“I am congratulating my friend for fixing my mistakes.”
I stare at him, wondering how on earth he can say this so flippantly. That he could celebrate the death of his father while I would do anything to bring mine back.
But I can’t blame him. Not really. Giuliano was a piece of work, capable of inflicting all kinds of horrors on others even after he’d stepped down from being don.
I shake my head. “The Guild….they’re not going to agree to this.”
“Then make them,” Rocco insists. “My father’s list, the demands he made when he stepped down, everything on there is yours to dismantle as you see fit.”
That damn list. Things that Giuliano Moretti insisted were to be protected before he would consider handing the Guild to Rocco—decrepit club venues that couldn’t be destroyed, employees that couldn’t be fired.
Families that couldn’t be found.
“The Natalis,” I whisper. The realization hits me like a hundred-ton truck. “They’re no longer under his protection.”
“I’m giving you the power to avenge your family, Teo.”
My head swims with the possibilities. For so long, I’ve been kept on my leash. Even after Rocco became don, I couldn’t touch them.
But now…
But now revenge is so close I can taste it.
“Rocco?”
We simultaneously turn toward the sound of Cas’ voice from the corridor outside. I see Rocco visibly relax at the sound.
“Listen,” Rocco hisses quickly, “all I know is that their son, Leon, is leading the Prince’s Hand right now. Rumor has it, his father, Tobia Natali, passed away last year.”
“What about his wife? Ida?” I demand.
The only face I remember from that night, the one that still haunts my nightmares.
Rocco shakes his head. “She’s like a ghost. No one has seen her since I took over the Guild…”
“...But Leon will know where she is,” I finish for him, a plan already forming in my mind.
“Rocco?” Cas calls again, closer this time.
Rocco steps away from me. “I meant it, Teo. You’re the only one I could trust with the Guild. Don’t let me down, all right?”
“No pressure then, boss?”
Rocco smirks as he reaches the door. With one last look over his shoulder, he says, “You always work better under pressure.”
2
ISABELLA
It feels like someone is grabbing hold of my windpipe and slowly crushing it between their fingers.
Every second I spend staring at this goddamn entree, the more trapped I feel. But can I bring myself to move? Apparently not.
Apparently, the news that Teo Vitale will be the new don of the Guild is too much for my stupid brain and even stupider body to handle.
This is not how tonight was supposed to go.
There’s a buzz in my earpiece. At the very least, I seem to have the wherewithal to lean forward, allowing my blonde hair to cascade over my ear as I oh-so-casually reach up to press the receiver.
