I’m meeting in one of our restaurants with two of the bigwigs who are going to make Vinny’s Garage a national name.

I debated calling the place “Luca’s” but I figured Vinny should be the face of the thing, since he put all the work in. I’ll be the “silent partner” type guy, the one behind the scenes, and the one working way less and making way more of the money.

But I keep thinking of Bella, and the baby. I’ve tried calling her a few times now–my “one call” rule is off the table when it’s the future mother of my child. She didn’t return my calls, again.

So I sent Gio and Felix to make sure she and the baby are safe. They’ve tailed her for a few days, and said she seems good. Gio told me she’s crying a lot, and he started making wild guesses about why she might be crying. All of his guesses were wildly wrong, thankfully

Vinny is with me too. He’s been talking for probably six or seven minutes straight, laying out exactly how the business model is gonna play out.

The bigwig investors seem to like Vinny. He’s a likeable guy, I’ve gotta admit, and with my charm added on to really sell him, I feel we’ve got a near sure thing here.

Then I see Gio wander in, peeking at me from near the hostess booth. The restaurant is closed, so it’s not like he’s being subtle. He’s also got his guilty face on, which makes me worried he fucked up something with Bella, or that she got hurt.

“Excuse me,” I say, jumping out of the chair.

Vinny keeps going, but I know what he’s going to say anyway.

As I approach Gio, I see Felix behind him, arms crossed.

“What the fuck are you two doing here?” I hiss.

“Bella sent us away,” Gio says, throwing up his hands.

“Is Bella your boss?” I snap. “The Rielas are paying you now, huh?”

Felix steps forward. “She said she’d call the cops if we kept tailing her.”

I sigh, completely exasperated. “Then you follow her again, and you don’t get caught this time. If you stay far enough away, the cops can’t do shit anyway.”

I look over my shoulder and see Vinny and the bigwigs eyeing me. It’s not a good look to walk out on guys like this.

“Seriously, you two,” I say. “I don’t want to see either of you again, and I don’t care what Princess Riela tells you. I’m your boss.”

Felix shrugs, and Gio sounds like he’s about to whine, but they both slink out of the restaurant and into the night.

Vinny and I spend another hour or so wining and dining the investors, and after they are gone, Vinny looks up at me with a big grin.

“We’re gonna be fucking Jiffy Lube, ain’t we?”

“You know, Vinny,” I say. “I’ve found that really doesn’t sound impressive to anyone but us. Let’s say we’re gonna be...Starbucks. People like that place, God knows why.”

“Starbucks then,” he says. “Starbucks for your oil changes. Our coffee ain’t that good though, Luca.”

I pat him on the back. “Good work tonight, Vinny, I think you definitely sold them.”

Then I hear sound coming from the kitchen. I thought the staff was long gone by now. I swear to God, if Gio and Felix are back already, I’ll–

The door swings open, and Stefano Riela walks in, his gun held out and pointed right at my face.

I reach for my own gun, but then I see two more Rielas swarm in behind him, and two of Bella’s other cousins from her mother’s side. Michael is there too, he isn’t related to the Rielas at all, but he’s one of Tony’s top enforcers.

I don’t have any deals or shit going on with the Rielas. I’d been trying to keep things tame between us while I worked this deal with the garages. Nothing fucks up legit deals like bad blood. The only thing I can think I’ve got going with the Rielas is Bella. And the baby I’ve got in her belly.

“Stefano,” I say, holding out my arms. “We’re closed.”

“Shut the fuck up,” he snaps, rattling the gun a few feet from my face. Not close enough for me to reach and rip it from his hands.

Vinny throws his arms up in the air. He squeals and looks like he’s about to shit himself. “I’m a civilian! I’m the firewall! I’m gonna be Jiffy Lube–I mean Starbucks–fuck I don’t even know that Luca’s in the mafia, I mean, I–”

“Shut up!” Stefano snaps. He points his gun toward Vinny.

“Let him go,” I say. “Seriously, Stefano. He’s our straight guy. You gotta respect that.”

“Like you respect my cousin? Huh?” He asks, pointing the gun back at me.

Vinny turns and bolts. He slips, hits a table, knocks it and the chairs over, regains his balance, and runs even faster. He dives when he reaches the corner. Then he stumbles up onto his feet and head butts the kitchen door open. “Sorry, Luca!” He shouts, as he disappears into the kitchen. Hopefully the Rielas don’t have any guys guarding the back alleyway.

Stefano’s goons all start laughing, and even Stefano cracks a smile. “Wish we had a guy that straight.”

I shrug. It took balls for Vinny to actually run.

“Five guys?” I ask. “Just for me?”

“We thought that fat fuck Gio would be here, and Felix,” Stefano says. “Guess you’ll have to get extra beat up, huh?”

Ah, so they aren’t going to kill me. My only question is how they found out about Bella. Do they just know I slept with her, or–

“We’re never gonna be family, Luca,” Stefano says. “That comes from Tony himself. The baby is a Riela. You understand?”

So they know everything then. I crack my knuckles. “Put the guns down, let’s see how many of your teeth I can knock out before–”

They all rush me at once, but I go down swinging.