The muted deference in his voice was alarming. He wasn’t trying to speak ill of his friend but knew the situation warranted discussion.

“I knew that something cracked when Willow left him before, but I thought it went away when they were back together. I think he’s just been hiding it, and now he can’t contain it enough, and it’s seeping out.” He sighed. “He got arrested a couple weeks back. I didn’t tell Luca or Marco because he asked me not to. He didn’t mention you, maybe because he trusts you more, or maybe because he didn’t think I’d consider you. I guess you’re my loophole.”

I didn’t know if that made me feel great or horrible. “What happened?”

“A bar fight, actually his third bar fight in a couple of months. At first, he was just hanging around at home, you know? Alexis was still brand new, and he was so happy to be with Willow. That was enough for him, but I think the complacency got to be a bit too much. We all thought Luca was the most like your dad, but it’s Sandro with a bullet.”

That meant me, Marco, and Ricky had all seen how much Alessandro was turning into my dad. “How did Willow react?”

“She doesn’t know,” Ricky replied. “When he got carried off, I called her and said that I’d let him get a little too drunk and didn’t want to bring him home like that. I worked nonstop in California’s fucked up court system to get him out. I owe a few people some favors, but at least I was able to wheel him back through his front door before Willow got suspicious. Or more suspicious, anyway.”

“She knows him better than any of us. If we can see it, she can see it.” I massaged my temples as my head started to pound. “What do we do?”

“I don’t know. I’ve tried managing it on my own, but there’s only so much I can do, you know? He’s been itching to come home for a couple months now, so when we heard about Carducci and I realized he was gonna come home regardless, I was at least able to convince him to take me with him. I probably need to talk to Luca about it, too, but I don’t know. I guess you’ve always been the great defender of your family, so I figured I’d start with you.”

“The great defender? Me?” I laughed, but it was only in place of a more appropriate reaction. I touched my face. “Did I forget to take my Marco mask off?”

Ricky laughed, too. “Marco’s the big bad wolf, I’ll give him that, but you’re this really strange bonding agent around here. I mean, sure Luca and Marco hated you coming up, but that resentment for you and your dad helped knock some of his edge off of them. You kept Sandro sane. You actually loved your dad. Even now, Marco said Luca would be falling apart if you weren’t trying to keep shit together.” Ricky shook his head. “What’s more defensive than that?”

If I had a response, I couldn’t call it forth. I sat staring at Ricky in stunned silence. I’d never thought of myself as anything more than a reminder of my dad’s misgivings. Alessandro found a way to love me like a brother, but I was always something for Angelo and his wife to argue about. Always something to bring the worst out of Luca and Marco. That someone thought of me as a defender of my family stirred up emotions in me that I didn’t know how to handle. I thought of Stacy and her question for me. Would I do anything for them? The answer was an easy yes.

Ricky tilted his head. “Who is she?”

“What?” I questioned.

“One minute, you were sitting there looking like the grim reaper was standing behind me, then all of a sudden, your eyes got all, you know, sparkly.” Ricky shook his head. “Women make things more complicated, Gabe. Let me tell you.”

“Yeah. Don’t tell Sandro, but her name is Stacy.” I looked over at Ricky, not realizing I’d mostly been avoiding his gaze. His eyes had a resigned shine behind them, as well. “What about you?”

A giant grin grew on Ricky’s face. “Sasha Love.”

My jaw dropped. “Bullshit.”

Ricky quickly flicked a hand into his pocket and brandished his phone. He pressed the home button, and a picture of Ricky with a bombshell blonde on his lap, arms wrapped around his neck with a blinding smile on her face, appeared. Sasha Love was one of the country’s most famous up-and-comers. She’d recently played a superhero in a film laced with A-list actors.

“How in god’s name did you pull that shit off?” I asked.

Ricky pulled the phone back but stopped for a minute to admire the picture, and I could see he wasn’t into her for fame or looks. He was head over heels.

“She’s Willow’s best friend. Willow does a lot of buying for her. They met in college.”

“Wow.”

“It’s these women fucking us up,” Ricky said, scratching his head. “Don’t get me wrong, I wouldn’t give up my baby for anything in the world, but damn, it would make shit easier.”

“Marco said the same thing.” I pictured Stacy’s smile and shook my head. “Easier ain’t worth it.”

Ricky clapped with amusement. “I know that’s right. We finally got him!”

“Fuck you,” I growled. Ricky was okay.

“There’s something to it, though,” I continued. I thought of how Alessandro snapped when he thought Willow was out of his life forever, the way Marco was stressed talking about Kelly being pregnant, and how much nastier Luca was when he and Molly were at odds. Even I felt cold and unruly in the few weeks between talking to Stacy. “Women unlock something severe in our family.”

“Yeah, things to protect.” I tilted my head at Ricky, and he nodded to reaffirm his thought. “When we don’t give a shit about ourselves, it’s whatever. We go full-throttle because we don’t have anything to lose. With them, it’s different. They bring out the Varasso penchant to hold onto happiness with an iron grip. I saw it with Marco, I saw it with Sandro, and I see it right here, with you. Molly’s in the business because Luca is. Do you know what kind of business I’m in right now, Gabe? Fucking housing court. I’m defending people who need security deposits back and shit. I had whole dockets of just murders before I left Philly. We find these people, and we would do anything for them, but we can’t. We’re trying to get the screw in and keep stripping it. Varassos will eventually lose it. Just like your dad.”

It was the most astute observation of my family anyone had ever made. Ricky was close enough to us to damn near be a Varasso, but he was always safely on the outside. There were few people whose opinions of my family could be trusted more.

“Alessandro wants to come back because he thinks there’s greater honor in this than in being a simple nine to five guy. He’s lost Willow twice now, and the fear that he’ll lose her again and then not even have the life to rely on is almost too much. He needs his family, all of them.”