It was just past midnight when a surprised Hal found himself knocking on Prosper Worthington’s door. It was a rare occasion that a member of the club was called to the Worthington personal residence.   Unless it was life or death, the boss’s house was off limits to the club. As Hal understood it, that was Pinky’s one and only hard and fast rule when she had married Prosper. She had passed an edict that their home be respected and kept as a sanctuary for the two of them and their immediate family. Prosper had done his best to keep to that deal.

Hal knew that the so-called house ban had been lifted many times over the years, but it was also clear that it happened only under the most special of circumstances, and to address the most private of matters.

So, for Hal to find himself called to the residence, was odd to say the least. Especially at this time of night. But despite the strange circumstances of time and place, of course Hal didn’t hesitate and had asked no questions when called in. Wearing the patch meant you were available to the club 24/7. The boss wasn’t a dick about it either and never abused that ask—which made this summons all the more curious in Hal’s eyes.

Prosper’s house was an imposing structure that situated itself on the side of a ledge-covered hill. While the design of the dwelling appeared deceptively simple with sleek lines and steep angles, the home was made of steel and stone construction. With its thick gleaming windows —made bullet proof and raised high by design—it was an impenetrable fortress disguised as an upscale home. Hal knew all of this because in the corps he had been a member of a Marine Special Forces unit called MARSOC. Within that unit, he had been the expert in TS (Tech Surveillance) and security.  After the shootout at the compound, Hal had been called upon by the club to use his knowledge for updating the security at the compound and to do some work at Prosper’s private residence as well.

“Hey Sweetie, come on in.” Pinky greeted Hal with a kiss on the cheek.  “They’re in the office. I was just about to bring in a tray of cookies and coffee. There’s beer in the bar fridge. Is that okay or do you want something else?”

Hal raised an eyebrow at the word they.

Pinky cast a furtive look at the closed door and whispered, “Gianni Abruzzi has been here for over an hour.”

“Thanks for the heads up, sweetheart.” Hal gave her a conspiratorial grin.

Pinky sure was something. Get on her right side and there was nothing she wouldn’t do for you— get on her wrong side and she was done with you. Which meant pretty much that you were done—dead to the club.  But to be fair, only a real asshole would cross that line. Pinky had a huge heart, a welcoming smile, and now in her early fifties, she was still as pretty as a summer morning. She was also the perfect old lady— middle of the damn night, and here she was all gussied up and serving coffee and cookies like it was a Sunday afternoon social. 

Hal had wondered more than once if the boss had chosen his woman wisely or if he was just that damn lucky in love. 

Prosper greeted him at the door and nodded to a seat across the table. Hal sat himself down across from Gianni while Pinky fussed around them, handing out sugar and pouring cream. When she rearranged the cookies on the platter for the third time, it was obvious she was stalling.

“Okay, out with it.” Prosper looked at his wife.

“What? It’s nothing. Just making sure you boys have everything you need.” Pinky hedged away while her hands fluttered around the table like frantic butterflies.

Prosper grabbed her lightly at the waist and hauled her back into him. Then he said gently, “What’s got you worried, darlin’?”

Pinky let out a mournful sigh. “It’s just that Dolly has been so looking forward to this trip. She’s been packing for a month, for goodness sake. I just got off the phone with her because she’s so excited she can’t sleep.” She paused, looked at her husband and frowned. “Now, with you calling Gianni here and then calling in Hal— well, I know enough to know what that means …” Pinky’s voice trailed off . Then she looked at each man individually and boldly in the eye.

“I just hope that you all will do anything you can do to straighten out whatever this is so that you won’t have to cancel the trip. I hope that a very special lady, whom we all know and love, will not have to be disappointed.”

Then, having had her say, Pinky Worthington lifted her nose just slightly in the air, walked out the door, and closed it firmly behind her.

The three men looked at each other with expressions that could almost pass for guilt. Thoughts swept through their minds of how often the women in their lives had been disappointed, frightened, or had otherwise found themselves in harm’s way because of the choices they had made.

Prosper cleared his throat and looked to the closed door, but he did not comment on his wife’s remark.

“So, you’re probably wondering why the fuck you’re here.” Prosper pinned Hal with sharp eyes.

“Yeah, you could say that.” Hal nodded. Then he looked at Gianni. “How’s your daughter doing?”

“Valentina is well, thank you, and thank you for what you did for her.” Gianni pulled at the collar of his starched shirt as if he might be choking. “As you can imagine, those episodes are problematic. She had no business being on Saints’ property in the first place, but I assure you, as I assured Prosper, Valentina’s contrition is only surpassed by absolute embarrassment at the trouble she caused.”

Hal hated the thought of Valentina feeling shame or embarrassment for something that was not in her control. Although Gianni did have a point. She definitely should not have been at the clubhouse, especially on a night like that. But still, he didn’t like the fact that she was obviously getting flack for it from her father. Hal shrugged his shoulder dismissively. “Shit happens, I’m glad she’s okay.”

A thick, awkward silence settled in the room, and Hal shot Prosper a puzzled look— he was pretty sure that a show of gratitude from Gianni wasn’t the reason for the meet-up. Gianni seemed to be still struggling for words, and Hal became more curious with each passing moment.

“There have been grumblings…” Gianni finally hedged.

“Grumblings? What do you mean by grumblings?”

