a stern look that our mother would have been proud of.
"I didn't put him in the position. Vivian did, but I'll talk with Joe." I dropped my hands into my lap. "I'm glad to hear it's just him being an idiot and not something that would have me taking him to a back alley somewhere."
My stomach growled, and I turned to see the server bringing Catherine's breakfast. I waited until it was laid down in front of her to steal a piece of bacon.
"Hey." She glanced up and smiled. "What's going on with Izzy and Marco? Everyone okay? I didn't get to see anyone after the funeral yesterday."
"They're hanging in there. You know there is a meeting tonight, right? Marco texted me this morning reminding me about it."
The meeting had been scheduled a while back, and honestly with us losing Vivian, I would have expected it would be canceled, but it would seem that Joe wanted to keep things on track. Maybe it was another diversion to get everyone back to doing the normal day-to-day things that would save them from the pain of loss.
"Yeah. He texted me too. I'll be there." She took a few bites and laid her fork down. "I think you need to ask Freddy what he was doing with Thomas Kallup last week before Vivian died. I dropped by the warehouse, and they were having a conversation that abruptly stopped as I walked in. I'm not sure if the guy was threatening Freddy or if it were the other way around, but something was going on."
"Thomas Kallup? What in the world could that slick bastard want with Freddy?"
"No clue, but if you and Joe really think his daddy shut down their crew, you're wrong. Selma saw them at some bar near the west side of town a few weeks back." She wiped her mouth and picked up her phone.
"Why didn't you say something before today? The Kallup boys are dangerous as fuck, Catherine." I started to get up to call Freddy, but the server set my food down in front of me. I nodded at her and texted the boy to get his ass up and be ready to talk when I got to the mansion in thirty minutes or so.
"Because I was hoping that you already knew." She picked up her fork. "And by the way, if we're replacing Freddy, Selma says she knows a guy who might know a guy."
I rolled my eyes. "Now you sound like Freddy. We don't bring in random people to work for the syndicate, Cat. They have to be family or have some pretty good credentials to even be considered."
"You never know. Hell, anything is better than Freddy."
I nodded my agreement before focusing on my breakfast. Something left me feeling like it might be the only elation I had in my day.
*
"He stopped by the warehouse, all right?" Freddy pushed my hand off his shoulder as we stood in the Castaletta kitchen an hour later. "I didn't call him, and I'm sure as fuck not a rat, if that's what you're implying."
"I'm not implying anything," I growled and gripped the front of his shirt, pulling him closer. "You know damn good and well that those guys are a rivalry that we don't need. We own Chicago. The Castalettas. No one else."
"I get that." He pulled away from me and stormed out of the room. "I'm one of them, and you're not, remember?"
"Asshole," I mumbled and pulled out my phone. I needed to talk with Edward about additional security on the house, seeing that Joe was keen on putting up more cameras. "How about checking the fucking guns at the door?"
"What?" Edward's voice was laced with sleep.
I was almost glad I'd woken his preppy ass up. After having Izabella using him to tease me the night before, I was ready to put his head through a wall. Hopefully by the time the fucker drove over to the mansion, I would have cooled down.
"Joe wants additional security, which requires your IT expertise for us to start looking at how to implement it. Get your ass to the mansion. Now."
"Right-O, boss. Sounds like you're in a great mo — "
I dropped the call and tucked my phone into my back pocket. I hated the prick, but it was more because of his history with Izzy than anything. He was in love with her, and his schoolboy crush had grated on my last nerve. If he couldn't find a way to stop