Little Fury: Book 1 of The deadly Little Thing Trilogy
Little Fury: Chapter 30

I emerge from the room with Matt an hour later. Wiping my hands on a towel, I go up the stairs and see Marcus sitting at the table with a bottle of scotch and two glasses. “One of those for me?” I ask. “Where are Ben and Caden?”

“Outside. Ben said you have shit taste in music.”

I look at Matt, and he glares at me. “Find them. Get a read of the room.” Matt nods at me and goes to replace Caden and Ben.

“Marcus.’

He looks up at me and nods. “Whenever you’re ready,” I tell him.

“Stuck in the middle with you?”

“Whoa, now. It’s a really good song. And Matt selected the music. So, he gets the credit for the homage to Tarantino playlist.”

“How’d he do?” he asks.

“Good. he enjoys hurting bad men.”

“I’m not sure Caden will make it,” Marcus tells me.

“Yeah, I’m not sure, but I don’t need Caden if I have Matt. Matt and I can do the dirty work. May as well leave it to the ones who enjoy it. Caden is fucking loyal and protective as hell. I think he will be perfect for bodyguard duty with training from Harry and Wes. I don’t need both of them to be able to inflict pain. As long as he can pull the trigger when it’s needed, I’ll keep him.”

“And Ben?” Marcus says as he stands from his chair.

“Ben needs some self-defence and basic firearms training, but for the most part, he’ll never be in the midst of it. And he’s too good with computers for me not to make it work somehow.”

Marcus nods to me, and we head back down.

He says nothing as he walks into the room. He simply walks up to the bloody man moaning in the chair, pulls his gun out of its holster, puts it against the man’s skull, and pulls the trigger.

Theo, Wes, and Sebastian join us in New York. They are here to help clear out anyone who wasn’t feeling the management change in the Rossi organization. In the ten days that followed, 17 didn’t make it through the transition. The funniest part was that 11 of the guys turned us down because we took out Hank. They didn’t care that Marcus was in charge or that Enzo was dead.

Marcus apologized to them all. He told them he understood and wished he could have spared Hank, but Hank was never going to bend to Marcus, and he was too much of a liability to leave alive. All 11 understood, and it was unnaturally civilized for people of our nature.

When the guys return to the ranch, they will take Caden, Matt, and Ben.

We booked an entire restaurant so we could enjoy ourselves with a family dinner. After the last ten days, I’m happy to sit here to drink, laugh, and eat. I’m so very done with people at the moment. The men at this table are the exception to that. I love every one of them, and I know how lucky I am to have them.

We have just finished our meals when the door opens, and in walks Frank Campano and Walter English with a handful of their men. I do my best to hide my surprise as Thomas Murphy follows them in with a few of what I assume are his own men.

I turn into Marcus, rubbing my hand across his abdomen so I can pull his gun from his holster. “Now, Ava, if we didn’t want to speak, we would not have come ourselves,” Thomas tells me, his Irish lilt bringing a blush to my cheeks like it did when I was a child.

“Still blushing, I see?” He laughs lightly at me.

“Only for you and that accent, Thomas. You look good for an old man. I was sorry to hear about Anna. Cancer is heartless, and Anna was a spectacular woman.”

“Thank you, Ava.”

The guys have already gotten up from the table, leaving Marcus and me sitting. They have placed themselves around the room close to the other men standing. Frank, Walter, and Thomas join us, sitting in the vacated chairs. The restaurant staff has cleared off the plates and cutlery. The three men sitting with us look relaxed as if this is just any other day for them.

“It seems you made some changes the last few days, Marcus,” Walter says.

“Yes, sir. My father’s time had come to an end.”

“Did he see it that way?” Thomas asks.

“Of course he did, Thomas. It just took Ava a moment to convince him.”

I slide my hand onto Marcus’s thigh, squeezing it and telling him he needs to relax. He rubs the back of my hand and takes a steadying breath.

“And will the new head of the Rossi family be expecting a seat at the table?” Walter asks.

“What table would that be?” I respond.

“Mind your fucking mouth, girl.” Frank snarls at me.

“No, she’s just fine like she is, Mr. Campano,” Marcus tells him. His voice is low and rough. “And you will remember who she is to me before you speak to her again like that. Understood?”

“And who the fuck is she exactly? She has no family or has ever been part of one of the families. So, I will speak to the bitch any way I please.”

“Frank, Ava may not be a member of any made or criminal family, but I promise you, getting on her bad side is a mistake,” Thomas replies, surprising everyone.

“Thomas, just because you may want to get your dick wet in that–” Thomas sighs, interrupting Frank before he can finish that thought. He looks over at Frank; he doesn’t stand, doesn’t raise his voice, but whatever the look on his face is, he has the older man shrinking back into his seat.

“Frank, you will do well listening to me. You have no idea who that young woman is. You have no idea what she is capable of. If you want to keep breathing, I would suggest you shut the fuck up and refrain from speaking to her again in such a manner. Because while we may be here together to speak to Marcus and Ava, I promise you if things go badly and Ava decides to kill you for insulting her, I will not interfere. Fuck, I’d happily let her use my gun to do it.”

