been in Morgan City. Sal reported that he’d been paid by Gio to drop that name. It had been a test to see what I’d do. To my surprise, Sal had suggested just killing Gio and getting it over with, but I couldn’t do that. There was a difference between pledging your loyalty to a leader you respected and trusted versus pledging it out of fear and intimidation. Respect and trust were tighter bonds than fear and intimidation. And if I killed Gio for no good reason, a lot of people in the organization would view me as a disrespectful, power hungry tyrant. I’d be no better than Hitler in their eyes, and I couldn’t have that. I demanded complete loyalty, and for that I needed to deserve it.
No matter how many people may think Gio deserved to die, I’d still be a son killing his father for position and power. People might believe I was a psychopath, but I didn’t want to go off and confirm it. There are only four reasons I’d kill Gio, no questions asked: Francesca, Ciro, Phoenix, and Robbie.
It did give me pause on just how much Gio knew about what was going on in my life, though. I wasn’t actually surprised that he knew, I was surprised that he cared enough to know. Usually, he let me run my own show, but I suppose the rumors of a ‘forced retirement’ were rattling him more than he let on.
There was also the fact that Gio knew too much about the organization. He wasn’t above watching it burn to the ground simply because he wasn’t in charge anymore. Power was everything to Giovanni Benetti, and without it he had no sense of purpose. Sure, he could spend his days with my mother and try to be a good husband, but there was no pride in that for him. Men weren’t going to revere him just because he remembered their anniversary.
My becoming Boss was a delicate balance. And I had to find a way to keep Gio under my thumb when it happened. I needed something that would ensure he would fall into his new role without issue. I needed the information so immoral in our world, that it’ll send Gio off into retirement without a word of protest.
I had still been contemplating everything I found out from Sal when Ciro had called me-laughing, mind you-that his bartender at The Ruby had called Ciro’s guard, Piero, to ask him to have Ciro call him because there was a brunette with crazy blue eyes demanding to see me. Since Piero was Ciro’s shadow when Ciro was acting the upstanding citizen, he’d been able to relay the message as it was being delivered. Yesterday morning, when I had Phoenix do a search on Remy, her picture had naturally come up, so Ciro and Phoenix both knew what she looked like. So, from the description the bartender had given, Ciro had called me and asked me what I wanted to do. And that’s why I was on my way to The Diamond now.
A part of me applauded her courage, but the other part wondered if she was crazy. I couldn’t think of anyone who would have the balls to do what she did. Apart from Francesca, no one would dare. I don’t even think Robbie would get ballsy like that unless one of us were in danger. If Remy were truly crazy, things would never be boring. But if she was simply reckless, well, I was going to have to rein that in.
After leaving her house last night, I had made up my mind about what to do with her. I wasn’t fanciful enough to believed I’d ever find what Phoenix and Francesca had-because, really, they’ve been in love since they were seven. That fucking shit was too epic to happen to just everybody. But I wasn’t going to ignore what Remy made me feel. She’s the first woman to cause any sort of emotion to bloom inside my chest. My dick had felt plenty over the years, but my heart? Not a fucking thing.
Until now.
Until that fateful Wednesday night.
As soon as Phoenix had finished his search of Remy, he and Ciro had gone back to try to salvage breakfast with the girls, and I had sent a text to Beverly, letting her know I needed to see her. I knew her schedule and I knew she had an hour off between her second class of the day and her