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Rico’s brow raised at that.
He might have let it slide, let the woman’s warning be enough.
But if this idiot was going to challenge him, Rico was going to rise to the occasion.
“Not only am I gonna let her talk to you like that,” he said, making the woman glance over, the tension in her shoulders loosening, “I’m gonna tell you to take your grab-assing hands and get the fuck outta my shop.”
“You can’t—“ the man started to object.
“Wanna bet?” Rico asked, taking a single threatening step forward.
Ballsy or not, these people knew who Rico was.
The man broke out of the line and rushed out of the shop, head ducked.
“Asshole,” Rico murmured, then knocked me in the chest with the back of his hand, and nodded toward the back of the building.
“What’s up?” I asked when we were in the back, the noise of the crowd out front muffled.
“The job went off last night,” he told me.
It actually took me a second to remember what the hell he was talking about. I’d been so wrapped up with Elizabeth that I’d lost track of the family business.
“How’d it go?” I asked.
“Successfully, more or less. The job was done. The Lincolns are staking out the Brook Boys. Seems like it’s just a matter of time before shit really starts to blow up.”
“Any idea what the Russians are doing?”
“Thought that was your job,” he said, watching me.
“I was… busy last night.”
“Yeah, heard about that,” he agreed, but there was disapproval in his tone.
“Figure, one day, you might get it, man,” I said, shrugging.
“It’s like that, huh?” he asked.
“Looking like it,” I agreed.
“You guys are dropping like flies,” he said.
“We’re getting older,” I reminded him. “Starting to think about shit like settling down, having families.”
“Not me, man,” he said, shaking his head as he shuffled some papers around his desk.
“Famous last words,” I said, something he promptly ignored. But I had to admit, it would be interesting as hell seeing someone so married to his work like Rico getting knocked on his ass by a woman. “Anyway, does Renzo need anything from me today?”
“Eager to get back to your woman?” he asked.
“I got some shit to handle today, but I wanted to know if there’s something else I should make time for.”
“Nothing that I know of yet. But keep an ear for your phone today. Just in case shit hits the fan with one of the gangs or the Bratva, if they know what we did.”
“Got it,” I agreed.
“Need anything for dinner?” he asked, waving out toward the shop.