Total pages in book: 84
Estimated words: 80536 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 403(@200wpm)___ 322(@250wpm)___ 268(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 80536 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 403(@200wpm)___ 322(@250wpm)___ 268(@300wpm)
“Not if you were the last man on Earth, Primo,” Alessa said, getting a small smile out of me. You had to appreciate all her fire.
"You didn't have to take Alessa," Lorenzo, the Five Families new Capo dei Capo, said a few moments later after some tense hellos. "And shoot my man in the process,” he added.
Yes, well, things had gotten a little messier picking up Alessa than they had when grabbing Isabella.
"Relax. Salvatore will live. And I did need to take Alessa if I wanted to smoke out Ricco," I said, gaze sliding toward the man who'd shot his brother.
"All the proper channels were gone through to order the hit on Due," Lorenzo said, meaning a mission with the whole Commission. Except it wasn’t the whole Commission since I hadn’t been present. And if I knew anything about the Lombardi Family, they wouldn’t have been present at the meeting either, since they were having just as many issues with the new leadership as I was. If not worse. "If I'm not mistaken, your father had gone through the same channels in his day to have a member of my Family hit,” he added.
Just the mention of my father had my blood boiling and my spine straightening.
"Don't compare me to my father," I demanded, voice a harsh whisper.
"I'm simply proving that this system works in favor of all the Families with legitimate concerns. Yours included. This wasn't done in a shady or unfair way."
"It was my brother, Lorenzo," I insisted. It was one thing to get some random made man taken out. But a boss’s brother? That shit was serious. I was taking it seriously.
"And you know The Commission only approves the hit of men as high up in the hierarchy if there is just cause."
"What just cause could you have possibly had?" I snapped.
"Ricco," Lorenzo said, nodding toward Alessa's brother who pulled a rolled-up folder out of his bulletproof vest, spreading it on the tabletop, and pulling individual pages out, then passing them across the table toward me.
I could feel myself straightening as I took the folder. Because if there were documents or pictures of any sort, then it was entirely possible I was mistaken about the situation. The Commission might well have had their reasons.
I never could have anticipated those reasons, though.
A muscle in my jaw ticked as I clenched it hard enough for pain to shoot up my mouth and to my temples as I looked down at the pictures in front of me, not sure I wanted to believe them, but not being able to deny them either.
"Your brother was caught soliciting minors," Ricco explained, making my stomach drop, even as I looked at the proof of it before me. "Online, as you can see from the messages," he went on. "But also in person. We got word from someone in your community whose son said Due tried to get him to get in his car and come back to his place for ice cream. He was nine years old," Ricco finished.
Rage, a familiar and old friend, burned through me, a fire that caught and spread until it engulfed me entirely.
My gaze rose.
"And you just shot him in the back of the head?" I asked.
"He was a fucking pedophile," Ricco snapped.
"Let me rephrase that," I said. "You only shot him in the back of the head?" I asked. "Men like that should be taken apart piece by piece," I added, barely able to get the words out, my jaw was so tight. "No matter who they are. If you didn't have the stomach for it," I went on, "you should have brought this to me. I would have done it."
I wasn’t putting on some sort of show for them.
I meant that.
I meant it down to my bones.
Yes, I believed in family.
But I did not believe that your blood should be protected at all costs, no matter what.
If I believed that, my father would still be alive and running the Esposito Family.
On a growl, I reached into my pocket to produce a handcuff key, freeing Alessa whose Family I no longer had any issue with.
"It was fun, baby, but go back to your man," I said, and she didn’t even pause.
"This isn't over," she said as she got to him. "He has a plan," she added.
"No no," I said, waving a finger at her. "No spoilers."
"Spoilers for what, Primo?" Lorenzo asked. "We dealt with the issue."
"We dealt with one issue," I said. "We still have many to contend with. And they all come back to the utter lack of trust between our Families."
"I don't disagree," Lorenzo said, nodding. "Which is why open and honest sit-downs are important."
"No," I said, shaking my head. "We're beyond talking. You and I both know it would never be enough."
"What then do you propose?" Lorenzo asked, giving me a dubious look.