Page 8 of Dirty Hearts

Altered to the way I wanted things.

These four guys were my crew. The Four, my four horsemen.

Dante, Gio, Alex, and Jude.

They were the crew you brought in when serious shit needed to be done.

Sitting together like this they looked like a bunch of ex-military guys with their height and muscle to do some damage. They even wore their dark hair military short. I was the only one with long hair.

My four were all Capo’s, while Pa retained his title of consigliere and gained the title of underboss. Second in command to me.

On a more business level I gave the guys more specific duties.

Jude and Alex took care of business development and new business ideas. If people wanted to speak to me, they had to go through them first.

Dante and Jude on the other hand had a handle on the money in whatever capacity that was required. Whether it was investments, or otherwise.Otherwise,meaning keeping things legit. Clean and off the radar from cops, and even worse feds.

All serious stuff but our love for motorcycles had brought us together.

Pa was in Italy at the moment so when we met up like this it reminded me of way back when, when we used to meet and talk about motorcycles. We still did that. I still fixed bikes up and did all kind of crazy shit to modify them. I even made a small fortune selling them on. It was a good distraction, but times were serious now. Three years ago the time came for me to man up and be leader.

When we’d teamed up years ago, I doubted that they would have thought they’d be the next hierarchy to the don of the Chicago Mafia.

A.K.A me.

Sometimes I had a hard time believing it myself. Not that I’d never dreamt of it. When I’d dreamt of the position, I kind of saw myself as the merciless bastard I used to be.

I wasn’t like that anymore.

Many things had changed me.

The loss of my wife was a significant event in my life, and the shit that happened after, but then there was the way that my own brother whipped himself into shape and lived the good life. I had kind of seen him at my side in all this, but he’d given it all up for a girl.

Lucian had turned his life around for Amelia, and I guess for himself too.

I was happy for them.

It made me reflect though. On things I shouldn’t.

Things like Ava.

“What’d you think boss?” Alex asked with a cocky smile. The bastard knew what I thought but wanted to hear my approval. He was the youngest of us and sometimes that youthful need to be rewarded came out in him.

“I think that’s fucking awesome thinking, and I’m glad it’s your job and not mine. I doubt they’ll be happy with that decision,” I smiled.

“Love it or leave it, boss.” Alex chuckled and bumped fists with Jude, who nodded.

“Boss, these fuckers really don’t know who they’re messing with,” Jude added.

I grinned at their bravado.

“Great,” I answered and leaned back against my chair. “Anything else we need to discuss?” I was kind of anxious to wrap this up. I had other things on my mind that needed to be dealt with.

“One last thing,” Alex added.

“God, it’s like you save up all the shit on a weekly basis.” Gio frowned.

“Relax, bro, I’m sure she’ll wait for you,” Dante jumped in, shaking his head. “Did you see her last night at the restaurant?” he asked me, but I didn’t know who the hell he was talking about.