Tempted by the Sinner

“Damn right you were,” Vince said.

“Dante has some concerns,” he said. “But he’s not wrong to voice them.”

“All right,” Vince said, nodding slowly like he was listening to a favorite song. “Let’s sit down and discuss then.”

Dante sighed like that was the most annoying thing he’d ever heard, but he took his seat again. Vince walked over to the table, and a thin, handsome guy with light hair and light eyes stood up to make room. Vince slid in and I sat next to him, intensely aware that I was the only woman in the whole place, and half the eyes were on me.

Steven tilted his head in my direction. “What’s the girl doing here?” he asked.

“Don’t worry about her,” Vince said.

“We’re worried about everything,” Dante said. “You’re dragging us into a war, and you’re bringing some girl to a war meeting.”

“She’s fine,” Vince said. “Worry about yourself for a change.”

Dante sniffed and leaned back, crossing his arms, his whole posture closed.

“Look, we get what you’re doing,” Steven said. “And honestly, I don’t disagree. If I were in your position, I’d want to hit back at the Jalisco for what they did. But if you start a war here in Philly, we’re the ones that are going to have to fight it.”

“First of all, I’m not the one starting this war,” Vince said, staring at his friends. “The Jalisco are the ones starting it.”

“They’re just trying to keep us from allying with the Russians,” Dante said. “And can you fucking blame them?”

Vince leaned forward, eyes wide. “Yes,” he said. “I fucking can blame them.”

“Easy,” Steven said.

“I don’t know when you lost your fucking balls, Dante, but the Jalisco tried to kill a Capo in your family,” Vince said. “You understand what that means, don’t you?”

“I do,” Dante said.

“Then act like it.”

“Enough,” Steven said. “This is bigger than just revenge, Vince. Stop acting like we need to go get our boys killed just because the Jalisco hurt your pride.”

Vince stared at him, a wild and shocked look on his face. He looked around the room, and I followed his gaze. Nothing but closed, tired expressions looked back at him, and I realized that he was on his back foot.

“You’re fucking kidding me,” Vince said. “Steven, when that big asshole, what was his name? The fat kid with that stupid baseball bat he loved?”

“Bill Bowler,” Steven said.

“When that fat fuck beat the shit out of you, what did I do?”

“You slammed into him with your bike, took his bat, and broke both his knees,” Steven said.

“And you, Dante. When that Chinese crew was wrecking shit and we were at war, what did I do when they sent an enforcer after you?”

“Came to my house,” Dante said, staring at the table. “Came with a gun, stayed up all night.”

“And killed the fuckers when they tried to break down the back door,” Vince said. “You two know me better than anyone else in this room.”

“You’ve been gone a long time,” Steven said.

“I have,” Vince said. “I know it, I can’t deny it. But you two know the kind of man I am. I haven’t changed one bit. If the Jalisco came after either of you on my turf, I’d already be at war.”

Steven glanced at Dante, who looked back with a grunt and a nod. Steven shook his head and met Vince’s gaze again.

“My contact in the Jalisco got in touch this morning,” Steven said.

Vince leaned back and folded his arms over his chest. He stared at Steven, licked his lips, tilted his chin up.

“And what did your little friend have to say for himself?” Vince asked.

“They want to meet,” he said. “They think they can make things right.”

“They can make things right by bleeding,” Vince said.

“Give them a chance,” Dante said. “I don’t want to see any of my guys die if they don’t have to.”

Vince slammed his palms down on the table. More than a few of the assembled guys jumped a little, and at least one reached for something behind his back.

“They tried to kill me,” Vince said, his voice a harsh growl. “And you talk about making peace. What the fuck happened to you?”

“You’ve been gone a while, Vince,” Steven said. “Take the meeting.”

Vince shook his head and leaned back again. I could see the tension all over his body, in the way his right eye twitched, in the way his arms flexed. He wanted to get up and break something. This wasn’t how he thought this meeting would go.

I spoke up before I even thought about it. I knew it was stupid and dangerous to open my mouth, but I couldn’t help myself.

“Why do you think they want to meet?” I asked.

Every single person stared at me like I grew a head and that head was gibbering in some mad language.