Reckless & Ruined (27 page)

Joel’s gaze narrowed in on Riley. “How—”

“We are,” Abriella replied, interrupting her brother without batting a lash. “I’d like to say it’s good to be home and all …”

“But I don’t imagine it is because you probably weren’t given a choice,” Riley finished for her. He flicked a look in Joel’s direction before going back to Abriella. “How close am I?” 

Abriella simpered him with a smile. “Bang on.”

“I usually am, Ella.”

Joel scowled. “Enough of this. She isn’t here to make chitchat, Riley.”

“Then why did you bring her here today?” Riley asked, loud enough for everyone to hear. “Because you see, I happen to find Abriella interesting when she opens up that mouth of hers to talk. She’s got a dark humor that’s difficult to find in a woman, not to mention, she isn’t hard on the eyes.”

Abriella laughed. “Thank you.”

“Ah, you’ve earned those compliments, my dear,” Riley replied. “But Joel here, he’s obviously brought you along for this sit-down with other intentions. If he expects you to sit, shut up, and look pretty, then you’re not doing very damn much for me here.”

Silence answered Riley back from Joel.

Riley, apparently, wasn’t looking for a response. “Which leads me to believe you’re not a distraction, but perhaps his failsafe for something. It’s a terrible thing when a man doesn’t have enough confidence in his own standing that he has to bring along not one but two females in order to ensure his safety with another man. Terrible indeed.”

Joel openly glared. “You have—”

Riley waved Joel’s words off, whatever it was he planned on saying. “Oh, don’t bother denying it, Joel. You are the only man inside and outside of this restaurant that believes the men in the Outfit are stupid and easily manipulated. Keep believing that, my boy, and they’ll run you straight into an early grave.”

“I highly doubt that,” Joel muttered.

“As I said, keep believing it, Joel, while the rest of us stand around and watch as someone digs six feet down into dirt where your casket will rest.”

Adriano damn near laughed, but managed to hold it back somehow. Without even realizing it, Joel had given Riley an opening to start in on. And like the fucking shark Adriano knew his father to be, Riley would bite on and rip out a bloody, messy chuck, leaving Joel scrambling to pick up the pieces.

It was Riley’s game. He played it especially well.

Alessa’s gaze jumped between Joel and Riley. Adriano caught her stare in between, held it for a brief second, and then dropped it just as fast.

“You’re mighty arrogant today,” Joel said.

Riley chuckled. “No, Joel. I’m arrogant every day. I’ve earned this right. Someday, you might have the benefit of saying the same, but not today.”

Adriano stayed quiet at his father’s side, grateful there was nothing between Joel and Riley that might possibly get caught in their heated glares. Even the men gathered around the room, watching the two front runners vying over the boss’s seat in the Outfit couldn’t help but stare, enraptured and likely confused.

Who would win this one?

The server broke Joel and Riley’s staring contest by setting the glass of whiskey to the table with a loud clink. She disappeared into the back of the place just as quickly as she’d came.

“Is the engagement between Alessa and Dean still going through?” Riley asked, passing a look in the Artinos direction.

“Of course, eventually,” Joel replied. “When the time is right. Why shouldn’t it?”

Riley raised a single brow high. “A few reasons.”

Joel didn’t look like he gave much of a damn. “Like what, Riley?”

“Well, for one, because bosses typically okay an arrangement between families and there is no official boss to do that, Joel.”

“I am more than capable of making those decisions for my sisters.” 

“Alessa is young,” Adriano said before he could stop himself. Alessa’s head snapped up, her pretty blue eyes widening with shock. “You’re planning to marry her off before she’s even had time to graduate college or do anything, Joel.”

He knew better. Riley had been specific in his instructions that Adriano stay quiet during the meeting and learn from it.

Joel’s gaze cut to Adriano. “I would love to know when my sister’s welfare became any of your concern, Conti.”

Riley pinched his son’s thigh under the table hard enough to bruise. It kept Adriano quiet.

“He, like any man in this family, has a right to an opinion where there is concern for someone else,” Riley said, almost like he was daring Joel to deny it. “And there is a great deal of concern to go around with this match you’re preparing to make between Alessa and Dean. Which brings me to my second point, Joel. You’re going to end up marrying your sister off far below her reaching. That is disgusting.”

