Lucien (The Marchesi Family 1)

I looked at the two men Devil had brought in. The taller one, who I only knew as Six, responded. “Anything Muffin and I can do to send Ricci straight to hell, I want in on it.”

“I need more than that. I need to know you’re going to follow my orders, and that you understand if you don’t, there will be consequences. Serious consequences.”

“You tell me and my cousin”—he punched the other man’s shoulder—“where to go, and we’ll go there, get the job done, and enjoy it. You got my word on that.”

“I’m glad to be able to provide you with some entertainment.”

They just smiled. I glanced at Devil, and he winked. I knew he was telling me he’d keep them in line. I trusted him to do that as much as I trusted him in anything. His loyalty was unquestionable. His ability to follow orders and agree to a plan, not so much. He’d always been a wildcard, but he was family. Over the last few years, I’d seen some of his impulsive decisions win big for us, so I’d learned to create a fuckload of contingency plans.

“Were taking this threat seriously. You wouldn’t be here otherwise, but I’m not making a move now unless things escalate. So far, all I’ve got are a lot of rumors. I need names. I need those who were talking to the Riccis. I need the names of their wives, their girlfriends, their kids, their dogs. I want to know everything about them so when it’s time to make a move, we know how to hit them where they’re most vulnerable.”

Angelo and Devil had wanted to make a preemptive strike, so I’d called my father to discuss my plan, and he’d given his approval. I fought the urge to smile at the memory of our conversation. I liked to make him proud. Yes, he was a hard man. Few dared to cross him, and he’d made me sorry for doing so plenty of times as a kid. But I’d always known he loved me.

When I’d come out as gay, he’d initially ranted and raved and told me how fucking inconvenient and embarrassing it was that I needed to stick my dick in some man’s ass. But after one quelling look from my mother, he’d told me that while he didn’t like it, nobody was going to mess with me. He’d dared anyone to say a word against me. The first man who had done so in my father’s presence had gotten a bullet to the knee. After that, people kept their thoughts to themselves. That made it a hell of a lot easier for Angelo and Devil to let everyone know they were bi. I doubted Devil would’ve cared, but Angelo wanted our father’s approval as much as I did.

“When we make a move against them, I want to keep them guessing. We’ll go after their weakest allies first. I want to make Ricci sweat. We’ll work from the bottom up until we have Ricci in a stranglehold. I want him stripped of everything, his money, his power, his friends. I want him on his knees, ready to beg me for mercy. He’s mine. Am I clear about that?”

“Yes sir,” Vinnie said.

I looked to Stefan next. “Very clear, sir.”

“Are you sure they’re going to move slow with this?” Marco asked. I already didn’t like his lack of team spirit. I was almost hoping I found out he did still have family connections because that would give me an excuse to make sure I never had to work with him again. But I knew better than to start trouble when there was no need. Once a guy started going out looking for trouble, more of it came to him. I’d seen more than one family lose their footing because they thought they had to start a fight over everything. That’s how you got yourself overextended.

“Let me repeat this for you once more and maybe this time listen and act like you got a brain cell left in your head. I’m running this show. You work for me. You do what I say. If you’ve got concrete intel you want to share or if you’ve got reason to believe your family’s making a move, then I expect you to bring that to the table, but if all you’ve got are opinions, that’s no good. The only opinion that counts here is mine.”

“Yes, sir. I’ll get you the intel you need.” I could tell he was working hard to keep his expression neutral.

“See that you do and that no one finds out what you’re up to.”

“I know how to keep secrets, sir.” The last word came out through gritted teeth.

“I hope to hell you do.” I turned to Six and Muffin.

“We’re on it, boss.”

“Excellent.”

“Don’t they get questioned?” Marco asked, looking toward Angelo and Devil.