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Islah took that, careful to put the strap lower so it rested under her staples, then hit the button, and let out a groan of pleasure.
With that, Elizabeth quietly walked away, walking over to the kitchen where Rico and Renzo were still standing, talking to Serano. Saff stayed close to Islah.
“Elizabeth, this is Rico and Renzo. Rico, Renz, this is Elizabeth,” I introduced them, hand going to her lower back when she shifted her feet.
“You saved two of my people tonight,” Renzo said, making the knot loosen in my stomach, some part of me worried he might blame her for the incident.
“Cinna and Islah did most of it,” Elizabeth insisted.
“Way I heard it, you’re the one to take the fucker down,” he said, not knowing her well enough to notice how she stiffened at that. “So I owe you. Which is why I’m gonna fix this fucking Russian shit for you. For good,” he added.
“I can’t ask you—“
“You’re not asking,” Renzo cut her off. “But this shit ain’t gonna happen again. We’re gonna see to it.”
At that, Renzo gave me a hard look that I interpreted to mean he wanted to speak to me.
“Do you mind getting this,” I told Elizabeth, producing my biggest pot, “filled and on the stove for the pasta? I’m just gonna talk to Renzo in the hall for a minute.”
“Of course,” Elizabeth said, nodding as she took it from me.
With that, I followed Renzo and Rico out into the hall, leaving Serano with Elizabeth.
“How can you fix this?” I asked as soon as the door was closed behind us.
“I think it’s time for a sit-down with the Bratva,” Renzo said.
“Renz,” I said, shaking my head.
“I know the risks,” he said, shrugging. “But we can’t go on worrying about what the fuck they’re going to do. Better to come to a mutual agreement than to keep trying to outmaneuver each other.”
It was probably the smart move, as a boss, to make. When you had dozens, if not hundreds—with extended families—counting on you to keep the peace. Still, I didn’t fucking like the idea of having any sort of truce with a bunch of traffickers.
“I get being conflicted. And I’m not saying we have to like it, or even hold up the truce forever. But until we know more, until our numbers grow, it’s best to come to an agreement to mind our own business.”
“They tried to kill Elizabeth several times. They almost killed Islah and Cinna.”
“And one of theirs is locked up. The other is sinking to the bottom of the East River right about now. It’s… even.”
“What are you going to offer them?” I asked, knowing there was no such thing as a truce without one side giving up something to the other.
“I’m gonna give ‘em East New York,” Renzo said, shrugging, naming off one of the most dangerous neighborhoods in Brooklyn.
It was an area where Renzo really made a name for himself early on in his criminal career. Because if you could hold the reins of a rough area like that, there was no way the other neighborhoods were gonna give you a hard time.
It would be a significant loss to him. If not financially, at least sentimentally.
“That’s big,” I said.
“Not if it ensures the safety of my men and women,” he said, having become a lot more diplomatic of a leader as he’s gotten older. Back in the day, we’d have gone in there, guns blazing, and taken all of them out.
But those were different times.
We were different men.
“Let me know when. I’ll be there,” I said.
“Will do,” Renzo said. “Go take care of your girl and sister.”