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He flanks me as we walk towards the deli. Jack sits outside around a small patio table, smoking a cigar while Vince, the underboss, sits across from him. He’s in his mid thirties. Good-looking guy, but a complete prick. His left hand glimmers with a small wedding band. Jesus Christ. I still can’t believe he’s married.
    “Oh, there he is!” Vince stands up and gives me a wide smile as he wraps his arms around my back and pounds me.
    “Hey, Vince,” I say in a toneless voice. “Jack.”
    I nod at the Vittorio Crime Family boss, the man who gave me the position of capo before Vince yanked it away from me. He still doesn’t trust me.
    “Nicky, thanks for bringing him in.”
    “No problem, Jack.” Nicky gives me a grim look before he walks past the table and enters the store.
    Vince’s eyes darken as he pulls away. “You were supposed to be here earlier.”
    Fuck your mother.
    I’m still fucking pissed at Nicky. “I’m here now, aren’t I?”
    Vince glares at me for a moment, looking like he’d quite like to punch in my face, but he relents.
    Jack gets up from his seat and puts out the cigar. “Come inside, Joe. We gotta talk.”
    The glass door swings open and we walk past the customers gathered inside the deli, into the back rooms, which hold a pool table, several desks, a dartboard, and chairs. Paulie, Nicky, and all the other captains are already there. Nicky looks away from me as soon as I walk in.
    Paulie looks up from under his eyeglasses. “Did you hear? Carmine Lucchesi is still fucking giving orders from prison to the New Jersey outfit.”
    The underboss shakes his head darkly. “Can someone tell me why the fuck he’s still alive?”
    Jack walks around the pool table. “Forget about Carmine, Vince. He’s in jail. They’ll get to him when they can. I’m more worried about the Worlds Casino.”
    “Money,” he says under his breath. “It’s always about cock-sucking, motherfucking money.”
    Jack ignores him. “The death of Dominic Toffoli could not come at a worse fucking time. I got the feds all over my ass every fucking hour of the day because of that lunatic Carmine, and this business is one of our greatest assets.” He crosses his arms over his chest.
    “What do you know about this broad? Can she be trusted?” I ask him.
    “Her old man could.” He runs his fingers over the felt. “Anyway, that’s what I needed to talk to you about. I want you to go there. Help her. Make sure she doesn’t do anything stupid.”
    My fists clench at my sides. “And if she does?”
    “What the fuck do you think?” Vince explodes. “Smack her around. Scare her. Put the fear of God in her.”
    I glance at him sharply. Sometimes, I wonder if he has any brain cells. “This is not the kind of woman you smack around, Vince. She has a lot of connections.”
    “Then lick her pussy.”
    The rest of the guys explode with laughter, but it all chimes around me like nonsense words. I can’t feel any of it. It rolls right off my shoulders like rain running down my back. Vince’s face brightens with laughter, but it falls when he sees mine.
    “Jesus Christ, lighten up a little.”
    Fuck you.
    “Joey,” Jack cuts in. “This is very important. You cannot fuck this up.”
    All of their eyes rest on me. They’re like wolves staring down at me, just waiting for me to trip so that they can eat me alive. I’ve lost their respect after what happened at the heist months ago. I fucked it up because I was too distracted over—over everything that happened with my sister.
    “Relax. I’ll handle it.”
    Fuck, it won’t be hard. It might even be enjoyable. I’ve never had problems with girls. You just give them a little bit of attention, make them feel special, and then they’re eating out of your hand.
    Then I think about her small round face and how her eyes filled with tears when she talked to me, and guilt and duty clash together.
    “Just get close to her. I can’t imagine her dad wouldn’t have told