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“I’m waiting,” I said, my tone sounding easy, but I was anything but that. My rage was a living thing, building inside me and threatening to explode. I tracked each of the men at the table. First, Alessandro, then Neri and Stefano, finally landing on Piero. “Waiting for Piero.”
All heads turned his way, frowns and confusion on their faces. The two men Piero had brought with him stepped forward as if they knew in their gut what was about to happen. They were his closest advisors, the ones who went everywhere with him.
Neri’s stare met mine, trying to read what I wasn’t saying, then he turned to Piero. “What did you do?”
“Nothing,” Piero stuttered out, shuffling in his seat, the first sign of his nervousness. “I didn’t do anything.”
I tilted my head to the side, a smirk pulling at my lips. “That’s not quite true though, is it, Piero.” I met his gaze, daring him to look away from me. “You knew.” I clasped my hands in front of me, my body at ease with the weight of my gun on my lap. Christian and Mateo stood deathly still, not making a move until I did. “You knew about the raid on my house.”
“I didn’t,” Piero rushed out, putting his hands out in front of him as if that would help his case. His eyes widened, begging me to believe him. “I didn’t know a thing, not until afterward. The judge—”
“Signed the warrant that you demanded he sign.” I slowly leaned back in my seat, the chair wood creaking at the move. “You were the one who okayed the raid.” The cool metal of my gun slipped across my fingertips, and I gripped the handle, placing my finger on the trigger. “You’ve approved them every step of the way.” I paused, finally lifting my mask off my face and showing him all of my rage. “You knew they had someone undercover.” I pushed my chair back, my signal for Christian and Mateo, and they stepped forward. “It was your idea.” I extended my arm, showing everyone at the table what I held in my hand. Not one of them said a word, knowing what Piero had done was the ultimate death wish. We had rules we lived by, both inside our own organizations and The Enterprise, and Piero had disregarded all of that.
“You’re not the only one with friends in high places.” I squeezed the trigger, one shot blasting out as the bullet ripped through Piero’s head. Two more shots fired off behind me, taking out Piero’s men in one fell swoop.
Their bodies slumped, bright red blood staining the table and the people closest to them. I glanced down, seeing several droplets of blood that had made their way to my shirt. I cursed. Aida would be pissed if I turned up to dinner with blood on me.
“Take that as a warning,” I told the rest of the table. “The Enterprise was made to keep the peace, to share information, so we’re all safe against the law.” I stowed my gun away in its holster. “The new boss of the Pozzi family will be his nephew, Gio. He’ll be at the next meeting.” I grinned as the shock registered on their faces. I’d been working behind the scenes for days, putting things in place as I waited for final confirmation of what I already knew.
“We haven’t taken a vote!” Alessandro shouted, swiping at the blood on his face.
I huffed out a breath. I’d had my fun, and now I wanted to leave. “All those in favor of Gio Pozzi becoming head of the Pozzi family, raise your hands.” Stefano and Neri raised their hands just as I did. “Votes counted and verified.” I stepped away from the table. “Until next month.” I nodded, pleased as fuck with myself. I’d made it known that I wasn’t to be messed with. I just hoped they actually listened because I was done with second chances. They worked when I was captain, but now that I was the boss, I couldn’t take the risk.
Making mistakes was all well and good as long as you learned from them. And that was what I’d done from the moment I’d become boss. I’d made mistakes, but they were ones that I’d never repeat. They made me stronger, more capable of becoming the boss my family needed.
No one spoke as we exited the meeting place and got into the SUV. I’d already known someone had their hands in what happened with the FBI, and after Mateo’s contact confirmed it today with the evidence I needed, I hadn’t wasted a single second calling the impromptu meeting. The longer Piero was out there, the more damage he would have done. At least with Gio at the helm of their family, I’d have some sense of control over him.
My dad had built his legacy, but it was time for me to build mine. I wasn’t walking in his shadow anymore. I wasn’t only Luca Beretta’s son. I was Lorenzo Beretta, the Mafia boss you didn’t dare fuckin’ cross.
I glanced down at the few red spots on my shirt as we pulled into the gates, cursing at the sight of Aida’s dad’s delivery truck already being here. “Fuck.” If she saw the evidence of what I’d just done on my shirt, she’d kill me. She’d spoken nonstop about the meal with both of our families, and now here I was, about to enter with another Mafia boss’s blood on my shirt. I darted out of the SUV, ran across the stones, and straight through the front door, hoping I could make it by unseen.
“Uncle Lorenzo!”
My eyes widened, my body freezing at the bottom of the stairs. I should have known Vida would have caught me. “Hey, princess.” I turned and smiled at her, trying to keep my body pointed toward the stairs. “I’ll be back down in a minute. I just need to get changed.”
She stepped forward, her head tilted to one side as Christian and Mateo walked in the front door with matching grins on their faces. “But you’re already dressed.” Her little face screwed up in confusion. “Why do you need to get dressed again?”
“Well…” I cleared my throat, feeling like I was being interrogated. Not even my Uncle Antonio had made me feel like that when I was a kid, and he grilled me on whether I’d understood how to electrocute someone or not. “I…erm….”
Noemi appeared behind Vida, planting her hand on her shoulder. “Hey, Lorenzo,” she greeted, and I begged her to distract Vida, but instead, she asked, “Where you heading?”
What was with this family and asking questions?
“I’m going to—”
“Lorenzo?” I breathed a sigh of relief as Aida appeared. “What are you doing?” She walked toward me, meeting me at the bottom of the stairs. “Where—”
“Something smells amazing,” I said, interrupting her and turning my body. “I wouldn’t want to stain my white shirt with the pasta sauce.” I had no idea if that was what we were having, but I hoped she’d read into what I was saying. “I’m going to go get changed.” I hooked my thumb toward the stairs, widening my eyes at her.
“What?” She laughed and shook her head. “You…” Her gaze flicked down, her attention zooming in on the blood splatter. She glanced back up at me, lowering her voice so only I could hear her. “You couldn’t leave it until after we’d had dinner?” she ground out.
“It couldn’t wait.” I tried to communicate with her silently. She knew we were looking into what had happened when we got raided, and she was there when I’d received the call to confirm my suspicions.
“Fine.” She narrowed her eyes at me, then flicked her attention to Vida and Noemi. “Shall we go make wishes while we wait for Uncle Lorenzo?”
“Yes!“ Vida jumped up and down, grasping Noemi’s hand and pulling her toward the door. “The fountain outside is magic,” she told her. “Last time I made a wish that Auntie Aida would fall in love with Uncle Lorenzo.” She turned back to face me, her huge grin flashing my way. “And it came true!”
My stomach dipped at her words, my attention snapping toward Aida, but she was walking away with her head down. I wasn’t sure what to do, what to say, so I turned, heading upstairs and preparing for the first joint family meal since we’d married.
