Chapter 38

• The night seemed eerily quiet even though this was supposed to be one of the busiest places in LA. At a time like this, tourists were still scouring the streets, drawn by the lights and buzz of the Palisades park by the pier. Besides, this was an upscale part of the city, there was nothing to worry about since Ricky and his gang of riff-raff would not dare to be caught in a place such as this.
• Turning another block, Luca glanced at Gio. His younger brother sat calmly in the passenger’s seat looking through the windshield with the same deadly focus he always had every time there was a mission. His jaw was taut, his face hard, his whole body tensed.
• Luca’s heart constricted. In a better world, in another life, he would have preferred to keep his baby brother out of this kind of life, but by the time he had enough money to sneak Giovanni out of their father’s grasp, Gio had been knees deep in a world of crime. Their mother would never have wanted that. She never succeeded with him, but if she had lived longer she would have done everything within her power to keep her younger son from the dangerous life their father lived.