I nodded slowly and cleared my throat. “Ah, uh, yes, thank you,” I said. “I guess…. I should invest some of it. Right?” I glanced at Luca, but his face was flat and stony.
“Right,” Uncle Luciano said. “And for all this, I only ask one small payment.”
I went still and I noticed that Luca sat up straighter, like he was surprised. “Payment?” I asked.
Uncle Luciano spread his heads. “My dear, you can’t possibly think I’d give you all this out of the goodness of my heart? You and your mother spurned me, spurned the family. I’m a forgiving man, but I’m not stupid.”
“I thought… you just… I thought you just wanted to help.”
“I want property,” he said. “Three particular buildings in downtown Chicago. They are very expensive buildings, worth a lot of money, and I suspect they’ll only increase in value. I want to start a new wing of the Leone family out in Chicago, and I want these buildings to be the center of that new nexus of power. Do you understand?”
“I understand,” I said. “But I don’t know…”
“You don’t know what?” Uncle Luciano asked. “If you can pay me for my services? I can simply release you now, if you’d prefer. My understanding is that you already tried to get away once, and Luca here had to save your life. I wonder how you’d do without him around.”
Luca leaned forward. “Don, I believe she’s just surprised,” he said. “She didn’t expect this.”
Uncle Luciano held up a hand and gave Luca a frosty glare. “Don’t speak again,” he said, then looked at me. “This property is a fair trade. You give me these buildings, and I’ll make sure the rest of the money ends up in your hands, and I’ll even provide as much protection as you need.”
I leaned back and tried to keep calm. So this was what he wanted all along. This was the long game finally coming out. I knew it was going to be something, knew he wouldn’t just help me out of the goodness of his heart, but I wasn’t sure exactly what he wanted.
Now I knew. He wanted property, real estate, so he can start a new crime family in another city.
That bastard.
They’re all the same. They just want to use me. He’s not much better than the Jalisco, the only difference is he doesn’t need to torture me to get what he wants out of me.
“Two buildings,” I said. “Whichever two are worth less. I keep the best one.”
He narrowed his eyes at me. “I didn’t know this was a negotiation.”
“You want that property,” I said. “And I have a feeling you’ll bargain for it. Two buildings is better than none.”
“You’d be dead without me, girl,” he said, his voice lower and harsher than it had been a moment before.
“Probably,” I said. “What do you say?”
He glared at me, his expression cold and angry. I met his gaze and tried not to show how fast my heart beat in my chest.
Finally, he stood up. “Deal,” he said. “You have balls, niece, I’ll give you that. I suppose you get it from my side of the family and I shouldn’t be too surprised.”
“Thank you,” I said, leaning back, my voice softer and weaker than I had hoped.
Uncle Luciano limped across the living room, back toward the front door. Roberto opened it up and held it for him.
“Now, go take care of our Jalisco problem,” Uncle Luciano said. “And make sure you don’t give Luca any trouble. At the end of all this, I suspect we’re all going to be very rich and very happy.”
Uncle Luciano limped out the door and onto the porch. Roberto gave me a dirty, disgusted look, then followed my uncle outside, slamming the door behind him.
I sat in silence next to Luca for nearly a minute before he turned to me and put a hand on my knee.
“That was the most bad-ass thing I’ve ever seen in my life,” he said.
I burst out into laughter. I didn’t know why, since nothing was funny, but I couldn’t help myself. I was sweating, my hands were shaking, and I thought I might throw up.
Luca grinned at me and stood, running a hand through his thick, dark hair. He paced across the room and turned to face me, his smile slipping off his lips.
“Are you sure about all this?” he asked.
“I don’t know if I have any other choice,” I said.
“You always have choices.”
I shook my head and leaned back on the couch. “And so do you. But you seem to think all your choices were made for you already.”
He glared at me, balling his hands into fists. “You keep making this about right and wrong. I don’t know why you think you know what’s best.”
“I know killing is wrong.”
“And I know killing is necessary sometimes.” He shook his head. “I’m going to go out there and kill for you, and you’re going to be sitting in that car, thinking I’m a monster.”