Chapter 17

Chapter 17

The honeymoon was a nice break. I needed a break from a life of crime. I also needed a break from the extra bullshit like Rio not trusting my brother or vice versa. We stayed on a resort in Maui, Hawaii, and it was nice to be normal for once. I knew once we got back to Detroit, we would be back to business as usual. Rio had told Mick and the others that we were only to be called in case of an emergency. Of course, we called Marcus several times and bought him as many gifts as we would be allowed to bring back on the flight home. It was funny to come out of the suit bathroom in skimpy two pieces and seeing Rio's face completely fall. Depending on his mood, it either started a small fight, or us ending up back in bed. We got drunk at every bar on the resort, came tumbling in around four am every morning, fucked if we weren't too wasted, slept then woke up, ate like royalty, laid out in the sun, then put that whole routine repeat for the entire week. It was glorious.

Our flight back home got in around nine p.m., and Mick was waiting in one of our black Escalates. He and Rio talked in the front seat. I stayed in the back and started catching up on my part of the job. Tia was still having issues with Don in New Jersey, even though Rio strictly told him to cool it with the pg behavior. I groaned and pinched the bridge of my nose. Rio slightly looked behind him to the back seat where I was sitting.

"What's the wrong, darlin'?" He asked.

"Don is still chasing after Tia. Poor woman can't do a simple drop without him slapping her ass. It's bullshit, and it needs to stop." I said as I started to text Tia back. I wasn't allowed to specifically say I would stick a gun barrel down his throat because you never know, especially since the feds had such a hard-on for Rio. But fuck, I had to let her know I would handle it. Rio growled.

"Baby, what do you want me to do? Don is a piece of shit. What can you do?" Rio said, texting on his phone as Mick pulled onto the highway.

"Either you handle it, or I will drive my ass to Jersey and handle it myself. Tia should not have to deal with this shit in 2020, for fucks sake." I hissed. Rio and Mick looked at each other and smiled.

"Oh, you can handle it, huh?" Rio joked. I eyed him and scoffed.

"You don't think I can?"

"Oh no, I know you can hold your own. But Don is a six-foot-four Italian. You're a five foot three, barely one hundred pounds Italian. See the discrepancy?" Rio joked. I leaned forward and put my hand on his seat.

"Excuse me? I am five foot five, and I weigh one hundred and thirty pounds." I said. Rio laughed and turned to me.

"No, you're not! There is no way you're one-thirty." Rio said as he crossed his leg over his knee.

"Want to bet?" I asked. He shook his head, still laughing. "Okay, if you won't take care of it, I will," I said as I pulled out my phone and called Dennis, Don's right hand.

"Yeah?" Dennis answered.

"Yeah, Dennis, it's Andy Moretti," I said, remembering the Jersey boys didn't know about my real last name. Rio tensed his jaw. He clearly didn't think I was serious.

"Yes, Ms. Moretti. I hear you're a married woman now?" Dennis says.

"That's right. Hey, listen, we have some new policies and procedures to go over with you guys, and we will need you to head this way. Can we get a meeting with Don next week?" I asked.

"Yeah, we can swing that. How's next Thursday around seven p.m. we will meet yous at the warehouse." Dennis said as I smiled.

"Sounds good. See you then." I said as I hung up the phone. Rio shook his head and tensed his jaw. He was pissed. "What?" I asked as he turned his head to eye me.

"As if I don't already have enough on my plate, Andy. Now you gotta try to start a beef with Jersey?" He asked.

"He works for us, Rio. I don't give a fuck who he is. Plus, you'll be there to protect me, right?" I said as I leaned forward wrapped my arms around him and his seat. He sighed and shook his head again.

"Don't kill him, yeah? We need him in one piece." Rio said as he turned to face me.

"Thank you, daddy," I said as I gave him a naughty look. Mick laughed slightly as he pulled onto our block. I looked at my phone and texted Jason. I texted him once during our honeymoon but never heard back. Minutes passed, and nothing. I was starting to worry slightly, but I kept it to myself.

__________________________________________________________________________

I had completely immersed myself back into work. Between meetings, drops, and overall management, I was busy. Rio had some issues come up that he said he wouldn't fill me in on. At least not yet. I still hadn't heard back from Jason, and it had been almost a week since we had been back. I knew things between Jason and I were strained because of Rio, but he at least returned my calls within a few hours usually.

