Wiseguys In Love Read Free Page A

such a big honor to Michael and Sophia didn’t want this at all.
    Sophia had planned to talk to him this morning, just as she placed his plate of eggs down, but she had looked into his face and stopped suddenly, shocked by what she saw.
    She had seen the fine creases beginning near his eyes, just like Vincent’s. She had seen the strands of silver on top of his head, breaking up the blackness of his hair, and she’d felt herself freeze for a moment.
    When had this happened? She hadn’t noticed it. She stopped to pick a leaf off the lawn and looked at the trees. The tips of all the leaves were beginning to brown. The summer was ending. She continued walking back to the house, staring at the leaf.
    It must have happened recently to Michael, the age. It wasn’t that growing older shocked her. What shocked her and bothered her was that she hadn’t noticed it. She stopped suddenly at the front steps.
    She hadn’t noticed it. She hadn’t noticed anything for two years, since Vincent had died. She breathed out, wondering how many other things she had missed.
    *   *   *
    Michael felt numb as Tony stopped the car.
    â€œEh, you come in with me.” Tony’s voice ordered. Michael nodded and slid outside.
    He didn’t even bother to look up at the building. Who cared? It was one of the many little errands he and Tony went on that Michael never asked about. Why bother? He sure as hell didn’t actually want to know about this stuff.
    A creaky elevator took them up to the seventh floor of an old office building. Ancient gold paint on frosted glass formed hand-painted letters in an arc, which read, DYNAMITERS LOCAL 391.
    Tony walked inside and Michael quietly followed. He felt himself hanging back near the door as Tony walked up to the reception desk. Tony turned around.
    â€œYou coming?”
    â€œMaybe I’ll just wait here.”
    Tony shrugged and leaned over the receptionist’s desk. In a minute, he was ushered through a small swinging gate. Tony’s large torso obscured the woman from view. Michael heard a knock and watched Tony disappear into an office.
    He exhaled. His eyes focused on the door Tony had gone through. Black hand-painted letters on the wood, in the same style as those on the outer door, formed the name G. GEDDONE.
    A phone rang and Michael listened to a woman answer.
    G. Geddone. Now that name was familiar.
    The door to the office reopened and Michael saw a flash of G. Geddone as he quickly shut the door behind Tony.
    A dim montage of memory went through Michael’s mind, memories of a round, bald man, the kind of person you grow up with as a kid, who shakes your hand too vigorously at weddings and funerals, anniversary parties and retirement banquets. The kind of person you call “uncle” but are never sure if they are actually related to you, but there they are, year after year, telling you, “Look at how big you got!”
    Michael felt himself breathe in sharply as Tony walked quickly toward him, slipping an envelope into his breast pocket.
    His stomach flip-flopped as he opened the door for Tony. This was it —zero hour. He silently followed Tony out into the hallway.
    Now they were going to see Solly. Michael would finally find out just what this lunatic was going to give him to do to make his bones.
    His mind began assembling a list of the terrible things Solly could come with: breaking parts of guys off, torture …
    If he just knew what it was.
    *   *   *
    Giuseppe Geddone found himself wiping sweat from his forehead the same way he did every time Tony left his office. Only this morning, his whole suit was soaked. With Tony being so late, he thought something had gone really, really wrong. But Tony didn’t seem any different, and he breathed out and stared at the ledger on the desk in front of him.
    Giuseppe Geddone carefully entered the pension-interest amount in one ledger and then