The Body #2: Lucio and Janie

Chapter 18 (Janie): Definite Possibilities

Copyright © 2024 by GroveltoHEA

After the last of the Body Heads and their second-in-commands left, Lucio was talking quietly with Santo, so I was going to head upstairs and call the girls. I was still reeling from the fact that I'd just led a meeting with the Heads of the Bodies, the most patriarchal, misogynistic group of men that existed. And they'd listened to me.

"Just a minute, Janie," Lucio called out. He said something to Santo, who looked over at me and nodded -- respect -- then he slipped out the front door. Santo was a quiet giant, but I liked him, especially when I saw him with his wife and baby girl.

"You good?" Lucio asked me when we were alone. "You impressed the hell out of everyone tonight."

I was going to pop off with a line about men being easy to impress, but men of the Body were not. They were all suspicious, always on the lookout for betrayal, looking for weaknesses to exploit, looking for flaws, and always, always, always looking to get the jump on someone, to lessen their standing in front of others. It was all about power with the Body Heads, jockeying for position, making their Body the most powerful, the most ruthless, the most feared.

And they'd all respected my power tonight.

"They listened to me. Took their assignments. Didn't tear me down or in any way try to discredit me, so I'd say it went well."

"They'd be stupid to try to tear you down."

"Especially with you and Santo covering the room. Don't think I didn't notice that." 

He'd been standing behind me at the head of the table and Santo had been at the other end of the room. I have no doubt there were other, unseen guns trained on the Heads at all times. Lucio's lips quirked, and his hand snaked around my back, relieving me of Old Butterball so fast even I couldn't have stopped him. People looked at Lucio and Santo and probably thought slow, lumbering elephants they were so big and bulky, but they were impossibly fast.

"You didn't need us covering you, Janie, but even so, I wouldn't leave you without my protection." 

He examined my gun for a minute, hefting it in his hand. "Nice piece. Old fashioned, but reliable and deadly accurate. Nice weight to it."

He handed the gun back to me, handle first, and I didn't know if he realized what a display of trust that was. No one was around and he was less than a foot from me. I could have easily shot him before he could do anything about it.

So why didn't I?

"It was my papa's gun," I shared with him, tucking my gun back in my waistband. I had no idea why I gave that little piece of information to him.

"You go see his grave. You carry his gun. You drive his car. You grieved him when he died."

"I still do."

"I've never grieved the loss of anyone, Ginevra," he said. "Your papa was a lucky man."

I sucked in a breath and practically spat my next words at him. "He's dead, Lucio. How is that lucky?"

Those brown eyes of his, usually so cold and dead, focused on me with warmth. "He was loved," he said simply.

Then, apparently done with this overly emotional, touchy-feely conversation, Lucio walked out of the dining room and shut himself in his office.

That was my cue to go upstairs and call the girls. I'd filled them in on the meeting and was met with silence.

Fina finally broke it. "That actually happened. This is like...if the Body had official history books, this would so be in the books. The first time a female ran a meeting with all the Body Heads and their seconds sitting around a table listening to her."