“In case you haven’t noticed,belle, I’m the don of an entirely different Mafia now. Getting those casinos back would be great for my pride, but it’s just another thing to manage on top of everything else.”
“So let Leon manage them for you,” she says as if it’s the simplest thing in the world. “Blue sky thinking, okay? The Prince Hand and Guild start working together. Leon can keep running the casinos and even help open up locations in Brooklyn.”
“And what, the Guild could venture into Manhattan?” I want to laugh at her. “Why would either party go for something like that when war is already on the cards, and the winner takes all?”
“Because we have a common enemy,” Isabella insists. “The cartel took it personally when Leon attacked in their territory?—”
“Not their territory.”
Isabella rolls her eyes. “I know.And thenyouwent and killed a near dozen of them on an apparent whim. Do you really think they’re not going to retaliate? You said it yourself, Teo. We’re all Italian. It doesn’t matter to them.”
“So, in this wild theoretical future, we all hold hands, make up, and drive the cartel out of Brooklyn?”
“With the Prince’s Hand, you could drive them out of New York.”
We stare at each other as this sinks in.
It would take a lot more than holding hands for an alliance like that to work. Hell, even if I got down on one knee and married Isabella this afternoon, it wouldn’t be enough to convince the two warring sides to unite.
But…there’s something alluring about the thought of the united Italians ruling New York. A pipe dream, one that all factions of organized crime have at some point thought up. But a dream, nonetheless.
I let out a long sigh. “Maybe. Theoretically, it might be possible. But the discussion is entirely moot, isn’t it?”
Isabella gets an irritated crease on her forehead. “Well, maybe if you and my brother actually sat down and had a civilized conversation about it?—”
“I can’t.”
“Teo—”
“No,” I say firmly. “This may have become personal for you when your grandparents died, but your parents murdered myfamily.I can’t…I can’t just pretend like that didn’t happen. I can’t forgive your mother for what she did.”
Isabella runs her hands through her hair as if she’s trying to tug it out. “My mother didn’tdoanything! Your parents set mine up! They agreed to a meeting, only for yours to set the place on fire.”
My neck almost snaps with how quickly I look at her. “What the hell are you talking about?”
She glares right back, the stubborn tilt of her jaw telling me she has no intention of backing down.
“Your parents invited mine to their home for so-called ‘peaceful’ negotiations. But it was a trap. They locked my parents inside and tried to burn the place down. You can’t blame my parents for escaping, even if it cost them their lives.”
My jaw feels like it might fall off entirely.
“You…you think it wasmyparents? That they started a fire in their own home?”
“Iknowit was your parents.”
Something inside me churns, and I have a dangerous urge to vomit. “Who told you that? Did she tell you that?”
“You’re going to sit there and tell me my mother is a liar?”
“YES!”
“Fuck you, Teo. You weren’t even there. You have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“But my SISTER WAS,” I all but roar in her face. “You think my parents would set fire to their own home, knowing that their eight-year-old daughter was sound asleep upstairs?”
Isabella suddenly goes very, very cold. “W-what?”
“She didn’t tell you?” I would laugh if it wasn’t so fucking painful. “Of course, she didn’t tell you. Why would she?”
