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They didn’t know I was onto their scheme.
I’d been oblivious for so long. Why would they think I had discovered them now?
I unclenched my fists and tried to relax again.
Yes. I had time.
Sebastian was playing his game. Maybe I shouldn’t have allowed it, but the truth was, Lilly was a powerhouse all on her own. I had no doubt she could handle him. I’d keep an eye on it. He thought he could use my sister to get to me, but I had my pre-emptive strike to fall back on.
Only, I couldn’t go through with it.
One day, I might very well have to make the call. Sebastian’s role in the world might have to end.
How the fuck would I look into the eyes of the woman I loved, then murder her brother in cold blood?
Chances are, it would never have to happen; not if I played my cards carefully. I had to make it appear to all of them as if I thought I had nothing to lose. I had to continue looking like a clueless cuckold, too blinded by my ambition to notice I was being set up. But I knew now, and I was close to finding the man responsible. I knew who he had recruited. I knew his tangled web. He was clever, actually. Enlisting players from all sides and angles. Using smoke and mirrors to look as though he was after one person, when really, it was me he wanted to bring down, using any means, and any person, he could manipulate to achieve his goal. He had a network of people doing his bidding, each one of them oblivious to the other’s missions.
He created a world of mistrust and lies. It was only my need to protect my family that kept me from outright exposing him and burning his fucked-up world down around him.
I had to work in secret, which made my task even harder. Dante didn’t know I was well aware of what his true occupation was. He had to live his life as he always had. He had to keep his knives sharp and his wits about him. I’d be there in the wings when he needed me, but he could never know I knew his secrets. My plans would unravel if he found out. He was my older brother - head of our household, of our blood family - he would never sit back and let me handle this on my own, but he was included among the people I would die to protect.
Senator Petrafuso had to believe I was a good guy in disguise. He had to keep trusting me with confidential information, so he was always able to stay one step ahead of the bastards he put in Dante’s path. Running an unsanctioned hit list wasn’t for the weak hearted. Willis had to think I was on his side, when really, I was using him. We were friends and we were neighbors, but we were both men who held a hell of a lot of power.
Lilly had to be left alone to follow her heart and her passions - even if her newfound passion was in the arms of my enemy. What better way was there to keep tabs on St. Valentine than to let him pursue a Calegari - even if it made me want to cut my heart out. I wasn’t too prideful. I could swallow my hate to bide more time.
Then, there was a new player. The sweet and innocent neighbor next door - Willis’ sister Noemi, who had been in England the last five years. Noemi’s sudden appearance was...unexpected, but fortunately, Willis trusted me enough to put her right in my path. I loved Noemi like a sister, but when it came to this chaotic puzzle, I couldn’t let her become an innocent casualty. If something happened to Dante because he let down his guard... He had to stay focused.
That was another secret he thought he’d buried in his soul. My brother had been in love with the girl-next-door since she started college, but he was too damn stubborn - or stupid - to open his heart to her.
And now she was coming home. There was nothing I could do to stop the train wreck about to happen, so the least I could do was control it. Not wait for it to happen but guide it. Purposefully. Deliberately.
If there was nothing between Dante and Noemi, then it’d fizzle and that would be that.
But I knew the two of them, and I knew they were destined for one another.
Destiny just needed a little nudge.
So, the attraction between Sebastian and Lilly - I’d bite my tongue and let it play out, see where it led.
Dante and Noemi - those two needed some help, although it wouldn’t be in the form of blind dates and flowers from a secret admirer to get them talking. More drastic measures were called for.
My mother would be protected. Her condition would worsen over time, but during that time, she’d have the best care my and Dante’s ill-gotten money could buy, and she’d have at least one of her sons by her side.
The others - the real players in the game to destroy me - I’d slowly work my way through them, destroying connections, severing figurative arteries if not literal ones. Bringing down networks and loyalties until they were left alone to fight their battles, until the very mention of the name Calegari fed fear into their souls.
Maybe I was a prideful bastard. No one had the right to bring me down. No one.
Not four-star generals. Not criminal rivals. Not greedy Russian hackers and not the voices of the past.
And not my most trusted soldier.
I would not let them use my weaknesses against me.
I would havenoneto use.
I sucked in a deep breath and rose to my feet. I walked quietly around the living room, picking up the clothing Suzanne and I had thrown around the room during our haste to undress. My pants were flung over the lamp beside her sofa; my shirt had somehow ended up in the kitchen sink - which was merely a foot from the front door. I found one shoe under the bistro table and the other actually on the couch. The light from the window wasn’t bright, but I could see well enough to straighten up the room as I searched for my underwear. Going commando wasn’t an issue for me, but if I left anything of myself behind for Suzanne to cry over, it wasn’t going to be my underwear. I finally found them flung onto the one live plant Suzanne owned, a hard-to-kill aloe that sat on the end table by the sofa.
I used the bathroom to clean up and get dressed. I avoided using the shower because I was afraid the noise would wake Suzanne. I splashed cold water on my face and combed my hair with her hairbrush.
