Gio

“Nothing,” I groan. “Just reading a file on someone.”

Gian lifts the picture of Annie off my desk with a whistle. “Some research.”

“Stop.” I snatch the photo back from him, placing it back in the file and shoving the whole thing into my desk drawer.

“Who is she?” he asks.

“Who’s asking?”

For my brother, I don’t have to answer shit. If my boss is asking, though, then I don't have much of a choice.

Gian gives me a look, “Really now?”

“Yeah.” I lean back into my leather office chair. “My brother or my boss?”

He chuckles. “Okay, which one will make you talk, yeah?”

“She’s helping with our next job.” I laugh.

“The Pearce one?” he asks, slipping into the seat across from my desk. His smirk has disappeared, the Pearce job is important, it needs to go absolutely perfectly.

“Yep. We needed someone small to get in through the vent. Turns out she’s the perfect size.”

“Where’d you find her?”

A grin forms on my face. “Well,”

“Gio. Tell me you didn’t do something stupid. I can’t handle that right now.” Gian scrubs a hand down his face. The man is stressed. The power vacuum in the city has left him taking on more responsibility, which is what he wants. It also has him fighting with some fellow capos. A civil war was not what Providence needed.

“Then don’t ask.” I retort.

“Where’d she come from?” Gian leans forward in the chair, resting his elbows on his knees.

“She has a shitty brother. I offered to pay off a debt for him if she worked for me.”

He sighs. “You know that’s a dangerous game you’re playing.” Extortion, blackmail, whatever you wanted to call it has a good track record, but every once in a while someone tries to be a hero, and that normally doesn’t work out for them.

Gian was insinuating that one day, I might have to kill Annie Bryne.

I’m not looking forward to that possibility.

“Yep.” I know.

“What if she does something stupid?”

“She won’t. I’m watching her.” Like a hawk, I refrain from adding. I keep her tracking up on my phone non-stop, I always know where she is and what she’s doing.

“If this comes back to bite us in the ass you’re taking care of it, you hear me?”

I smile. “I hear ya, but it won’t. I promise.”

“Yeah, yeah. Tell me something good then, will ya?”

And that was that.

Annie Byrne was part of the team now.

“I think Lil Bobby is willing to have a sit down with you,” I tell him, relaxing back into my chair.