Indebted to the Mafia King
Et tu?

Dante

"What do you think?" Eleni twirls, showing off the suit she picked out for the occasion.

I smile from my spot on her bed. "Perfect."

And it is. I figured, since we couldn't do anything real about Luca yet, El could be let in on a little of the planning. After the necklace, and our rendezvous on the couch, it was harder to forget how strong she was. And she threatened to start following me in the car I bought her. So I set up a face-to-face with Thano to get them officially acquainted, and Eleni went online shopping in secret, leading to the all-black suit she's sporting now. She's obviously teasing me, but she looks fucking incredible. The knee-length skirt fit her like a glove, and she's swapped out the tie I would wear for some tight, black necklace that highlights the line of her throat. She's pulled her hair up in a bun, leaving only a few curls loose to frame her face, and the heels she's wearing would put Gianna to shame, albeit not on a work night.

"You think?" She fidgets with her coat. "I feel like I look silly. And the buttons on the shirt pull-❞

"Don't remind me." I stand and wrap her in a hug. "Next time, I'll get you a tailor. Though we're keeping this shirt to rip off you."

She presses herself against me. "How long do we have?"

I check my watch. "Not nearly long enough. We have to fight Verrazano traffic at rush hour. I swear, Thano's a sadist."

"Takes one to know one." She pinches my ass.

I swat her away with a smile, and we walk outside hand-in-hand. The drive in is, predictably, torturous.

"So, Thano-I can call him Thano, right?" she asks.

I smile. "Yes, you can. You're high enough in my organization."

That makes her glow bright enough that I almost don't want to kill everyone on the bridge.

"Thano leads a syndicate in New Jersey." She plays with her new necklace. "So why are you working with him?"

"We have some shared interests." I lean on the horn as someone tries to cut me off in bumper-to-bumper traffic. "Both of us would love a slice of New York City. And he's got more men, mostly because he has more room to spread out." She nods. "So, you're allies."

"For now." Blessedly, I pull off the Verrazano and into regular New York traffic. "Alliances in this business don't tend to last."

Uncle John's warning echoes in my ears, but I ignore it. He's just second-guessing my every decision. I don't need him.

"Is this like your equivalent of a work party?" She smiles.

I laugh. "If that's an easy way for you to think of it, then yes. There will definitely be drinks, and maybe food."

"That, I can handle." She nods to herself.

"I'm pretty sure you can handle anything, El."

Forty fucking minutes later, we pull up outside of Benny's, and I open the glove box.

"First, phones in." I throw mine inside. "It's a respect thing."

She follows suit.

"Then, one for me"-I pull out my favorite pistol and slide it into my shoulder holster-"and one for you." I offer her a silver gun with scrolling detail work I picked up recently.

"Heck of a work party." She takes the gun delicately and holsters it on her waist.

"Welcome to the business." I climb out of the car, then help her out, and we walk inside.

Teo waves us immediately through the curtain to the back, and El clings to my hand as the dive abruptly transforms from hole-in-the-wall to Fortune 500. Thano likes everything black and chrome, and his city headquarters is no different. We sit in a small waiting area, where she taps her feet like she had six cups of coffee before we left, and then the door to Thano's office opens.

He smiles warmly. His iron-gray hair is tied back in a ponytail, and the years line his face. "Good to see you, Dante."

El stands and sticks out her hand. "My name is Eleni Calimeris and I'm his girlfriend."

"Nice to finally meet you in the flesh." Thano chuckles and shakes her hand. "Please, come in."

I stand. "This is really just an introductory meeting. You said we were closing in on Luca, right?'

"Yes, I picked up a significant lead on that warehouse upstate." Thano walks into his office.

El and I trail after him. As predicted, his drink cart sits in the middle of the room, and a small tray of antipasti perches on a small table between the two black armchairs in front of his desk. I take a seat, and the back of my neck prickles. Thano didn't have those red curtains on his window the last time I was here.

"You redecorating?" I ask.

He follows my gaze to the curtains. "Oh, that. My wife said I was getting dreary, refused to come into the city unless I did something in here."

Paranoia. I chuckle and gesture for El to sit. "She was right. It was downright funeral here."

He smiles tightly. "Something to drink?"

"Scotch," I say.

"Wine. Rose, if you have it." El smiles.

I raise an eyebrow at her. She still doesn't drink often.

As Thano pours the drinks, she mouths "Gianna," and I smile. Of course. My cousin has been corrupting her.

Thano raises his own glass, full of something clear. "To a long and healthy partnership."

"Cheers." I raise mine.

Something rustles. The back of my neck prickles again. Thano's gaze darts to the side, toward those goddamned curtains, and I realize a moment too late that I sat Eleni between me and them. Two men explode out of the drapes. I grab for my gun. Stupid. One of the men lunges for Eleni and snatches her around the waist while the other rips the curtains off the wall and throws them at me. My vision goes red, and not just with anger. "Dante!" Eleni shrieks.

Glass shatters. I rip the knife I barely use out of my inside jacket pocket and slice through the curtain, but it's already too late. The goons smashed through a fucking window. I race to the sill, heedless of whatever Thano is up to, just in time to watch them throw a still-struggling Eleni into the back of a white van and take off.

The anger that washes through me grants clarity. This whole city will burn. Shooting them would be a waste of bullets. I'll taste their blood when I find Eleni. I whip back to Thano, who still stands behind his desk with his glass raised, though he's lifted his own gun.

"How long?" I ask.

He finishes his glass. "Didn't I tell you? The lead I found at the warehouse was a charming young man with an interesting proposition by the name of "

I fire. Clean shot, right between the eyes. He can monologue to Saint fucking Peter. Thano Coppola was just the first obstacle in my path.

By the time I make it back to the front of Benny's my suit pants are drenched in blood, and the Coppola organization has at least a dozen positions to fill; including boss. I storm to my car, yank open the door, and rip my phone out of the glovebox. Eleni's clatters to the floor, and the sharp, clear anger is all that keeps me from breaking down. I dial Tony with steady hands.

"How'd the meeting go?" he asks.

"Gather a hunting party," I reply.