Sean and Lachlan follow me into the restaurant. We're immediately met by Andrew and another enforcer, patting us down before we can enter.
Gemma taps a heel behind them impatiently. She shoots Andrew a glare after he releases me. “It’s okay.” I give her a soft smile. “He's just doing his job.”
She presses up on her toes to plant a soft kiss on my lips. Taking a deep breath she turns around and faces her family. “Papa, this is Liam.” She looks back to me with a soft smile. “Liam, this is my papa, and my brothers Gian and Gio.”
At first, no one moves. She's holding her breath next to me, waiting to see what happens.
“Liam,” I greet, extending my hand for Giuseppe to shake.
“Nice to meet you, Son.” He tells me, extending his own hand.
The air in the room shifts, it's as if a wall has finally dropped.
We sit down for lunch, the DelGados on one side and me and my men on the other, Gemma is the only thing connecting us still. She sits tall in her chair, legs crossed, looking every bit the confident woman but underneath I know she’s nervous. I can see the way she tugs at her bottom lip with her teeth, the way her fingers tap on her thigh rhythmically. She wants this to go well, and if it doesn’t go well, she’ll blame herself.
Gemma has the most to lose today, she has a dog on each side of the fight.
Gian eyes me, a hand casually rubbing his chin as his gaze narrows on me. I wonder if he’s trying to figure out what his sister sees in me. “So,” he says. “You want a truce?”
I lean back in my chair, matching his casual attitude. “Yeah,” I say, “a truce.”
“What are you willing to give up for it?” A sinister smirk rises on his mouth.
There it is.
Gemma scoffs. She thought we would all walk in here, shake hands and suddenly be friends. That’s not how this shit works. If we want peace we’ll have to give something up, but so will they.
“What are you willing to give up?” I counter.
He leans forward, placing a hand on the table still smiling at me. “I want half of your coke distribution.”
I laugh. “You want coke?”
“Yeah, we lost our supplier.” He tells me, the hard lines of his face barely moving. Gian is cold as a stone, showing only the emotions he wants to.
I run a hand through my beard thinking it over. “I can do that, not half, but I can get more. I’ve been working with our distributor for a while. One question though, was it you who stole our coke about nine months ago?”
Gian grins, the man has no shame. He shrugs a shoulder, not giving me a verbal answer but the grin is enough.
“I lost a good man that day.”
“My apologies.” He drops the smiles.
“I want 25% of your coke sales, since I’m the supplier and since you fucking killed my men.”
“You killed some of mine too.” Gian shoots back. “Not to mention I had a bullet pried from my shoulder.”
“Twenty then.”
“Fifteen.” He counters.
“Done.”
Gian leans back in his seat, smiling again. “One more thing, Irishman, my sister gets so much as has a scratch on her, if she’s fucking sad one day, if for one second you hurt her feelings this deal will end. Don’t forget, I have no problem killing you.”
I let a small laugh escape my lips. “Pretty sure I’m not the one hurting her.”
Gian stands instantly, all traces of a smile gone from his face. The man doesn’t normally show anger, he’s calm and calculated, but at my remark I can see the sneer cross his face.