“I beg your fucking pardon, Conti?” Walter barked from the corner.

Joel held up a hand, quieting the man. “Which one is too low for you, Riley? Dean or his father?”

Riley laughed. “Both, my boy.”

“Perhaps a marriage would be the chance for them to advance.”

Christ
.

Joel was stupider than Adriano thought.

“Does young Theo DeLuca realize that’s what the marriage is intended for?” Riley asked quietly. “Does he realize there are men moving in on him under the guise of a promised engagement? Or are you using the distress he’s feeling over his brother’s passing to help the Artino cause along?”

Hushed murmurs passed through the men in the restaurant.

Too bad Theo was outside.

Adriano was sure the man would be filled in eventually.

Joel scowled. “You—”

“My God, Joel,” Riley said, sighing. “You are nowhere near ready for the role you’re attempting to take from me. And you are nowhere near the man I am, so your useless attempt at marking me inept and incapable is entirely pointless. Save yourself the trouble, step down before I have to force your hand into it, and save what face you might have left for your men. If you have even the slightest ounce of respect for your family and your crew in this game, you will take my advice before I rip what sense of dignity you have left away. I’ve let you have your shows, shooting up my son’s car and making nice with other families, but I’m done with all that nonsense, Joel.”

Flicking his wrist in Joel’s direction, Riley added, “I have given you every available chance to step down to me in the easy, honorable way. I can’t help but wonder if you even understand that stepping down for me to take the seat would be far from a failure on your part, but instead, an incredibly smart move. I have offered you my hand and a spot in this family even with Terrance—your
father
—dead in the ground. I have given you far more than any other man in this room would have, trust in that. After today, I don’t know that I’ll be willing to offer you the same thing again.”

Silence echoed in the room. Not a fucking soul made a sound or moved an inch.

Adriano swore he heard Joel’s teeth clench across the table.

Alessa sucked in a quiet breath, eyeing her brother from the side. Even Abriella seemed to watch Joel with a little more interest, like maybe she was curious about what his reaction would be to Riley’s statement.

Riley didn’t give Joel the chance to say anything as he stood fast from the table, tossed down three one-hundred dollar bills for the waitress, and straightened his jacket.

“This is done, Joel,” Riley murmured calmly.

Never once had Adriano’s father raised his voice. Not once had he physically threatened Joel or used the men he brought along to scare him into compliance. Riley didn’t need any of that. As much as Adriano hated to think that his father had only used Mia’s death as a way to advance his position in the Outfit, he couldn’t help but admit what he knew was a fact.

Riley would make a damn good boss.

Any man in the room would be damn stupid not to see it.

Leaning over the table, Riley smacked his index finger to the wood grain. “And before you go running off at the mouth about how loyal many of these men are to you and only you, Joel, let me correct your very misunderstood and wrongly fed assumptions. There is not one man in this room who has looked at you and wondered what you will gain him. They are not looking at you because they believe you can and will lead them properly, but because you are weak enough for them to manipulate exactly how they see fit for their own needs.

“And eventually, whether the men want to admit it or not, they’re aware of what chasing after you will do to them,” Riley continued, his face blank and unreadable. “They will chase themselves straight down a fucking rabbit hole right along with you, my boy. Manipulating you will only get them so far and when you’re nothing more than a shell of what they’ve molded and created for their purposes; then they’re left with nothing more than a hopeless, incompetent boss unable to hold his own gun or shoot his own bullets. What will they do with you then, Joel? Tell me.”

Joel stood from his chair fast enough to send it flying backward and clattering to the floor. His rage spilled over like it usually did when Joel didn’t like what he was being told. Clenching his fists at his sides, Joel’s entire body shook.

Adriano had seen this very thing happen one too many times where Joel was concerned.

He wasn’t even surprised.

Shooting his own foot
.

“Careful, Joel,” Riley warned quietly. “
Your
incompetence is showing. If you can’t handle one little sit-down with a man who hasn’t even raised his voice to you, how do you think you’ll fair sitting at the Commission against men like Dante Marcello or Maximo Sorrento. Do you think either of those bosses will bow to your hissy fits simply because you stomp your foot and demand it as so?”

