Bitter Pledge (Falsone Crime Family)

Hector was a decent enough guy. But he was malleable. And he happened to manage the kitchen and catering for the Emma Hotel.

Lucky me, he hadn’t changed his number in the year since I’d last called.

I stalked over to the dishwashing station and got to work. No use standing around. The people hadn’t shown up yet. I got in early, like everyone else.

I kept thinking about Cap as I sprayed down cups and plates and shit. The cooks yelled, like Hector said they would, but didn’t go too far. Probably afraid of the big guy. I listened, though, and got the hang of it.

Cap’s voice in the middle of the night haunted me. I heard the fear. Something big was happening, and she got thrown into the center of it. If she had any other choice, she wouldn’t have brought me here so close to where the Balestra family would be. Which meant my life would get complicated soon.

Hell, it already was. I touched my side. Felt the stitches. Pictured Cap sleeping on my arm. Guilt and shame racked me. Fuck, it shouldn’t have mattered anymore. Carmine was gone.

And still I felt like a monster. Like I was betraying him every time I pictured my lips slamming against Cap’s. Every time I imagined her moaning under my hands, writhing and sweating and begging.

I washed dishes like a working man. Lost myself in it for a while until the activity picked up. Cooks loaded trays and passers carried them out. I caught sight of the ballroom a couple times through the doors. People in fancy clothes gathered in little knots. I had no clue what the occasion was.

“You know why all those rich people are out there?” I asked the guy working the pastry station. He iced cookie after cookie. He had a knack for it.

“Some sort of fundraiser. I don’t know. It’s all the fucking same. Hey, dish boy, get back to it, you fucking asshole.”

I grinned and flipped him off and he grinned back. I cleaned some more dishes until I was done with cleaning. I ditched my station and walked toward the front. The other employees all ignored me. They knew I was Hector’s special hire, and the bossman couldn’t be wrong. I stared out the little window and scanned the crowd.

I saw a few faces I recognized. Soldiers from the Balestra family. Hired thugs that must’ve shifted allegiance. Prominent politicians, a few businessmen. The sort of people that hung around the Falsone family back when Placido was still breathing. Now they had Balestra.

Funny how fast they all changed.

I couldn’t change that fast. Not with Carmine so fresh in the ground.

It took me a while to spot her. She was hidden in the back, sitting down at a table. I caught snatches of her. Cap leaning back in her chair. Cap looking tired. Cap looking annoyed. Cap smiling at something an old lady was saying. Whenever the crowd moved just right, I saw her and my heart swelled.

After a few minutes of watching, I grabbed a busboy by the shoulder. He was a skinny kid with a mop of brown curls. “Need you to do something for me,” I said, snatching a notepad and a pen from a shelf nearby. I scribbled a note, ripped it off, and shoved it in his hand. “There’s a girl out there. Red hair, black dress. Green eyes. Pretty. Her name’s Capri. She’s sitting in the far corner. Give her this note.”

“Uh, are you allowed to do this?”

“Give her the note.” I gave him the look I used on junkies late with their payments. It was a withering stare. More like a promise. Fuck around and I will hurt you. It always worked.

He blanched and shrugged. “Okay, yeah, whatever man. I’ll give it to her.”

“Go now.” I shoved him and he disappeared through the doors.

I made my way back through the kitchen.

“Hey, dish boy, you fucking working or what?” the cookie decorator yelled. I flipped him off and headed down a side hallway. It cut past storage rooms, a big walk-in freezer, a bathroom. I took another hall, pushed out an emergency door, and stepped into the alley on the far side of the hotel.

It was a nice alley. Wide and clean. More like a walkway than anything else. To my left, behind the building, lights were strung up and people sat under umbrellas drinking and laughing. To my right, cars rolled down the street, gawking at the downtown splendor. The river was nearby, packed with tourists.

I waited, my throat filled with anxiety. I paced, unable to help myself. Come on, Cap.

I looked left and right, and that was when I saw her. Standing at the front of the building, looking around. Looking for me.

I took a few steps and she turned. Our eyes met. I could’ve screamed with need right then and there.