Frank doesn’t reply, but he also doesn’t say anything else. These three men are here to see how Marcus is going to conduct business now. They want to know if things will be the same or if he will be making changes. They can’t come out and ask him outright, so instead, Thomas speaks to me.

“Ava, I’m sure it’s a wee bit of a surprise seeing me here.”

“A bit, yeah.”

“I knew your dad very well. We did business here and there and became friends. But your parents were not part of this world. They were more adjacent to it. I don’t know how much of their life was above board, but I know some was down here on our level.”

“I’ve been wondering that since I got a look at the bank accounts and investments and such.”

“Enough Thomas! Just ask them the fucking questions so we can leave,” Walter commands. Thomas turns to the older gentleman and, in a low voice, barely audible, tells Walter to shut the fuck up. And Walter does. I look at Thomas, cocking my head to the side a bit. That Irish bastard has something on the other two. Thomas looks at me and winks, and I sigh at the wink. I can’t help it. I still have such a crush on this man. Marcus laughs at me. “Fucking hell, Ava, get it together, woman.”

“I’m trying, Marcus, I am, but that Irish lilt is my fucking kryptonite.”

Marcus and Thomas both let out a big laugh at my admission. I see Matt and Sebastian both chuckle as well.

“Ava dear, what is the plan for the Rossi family?”

I look at Marcus, seeing if he wants to do the talking. He nods at me, so I speak. “Well, Thomas, the new head of the Rossi Family, plans to make no changes. Unless something glaringly bad comes to his attention, he sees no reason to change anything. That being said, Mr. Rossi is open to changing certain deals if both parties would like. Mr. Rossi understands some of his father’s deals were unfairly one-sided. So, in a show of good faith, he would discuss new and more equal terms.” That gets their attention.

“Why would he do that?” Frank asks me.

“Because he isn’t Enzo.”

“No one willingly renegotiates terms like the ones Enzo had. It would be stupid on his part. He runs the risk of losing out on millions,” Walter tells me, confusion lacing his words.

“Right. So, I’m going to speak very bluntly, ok?” I look at Marcus again, and he smirks at me. “Dude, you could do the talking. I’d be thrilled to sit back and stare at Mr. Murphy while you fine gentlemen figure shit out.” Marcus smiles at me again.

“Fine,” he says. “Gentlemen, my dad was a piece of shit. I’m not him. I also have zero interest in having to keep a fucking eye on you guys all the time. Do you know how much fucking manpower he wasted watching you three? And the best part? He still fucking missed pretty much every single deal Thomas did in the last three years. Sir, you are impressive. I understand Ava’s crush on you a bit,” Marcus tells Thomas. Both men chuckle.

“Happy to share some tips if you need, Marcus.”

“Thanks. I may take you up on that offer, but not around Ava because I’m not sure what she’s liable to do to you if she is forced to spend a lot more time with you.”

“Piss off. I’ve got myself under control. Just get the fuck on with it.”

“Very well, gentleman, speak to your lawyers, draw up new offers, and we will sit down and work it out. I don’t want your business. I don’t want to have to babysit. I just want to move the fuck on from everything Enzo Rossi was.”

Frank, Walter, and their men leave after a toast to new deals. I look over at Thomas. “What do you want, Mr. Murphy?” I ask him.

“Nothing, Ava. I want to make sure you’re good. Your dad was my best friend, so I wanted to see how you fared.”

“I fared well. Harry was good to me. He loves me like a daughter. The only thing that would have been better was if my parents hadn’t died. I promise, Thomas; I’m happy, I’m good.”

Thomas smiles at me, and I know I’m blushing, but the man is magnificent. He’s about six feet tall, with black hair sprinkled with grey. His eyes are a cornflower blue, framed with black lashes. His jaw is strong, and he has a close-cropped beard that, like his hair, is black, speckled with grey, He gets this tick in his jaw when he’s mad and trying to keep his temper in check. His shoulders are broad, and he has a slim waist. His ass is juicy, and his thighs are a whole other level of insanity. The man plays rugby. Even now, in his late forties, he still plays. I want to play rugby with him. I’d happily let him lift me to catch the ball like they do.

“Ava,” Marcus squeezes my leg to get my attention.

“Yeah? Yes? “

“You are in so much trouble when we get back to the hotel, Little Fury,” he whispers into my ear, his teeth skimming the shell of it. It sends a shiver through my body straight to my core.

“Seems reasonable,” I reply.

Thomas shakes Marcus’s hand, kisses me on the cheek, collects his men, and heads out.

“So that’s what hearts in the eyes look like,” Caden muses.

“Haha. You’re funny, Caden,” all the guys laugh at my expense. “Don’t you assholes have a fucking plane to catch?”

“Yes, Little Fury, we do,” Sebastian says. “All right, guys, lets go. The car is here to take us to the airport.”

We say goodbye, and the boys leave me and Marcus.

“Well, Ava, I think we should head to the hotel. My palm is itching to teach my woman a lesson about openly flirting with an older man in front of me.”

I look up at him and smile back at his smile. I reach up on my tiptoes and kiss him. “I will gladly accept my punishment.”