Rafe
SIX YEARS LATER
Rafe Corvino, 42 June Ashworth, 28
finish writing the check and stare at the numbers.
ISix thousand dollars.
There’s no way in hell she’s going to buy it this time.
Like each payment before it, I ke ep thinking she’ll notice the pattern. Nobody’s
that lucky, right?
That’s how life works.
The world takes. That’s all it ever does. The universe never gives.
Exc ept for her.
“The usual place,” I say, sliding it across the desk.
Theodora scoops it up and tucks it into a folder. “How should we route this one?
Fake federal program? Lottery winnings?”
“Leave cash on her doorst ep in a paper bag.”
“Now you’re thinking, boss.” She beams at me. That movie-star smile. Theodora
could be walking the runway if she wanted. Tall, nearly six foot, with big hair, blue
eyes, and a figure to die for.
Instead, she’s my personal lawyer, and the best in the world.
“We have other business,” I say, eager to move on from this topic. I text my
brother Silas for him to come join us for this part of the conversation.
Theodora knows me well enough not to linger. She sits and crosses her legs,
opening her briefcase and tapping a sheaf of documents before putting them on my
desk. “Twelve shell companies, as requested, four of which are international.”
I flip through and arch a brow. “Moscow? Really?”
“I’m particularly proud of that one.” Theodora yawns into her manicured nails as
the door opens and Silas enters.
“Is my brother boring you already, darling?” Silas approaches with that swagger
and his confident smile. It drives me fucking crazy. He’s around my height with our
family’s trademark light gray eyes, but his hair’s longer, his clothes are much more
expensive, and his ink trends toward color.
Exc ept for the letters on his left knuckles.
Ashes.
“Never. I was up late last night getting everything settled.” Theodora doesn’t
bother to look at Silas. They have a love-hate relationship. Mostly love from Silas and
hate from Theo.
“Shame, love. I wish you were up late with me instead. When are you going to
acc ept my standing invitation?”
“When cancer finally eats my cold, dead body, then maybe you can sle ep with me.”
“Tempting, I’ll be honest.”
Theodora’s nose wrinkles.
“This is all well done,” I say, pleased with her work and doing my best to ignore my
brother’s flirtation. “How are the permits coming along?”
“Finished on that end too,” Silas says, stretching out, looping one arm over the
back of his chair. I sit straight, shoulders back, but my brother slouches and slinks
like he’s back home in his living room. “Wasn’t fucking easy, I’ll tell you that. Had to
call in more than a few favors.”
“Wonder how you earned those,” Theodora mutters.
Silas ignores her. “But we’re settled now. Kellan and Devlin are finalizing the
warehouse space. I’ll move on to trucking and logistics soon.”
“Theodora? Hiring?”
She nods once. “I have people working on it.”
I sit back and look down at the papers on my desk. My lawyer and my brother fall
silent for a moment as the magnitude of what we’re doing slowly settles on our
shoulders.
On my shoulders, as always.
“When we’re finished, the Corvino family will be remade,” I say, gazing at the faint
but still visible burn scars on my left palm. I still remember the door that gave me
those. The brass was so hot it made me scream, but no louder than my brothers
begging on the other side. Ashes. “The world is changing, and we have to change
with it.”
“Legal drug dealing. Who would’ve thought?” Silas sounds serious for once in his
life. “The Chinese factories are practically foaming at the mouth at the thought of
getting their faintly regulated shit into the US market.”
“Everyone I know loves those GLP-1 s.” Theodora checks her nails, shrugging. “I
never saw the point.”
“With a body like yours, why would you?” Silas nudges her with his toe. “Come on,
Dora, tell me your secret.”
“Good genes and not getting in volved with fuckboys like you.”
Silas touches his chest. “I’m wounded.”
“Please, enough.” I rub the bridge of my nose. “I swear, you two are going to give
me an aneurysm. I’m trying to have a moment here.”
“Right, sorry, bro.” Silas rubs his hands together. “Let’s get all sentimental some
more, shall we.”
I give him a hard look. He shuts up, to his credit.
“When the deal closes and we officially own Denning Drug Supply, we’ll have a
legitimate way into the market. While our competitors are busy knifing each other on
street corners and selling meth in empty lots, we’ll flood the streets with completely
legal Chinese knockoffs.”
“I wouldn’t say completely legal,” Theodora comments.
“The shape of our family is changing. I want to make sure everyone’s ready for it.”
