Page 39
“What’s going on?” Cassius demanded, pouring himself a drink.
Armond cast a confused look over his shoulder. “Excuse me?”
“I’m not stupid, Pop. And the urgency for a sudden family merger is beginning to make more sense. Aella’s safety was a cover, but something’s telling me things are way deeper than that.”
Armond turned to face his son, wearing a grim expression. “Cass—”
“Don’t do that,” Cassius barked, draining his glass. “You can’t pick and choose when to treat me like a business partner and when to treat me like a son. I’ve been in the thick of this for too long not to know what’s happening.”
Folding his arms, Armond gritted his teeth. “Months ago, Torrisi, Cavataio, and I,” he began, “received intel that someone was planning a move against us. No one could tell us who, and for a while, the rumors seemed to be just that—rumors. Then one of Cavataio’s highest-ranking soldiers got clipped.”
“Marko,” Cassius said, rubbing his chin. “Mama told me about that. They spun it as if it were just a random incident.”
“Yeah,” Armond chuckled darkly. “I think that’s because Cavataio refused to believe there could be more to it than that. The contract for Aella came next.”
“When I first got here, Mars mentioned that two of the bosses' retirements created a power vacuum.”
Armond nodded shortly. “Someone is looking to fill those spots. And after tonight, I think it’s safe to assume they’re perfectly fine with the idea of taking out our families to do so, which makes a marriage between you and Aella, and combining our families, even more necessary.”
“Cavataio is going to be pissed.”
“I’m sure. His son was never in consideration to be paired with Aella, but Antonio approached Severo with a brief discussion about Elio possibly marrying Ilaria in the future if it came down to it.”
As serious as the situation was, Cassius couldn’t help but laugh. “Yeah, right. I don’t even know her, and I’m sure there’s no way in hell she’d agree to that. Cavataio’s son is a fuckin’ idiot and has a history of alleged domestic abuse.”
“All of which Severo mentioned when it was suggested. But Cavataio is the least of our worries right now. Not only has whatever is happening with the Family escalated to a public matter, but Severo isn’t accepting anything but blood as repayment for losing Eric. I never thought something like this would happen in your lifetime, but we’re in the beginning stages of a war.”
“Do you have any clue as to who could be behind it?”
“Hell no,” Armond waved. “And that’s the most frustrating thing. The mastermind is clever and moves like smoke, utilizing others to do his dirty work. We’ve run into dead end after dead end—or someone so small on the totem pole, they weren’t worth torturing for the little information they had.”
“Fuck,” Cassius muttered, pouring himself another drink. While he hadn’t known so much was happening under wraps, he couldn’t lie and say he hadn’t noticed a change in his father over the past few months. He was tense, his temper was short, and he always seemed to have to attend an unexpected meeting or two.
“Tonight was a statement. I need you to stay alert.”
“I got you, Pop,” Cassius said, rubbing his temples. “I need a minute to sort through this shit. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”
“Be careful, son.”
“Heard you.”
Without another word, Cassius exited, wondering why it’d taken something so devastating for his father to tell him what was going on. Making a mental note to call Mars in the morning to fill him in on everything, he finished the rest of his ride in silence, his mind moving a mile a minute.
After pulling up to his home, he turned the car off and sat for a minute, thinking about how his life was about to shift. Again. Taking a life was nothing to Cassius. He’d been trained for that from the moment he could walk, but it was something he never did without reason.
Pointless bloodshed and death never sat well with him, and were one of the reasons why he lived each of his days to the fullest. You never knew when it was your time to go.
Sitting back in the seat, he reached for his phone and found Aella’s name. It was late, but as far as he was concerned, the conversation couldn’t wait.
“Hello?” To his surprise, she answered the phone alert and was fully awake.
“What’s up? You alone?”
“Yeah, finally. Though it’s still insane around here. I can’t remember the last time we had so many people in our house.”
“About that, we need to talk. I’ll shoot you my address. Come through in the morning.”
“Wait, what? What’s—”
