On The Ropes (Tapped Out 3)

“Long enough.” I walked to the nightstand to slide on my heavy gold watch. It was a status thing. Meant to show I was a player in every sense. Sometimes even I forgot I was playing.

Games weren’t supposed to end with murder, but mine did. Would.

“I’ve called. You never answer.”

“No.”

“Yet you answered now.” His voice grew lazy. I could picture him kicking back in his chair, stretching out his legs and crossing them at the ankles. The indolent, insolent eldest son, sole heir to a dirty throne.

I hadn’t wanted to share that seat. I’d wanted to grow flowers and have a quiet life with my wife. The game player in me now would sneer at such a quaint dream. Quaint dreams like that were a waste of a wish. Better to get all the money and pussy you could before your ride inevitably came to an end.

It always did, one way or another.

“I have to wonder why that is,” he continued. “Though I suppose only fools wonder, when the answer’s staring them right in the face.” He sighed. “Why, Gio? Just tell me why.”

I shut my eyes and gripped the phone tighter. So much for hoping word hadn’t yet climbed up to the upper echelons of my father’s ranks. If Dante knew, Vincente knew. They were linked in a way that I’d never been with my father.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” It wasn’t much of a defense.

Why had I answered? Curiosity? Some stupid desire to hear my big brother’s voice one more time?

It was almost certainly going to be the last time. If I got the month and a half until the fight with Fox to carry out my plan, I wouldn’t get much more. I was now effectively in the crosshairs of two organizations—or would be, once I made my move on Roberto.

“Sure, you don’t. You know, I thought you must have a death wish when you started fighting. It wasn’t like you. I was the boxer in the family. You were the one who planted begonias and fretted over soil temperature.”

Gritting my teeth, I said nothing.

“Then I realized it was part of a long game you had going. It took a while for me to see exactly what, as you operated with great patience and precision. Gotta say, little brother, it almost brought a tear to my eye. I truly didn’t think you had it in you.”

“Is there a point to this call, or do you just feel the need to share your brotherly pride? It’s duly noted. I’d express the same, except I’ve found your behavior despicable since you turned fourteen.”

He let out a dark, almost demonic laugh, just as he always had while he flipped the barrel on one of his guns when playing Russian roulette. “Be careful you don’t step out of the kettle right into the pot, brother.”

“We aren’t the same in any way. You had another choice. You didn’t have to pick this path.”

“Oh, and you did?” His voice turned lazy again.

>

He was like the human equivalent of a lion sunning himself on a rock. Seemed perfectly harmless and unaware of his surroundings, until someone walked too close to his patch of sun. Then they’d find their throat torn open.

I wouldn’t make that mistake.

“Whatever you’re hinting at, come out and say. I don’t have time for guessing games.”

“No, you prefer a different sort. Ones that involve blood and death.” I heard a faint metallic clinking sound in the background and figured he was probably at his desk, toying with his metronome. Our father had given him one as a child, because he’d always enjoyed puzzles and things of that ilk. He’d kept it on his desk, idly knocking one ball into another while he plotted murder and mayhem.

“I’m not playing.”

“And I am? Funny I would’ve said you knew me better than that, but then, I once thought I knew you as well. You were my sweet, kind little brother, whose heart was too soft for violence. Now you make your living at it. And merda, you’re a fucking king, aren’t you?” He laughed, for real this time. “Wonders never fucking cease.”

“I do what I have to do. As do you. So if you’re calling to discuss some rumors you heard, don’t waste your breath.”

“Rumors? Hardly. Are you that much of a rube that you don’t know how the chain of command works? I’ve been in New York for a while now. I’m aware the instant you step into The Pyramid Club, know what drink you order, and what little hottie climbs on your lap.”

Carly.

I sat on the edge of the bed and fought not to even breathe heavier. Because he would know. “It’s a free country. Nothing wrong with stepping in anyplace I want.”