For Cam (Chicago Syndicate Book 4) (9 page)

And I redirect my glare to him.

“Adriano, we would’ve told you the second we saw you,” Luca explains.

I shrug off his hand and clutch my hair.

“Who showed you the recording?” Cam asks suddenly, and then Serena and the guard emerge from the security room at the worst possible time.

Tension in the room rises, and Cam takes a defensive stance. “Did
she
show you me and Santino?”

Serena’s unfazed and strolls into the room, looking from me to Cam.

“Leave us,” I order, and they scurry out, so I add, “No, she did not. This is about
you
disobeying me. Again.”

“All you do is work, work, work on your clubs,” Cam throws back. “You’re obsessed with building this empire, and you don’t even live in this reality anymore. You’ve had an FBI undercover agent in here and were doing nothing, and I
had
to disregard orders to speed the process along.”

What started as idyllic ignorance almost three months ago has now altered into a reality where our working together is becoming impossible. I guess Cam’s even slyer than I thought. And love complicates matters even further. In the Mafia, those complications can be lethal. My exasperation burns deep, and I’m unable to control my outburst.

“
Reality
?” I spit. “My reality is that it’s becoming problematic for us to work together. This is the second time that you’ve ignored my direct orders, and this time, you even managed to convince Luca to help you!”

“But my actions weren’t in vain. Doesn’t that count for anything?” she probes, frustrated.

“No. As a
Capo
, you’re to obey my orders.”

She fails to bite back a retort. “Maybe if you spent less time working with Serena on your sex club, your
Capo
wouldn’t have to defy orders.”

“This isn’t about Serena. Nothing has happened with her. Don’t you dare bring that up.
She
and
I
have been purely professional.
You
are the one out of order here.”

“Why are you so mad when I achieved results?” She fists her hands.

“Because these little adventures of yours are going to get you killed one day. I do all of this for you. I work around the clock to get everyone to do their jobs so that I can get home to you. I need you to relieve my anxiety and fears, not add to them by going on your own rogue missions. You’re meddling too much. It’s interfering with my sanity and my ability to do my job.”

“You don’t have to worry; I can fend for myself. And what are you saying? That you can’t have me around here?” she utters disbelievingly.

“I’m saying that maybe you’re not ready to be a
Capo
yet.”

She squares her shoulders. “What are you going to do? Kick me out because of Santino? What about Luca? Are you going to fire your underboss too?”

Her hostile behavior feeds my own, and I dismiss her before I say something I might regret. “You’re treading on thin ice, Camilla. You just worry about your own position in this Syndicate. Go home. You’re dismissed.”

“No—”

“I said
go home
,” I repeat in an icy tone, warning her not to push me any further.

Her lips thin into a hard line before she storms out.

Then my rage is targeted at Luca, who tries to diffuse the situation.

“Adriano, you’re blowing this out of proportion. If I had done this with any other
Capo
, would you have taken him out of rank as well? I was there, and I would never let anything happen to Cam.”

“It’s the fucking fact that she even convinced you to get involved that has me worried,” I tell him. “What were you thinking?”

“I wanted to help you. You’re swamped with business, and I recognized the opportunity that Cam saw too.”

I’m positively vibrating with anger, and I can’t even determine where it’s coming from. Cam is clouding my judgment.

I say the one thing I’ve never said to Luca, “I’m disappointed in you, my underboss. How can I still blindly trust you?”

Luca appears stricken, as if I’ve punched him in the gut. “When you’re calm, we’ll talk. You know you can always trust me.”

“I’m not so sure anymore. You’re dismissed too, Luca.”

His eyes turn to slits, but without another word, he clears out.

For the first time since becoming a
Capo crimine
, I’m alone and I
feel
lonely. Usually, I talk to Luca when I’m this stressed. Or Cam. But those two are now the root of my displeasure. I fish my pack of smokes from my pocket and pull out a cig with my teeth. Flicking open my gold lighter, I inhale deeply, letting the smoke burn down my lungs. And I sit down behind my desk, with my elbow on the armrest of my chair, rotating the lighter in one hand. As flashes of Cam and Santino fly across my mind, I take the cig between my thumb and finger. Then I fist the lighter and hurl it across the room to clank loudly against the wall.

