Gio

But Annie?

Something about her felt different.

I can’t get the damn girl out of my head. She’s been plaguing my thoughts for the past week. Even though I want to devour every detail of this file, I want to know every single part of Annie's life - for work of course - there’s a part of me that would rather hear her tell me all of her secrets.

Even if her file is sparkly clean, she’s not meant for me. I know this. My line of work is not made for women and civilians.

There’s been so much death lately, so many wives crying over the coffins of their husbands. Not to mention, my father losing his wife. This life is dangerous, that’s something I’ve known since I was a kid.

I have no intention of bringing a woman into it, never have. I’ve avoided relationships forever, yet here I am tethering myself to Annie.

La Famiglia. That is what, who, I should be tethering myself to. Not Annie Byrne.

La Famiglia has been a part of my life since I was born. My great grandfather immigrated from Palermo, Sicily long before I was even thought of. In the states, Gianni DelGado was one of the first to reestablish the brotherhood they had created in Italy.

Gianni had a slew of girls, and one son, Giuseppe, my father. Giuseppe went to law school at the urging of my grandpa and shortly after became the consigliere to the Providence Famiglia. He served alongside the former boss Massimo for most of his life.

Gian and I followed papa everywhere. As soon as we were old enough, we were working. We started out as soldiers initially; we were given some freedom considering who our father is, but we worked tirelessly. If you want your button, you have to be willing to get pushed around a bit. Even the sons of the consigliere have to be hazed. Eventually, we took our oaths. I’ve had my button

for a few years now.

La Cosa Nostra is my family, no way around it.

This is my blood and there's nothing else I want more than this family.

So no, this file, Annie Byrne, is not going to get me stuck in my head.

I grab the damn thing off my desk and open it up. Top of the pile is her photo, which looks like a DMV picture. Annie looks younger in the picture, still with short ashy blonde waves and bright blue eyes. She looks innocent, naïve. No record, I note. She’s never been arrested, not even a misdemeanor. The girl never even had a parking infraction. Annie Byrne is basically a saint. She’s a nurse's aid at Oakland Retirement Community, a fact I already knew. She takes classes at the local community college, studying to be an LPN, licensed practical nurse.

Next, her childhood.

Now things were starting to click.

Her father, Danny Byrne, has been arrested repeatedly for petty theft. It looks like he has his own gambling problem, not to mention a problem with the bottle.

Her brother, Johnny Byrne, has his own rap sheet of petty crimes. Stealing, loitering, public nuisance, the list goes on.

The other members of the Bryne family are a mess.

Mother, nothing. It looked like she left when Annie was young and never came back.

That’s why Annie was so protective of her piece of shit brother, she was basically raising him.

I’ve seen shit like that among lower-level dealers who had to take over raising siblings for their parents. That kind of responsibility so young could mess with a kid.

Is that what Annie was going through? Did she have to step in for her parents and raise her younger brother? Is that why she’d put herself on the line to protect him?

I toss the papers back on my desk.

Fuck.

I’m doing exactly what I told myself not to do, I’m falling for the pretty blonde-haired girl with a sad backstory.

I scrub a hand down my face.

“What’s with that pissy look?”

I look up to find my brother entering my office.