Total pages in book: 77
Estimated words: 77160 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 386(@200wpm)___ 309(@250wpm)___ 257(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77160 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 386(@200wpm)___ 309(@250wpm)___ 257(@300wpm)
“You employ kids?”
“It was me or the local heroin dealer. At least he’s safe working for us. Besides, he’s thirteen, not eight. And he mostly just reports shit he’s heard on the Boardwalk. This is a special circumstance.”
I wasn’t naive. Kids would always look for ways out of poor socioeconomic situations. Local street crews often preyed on that, roping them into some shady shit like dealing so their own hands stayed clean.
Remo was right. If the kid was looking for work, it was better he worked for us than one of those crews.
“Has he had any luck?”
“Got lots of people at Frank’s place to say that, yes, they’ve seen him a lot, but he wasn’t in yesterday.”
It was a good thing, I felt, that he hadn’t disappeared from there. That maybe Frank or his goons were onto us or, at least, Dom.
“I’m working on someone at your hotel.”
“For what?”
“Security footage. I’m sure we’ll see him leave your place, but I want to know if someone was watching, if someone went into his room, or if he just… walked out. There aren’t a shit ton of working cameras on the Boardwalk right now to look into. And, fuck, I don’t even have a hacker to help me with that shit. So this is an old-school search.”
“Do you need me to try to talk to someone here?”
“Nah, man. I’m gonna meet with the security guy in… two hours. If you want, I can bring the footage to your room. We can review it together.”
“Yeah, that’d be good. Thanks, Remo.”
It was hard as fuck to be a boss.
I’d never wanted that responsibility.
That was too heavy a crown for me.
But I had to admit, it seemed like Remo could pull it off.
His style was different from Luca’s, but I think that was needed. Navesink Bank was established. Atlantic City was still being cultivated. It required a different set of leadership skills.
“Hey, Milo?”
“Yeah?”
“Make sure you’re dressed when I get there. Monroe, well, clothing’s optional.”
He was teasing.
But a strange growling sound escaped me.
It got a chuckle out of my cousin.
“Yeah, figured it was heading in that direction.”
With that, he hung up.
I checked on Roe again before leaving a quick note on the hotel stationery, telling her to stay in the room, that I just went to grab coffee and breakfast.
My phone blew up the second I walked through the hotel lobby.
“Hey, Ma,” I said, trying not to let any tension about the whole Domenico thing slip into my voice.
The women in our family obviously knew what we did, that there was often a lot of dangerous shit going on. But we tried not to worry them unless it was absolutely necessary.
“How many weeks is my table going to have an empty seat?”
“I dunno, Ma,” I admitted. I winced at the too-bright morning sun as I walked out of the hotel and headed down the Boardwalk. “Things are… moving along. But I don’t have an end date for this job.”
“How’s your cousin?”
“Dom?”
“Remo.” At my pause, not sure who talked to her or what she knew, she let out a little huff of a laugh. “I’m not completely out of the loop, you know. I always wondered about those kids. I kept in touch with their mom for a while, but eventually, things just… fell off.”
“Remo’s a good guy. Mix of capable and a little feral.”
“He has his mama’s eyes, doesn’t he?”
“Yeah. He’s got his brothers here too. The youngest isn’t even drinking age yet.”
“Good. I like that they stick together. And his mom?”
“She’s got advanced MS,” I told her. “Seems like Remo and the brothers are taking care of her.”
“Good boys. Like mine,” she added.
I don’t know what possessed me to say it. Maybe it was just the urge to be able to talk about it to someone, and my brothers weren’t the ones who called me.
“Think I met someone, Ma.”
There was a pause long enough to make me think the call had dropped.
Then, well, the squeal.
I yanked my phone away from my ear. Even the man passing me while walking his dog looked over, startled.
“Ma, calm down. I didn’t say I married someone.”
“No, but you, my dear sweet boy, have never even mentioned a woman to me.”
“Maybe because I knew you’d act like this?” I teased as I walked closer to the bagel place.
“Yes, well, can you blame me? I want my children to be in love. How terrible of me. So tell me all about her.”
“She’s fucking beautiful.”
“I bet she is!”
“And she’s… a singer. Former model, but she’s a singer now.”
“Just think of how beautiful it would be to hear her sing your babies to sleep.”
“Ma..”
“Let your mother have this, will you?”
“I don’t want you to get your hopes too high.”
“Honey, my hopes are on the moon for you already. They always have been.”
“There’s no guarantee this is going where you want it to.”