I stare hard at Silas. “Have you spoken with Cassian recently?”
Silas clears his throat. “I try but you know him. He only answers when he wants
to.”
“Make sure he understands and is on board.”
“I’m not sure Cassian cares about much. I mean, so long as he’s got a list of
targets—“ Silas stops and glances at Theodora. She’s doing her best impression of a
woman who can neither see nor hear, which is one of her specialties. “Anyway,
Kellan likes the idea of running an army of salesmen, and Devlin ke eps saying he’s
going to fuck every hot doctor on the East Coast, so you know them. Happy so long as
there’s blood and treasure.”
“There will be plenty of both.” I lean my hands on the desk, staring at my oldest
brother and my most trusted advisor. Both gaze back seriously. “Our enemies will not
sit back and let this happen. We’re entering into uncharted territory, and I will make
sure my family is protected. Do you understand me?”
“Legally speaking, I’m on top of it.”
“And less than legally speaking?” Silas stands and walks over to the bar cart.
“We’re ready.” He pours a drink and raises the glass. “Here’s to the future.”
“This stays between us for now. The Capos and Lieutenants will have too many
questions.”
“What about Ignazio?” Theodora asks softly. “He’s aware something’s happening.”
“I’ll deal with the accountant.” I look down at my hands, thinking how this is going
to split the family in two. There are those that must be left behind but everything I do
is for the greater good.
Nothing lasting is created without a little blood in the foundations.
Silas throws back his glass with a satisfied smile. “Better you than me, that’s for
sure.”
I walk the pair of them out into the hall. Theodora discusses more trivial matters
and Silas does his best to rile her. I ke ep my distance, gazing around at the house,
wondering what my parents would have made of a place like this. Ten times larger
than what we grew up in, ten times more expensive, and ten times more deadly. The
nicest neighborhood in the heart of Philadelphia. Who would’ve ever thought
criminals like us would live side by side with the wealthy and the elite?
Would my parents be proud of what we’ve become?
I doubt it. Truly, in my heart, I doubt it.
But nothing else matters anymore. My parents are in their grave twenty years
now, and it has been up to me to guide my brothers and the remnants of my father’s
organization into what we are today.
Nothing’s been easy. Every day’s a struggle.
Life takes. It takes and takes and takes. First my parents, my angel baby sister
with them, and dozens of other slights and breaks and insults. Friends gone, bloodied
and ruined. Associates gutted and left to rot in the street. Years pass, the scars
thicken, the pain only ever gets worse, but I carry it all.
That’s what it means to sit on the throne.
When they’re gone, I return to my office.
My world doesn’t like change. There are too many entrenched interests competing
for their slice of the kingdom. The Corvino Operation has gotten too big, too
unwieldy, with several power bases spread throughout the United States. An offshoot
in Chicago, another in Los Angeles, another in the Bay Area. Where there is money,
we’re there working in the shadows.
But Denning gives us an opportunity for more.
A chance to grow more powerful than I ever dreamed twenty years ago standing in
the driveway with the ruins of my family crying in the rain around me.
I slump behind my desk. My thoughts are crowded with too many bad memories. I
try not to spend time in the past but now that I’m on the edge of something new, I
can’t help myself.
What will become of us? How will we survive the inevitable?
I’m so lost in thought that I almost don’t notice the envelope. It’s placed on top of
the paperwork Theodora gave me earlier. I frown, not sure how it got there.
Nobody’s allowed in this room aside from me.
Slowly, I slip open the seal and reach inside.
There’s a photograph. It’s simple, in bright colors, shot on a tel ephoto lens.
Slightly blurry, the proportions off.
My body goes numb staring at it.
The image is of a pretty young woman. Late twenties, blond hair, lovely figure. I
taste salt and honey on my tongue, feel cold glass against my palms, hear her voice in
my mind.
In the picture, the woman is sitting on a park bench beside a five-year-old girl.
The child is smiling. She’s got a juice box in her hands. The woman is leaning
down like she’s about to help put the straw through the foil.
The little girl’s eyes are a cool, startling gray.
Like mist off an ocean breeze.
I stare at the image for a long time, my heart stuttering, my palms sweating.
My God.
Years. So many years. These two have been there, lurking in the background of
every decision I’ve ever made.
Quiet, hidden away.
Safe.
But now?
Someone found them.
I crush the photograph with a snarl.