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“The word of a man like you, one who is loyal only to whoever pays him, means nothing to me.”
Lifting the gun, he removed the magazine and slid the barrel to expel the bullet from the chamber. It all happened in a blink. He slapped all the pieces on the bar. “There. Now fucking sit.”
If he intended to shoot me dead, my blood would already be pooling on the floor. While I hated his cocky display, I had to respect it.
Cautiously, I moved to the stool and sat. I snatched my cocktail and took two long swallows. The familiar flavor reminded me of home and my throat tightened. “What do you want?” I snapped.
He drank from his glass. “I had thought you would beg for your life.”
“I never beg.”
“Or reciprocate blow jobs, apparently.”
I didn’t want to think about that night. “I hadn’t realized you wanted one.”
“You think I wouldn’t like for you, the handsome heir to the biggest mafia empire in Europe, to give me a blow job? Ma dai.”
It didn’t matter what he wanted. I wasn’t next in line for the Ravazzani empire any longer. I hadn’t been for a long time. “Too bad for you, then.”
He sipped his cocktail. “Yes, it is too bad for me.”
Now we were discussing blow jobs? “Who hired you to kill me?”
“What sort of man would I be if I revealed my clients?”
“I can offer you more than what they are paying you.”
“You assume this is about money.”
Wasn’t everything? “It must be La Provincia. They want me dead because I’m gay and I left.” This was the council of the ’Ndrangheta leaders. My father was a member, and while he swore the other dons weren’t after me, I didn’t believe it.
Ricci said nothing, merely stared at the bar as he took another drink.
I couldn’t help but ask, “How long have you been on this island?”
“Four days.”
Cristo. “Watching me, I suppose.”
He snorted. “Too fucking boring. Nothing but sheep and poetry.”
Of course he knew this. I was getting sloppy—I should’ve spotted him. He could have killed me at any time. “Forgive me for boring you, Alessandro.”
“Alessio. No one calls me Alessandro.”
“I hadn’t realized we were friends.”
“You should hope so, Giulio. You do not want me as your enemy.”
“Any man trying to kill me is automatically my enemy.”
“It is a job. Nothing more. You should understand that, considering all you’ve done for your father’s ’ndrina.”
In a strange way I did understand, but we were not the same. Not even close. “That was in the name of family, of brotherhood. You are in it for only one person—you.”
“Yes, this is true. But I work better alone. The ’Ndrangheta is full of jackals, all trying to eat their young.”
We were talking about the mafia now? What the fuck was happening here?