“Motherfucker!”

Why am I so mad?
I can’t put my finger on it. Of course, I hate that she didn’t listen. But I loathe the fact that her scheme involved another man even more. Her little indiscretion with Damian has been forgiven but not forgotten. And I know Cam. She’s pushing me because she’s disgruntled about Serena.

I’m so fucking tired.

A knock on the door interrupts my inner rant.

“Yes.”

Serena appears, asking, “Everything okay? We heard a bang or something.” She spots the lighter on the floor and bends down to pick it up as she moves to stand in front of my desk.

“I’m a little on edge, but you already knew that,” I state, taking another draw of my cig. “What do you need?”

“I have some more papers to be signed so that two new girls can start this weekend, and I can’t find Tez or Luca.” She tosses the lighter to me, and I catch it in the air.

Raking my hair back with one hand, I release a loaded sigh. “Then take care of it tomorrow, Serena.”

She tilts her head to the side. “You sure you’re okay?”

“No,” I confess, stubbing the cig out.

“So, she’s your girlfriend?”

This is the first time Serena has ever asked anything personal. At this point, denying is useless because she’s seen too much, so I nod. Silence builds, reinforcing my sentiment that Serena has no interest in me whatsoever beyond the club.

She doesn’t pry, and I have no one else to talk to, so I blurt, “It’s impossible to work with the one you love in the Mafia.”

“It is. I’ve been there.”

As I stare at the floor, rage has made way for something else. Indecision. Most of the time, I have a solution for every situation. But right now, I’m torn. If I take away Cam’s rank, I’ll damage our personal relationship forever. If I keep her as a
Capo
, our personal relationship won’t suffer, but she and I will
have
to communicate better. I’m leaning toward the latter since I always want her to feel empowered. Sharply, a twinge of guilt stabs me because I realize that I stripped her rank in anger. A dismissal in the Mafia means that you’ve lost your rank until you’ve been reinstated. And knowing Cam, it’s made her feel vulnerable.

After checking the time, I get up. “I’m going.”

I need to be at my parents’ for our weekly Friday family dinner, which I’ve missed often since I became boss, and that also coincides with when Cam became my official girlfriend, so my mother believes it’s Cam’s fault that I’m pulling away from my family. And according to my mother, Cam’s dragging Carmine with me. It’s caused some friction between Cam and my mother. But I promised my parents that Carmine and I would be there tonight.

“Can you drop me off at my club?” Serena asks.

“Sure, if you’re ready to leave now.”

“I am.”

She precedes the way to my BMW, and in silence, we drive toward the Astoria Tower.

I text my mother that I’m running fifteen minutes late before she contacts me to ask where I am, but she calls in the middle of my text, so I answer on speakerphone, “Mom?”

“Oh, how is she?” Serena comments kindly.

“Hello? Who’s that, Adriano? Are you coming tonight?”

“I’m on my way,” I reply. “And it’s Serena.”

“Serena Bartoli? How is she? Where did you run into her?” My mother fires all these questions at me.

“Hi, Sophia,” Serena says.

“Hi, Serena. How have you been?”

“Great! And you?”

“Very good, dear.”

“She’s a business partner at the club. I’m dropping her off at her place, which is near the Astoria,” I answer my mother’s earlier question as I brake at the intersection.

“Is she coming with you?” my mom asks all of a sudden, catching me off guard. “Serena, you should come by and at least have a cup of coffee if you’re passing here anyway.”

I frown, and Serena tries to get out of it, but my mother doesn’t get the hint. It’s that Italian hospitality shining through. Everyone’s welcome.

“She’s relentless,” I mouth. 

“Fine, one cappuccino, Sophia. Then I have to go home,” Serena decides, and I jerk the steering wheel to the left toward the Astoria.

After parking in the lot, we take the elevator to the floor where my parents live.

With my key, I open the door and go into the living room where both my parents and Carmine are sitting on the chesterfield.

I give my mother, who actually looks good today, a kiss on the cheek. Having lupus, she’s usually exhausted.

“You look tired, son.” She presses her hand against my cheek.

