“Everyone better be there.”
“They will. Paulie is making sure of it.”
“Good. I’ll see you there.”
Lucia stands up on her toes to kiss me, and I turn my head slightly at the last second so she only gets my cheek. She gives me an odd look but then heads for her car as I pull out my phone and dial a number I never expected to use again.
“LT?” Eddie-boy sounds shocked.
“Yeah, it’s me.”
“I never thought I’d hear from you again.”
“I know, but things have changed a bit.”
“You’re not dead anymore?”
“Not at all.”
“So what are you doing now?” he asks with a chuckle. “Taking over the world?”
“Not too far off,” I reply. “Rinaldo Moretti is dead. I’m running the business in Chicago.”
“Damn, LT. That’s pretty serious. What can I do for you?”
“Eddie-boy,” I say simply, “I want you to come to work for me.”
I hold my breath and wait for his response. It doesn’t take long.
“LT,” Eddie-boy says, “I thought you’d never ask.”
*****
The meeting doesn’t start for another hour, but Nick walks in at the time I told him to meet me in Rinaldo’s office.
My office.
“You don’t have to explain,” Nick says before I can utter a word. “I already heard about the will, and I don’t really care. I wasn’t expecting anything. I’m the bastard, remember? I never thought he’d actually acknowledge me, not even now. I was surprised to even be included in the funeral.”
I shake my head.
“Shut up for a minute and listen to me,” I say. “Rinaldo gave me some instructions, and I intend to see them carried out.”
“Instructions?”
“Here.” I hand him the key to a safe-deposit box. He takes it, staring at the little object in his hand with confusion. “That opens a safe-deposit box at the Mercantile Bank off Broadway and Thirty-sixth in Quincy. Everything you need is in there. Pack up, get Milena, and get out of Chicago.”
“Leave?”
“There’s a price on your head,” I inform him. It’s a complete lie, but it’s also only a matter of time. “Don’t wait. Don’t stop off and buy a bag of weed for the road. Just get the fuck out. Got it?”
“That’s it? Just leave?”
“Today.”
“What if she won’t go?”
“Convince her.”