“Let me see if I follow so far. Jimmy was allegedly backstabbing Victor all these years, working him into the cell he’s rotting away in now. He killed Vic’s best friend and underboss, all because he was working with some other gangbanger to gain control over New York?”
“For the most part, and now with Victor out of the way and Jimmy in control, they are looking to score some heavy drugs,” he affirmed.
“This guy near Canada, he got a name?” I asked, curiously.
“Gregorio,” he said.
“So Jimmy fucked Victor, that’s not our business. You going to tell us something beneficial?” Blackie questioned.
Bianci stared at me, gauging my reaction.
“I think I just did,” he muttered. “Fuck, Vic was right,” he hissed, roughly threading his fingers through his hair.
“Clue me in, brother,” Blackie demanded, leaning into me.
“Gregorio,” I repeated the name.
I ignored Blackie’s hardened glare that was laced with confusion and tried to piece things together.
“Remember when Danny paid me a visit to Ryker’s?” I asked, glancing at Blackie and watched as he nodded in response before I continued. “Came to tell me he was writing me off and all that shit, that he was up for a promotion in the bureau. They were going to make him a director or whatever the fuck it’s called over RICO cases,” I added, swiping my hand over my face. “Said he couldn’t be associated with me anymore and had changed his name.” I stared at the ink that marked my forearm, Parrish, in big block letters, and closed my eyes. “Took our mother’s maiden name, Gregorio.”
Blackie leaned back, staring at me in shock as I turned back to Anthony.
“I don’t remember there being any other family. After my parents died there was my father’s sister who stuck around for a few days but as far as I was concerned the Gregorio clan was done for. I don’t think there is any relation, Danny was probably using the common thread to his advantage,” I said. I tried working out the possibilities in my head but it was a long fucking time ago, before the meds, when everything was a little blurry and a whole lot of fucked up.
“Guy’s in his late sixties, early seventies. Back in the day he was known as the G-Man,” Anthony offered.
“What did you just say?” Blackie snapped.
“G-Man, that was his name on the streets,” he said, looking at Blackie for a clue.
“The G-Man was Cain’s supplier,” Blackie whispered hoarsely.
“Who’s Cain?”
I clawed at the scruff that lined my jaw and looked over at Blackie, who was worlds away wallowing in the grief of his mistakes.
“Take a minute,” I said to him. He lifted his bloodshot eyes to mine, and for the first time in years I saw the sheen of unshed tears fill them. “That’s an order,” I whispered.
He didn’t fight me, he pushed back his chair, stumbled to his feet and stepped away from the table.
I drew out a heavy sigh, the magnitude of everything dumped on me weighing me down.
“Jack…” Bianci started.
“Cain was the man I took the gavel from. He was the president of the Satan’s Knights and when he was in charge this club was all about drugs. We sold crack, cocaine, and heroine to anyone willing to buy. We had no morals, feeding the habits of kids…hell…even pregnant women,” I cringed at my words. “G-Man supplied the drugs to Cain, whatever he didn’t shoot or snort he handed over to us and we pushed the product on the street. We made a shitload of money but we all sacrificed our souls for a fucking dollar. Cain died, got hepatitis, probably from all the dirty needles.”
“Jesus,” Anthony sneered, looking over his shoulder at Blackie who was throwing back a shot of bourbon. “And him?”
I watched my brother beat himself down with the bottle.
“His wife overdosed on his stash,” I explained. “Never knew she was hooked on his shit, had no fucking clue, until he found her face down in the bathroom, lying in her own vomit with a yellow band tied around her arm and a needle pushed deep inside her vein.”
Speechless, Anthony stared back at me.
“After Cain died, and I was voted as president I vowed to Blackie we’d clean this shit up. We’d make this club stand for something other than death. We never personally dealt with G-Man, so when we severed ties we did so with his henchmen. We paid him off to keep war away from the club but I wasn’t sure that would be enough. I didn’t trust the man, especially since he was a goddamn phantom. That’s when I went to Vic and told him my dilemma and he was all about keeping the drugs at bay. We agreed we’d shut G-Man down by pushing him out of our territory. To be honest Victor did most of the work, but whenever he needed back up he had the Satan Knight’s behind him.”
I leaned forward, fixing him with a firm stare. “You need to find out if there is a blood tie between the G-Man and Danny. I don’t think there is but we should be sure,” I urged.
He nodded instantly.
“I’m on it,” he affirmed. “I got to ask you, you ever take my advice about seeking out Danny’s woman?”
The moment he referenced Reina, I pictured her face, saw the broken girl that hid in the darkness and something inside of me tightened.