the mafia, I kept hearing the name Yankovich. I didn’t have a face, all I had was the name and the reputation. Apparently, the man was looking to take over. I just wasn’t sure if it was my territory he was itching for or if it was Jack Parrish’s piece of the pie he wanted. I tried to voice my concerns to Jack, but he still had the line drawn in the sand and wanted no part of me. To him I was nothing more than a guard dog to my aunt and her daughters.
A role I played well.
Once I got word that the G-Man was dead, I beefed up the security on Aunt Grace’s house and Bianci’s gym, making it clear to all the families that Grace Pastore and her children were under my protection. I would’ve put even more of an effort in, maybe stop by on a Sunday to make sure Aunt Grace wasn’t feeling lonely, but tragedy struck.
On the day that Jack Parrish was to marry the love of his life, Reina DeCarlo, one of his many enemies decided to strike and bombed the clubhouse right before they said I do. The attack took lives and left the entire club in ruins. It also shook me to the fucking core because Gina’s new beau was there when the blast went off. She had been difficult, giving Johnny a run for his money, and refusing my protection. That’s when I learned she was involved with one of Jack’s men. Yeah, you read that correctly, my prim and proper sister was dating a biker and being the stand-up guy Stryker—that’s his name—he offered to guard her. I still kept Johnny on her, but with Stryker spending most of his nights at Gina’s apartment, I loosened the leash. Now she was a target for both my enemies and Stryker’s.
I couldn’t fucking win.
After the bomb, he assured me Gina wasn’t at risk, but it was all bullshit. We were in the middle of a turf war and they were coming at us from every angle.
Things got even worse, though, when the news broke that Uncle Vic has passed. I knew it was coming, but when it finally happened it came as a shock. I guess in the back of my head there was a small part of me that thought he’d prevail like he had so many times before. It didn’t matter that he refused treatment, he was built like an ox. He was a fighter and most of all, he was a winner. But all the wins didn’t mean anything when he died in solitary confinement.
They flew his body back to New York and Aunt Grace gave him a sendoff fit for a king. Everyone from the west coast to the east coast came to pay their respects but the biggest shock of all was when my sister showed. She was being difficult, giving Johnny a run for his money, and refusing my protection. It wasn’t that she came to the funeral that surprised, it was that she slid into the pew beside me that stunned me. Thinking back, I needed my sister that day. I was close to Uncle Vic and his death was hitting me hard and having Gina there made me feel like I had someone in my corner. Odd, I know, especially considering how fast she jetted out of the cemetery after the casket was lowered into the earth.
Violet would’ve been with me, but I knew all eyes would be on me and I didn’t want to bring any more attention to her. She was already being photographed every time she left the Academy and after she got the part in the production, the press somehow got a hold of her name and the program that wasn’t even printed yet. Hell, the fucking Daily News did a full spread on us, titling it “The Mobster and The Ballerina.”
After the funeral, I approached Jack. His club had already gotten revenge on the men he believed were responsible for the attack on his club, but Yankovich’s name continued to pop and I started to wonder if we were missing something. What if this guy had a hand in the bomb? What if he was trying to throw us off his scent.
Jack blew me off as he usually does, but I gave him a pass because his wife had gone into labor. Again, I pushed Yankovich to the back of my head and got back to business. If