Ignoring that, I continued to question him. “Michael said he had evidence and a confession from a source that Lou was the one who killed our father.” I leaned into the table, placing both elbows along the wooden surface. “Are you saying that was a lie to get us involved?”
Vinnie let out a heavy breath. “We needed something to lure you guys in. We needed the two of you on our side and against Lou.”
“So you’re fuckin’ saying our father’s suicide wasn’t a set up?” Jimmie asked to clarify.
Vinnie nodded in response.
What. The. Fuck.
Everything we’d believed the past year was all a fucking lie!
I tossed my head back as a roaring laugh escaped me. Tears began to build from laughing so hard. Jimmie snapped his head at me with a wry expression. Although none of it was funny, not even in the least shape or form, I couldn’t stop laughing. It was fucking hilarious how we were led to believe all of it. We were being played as fucking puppets either way. By Lou. By the Feds. My laugh triggered confused looks from both of their faces, as tears built from laughing so hard.
Then I thought of how my life had been turned upside down and ripped apart for the past year: How I wanted to kill Lou with my bare fucking hands because I thought he was responsible for my father’s death. How my brother and Michael kept me out of the fucking loop for so long, because they thought I couldn’t handle it—thought I would ruin it all. How I went on jobs for that fucking bastard, Lou, wishing that if I didn’t live one more day, the last thing I would hope for was to see Lou gasping for air as my hands were wrapped tightly around his neck, squeezing the life out of him. How the stress and pressure built day in and day out, not wanting the life anymore, not caring to live. How for years I hated my father and then felt relieved that he didn’t kill himself—that maybe, just fucking maybe, he wasn’t a fucking coward—but NOW that was stripped away from me.
“Get out!”
Vinnie eyes widened at my raised voice. Maybe he didn’t hear me the first time. Standing from my chair, I hovered over the desk, and with a hard glare, I yelled, “Get the fuck out!”
“Marcus—
“No. Because of this cocksucker, we’ve been walking around on fuckin’ eggshells, wondering what to do next.” Straightening, I swung my arms in the air. “We were getting fucked in the ass the entire time, by a fuckin’ pig at that!”
“Marky, I’m sorry for how everything went down. I don’t mean any disrespect to you or Jimmie, especially with you, Marky, not after what you’ve done for me.”
I reluctantly placed my hands to my hips and tried to calm my breathing as Jimmie asked, “What was that?”
Vinnie went on to answer Jimmie but kept his eyes on me. “He saved my life. It was my first night on a job. We had a trade with a cartel group. I made a mistake by turning my back on a bad trade. Marky warned me before we went in to never turn your back on anyone. I was fuckin’ stupid and turned to put the money in the truck, but he shot one of the men before they got me. I remember a loud gun going off, and for a split second, I thought it was me, that I was dead. Then when I came to my senses and turned, Marky was standing behind me with a gun in his hand, and the douchebag he shot was on the fuckin’ ground beside me.” He shook the memory from his thoughts. “Anyway, what I’m trying to say is that I owe my life to you. I can make it all go away for you guys.”
“What are you saying?”
“I’m the lead investigator in the Sorrento case. Due to cuts in funding, I only have two men working under me. There wasn’t enough money for wiretapping, so we have to figure out everything from word of mouth or video surveillance, which isn’t much. At the end of the day, we write down transcripts on a daily basis. You and Jimmie can easily be erased from those memos.”
“But . . .” Jimmie chimed in, knowing that there was a catch.
Vinnie leaned into the desk, adjusting his position so that he could take a good hard look at the both of us. “In two weeks, Lou himself will have his largest trade yet—one hundred pounds of cocaine worth five million dollars.”
Jimmie whistled. “With whom?”
“Salvatore Lombardi.”
That was fucking huge. Salvi was the boss of one of the largest mob organizations in New York. He had been around a lot longer than Lou, knew all the ins and outs of the trade, but they’d remained friendly rivals. The two of them together caught by federal agents would be the largest mob bust in history.
“Do you know what this would mean if we had both Lou and Salvi?”
“Yeah, a fuckin’ death wish.” I spat as I sank back in my chair.
“Not without help from the two of you.”
Jimmie raised a brow at that comment. “And how do you propose we help?”
Vinnie stood and walked around his chair, gripping the back of the seat. “There’s surveillance all over the club except for the basement, which is where the trade will occur. We need surveillance in every corner of that area. No blind spots.”
“We can do that.” Jimmie said with a shrug.
“But I’m sure that’s not all you need from us.” I added with a raised brow.
Vinnie nodded. “With the low funding, I don’t have the pull or power for back up. I only have two men on my team: One is looking after Mia. The other just provides info when needed. The team that’s working on the Lombardi case in New York is going to handle this bust with us.”
“But?”
“We need someone to make sure it happens, someone to let us know their every move: what time they arrive, when both Lou and Salvi are spotted together, and the time of the exchange.”
“You do understand that Lou doesn’t trust us now, right?” I leaned back in the chair, placing both of my hands on the back of my head. “How do you expect us to retrieve that info? We didn’t even know about the Lombardi trade.”
“Lou hasn’t trusted you in months, Marky. Ever since he was suspicious of you and found out the info on Mia, he’s been watching you. I’ve been watching you for him. We had a meeting a few days back. He took you out as second in command and gave it to Gio, so you know what that means.”
I absolutely did. It meant that, if for some reason Lou was killed, the second in command would take over. I was supposed to be the one that would take Lou’s position if there was ever a hit on him. I never wanted it to begin with, and it didn’t surprise me that Gio took over my position.