“Threats.” Prosper helped fill in the blank

Hal’s mind quickly sorted through any possible threat that he had not foreseen in his work to keep the surveillance at the compound state of the art and virtually free of bugs. He shook his head because even though he supposed, theoretically, anything was possible, a threat to the Saints’ security so soon after he had worked on it was pretty damn unlikely. He had spent a lot of his own time and the club’s money making sure that a breach at the club would not happen again.

“I don’t get it. The club’s security is tighter than a cat’s ass,” Hal shot out.

At the guarded look on the faces of the two men before him, Hal leaned forward in his chair. “Unless this ain’t about the club?”

“This ain’t exactly about the club.” Prosper confirmed.

Gianni spoke next, “The threat is internally motivated and coming from my organization. It is directed solely at the Bonzini family.”

“Tell me more.” Hal leaned forward.

“The unfortunate incident with Santino Abiatti and his alliance with the Colombians had further reaching implications than we had originally thought. In an unexpected and unprecedented move, what was left of the Abiatti family has now joined in with the Colombian Cartel in a full scale effort to take over and absorb the Sicilian branch of the family businesses. They have begun with the Bonzini organization.”

Hal raised an eyebrow and looked to Prosper. “I thought this was all supposed to be taken care of after the attack? We backed the Aces, and the mob was supposed to take care of their guys. Where do we land on this? We got trouble with the Hez’s crew? Are they going back on the deal they made with us and should we be expecting them to pull this shit too?”  Hal’s mind was reeling. There were so many layers to this kind of pushback; it was a complicated and delicate balance to manage mutiny of this type, especially under such a large scale.

“The club’s on target.” Prosper reassured Hal. “I checked in with Beast and Derringer to be sure. They tell me that the transition for the Aces expansion ain’t been real smooth, but territory take-overs never are. Things are a little tense right now in the southern chapters, especially in Florida.  Our brothers are doing a decent job at keeping a lid on it, though. I had a long conversation with Hez. He hates the Colombians more than ever; they’ve been a goddamn thorn in his side and they have been trying to infiltrate his drug business in Pahokee. The Aces are dealing with that, and their methods have been pretty damn effective so far. But what we didn’t count on was the Italians fucking things up on their side of things.” Prosper threw a look at Gianni.

Gianni shrugged.

“Meaning what?” Hal frowned.

“Meaning that some of the families have split and moved their loyalties and operations in favor of rebuilding the Abiatti empire. There have been threats made to those of us who remain loyal to the Bonzini family.”  Gianni leaned forward on the table. “Even now, we have begun negotiations to work this all out, and I’m hopeful that the matter will be settled quickly, but in the meantime…” His voice sounded heavy, resigned, and tired.

“In the meantime, you’re worried about the safety of your family.” Hal surmised.

“Bingo.” Prosper affirmed

“The trip to Italy?”  Hal looked at Gianni with knowing eyes. “Not the vacation it seems?”

“Not the vacation it seems,” Gianni confirmed.  Then he went on to clarify, “Well, of course, there will be elements of it—visiting my mother and rest of the family—that is something I have planned to do for a while. But now, all my actions will be interlaced with business dealings. Arrangements are being made as we speak to get all the players into the arena. There will be a large gathering of the heads of all the families while I am in Palermo. Our organization has not had this particularly concerning type of inner conflict for decades; these are unexpected and dangerous times for us.”

“You’re taking Dolly with you.” Hal’s head was reeling. “And the cousin…Gia? And your daughter? You’re getting them out of the picture, too?”

Gianni nodded his head. “Yes. But as it happens, these are convenient coincidences in both respects. Gia was previously enrolled in a school in Milan; she is just being sent a bit early. She will have a small security detail with her, just in case. And Dolly? Because of our personal involvement, my concern is that she may be a target as well. And while it is true that I believe she will be more protected if she is with me, I want her in my company for other reasons that should be obvious by now.”

Prosper threw Gianni a long, challenging look. Gianni met that look head on and unwaveringly.

He spoke directly to Prosper, “You have my guarantee on two things. The first is that Dolly’s safety is paramount to me. That Abiatti trash will have to climb over my dead body and the bodies of my men to do her harm.”

“Good. And what’s the other guarantee?” Prosper growled.

“My intentions toward your sister-in-law are honorable,” Gianni told him.

Prosper gave Gianni a long, assessing look.

“Dolly’s husband, Petey, was my best friend. He was a good man, and Dolly was a good wife to him. There was a whole lot of love there. She spent a lot of years—  too fucking many years—grieving that loss. Dolly deserves to be happy, and she don’t have to answer to me or anyone else about where she finds that happiness.”

While the two men were busy making their positions clear on the romantic choices of Dolly McCabe, Hal was busy digesting the facts.

Gianni and La Familia were in deep shit. Which meant Valentina was in deep shit. Hal felt his chest tighten at the thought of her being in danger.

“So, you got a plan for Dolly and Gia. Where are you planning to stash your daughter while the Cosa Nostra rides this one out?” Hal was suddenly in a very bad mood.

Gianni immediately turned to Hal and gave him his full attention.

“That is a matter I have given much thought to. Valentina would have to be heavily sedated to spend any time in a space as confined as an airplane, and even then, I don’t know what that would do to her mental state. It is also not advisable for me to take her away from her doctors.”

“Rock and a hard place.” Prosper chimed in.

Gianni looked at Hal. “I may have a plan. However, before I make up my mind, there is something I would like you to do for me, something that will inform my decisions moving forward. And this, I think you even might enjoy,” Gianni told him with a small smile, “if you’re willing?”

“I’m all ears.” Hal leaned back and took a long sip of the perfectly blended coffee. Then he listened real closely to what the mob boss had to say.