“I am tired, Mom.”

Then Serena greets my parents, and they chatter about the past.

I sit down, feeling even more empty with every second that I’m at odds with Cam. And as I sit here, I realize that it wasn’t the smartest idea to bring Serena here while Cam and I are fighting. I’m surrounded by my family, but Cam’s alone in our loft. Anger that turned into guilt now turns into pure shame. Only with Cam do I ever feel anything remotely resembling guilt. I acted out in jealousy and fear of losing her, but in the meantime, she’s drifting away. Minutes tick by, and my aggravation subsides while I’m with my family. But in its place, sorrow builds. Regret about how my jealousy might have overridden my reasoning.

Determined to make amends, I ask Carmine if he can take Serena to her club, and he agrees.

With a hurried goodbye, I head to the top floor. To Cam, hoping to repair the cracks in our relationship.

Camilla

––––––––

“H
e did what?!” Fallon asks, closing the book in her lap as she sits Indian style on the sofa in her luxurious penthouse apartment that’s located twenty minutes from my loft.

I fling my purse onto the coffee table and plop down onto her couch. Weighing the issue during the journey from the club to Fallon’s has only managed to strengthen my indignation. “I was ordered to leave, and I have no idea where we stand. Adriano’s talking to Luca now.”

“I can’t believe Luca helped you when Adriano told you to stay away from Santino,” Fallon notes.

“Well, Luca shared similar concerns regarding the circumstances surrounding Santino.”

“I’ve heard Luca mention that Adriano is swamped lately.” She takes her tea mug from the table.

“I get that, but to shut me out like that?”

“You did defy boss’s orders. I’m not a member, but even
I
know that’s punishable by death for any other soldier or
Capo
, Cam.”

Fallon’s been prying more and more into Syndicate business, and I can tell that she’s starting to resent that she’s always on the outside.

I blow out a frustrated sigh. “He’s so busy with that sex club and Serena—”

“Ah, that’s what this is about?” She lifts a brow.

“No, not really, Well, I do think she’s after him. And that she’s very conniving.”

“Okay, but it’s not like he’s cheating. Cut him some slack. He has a million people wanting something from him, and he’s working so hard
for you
, Cam. Don’t make the same mistakes I did. I also fought Luca at first, and I regretted it. You have to realize that fighting him won’t work. You know how to influence him. Your resentment is just hindering you.”

“It’s difficult to be a
Capo
and his girlfriend.”

“I can imagine it is, but it’s the choice you made. Don’t let others, Santino
or
Serena, ruin what you have with him.” Fallon takes a sip of her tea.

“You’re right. And really, I’m not worried about her at all. I just don’t trust her,” I repeat, resting back against the couch.

“Then don’t. Keep an eye on her and make sure she doesn’t swoop in while you and he are arguing. Instead, keep any suspicions you have about her to yourself until you have evidence, because Luca has also mentioned that your jealousy might be interfering with your judgment. What’s most important is for you to be what Adriano needs. And what he needs is for the woman he loves to support him, wholeheartedly. It’s the same with Luca. You’re a member, so you know even better than I do how precarious their lives are. Trust me, there are often situations where I want to smack Luca because of his domineering persona, but it comes from a good place. Adriano’s just like Luca in that regard. You both need to learn to compromise.”

Our heads turn in unison when the elevator swooshes open, and we see that Luca’s returned home.

“What did he say to you?” I ask.

He sends me a disappointed look and shrugs out of his charcoal suit jacket, throwing it onto the kitchen island. “He dismissed me too.” Then he walks over to Fallon and cradles the back of her head to press a tender kiss to her lips. “Hey.”

“Hey. What’s going on with Adriano?” she probes for me.

Luca sits down next to Fallon and stretches his arm along the back of the couch behind her.

“What else did he say?” I’m too impatient.

“Not much. He was still furious. Cam, do you know what
dismissed
means?”

Confused, I say, “What?”

“
Dismissed
in the Syndicate means that we’ve been stripped of our rank.”

“What?! Wait, so he fired us both?”

“No, he didn’t fire us. That’s not how this works. He took away our rank, so we can’t work until he reinstates us or decides otherwise.”