Page 9 of Dirty Hearts

“Who?” I narrowed my eyes at him.

Dante raised his brows. “The Swedish chick with the big tits. Looked like she just jumped out of an erotic fantasy.”

Nah, I still didn’t have a clue. Of course, I wouldn’t because while I’d been at the restaurant, my mind was still fixed on seeing Ava last week at the cemetery. Today marked a full week, and I still hadn’t gotten out of that damn funk that took me.

“She’s the new waitress at the restaurant.” Gio leaned in and looked me over with curiosity. “I totally have to give Dante credit for his good sense and taste. Bring in better-looking women, and the customers will come too.”

“That’s right, man.” Dante nodded.

He ran the restaurant/ bar that we all loved to hang out in. It was a gift. I’d given my men a gift each when I took over the business. That was one of them. It was for their loyalty. I’d learned that trust was hard to come by.

The thing, too, was while I showed my trust for them, there was always that niggling voice in the back of my mind that told me one of them had betrayed me.

The safe house Marissa had been in was top secret.

Goliath was a man who could have found her, but I knew he must have had help to get to her as quickly as he had.

This was the case of me keeping my friends close but my enemies closer.

“Okay, I don’t remember anything much from last night,” I confessed. “But I have things to sort out, so let’s hear it, Alex. Last item of discussion.”

Alex smiled wider. “Two words. David Shipel.”

While Dante smirked and Gio widened his eyes, I steepled my fingers and straightened.

David Shipel. “As in cigar and tobacco company David Shipel?” I asked.

Alex smiled. “The one and only.”

“What does he want with us?”

In addition to Alex’s role as business development manager, he was my liaison for new business ideas. Jude supported him in this role, so I knew the brothers must have talked about it before the meeting. I could tell from Jude’s cocky manner.

“He wants to hire the shipping company. He’s starting a new brand of cigars and wants to use us as we can provide the perfect facilities and service for him,” Alex explained and looked quite proud of himself, as he should. Like the others, he knew the direction I wanted to take the business.

Sure, we were mobsters, but we were the kind that had benefitted from years of cleaning up and were on the tail end of success where we were all stinking rich and didn’t need to be running around like criminals.

Still the most ruthless bastards anyone could ever come across, and we owned our own in defending what was ours, but we didn’t need to do shit that would land us in the slammers.

This… David Shipel’s proposal was exactly the kind of business I wanted to attract. It kept us legit and continued to keep anything else we may have going on in the back under the radar.

“Good work.” I nodded. “When does he want to meet?”

“On your word, boss.”

I sighed.When would be a good time to do this?I needed a clear mind. Maybe a few days. “Friday at noon. Let’s meet back here Thursday briefly to discuss the accounts and stock take for the companies.” I’d actually wanted to talk about that today, but accounts and shit like that bored me. I could get someone else to do it, but this was our money. I needed to know where it was going and what it was doing.

“Friday.” Alex winked.

Friday would give me the rest of the week to clear my mind. By Thursday, I should hopefully resemble something like myself.

“Meeting adjourned,” I declared.

Jude and Alex were the first to go. Dante and Gio remained sitting, just like I’d predicted.

I stood up and looked from one to the other, who were both giving me that tentative glare.

“What? What’s with you two?” I raised my brows.