Page 96 of Fallen Rook

“And turn your Cold War with the Bratva into a full-fledged bloodbath?” Tiernan drawled. “Genius idea.”

“The carnage can’t be prevented at this point,” I said. “Might as well draw first blood.”

Please, let this whole thing blow up so I won’t have to marry Katya.

I’d made a promise to Alex that I’d follow through with the wedding, and I was going to keep it, but only if he’d fulfill his end of the bargain and separate Sofia and Jeremie. So far, it hadn’t happened. And I was becoming increasingly desperate.

“If Luca wanted Jeremie dead so badly, he’d have done it himself,” Tiernan pointed out. “Giving him help he didn’t ask for would only make matters worse.”

“You think I’m playing Cupid?” Achilles snorted derisively. “I couldn’t care less about Luca’s marriage. If anything, I’m rooting for its breakdown after what he did to me and Tierney.”

Ah, yes. Apparently, Luca had played a big part in ripping the lovebirds apart when they were teenagers. My father, of course, orchestrated the entire operation, the supreme shitbag that he was.

“I care about the Camorra, not about Luca’s happiness,” Achilles lamented.

“Well, what do we do?” Lila asked.

Unlike Achilles, I did care about Luca’s happiness—quite a lot, actually—but he was right. We needed to take care of business first. Because the price to pay was more than just money—it was all of our lives.

“If Luca doesn’t pull himself together, we dethrone him. We have the votes.” I put my coffee down.

“Do you?” Tiernan raised an eyebrow. “Achilles can rile up your lackeys. But who convinces Donna Chiara to pull the trigger? Everyone loyal to the Ferrante family would want to hear what she has to say.”

“Yes,” Achilles drawled, staring me straight in the eye from across the room. “We need someone to ask Mama to pass the crown to someone else. And that someone can’t be me, because she never could stand me.”

Aside from Lila, I was the closest to Mama out of us siblings. So I knew exactly what he was asking me.

“She’ll agree,” I said. “I’ll work my magic on her.”

“And who, pray tell, is going to take Luca’s place?” Tierney asked.

Achilles and I locked stares again. I gave him a little nod.

He deserved it.

“I’m giving him a month to change course,” Achilles announced, “then I’m taking over.”

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Enzo

Tom picked me up at six thirty in the morning on a Saturday. I came down with a blue birthday hat and a cupcake with a dick-shaped candle stuck in the middle.

Understated. Elegant. Just like myself. “I’m not wearing the hat even if the future of the republic depends on it,” Tom greeted me solemnly, leaning to give me a kiss.

I kissed him back, grinning. “Happy birthday, Tomcat.”

He gave me an appreciative once-over, lingering on lean muscles and pumped biceps. I may have done a few push-ups before I came downstairs, just to highlight my best features.

He leaned and kissed me again, as if he’d forgotten we already kissed hello.

“How old?” I asked when he reluctantly withdrew his lips from mine. Every first kiss between us was always special: his body’s way of saying hello to mine.

“The big four O.”

“Holy shit, I just turned twenty-six in November.”

Which he fucking knew, because I bet he had a seven-hundred-page report on me somewhere.