"Keep your hands to yourself, Diamond," Vito says from behind me, his tone a lot less friendly.
Diamond only laughs in response, and it makes my stomach turn.
I turn my attention to the room we’re in. It's not that big, with a large round table sitting in the middle of the room, surrounded by some wooden chairs. The light is soft, but it's lit well enough to see the men sitting at the table.
Three of the chairs are already occupied and I let my eyes sweep along the men sitting in the outside seats before looking at the man in the middle. He's older, his skin a few shades darker than mine, his hair is mostly gray with a few dark curly locks still left, and it's cut short. He's leaning casually in his chair, his elbows propped on the table. A Rolex sits on one wrist and silver rings line his hands. His brown eyes meet mine and there's something eerily familiar about them.
I pause, staring right back at him. His gaze is intense and the longer I look at him, the more warning bells shoot off in my head. He doesn't tear his gaze away from mine, still looking at me as he says, "So this is the prized mistress of Giovanni Costa's that I keep hearing about."
"The mistress that your son attacked in my club, after sneaking in," Giovanni says and the man turns his focus towards him.
"I didn't attack her, I was just saying hello," Diamond says, moving around us and taking the vacant seat next to the older man.
Sitting side by side, the family resemblance is clear, and I realize that must be why the man looks so familiar. Besides Diamond having dreadlocks and his father rocking his short coiled hair, and the age difference, they look exactly alike.
It’s like looking at the past and the present.
"After trespassing," Giovanni says dryly before sitting down in the seat across the table from the older man.
Vito gives me another nudge in the direction of the seat on Giovanni’s left. I slowly sit down and Vito sits next to me, Enzo hovering in the back of the room.
I look at the empty seat to Giovanni’s right and it’s a sharp reminder that one man is missing today.
And I haven’t heard a single word about him since that night.
And you shouldn’t care, dumbass.
"I heard about my son's... mistake," the older man says, but he doesn't sound apologetic.
I turn my full attention to the conversation, knowing now isn’t the time to be thinking about the absence of the psychopath who’s made the last few months hell for me.
"Mistake?" Giovanni asks, drawing the word out. "A mistake is calling your kid by their sibling’s name. It's not showing up to my club with a group and sitting at one of my booths. It's not putting your hands on something that belongs to me. And it's certainly not ignoring me when I tell him to get the fuck out."
"And one of my men paid with his life, did he not?" The man asks, his voice low and deep. There's a certain calmness to him, tinged with an assertive edge that lets you know not to fuck around with him.
A lesser man wouldn't challenge him.
Giovanni Costa is no lesser man.
"It's not penalty enough, and you know it. We offered a way out, without violence, and yet your son decided to make a mockery of the whole thing. It's his fault, and his fault only, that one of your men was killed."
The other man gives a humorless laugh, leaning back in his seat and resting his hand under his chin, the rings on his finger glittering against his dark skin. "And your brother who shot him in the head takes no responsibility?" he asks.
"He takes responsibility in eliminating a threat," Giovanni says shortly.
Diamond rolls his eyes, leaning forward. "He jumped the gun and I don't mean that with any pun intended." The previous humor fades from his eyes and it makes him look deadlier. "Say what you want, but my father could have taken retribution for the misstep if he wanted to. You should be thanking us."
"You should be the one doing the thanking," Giovanni’s voice remains steady and even, yet the coldness to it seems to suck all the energy out of the room. "My brother could have shot you in the head too. You were the one holding onto her after all."
When I noticed Maximo’s absence in the car earlier, I’d thought maybe he was too explosive to be part of a meeting like this. Clearly that was not the intention, since Giovanni seems intent on laying down some bombs himself.
And here I am, right in the crossfire.
"You're one to fucking talk, Giovanni. How many bodies has the family wrongfully dropped in our territory?" Diamond slams his hands on the table, his eyes blazing.
"I don't know the official count, but I know I can increase it by one tonight if you keep coming at me," Giovanni states, leaning forward.
Holy shit.