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By the time Lawson finished scrubbing the inside of the Dodge Viper, it was pushing 1:00 AM.
Taking it to a professional detailer was out of the question. The Viper was heavily modified and packed with custom tech. Letting some random minimum-wage kid poke around the interior was a recipe for disaster.
He cruised back to the Bonanno estate, only to get stopped at the gates by a fresh rotation of heavily armed guards.
Made sense. After the bloodbath yesterday morning, security had been cranked to the absolute max.
The estate was now a fortress. Luca had deployed sixteen fully made men, backed by thirty-two associates, plus a QRF (Quick Reaction Force) on standby, ready to roll in at a moment's notice.
This was all Luca's doing. The old man was furious. Hitting a Boss's home broke every rule in the underworld playbook, so he had multiplied the guard detail and put the streets on notice to hunt down the shooters.
Honestly, it wasn't hard to figure out. There are no secrets in the life, especially with a hit squad that size. The whispers hit the streets before LAPD even finished booking the survivors: the shooters had Irish accents.
That set the hotheads in the Bonanno family off. With Luca back in the driver's seat, plenty of guys were screaming for Irish blood.
But Luca kept his cool. Instead of declaring an all-out war, he used the Irish threat to rally the troops and tighten the ranks.
If Lawson checked his Payday app right now, he'd see the Bonanno family's cohesion meter skyrocketing.
War was off the table, but a sit-down was mandatory. The Bonannos might be bleeding, but Luca had to project strength.
The Irish Mob operated differently than the Mafia. They weren't a top-down syndicate; they were a loose coalition of smaller gangs united against outsiders. Getting them to coordinate was a nightmare.
Still, Luca drew a line in the sand: Give us a straight answer, or we go to the mattresses. The Bonannos might be on the decline, but they still commanded five or six hundred made men and over a thousand associates. A full-blown war would gut the Irish. And the Russian and Mexican cartels would be the ones picking the meat off both their bones.
That's why nobody went to total war anymore. It was bad for business.
The Irish didn't know the Bonannos were broke, so Luca's hardline bluff actually worked. They were already conducting internal investigations. It would take them a minute to trace the hit back to Frank Castro, but Luca didn't really care about finding the mastermind anyway. He just needed the Irish to back down so the Bonannos could save face.
---
Back at the gate, Lawson had no choice but to dial Eva to get him cleared.
She walked out looking seriously pissed. "Why the hell did you call me? Couldn't you bother Sofia?"
She had just fallen asleep.
"She hasn't been sleeping well," Lawson said. "I didn't want to wake her."
"Oh, so it's perfectly fine to wake me up?" Eva rolled her eyes.
Lawson flashed an apologetic smile. He hadn't really thought about Eva's beauty sleep.
Eva muttered something to the guards and led him inside.
"By the way," Eva said as they walked. "Luca Pastore is back."
"I know. Sofia told me this afternoon."
"Did you know he brought a girl with him?"
"Yeah. Old Martin's illegitimate daughter."
Lawson wasn't worried about the kid. Francis had already drained the accounts, leaving only real estate. An eighteen-year-old wasn't going to inherit a mountain of cash. And as for taking over the family? Sofia was thirty and had played the trophy wife role for a decade, and even she was struggling to hold the reins. The mob wasn't going to bow to a teenager.
As they stepped into the main foyer, they spotted her. A gorgeous girl with deep, wine-red hair, wearing silk pajamas, peering curiously at them from the hallway.
Eva leaned in close. "She just got here today. Couldn't sleep, so she came to my room to annoy me. Watch out. The kid is nosy as hell."
Eva did the introductions. "Audrey, this is Mrs. Bonanno's personal bodyguard and advisor, Mr. Lawson. Audrey?"
Audrey wasn't listening. Her eyes were glued to Lawson's face. Eva actually had to wave a hand in front of her.
"Audrey? You in there?"
"Huh? Eva, did you say something?"
Eva gave them both a weird look. It was obvious the girl was instantly hooked. Eva had to admit, Lawson had a unique pull. A commanding, otherworldly confidence mixed with that sharp, striking Eastern-meets-Western aesthetic. It made women want to peel back his layers.
If Lawson wasn't already tied to Svafa, Eva might have taken him for a test drive herself.
