The Woman at the Docks - Jessica Gadziala Page 0,62
of racket. And then Pops will be happy. All the families can take a collective breath. You all can carry on as usual."
"We would appreciate that," I agreed, nodding. "If we have to go to war, all the families suffer. No one wants that."
"Exactly. You're being smart there."
He would never say it out loud, but there was always a tone, always something just under the surface that said he didn't agree with the way his father handled the family.
Which was understandable, because that seemed to be the consensus with all of us. Arturo was hot-headed, too swift to action, not thinking things through enough.
That said, because he had a temper and a tendency to act on it quickly, he was also the most violent boss since the fifties. If he even just had a bad dream that you crossed him, your family was planning your funeral a couple days later.
So while most of the five families in New York, and most of us in Jersey, Philly, and Chicago didn't agree with him as being the best boss for the job, no one had the balls to stand against him either.
"So this container thing, is it over? Do we have a name?"
"We have a front. We are waiting on another shipment because we believe there are more women and girls on it. And maybe we will be able to get a few words with some of them before the cops show up and usher them away. If we can get descriptions, we have someone who might be able to get us leads back in Venezuela."
"That's a hell of a contact," Lorenzo said, draining his coffee.
"It's his woman," Lucky offered, making me want to reach across the table and slap him.
My woman.
Yes, she was mine.
But in only my head.
And temporarily, for the time being.
I wanted more.
But that didn't mean she was more.
Not yet.
And saying shit like that to important people in other families was not smart. Especially if they linked things together, found out that we'd been keeping things from them.
"You got a woman now? Good luck with that, man," Lorenzo said, shaking his head. "The woman I've known lately, she's been nothing but a fucking handful," he added, looking a little traumatized by whoever she was and whatever she had done.
In general, I wasn't one to wonder about someone else's personal life, but I found my curiosity piqued. What woman could get under the skin of someone so fearless, so unfazed by everything as Lorenzo Costa?
"It's new," I said, giving Lucky a hard look. "Not something that should be talked about yet."
"It's new. And she is from Venezuela. And these containers are from Venezuela. And they're full of women and girls. Am I supposed to believe that is a coincidence?" he asked, scarred brow raising.
Casual about most things, he was.
Stupid, he was not.
"She's the one who gave us the tip. She wanted it stopped. Obviously, no one likes sex trafficking. We weren't sure if she was being honest, so we held onto her for a while. But it turned out she was right."
"So you hopped her into your bed," he said, smirking. "Fuck, for the monk here to find a woman, she must be something special," he said to Lucky.
"She's stupid pretty," he agreed.
"Pretty is good. Don't mind stupid either. You know, for a night or two. Then it gets annoying as fuck. Alright. So you've done your due diligence on this woman? Everything shakes out? We don't have a nasty surprise waiting for us in a couple days or weeks?"
"She's been put through the wringer," Lucky said.
"That's what we're calling it these days, huh?" Lorenzo asked.
"Watch it," I snapped, realizing my mistake as soon as the words were out. You didn't scold men who were technically higher up in the hierarchy than you were.
"Luca has never been a fan of talking about women like that," Lucky recovered before I did. "And I figure since this one isn't a fleeting one, he's extra protective."
"I get it," Lorenzo agreed, shrugging. "You know me better than to think every disagreement will be seen as an affront. I got too much shit on my plate to worry about creating petty grievances. Sweetheart, can I have another of these to go?" he asked, calling out to the waitress who was hanging around, but far enough back that she was sure not to overhear anything. Her boss had taught her well. "Anything else we need to know for the next sit down?"