Jerked: A Stepbrother Mob Romance (City Series) by B. B. Hamel Page B

among the common people every once in a while.”
    He laughed and reached into his desk to pull out a bottle of whiskey and two glasses. He poured generously and nudged mine toward me. I took it.
    “To our continued friendship, and to your success,” he said.
    “Salute,” I replied.
    “Salute.” We clinked glasses and drank.
    That was the traditional opening. Now, down to business, I thought.
    “Okay, what can I do for you?” Jimmy leaned back in his chair.
    “I’m looking for some information.”
    “What sort of information?”
    “Do you know a guy named Vince Fabrizio?”
    He paused and cocked an eyebrow. “He’s one of ours, from New York.”
    “Yeah, he is.”
    “He’s the son of one of the biggest bosses up there. What do you want with him?”
    “You know Boss O’Brian has a daughter.”
    He nodded. “What’s her name? Breanne?”
    “Brenna.”
    “That’s right, Brenna. Pretty name.”
    “She lived in New York for a while. Got involved with the wrong people.”
    Jimmy sighed. “Always a dangerous thing.”
    “She dated Fabrizio. Got pretty close, apparently.”
    He frowned, but didn’t say anything.
    “Jimmy, he’s been making some threats. Even smacked her around a little bit. She’s back home now, but she’s scared.”
    He held up his hands. “This is a bad situation.”
    “Boss O’Brian is understandably pissed off. We can’t be having this sort of thing.”
    “Of course. That sort of thing, it’s unacceptable.”
    “We both know it gets overlooked all the time. That shit happens sometimes and sometimes we turn a blind eye on it because of our rules. But this, it’s different.”
    “Of course, of course. Boss’s daughter can’t be treated that way.”
    “What can you tell me about him?”
    Jimmy sipped his drink, frowning. “First, what do you intend to do?”
    “Right now, nothing. O’Brian isn’t stupid, he doesn’t want to start a war. We all know that we can’t touch a Made Man without repercussions.”
    He nodded. “But?”
    “But, I want to keep him away from Brenna.”
    He leaned back and sighed. “You’re putting me in a tough spot, Colin.”
    “I know. Just give me what you can, and forget I showed up. I’ll owe you.”
    “Favors from you hold a lot more weight, now.”
    I nodded, keeping my face impassive.
    Jimmy looked pensive for a second, and then spoke. “He’s in the city.”
    That was a surprise. “Really?”
    He nodded. “Came in last night. Showed up at the big boss’s place going off about how the Irish took his girl, fucked him over. Said he owned her.”
    I narrowed my eyes. “What do you mean, he owned her?”
    “This is pretty awkward, Colin. You really don’t know?”
    “What the fuck are you talking about?”
    “Ah, shit.” He took another drink and sighed again. “He claims they got married.”
    That hit me like a ton of bricks. I gaped at him, at a complete loss for words. I couldn’t imagine that Brenna would marry an asshole like him in a million years. But if she had, if she really had married a made Italian Mob guy, then that would be a serious issue. He would have genuine claim over her.
    But I’ll never let them have her . The thought came to me, completely unbidden, and I knew it was true.
    “Is he bullshitting or what?” I asked.
    He shook his head. “Not sure yet. Boss sent a guy up to New York to find out what he can. I haven’t heard anything since then.”
    I leaned back in my chair and sipped my drink. “So Fabrizio is in Philly, he’s pissed, and apparently they’re married.”
    Jimmy nodded. “That’s the situation we find ourselves in.”
    “Anything else you can tell me?”
    “One thing: he was ordered to go back home, but he refused. We don’t know where he is.”
    “Are you fucking kidding me?”
    “Sorry, Colin. We lost the bastard. Apparently he’s pretty slippery.”
    That pissed me off even more. Not only were they not telling us right away that the guy was in town, but they had lost