"Hello, Ms. Horne." Lawson stepped up and offered his hand.
She hadn't taken the Bonanno name yet. They still needed a DNA test for the legal inheritance. But Lawson could see it—the Celtic red hair aside, she had Little Martin's facial structure. She was Old Martin's blood, alright.
When Lawson tried to pull his hand back, he couldn't. Audrey was holding on tight, her eyes completely locked onto him.
To Audrey, this whole week felt like a fever dream.
A few days ago, Luca Pastore had shown up in her small border town of Twin Peaks, telling her she was the daughter of an LA kingpin. After some serious vetting, her adoptive father—a local town elite—agreed to let her go. She'd been bored of small-town life anyway and wanted to see the real world.
But arriving at a massive mob estate was nothing compared to the shock of seeing Lawson. The moment she laid eyes on him, she was completely captivated.
Eva's coughing finally snapped her out of it. Audrey blushed, quickly releasing his hand, but immediately launched into an interrogation.
"Mr. Lawson, what exactly do you do?"
"Do you live in the estate too?"
"Do you have a girlfriend?"
"Uh, well..." Lawson was suddenly drowning in questions. Now he understood what Eva meant by "nosy."
Thankfully, Eva took pity on him and grabbed Audrey's arm, steering her toward the guest wing.
"Alright, Audrey, it's late. Let the man sleep."
"But I—"
"Audrey, staying up late ruins your skin. Honestly, you're already looking a little dull."
Total bullshit. Audrey was eighteen and practically glowing with youth. But tell a teenage girl her skin looks bad, and she'll panic.
"Really?!" Audrey gasped. "It must be the stress! Eva, do you have any good skincare? Your skin looks amazing!"
"I'll show you tomorrow. Now, bed."
---
Lawson watched them go, then headed for Sofia's master suite. He had the only spare key to her room. Even the maids had to ask permission to enter.
Sofia was curled up on her side, tracing a flawless silhouette beneath the silk sheets—a masterpiece of nature.
Sensing his presence, her eyelashes fluttered. "Lawson? You're back?"
She reached out sleepily, pulling him into an embrace. In the dark, she didn't look like a Mafia boss; she just looked like a vulnerable girl.
"Tell me what happened today," Lawson said, inhaling her soft scent.
Eyes closed, she murmured the details of the day's chaotic meetings and the money panic.
Lawson processed Luca's endgame. "Sofia, since Luca and the capos already know the cash is gone, leak it. Let the foot soldiers know."
That woke her up fast. "What? Won't that cause a massive panic?"
"Too many people know. You can't keep a lid on it anyway. Better to pop the blister yourself. When you magically step up to 'save the day' later, you'll lock down their loyalty for good."
Her eyes went wide. "You have a way to get the money back?"
"I'm working on a plan. I might not get all of it, though."
Hell no, Lawson thought. I'm not risking my neck just to hand Old Martin's billions back to the mob. I'll give them enough to keep the lights on and keep the rest.
Still, Sofia let out a massive sigh of relief. "Thank God. I haven't slept a full night since I found out."
"Relax, Sofia. You've got me watching your back. I'll handle the heavy lifting."
The words hit her like pure adrenaline. Swept up in the emotion, she threw her arms around his neck and kissed him deeply.
After a long, heated exchange, she pulled back, panting. "Stay the night with me?"
Lawson shook his head. "No can do. With Audrey in the house, we need to be smart. We have to cool off the public interactions for a while. You'll have to hold out."
"For how long?"
"Not long. Promise."
Once she drifted off to sleep in his arms, Lawson slipped out and headed to his own room. It wasn't too bad; the Viper "test drive" with Mia had taken the edge off anyway.
---
The next morning.
Audrey sat at the grand dining table, looking bored, her eyes darting toward the entrance every ten seconds. Eva just watched her, sipping her coffee and sighing.
Finally, Lawson walked in, wearing a sharp grey suit, looking effortlessly immaculate.
Audrey's face lit up. "Good morning, Mr. Lawson!"
"Morning, Lawson." Sofia's cool, elegant voice echoed from the other doorway at the exact same time.
Sofia stopped and looked at Audrey. Audrey stared right back.
The moment their eyes locked, the temperature in the room dropped ten degrees. Both women instantly realized the exact same thing:
Enemy spotted.