Nico (Ruin & Revenge #1)(57)

“I’ll get a fucking court order.” He stared out over the city he’d come to after he left foster care, his stupid teenage head full of dreams of taking down the mob. “I’ll keep my head down and do my job. I’ll call you ten fucking times a week if you want. I’ll file the fucking reports. Meantime, you’re going to push harder to get Social Services out to see Daisy. When Daisy is mine again, that’s when you’ll pull me out. In the meantime, I’ll deal with Gabe.”

“You’ll deal with Gabe?” Jack’s voice rose in pitch. “What the hell does that mean?”

“It means that I’m going to find out what’s going on, and if that fucker hurt my girl in any way, the streets are going to run red with his blood.”

“Jesus Christ,” Jack shouted. “We’re cops, Ben. We don’t do vigilante justice. I’ll give you two weeks to sort yourself out, then custody order or not, you’re done.”

“Don’t back me into a corner when my little girl is a risk,” he warned. “If you’re that worried about me, tell the fucking department to pull some strings with the judge.”

“I’ll pass on the message, but you’re making the wrong decision,” Jack said. “You’re in way too deep, Ben. You’re thinking like a wiseguy, talking like a wiseguy—hell, you’re acting like a goddamned mobster.”

Ben turned off his phone, and checked on Daisy, still asleep in the vehicle. Jack was wrong to overlook the benefits of Mafia-style vigilante justice. There was no administration or red tape to go through. No legal proceedings or victims’ rights. There was the fucker who had scared his girl. And there was the bullet that would go through his head.

Would he go to jail if he pulled the trigger? Or would he become a made man?





FIFTEEN

“Your father wants to see you.”

Mia looked up from her terminal in the community center computer lab. She had just logged in to for her Saturday morning coding class. Rev stood in the doorway, filling the space with his pumped-up bulk. Her pulse kicked up a notch. Usually her father summoned her over the phone. Rev was his top enforcer, entrusted with keeping Dante safe. That her father had pulled him off bodyguard duty to come and get her told her this was one meeting she did not want to attend.

“I’m teaching a class.”

He walked toward her, idly kicking at the chairs as if they were pebbles. He wore a sweatshirt, sleeves torn away to showcase his massive biceps, and ripped down the chest to reveal his revolver tattoo.

“He wants to see you now.”

Mia opened up the web browser, watching Rev out of the corner of her eye. She had come early to set up her class, and there weren’t many people in the education wing of the community center on a Saturday morning.

“Now will have to be in two hours when I’m done.” When the web browser finally opened, she quickly logged in to her personal email, and then froze. What was she doing? Who was she planning to email? She’d been called to her father’s office dozens of times and never once had she asked for help. She had weathered all sorts of storms alone, suffered many beatings, and always managed to make it out alive.

“Now means now.”

But this was a different type of storm. First, Rev was here, and it was clear he wasn’t going to take no for an answer. Second, she had still not been called to account for what happened with the Wolf. Third, she had been indiscreet last night going out in public with Nico. And fourth, well, if anyone had been watching when he dropped her off at home, there would be no doubt they were more than business acquaintances. At least he hadn’t accepted her invitation to come inside..

“What if I refuse?” Who could she email anyway? Jules wouldn’t be able to help her. What about Nico? She didn’t have any way to contact him except through the casino, although she was pretty sure he would jump in his car and race to the community center if he thought she was in danger. Even the thought that there was someone who had her back made her feel stronger inside. But asking him for help would just escalate the war between the families. There had been enough bloodshed already.

“Then I’ll get to put my hands all over that pretty curvy body when I carry you out.” He moved toward her at a slow, steady pace, as if he had no fear that she might escape.

“That might attract some unwanted attention. Especially if I scream.” She sent a quick email to Jules asking her to come down to the center ASAP to take over the class, and added a small note at the end about being dragged to her parents’ house. As an afterthought, she added a scared emoji, and hit send just before Rev’s meaty paw clamped down on her arm.

“You’re not gonna do that ’cause I don’t think you want Don Cordano to be any more pissed at you than he is now. He’s got Kat and Dante in his office, and he’s been raging at them for the last hour.” He yanked her out of his seat. “He’s using Kat as a substitute for you.”

Mia stared at him aghast. “He hurt Kat?”

Rev’s face turned hard. “Yeah. Wasn’t nice to see. Or hear. But it wasn’t my call.”

“I’m coming.” She grabbed her purse, but froze when she heard a knock at the door.

“Everything all right in here, ma’am?” Big Joe walked into the room.