Page 38 of Total Obsession

Johnny gave me a look and then smacked me across the cheek. "Do I look like I was born yesterday? He's a big boy. He can handle himself. All my boys can."

I nodded and didn't say more.

"If Tino has any brains, he'll seize the opportunity to take control while Primo's dealing with the fallout or in hiding."

I nodded in understanding.

"Now, that brings me to Giovanni."

I stayed quiet, waiting for what next bomb Johnny was going to drop on me.

"When you carry out this hit, you're going to bring him with you.”

"I am?" I asked. Giovanni was never involved in the family's business, very much by his choosing.

"I don't care how you have to do it, just make sure he's involved somehow. I want him involved in a way that he can't wash off his hands. That'll keep him from trying to legitimize the family by double-crossing us. If his hands have blood on them, he's not going to go to the authorities."

I didn't say anything. What was there to say, really? I just nodded my agreement and waited for Johnny to finish out his plan.

"And as for Teddy, just make sure he stays busy. You know that boy is the oddest of the bunch. Harmless as they come, except for when he's bored. Just give him enough jobs to clean up so you don't have to worry about him."

I chuckled. Teddy was an eclectic character. I wouldn't go so far as to call him harmless, but he never partook in any violence. Oddly enough, he enjoyed cleaning up the mess afterward. He said he had his reasons. I never questioned him, because he was damn good at it. Cops hadn't gotten so much as a fingerprint on the family in years.

"Okay," I said. "I understand."

"Good," Johnny replied. "Don't fuck this up," he said, standing and signaling that our meeting had come to an end.

I nodded, deciding to keep quiet. I had a lot of thinking to do on this specific request of Johnny's. I made my way toward the door, but he called out to me.

"Oh, and Axe?"

I turned and looked at him.

"Remember, there is only the present. I don't want to hear that you've been distracted by anything else again."

"Yes, boss," I said before closing the door behind me.

* * *

ZOEY

"You're crazy if you think I'd believe you after everything you put me through!" I scream at him from across the room. "All the lies, the deceit, the manipulation! And now you want me to trust you? Why should I trust you?"

"Please," he started to say, but I cut him off with a dramatic swipe of my arm.

"No! Don't say 'please.' Don't beg me! It's not going to work! I see the real you now. I just can't believe I wasn't smart enough to see it back then!"

With that, I stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind me.

The bell rang and the director called out, "That's a wrap for today, folks!"

I smiled as I made my way over to my chair. An intern of some sort handed me a bottle of water. I thanked her and took it, taking a long swig of the cold liquid. I hadn't really anticipated just how much of a strain acting would be on my body. It was right up there with modeling in terms of the physical demands. One of those things that people don't really think about. They just see the glamour of it all, but there's so much more to it.

"Nice job, Zo," my co-star Brad said to me. I gave him a smile and a nod.

"You, too!"

"Honestly, I don't understand why you don't just go for him." Miranda was another female character on the show. She played my character's best friend, and as a result, she and I had also become pretty close while filming. It was an odd feeling for me to make a friend. I’d walled myself off from friendship since high school because of what happened with Axe, but Miranda had forced her way into my life despite my best attempts to keep her at a distance.