The Holy Ghost - M.E. Clayton Page 0,12

let you date her if I didn’t believe you’d love and protect her. But that doesn’t mean shit doesn’t happen, dude. That’s all I meant.”

“Good to know,” I replied “However, you never had a say. Nothing or no one was ever going to keep your sister from me, and that included your dumb ass.”

“I’ll be sure to use that as a direct quote at your funeral after she kills you,” he tossed back.

I couldn’t help but smile. I’ve killed many people in my short twenty-eight years, and I’ve been in more fights than I can count but going toe-to-toe with Frankie was sure to do some permanent damage.

“Look, I gotta go,” I told him. “I gotta make sure everything is ready for Frankie’s arrival.”

“Good luck, man.” And I knew he meant it seriously.

“Thanks.” I hung up and got to checking the kitchen, making sure it was stocked up with her favorites. Then I was almost brought to my knees when I realized it’s been six years. Her favorites might have changed.

She might have changed.

It killed to me to think I might not know her as well as I used to, but that was something that could be remedies with time. The next fifty years to be exact. There was no way I was letting Frankie go again, and if I had to hold her prisoner in my house, I would.

Then there was the matter of Massimo’s funeral. I knew that he and Luca had it already planned and paid for, and it was going to be a farewell to rival a king’s. However, Luca, Ciro, Frankie, and I would not be in attendance. While I was pretty confident that Massimo was respected enough by everyone that there’d be no bloodshed on his fateful day, we still couldn’t risk it. So, it was arranged that, when Massimo passed, he would be moved to a private room at the hospital where a priest will meet us, and we are to have our own private ceremony, just the five of us.

Now I had no illusion that mine and Frankie’s reunion would go smoothly. I knew it wouldn’t. Just like I had six years of pent-up pissed-the-fuck-off and loneliness to contend to, I imagine she had a lot of shit she wanted to get off her chest, too.

The night Frankie left, we learned the hard way that she had gotten fed up with mine and Ciro’s lies and caginess and had followed us to the Benetti warehouse. She had climbed on top of some abandoned crates and, through a dirty window up top, she had seen mine and Ciro’s initiation.

The. Entire. Fucking. Thing.

And while we were being introduced and drinking to a job well done, Frankie had run home, packed only the shit she needed, and had fled. Of course, not before she left a note to us all, telling us that the moon shone beautifully through the north end corner window around the docks.

Ciro had ranted and raved.

Luca had shut down.

I had lost my mind and destroyed everything in the house.

We had all been prepared to go after her until Luca came to his senses and stopped us. He took his emotions out of the equation and convinced us that she deserved her space. He promised he would put guards on her and that she’d be safe while she cooled down. However, the joke was on us. It was six years later, and the girl had still not cooled down.

Tonight was going to be fucked-up.

Chapter 6

Francesca~

The drive to Morgan City had done nothing to help put the past behind me. In fact, the drive over only fueled the anger and resentment I thought I conquered years ago.

The first few months, anger and righteousness kept me warm at night. Sure, I missed Phoenix terribly, but anger, hurt, and resentment kept me from reaching out to him. There was also the fact that I had been too busy trying to build a new life. I had submerged myself in finding jobs and a place to stay.

I had worked many jobs those first two years, sometimes holding down four jobs at once. It helped to keep me from starving or being homeless, but it also kept me from being lonely. I barely had time to eat or sleep, so there was no time to dwell in the heartbreak of leaving my family behind. I had also lucked out and found an affordable apartment almost immediately. It wasn’t much, but it had included utilities and that was