I was sitting in a meeting with Troy, the leader of the Redlands charter. He had flown out here to get a feel of how we do things here. I guess morale was a bit of an issue in the California sector, and it was affecting their quality of prints.

"I mean, we keep our shit pretty tight locked. The feds are just really good out there. They offer WITSEC on the damn spot to my guys, and it seems to work." Troy said as his boy shifted next to him. I had brought Eddie along with me, so I wasn't alone. Rio said he had other shit to handle.

"It's about letting them know that they gain nothing through the feds. That no matter how good WITSEC can look on paper, it's not worth it. Not with our...damage control methods." I said as I put my hands together in front of me. I mean, if you can't handle it, I can send someone else to take it off of your hands..."I said. I liked Troy, but he needed to grow a set.

"No. No, I got it." He said quickly.

"Good," I said, smiling. "Now, I hate to make you late for your flight home," I said as I dropped a fifty on the table. Eddie got out of the booth, and I followed. Troy and his crew headed out, and I checked my phone while Eddie headed to the driver's side of the car. I had a text from Rio.

Rio: I need you at the warehouse. Now.

"Fuck." I said absently.

"What?" Eddie said as he got in, and I got into the passenger side.

"Rio wants us at the warehouse. Like now." I said as I put my seatbelt on. Eddie looked at me confused but headed towards the inner city. The night lights all seemed to blend together as my mind raced. What the hell was going on? Rio never texted me like this while he knew I was in a meeting.

Eddie and I pulled up to the warehouse, and I used my key to open the lower level door. Eddie and I raced up the three flights of metal stairs and finally reached the main level. I saw Rio standing in front of someone. Someone who was tied to a chair and was beaten to a bloody pulp. I walked across the large warehouse slowly. The closer I got, the lower my heart dropped.

"Hey, baby," Rio said sternly, slightly looking up as Mick took a rag and wiped the blood off of his knuckles. Jason's head was falling over, and blood was pouring out of his mouth. He was half knocked out.

"Rio...what..."I breathed out.

"Jason here has somethin' to tell you," Rio said as he grabbed Jason by the hair, making Jason wake slightly. "Come on, man, tell her." Rio hissed to Jason. Jason gritted his teeth and refused to talk. I was frozen. I couldn't even do anything if I could. "No? Alright. I mean, what do I expect from a snitch?" Rio growled. He roughly let go of Jason's head and took out his phone. He pressed the screen, and I heard it.

"So, you're telling me that you have documentation and video footage of the money laundering organization in Detroit run by Leo Torres, otherwise known as Rio? As well as your sister, former FBI agent Andy Lorenzo?"

I shook my head. "No," I said, a tear welling up in my eye. Jason wouldn't even look at me. Rio looked down as he towered over me, his expression completely cold.

"Yes. I have it." I heard Jason's voice say.

"Now you do know that doing this will lock your sister away for a long time, correct?" The agent asked.

"I'm aware. I don't care. If I get WITSEC and my parents' records extinguished, I'll do it. She made her bed. I don't care if she lies in it." Jason said in a heartless, cold tone over the recording. Rio stopped the recording, and his smirk was completely faded at this point. I didn't understand why until I felt the wetness on my face. I was bawling, and I didn't even realize it.

"I'm sorry, darlin', I know..." Rio started to say before I cut him off. I took the gun out of my jeans and stormed over to Jason. I put the gun to his head and cocked the gun.

"What...do you mean our parents' record?" I hissed. Jason breathed harshly.

"Mom and Dad they were...they were a part of the Italian mob in New York. They had wrap sheets longer than your piece of shit husbands." Jason growled as I pushed the gun harder into his temple. "I want out of this family. You, mom, dad, you're all pieces of dirt. I love you sis, but you all deserve to rot. I'm not going to let this go. You're gonna have to kill me because I swear to God I am going to ensure you and your cancerous hubby go away for a long..." Jason bellowed. Before he could finish, I let out a wrenching scream and pulled the trigger, my brother's brains splashing on the concrete and the blast blowing him over. 

Rio didn't flinch. Mick stood still but let out a big breath. Eddie stood there, looking at the ground, his hands in his pockets. I let out a cry and put the safety on my gun while shoving it in my jeans. I just killed my own brother. My ratting, snitch of a brother.