Riley barked out a laugh, “Think again. They would have you buried in a makeshift grave before you even realized you were dead, boy. Men like them have little use for children in business. And that, Joel, is all you are.”

Even Adriano had to check his father at that. Riley Conti had just gone from fighting for a boss’s seat to essentially stripping Joel of any pride and respect he might have had with nothing but
words
.

“You
cocksucker
,” Joel hissed, his face reddening.

“Ouch.” Riley flashed a wicked smile. “Try again, Joel. That’s nothing I haven’t already heard before.”

Joel scoffed. “Something else? How about a little truth slinging for your side, too? I think your words are the one and only thing you have to show in this room, Riley. How terrible and awful it must have been for you to lose your wife—you’re certainly moving on quickly enough, though, aren’t you?”

Riley’s jaw ticked. “Do not walk that line, Joel.”

“I think I should. Someone should,” Joel spat back. “You seem to have a great deal of information about my dealings and allies in this, so why don’t we talk about what I know regarding you, Riley? I hear you like them young. Courtney is her name, isn’t it?”

Adriano’s back stiffened like someone had shoved a steel rod up his spine. Still, he gritted his teeth and stayed quiet. All the eyes in the room had turned on his father.

Riley shrugged, unaffected. “Do you think I’m the only man here with a piece of ass on the side? Think again. I could ask you about Chloe and her father, but I’m sure Ronnie is like the rest of them. No doubt, he’s pimping his daughter out to you in hopes of moving higher. Once you have your fill, both he and she will be left behind.”

“I’m sure your wife would have loved to know she was just another whore that had been given a little more than the rest, Riley,” Joel said, sneering. “Caught your last name, birthed you a couple of kids, and got fucked all the same.”

Adriano lifted out of his seat slowly. There was a lot of shit he would listen to and take, but his mother being slandered sure as fuck wasn’t one of them. He ignored the way Alessa’s face crumpled for him, likely knowing how much her brother’s words stung. 

While Joel might have come into the restaurant unarmed, Adriano certainly had not. Adriano wanted the man to know it, too.

“Say that again,” Adriano said coolly, flashing the gun at his waist. “Go on, do it.”

Riley clapped a hand on his son’s shoulder. “Don’t bother. Joel is simply proving my point, son.”

Adriano’s molars ached from his jaw clenching so damn hard. “If you say so.”

“I do, Adriano.” Turning his attention back on Joel for a moment, Riley dismissed the man with a flick of his hand. “Enjoy your drink and please, get your sisters something to eat before you go. The restaurant was closed today for this meeting but there’s no point in wasting it. However, my men and I will be going. Consider my words, Joel.”

Joel’s gaze narrowed in on Riley. “You’re hoping for a lot.”

Riley smiled his cold grin again. “Hopes are reserved for men who have something to dream of. I have no doubt that all my dreams will come crawling to my feet in due time. Good luck, Joel. You’ll surely need it after today.”

Kolin held out a suit jacket for Riley to put on before he left the table without another word. Adriano followed his father and the Capo, taking his strides slowly as a few Conti men stood from their seats at various tables to leave as well.

Like promised, there was a black car parked alongside the curb to take Riley away.

Adriano heard the ding of the restaurant’s front door just as the passenger side was opened for Riley to get in. Tossing a glance over his shoulder, Adriano froze. It was just a brief second. Enough to turn his blood to ice.

The shine of black metal and the click of a safety was all Adriano needed to
know
… Laurent Rossi raised the weapon and aimed through the crowd of men, pointing directly at Riley. No one seemed to notice what was happening. Maybe they all thought it was just another Conti man making his way out from the restaurant after every other guy had.

Who cared?

Adriano heard himself shout, but it sounded distant even to him. “Gun!”

People moved fast.

Time moved faster.

Adriano lunged toward his father, but he wasn’t nearly fast enough. And there were far too many men in the way, trying to either help someone or get the fuck out of the gun’s scope. The barrel of the gun flashed brightly, quiet pops following. A pain seared across Adriano’s left bicep as he grabbed for his own gun and turned it on Laurent.