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Vinny never comes to my home, so that’s the first sign I know he fucked up.
The sweat on his face and shirt and his puffy and bloodshot eyes are the second. I’ve pepper-sprayed enough men to know that’s what happened to him.
“I fucked up, Antonio.” He paces in front of my desk in short steps.
I drop my pen, pick it back up, and clutch it between my fingers. I picture it’s Vinny’s neck since I know whatever he’s about to say will make me want to wring it.
My gaze sharpens on him. “What did you do?”
He stops to pinch the bridge of his throat as if guiding the words out. “I killed one of Marchetti’s men.”
I wait—I fucking pray—for him to tell me he’s kidding.
That he isn’t that fucking stupid.
He doesn’t.
He lifts his chin and lingers, waiting for me to offer a solution.
I throw my pen on the desk. “Did he try to kill you first?”
Vinny flares his nostrils. “Technically,you could say he threatened me.”
I clench my fist, wishing I could knock him the fuck out.
“Natalia broke up with me, and I lost my shit. You know how bad my temper is.”
When he rubs his eyes with fisted hands, I smile in satisfaction, knowing he’s only worsening the irritation. I want the pepper spray to burn into his pupils, eat them away, and blind him—a punishment for his stupidity.
“She ran to Cristian,” he yells when I fail to reply.
“Does that surprise you?” I stand while struggling to keep my voice low since Amara is here. “I’m sure that’s the first place she went.” I massage my temples. “Were there any witnesses?”
He scrubs a hand over his face.
“Does anyone know you killed him?” I grit out each word.
“Natalia,” he says lowly.
“I could fucking kill you,” I roar, unable to stop my fury from breaking free. My heartbeat is so erratic that I’m certain I’ll suffer a heart attack. “You just declared war on the Marchettis.”
I shove him, and he stumbles back into the bar cart. Liquor bottles shatter.
The motherfucker just broke the pact we share with the other families, granting us a death wish against the city’s deadliest family.
He grabs an unbroken bottle of whiskey from the bar cart and twists off the cap. “Cristian took Natalia to dinnerpubliclyto fuck with me.” He rebuilds his defiance, and his loser attitude returns after he takes a swig of the whiskey. “I guarantee they’re fucking and she’s telling him all our secrets.”
“Did you tell her our secrets?”
He shrugs, not answering like a petulant fucking child.
I guarantee the idiot doesn’t remember what he shared with her because he thought she’d never leave him, or if she attempted to, he planned to kill her before she had the opportunity to run her mouth.
Vinny’s recklessness has gotten worse in the past few months. The more our father’s health declines, the more he gloats about taking over the family. Being boss isn’t all he wants. He wants to be king of New York, to beat out Cristian, and that’s asking for nothing but trouble. And now, he’s carried that problem straight to me.
“You can fix this, right?” he asks before taking another swig of whiskey. “Talk to Gigi since you two are close.”
I wince at him saying Gigi’s name. “Don’t act like this isn’t what you wanted all along. Your intentions have always been to take on Cristian with yourI want to be kingbullshit. You don’t think word of that wouldn’t get back to him? He’s been waiting for you to fuck up.” I snatch my blazer from the back of my chair and throw it on. “Congratulations. You started that war. Prepare for it. Now, come on.”
