Unraveled (Guzzi Duet Book 1)(35)

The back window of the car rolled down.

Gian gave the man sitting in the back a look. “Edmond.”

“I think you mean ‘boss,’ Gian,” Edmond replied coolly.

“I said what I meant.”

Let the fool make of that what he wanted.

Edmond’s jaw tightened. “Get in the car. Let’s take a drive.”

Gian’s hand twitched with the urge to reach for the gun at his back, but he knew better. It was broad daylight, in the middle of a very busy street and city, that was filled with cameras for the city and the police.

“I’m not sure that’s a good idea. I’m not interested in taking a swim in the lake today,” Gian said, turning back to his waiting vehicle. “I’m sure you understand.”

“Get inside now, or Nathan will paint the side of your new car with your brain matter, Gian.”

Well, then.

Gian chose not to question Edmond on whether or not the man’s driver did have a gun pointed at him in that moment. The windows were tinted too dark for Gian to truly see inside and know for sure.

“Front seat, passenger side,” Edmond ordered.

Fuck.

Gian slammed the door of his Mercedes shut, locked the car, and jumped inside Edmond’s vehicle as he had been told. Sure enough, the driver and enforcer had a gun out, pointed, and ready to blow. Gian stared down the barrel of the weapon, both irritated and cold inside.

“You know where to drive,” Edmond told Nathan. “Take it slow, though, as I’d like to have a chat with my underboss on the way.”

“Got it, boss.”

Not for a single second, did Nathan drop the weapon as he pulled back onto the road. Gian’s gaze didn’t move away from the gun, either.

“Unsettling, isn’t it?” Edmond asked.

“Be specific. This whole show feels rather fucking unsettling.”

“The gun.”

“It’s not even half as unsettling as a bomb blowing up thirty feet away from you,” Gian replied. “Or having your boss shut you out from at least half of your organization. Or getting a sniper shot to the head while you drink your morning coffee and stare out the window. At least with a gun in your face, where you can see it, you know what is waiting for you. It’s not trying to sneak up on you when you least expect it.”

Edmond chuckled. “Someone’s prickly.”

“You did ask.”

“I did.” The older man sighed heavily from the back seat. “Seems we have a problem happening on the streets, don’t we?”

“Seems so.”

“One would think, given the attention we’ve received from the officials lately, what with Corrado’s murder, amongst other things, that we wouldn’t need or want more eyes on our organization,” Edmond said.

“I would agree with that.”

“Except you don’t.”

Gian shrugged. “Some things can’t be helped. What’s happening between the men, the rising discontent, is not new. It’s an ongoing problem, only now they feel like they can be heard if they shout a little louder, or make a few more problems.”

“You see those men through very rose-tinted glasses, Gian.”

“I think I take them for their word, and see what they give me,” he replied easily. “It’s you who doesn’t think the younger Capos deserve a voice in this organization. You told them that again and again—you made it even more apparent, when you placed yourself into the boss’s seat without allowing them a vote in it.”

“Be that as it may—”

“That is what it is,” Gian interrupted. “There’s no other way to look at it, Edmond.”

“But there is,” the boss replied quietly. “There is, because there is you, Gian.”

“I beg your pardon?”

“I believe things have gotten out of hand these last couple of weeks, and I place the blame for that squarely on you.”

Gian barked out a laugh, and for the first time, glanced away from the gun to stare at Edmond. “Me?”

“Yes, you. Had you not given half of my men a reason to believe they could dissent and rebel, then I wouldn’t have these problems at the moment. They genuinely assume that by supporting you, they will eventually get what they want. And so, this is what we’re going to do about it.”

“Do tell.”

“You’re going to walk yourself back over to my side of things—act as the proper underboss your grandfather trained you to be for the last few years, and shut your mouth about the rest. Because, you see, when the men see you getting in line, they’ll begin to move back into their proper places as well.”

“You honestly believe it’s that simple?” Gian asked, amused.

“I believe it’s what needs to happen. They’re all sheep, they will follow the wolf, as sheep tend to do.”

“I wasn’t standing on either side of any lines until a bomb was set on my car, Edmond.” Gian smirked. “And even now, I haven’t properly taken a side. I didn’t think there was a side to take.”

“Then you are stupid and naive. There is always a side, even when there isn’t a war to be won.”

“A good boss would want harmony in his family, for the sake of business.”