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Luca strode out onto the balcony with Jared and Brock following to stay within earshot. To achieve a successful raid on the entire Five Family regime, they had to offer him some form of immunity.
“The question is, big brother, is it really me you’re after, or am I just the bait?”
“Ah, so you’re wanting to negotiate a deal?” Brock said. “Your freedom for their guaranteed incarceration, I suppose?”
Luca ignored the mocking tone as he leaned his elbows on the rail to stare out over the city. He took a slow controlled breath as he attempted to loosen up. He had created Drake Baxter twenty-three years ago— a persona used to masquerade as a successful property developer and owner of Baxter Eco Development LLC, striving to make the world a greener environment. He’d kept his two lives separate and because of that, avoided being caught. Very few people knew that Drake Baxter was also Luca Boneiro, the ruthless underboss of the Boneiro Mafia family. Now, for the first time, the real possibility of spending the rest of his life in prison loomed up like a mast on the horizon.
“You should know nothing is ever guaranteed, Carter, especially insofar as the power of The Commission is concerned. You might get lucky to put some of them behind bars.” He cast a sideward glance at him, a smirk slashed across his face. “But keeping them there is a totally different story.”
“Actually, we’re not here to discuss anything. You’re going away, Luca. It’s time you’re held accountable for your own crimes.” Jared watched him with hawk eyes. “Family ties aren’t going to save you.”
“You’re naive if you think for one moment my men are going to allow you to take me out of here without a fight.”
“As are you if you think we came alone.” Brock laughed at the expression on Luca’s face.
Luca straightened to his full height, staring at Jared unblinkingly. “You think I’m a criminal. Proving it on the other hand might be a tad difficult, brother, since Luca Boneiro doesn't exist. He died twenty-three-years ago. Drake Baxter is an esteemed businessman with a clean record.” He jammed his hands into his pockets. “Good luck trying to find a link between Drake Baxter and the Mafia. At least, anything that’ll stick.”
He strode back inside where he stopped and snapped his fingers. “See, I believe you’re after Marco Boneiro. You know more about him than anyone else… except for me. I’m the only one who can give you what you need to end his reign of terror and corruption and lock him up for good. You think about that, Angelo, and then tell me if I’m...going away.”
“Now, that’s where you’re wrong. We caught you red handed in that house punting kids for sex, Boneiro. That’s something you can’t wish away, no matter how hard you try.”
“Hmm, well let me see. You might’ve found me there but I was an invited guest for dinner by the movie star, Bastian Conti, celebrating his latest production. I had no knowledge of what else was on offer. Since I definitely didn’t make any financial contribution to the dinner…” His teeth flashed white against his tanned skin. “It would be interesting to see what charges you’re going to come up with, Mr. Carter.”
“Pounding his face into a pulp sounds good about now, Jared,” Brock grumbled.
“Face it, brother, you’ve got nothing that’s going to stick. Not against me, Marco Boneiro, Matias Lopez, or their associates you locked up that night. In case you weren’t aware, they were already released at the arraignment yesterday. Attending a lavish dinner at a celebrity’s house is not a crime.”
“So that’s why you crawled out of the hole you’d been hiding in?” Brock suppressed the desire to wipe the smile of Luca’s face with difficulty, especially when his gay laugh cracked through the air.
“I see your friendismore than just muscle, Angelo,” he taunted, well aware of Brock's patience wearing thin. “Unfortunately the same can’t be said for the host of that evening’s dinner. It appears the FBI found out that Bastian Conti was the mastermind behind the entire pedophile ring.” He winked at the two men. “You should take that as a win, boys.”
“I’m only going to say this once and I suggest you take heed. My name is Jared Bates. Angelo died when he was thirteen-years-old.”
Luca’s expression turned dark. “As did Luca,” he muttered under his breath.
Jared’s eyes sharpened as he caught the soft retort. Luca might have been molded to Marco’s will and desires but it seemed all wasn’t kosher in the Boneiro clan.
The question being, what was behind Luca’s obvious resentment towards Marco? A desire to be the one in charge? Hate for what Marco had forced him to become or suppressed anger for killing his brother? Whatever it was, it was something that could be used.
“We might be related by blood, Luca but make no mistake, it won’t stop me from making sure you get what you deserve. Fooling everyone in believing you’re as white as snow might work for those who don’t know better but it’s never going to change the fact that you’re a cold-blooded murderer.”
“Get off your high horse, Jared. You’ve killed just as many, if not more, in your career. That you did it as a soldier in war against enemies of the U.S. is nothing but a smokescreen. You know it as well as I do.That’swhy you got out,” Luca sneered. “Do you know what the difference is between you and me, Commander Bates? Youchoseto join the military whichgaveyou the right to kill. I wasforcedinto a life of crime thatmademe kill.” His eyes glimmered with resentment. “I wonder who the real cold-blooded murderer is in the room because I tell you, brother, to me the fucking line seems to be badly blurred.”
“The reasoning of a criminal always astounds me,” Brock growled. “You might have been forced as a youngster, Boneiro but you’re a grown-up and you know fucking well enough the difference between right and wrong, however you’re attempting to rationalize your behavior. You could’ve walked away if you really wanted to.”
“Except I had a reason to stay.”
Jared studied him intensely. He’d recognized the resentment in Luca’s eyes from the moment he’d walked in. At first he’d believed it had been aimed at them. Now, he wasn’t so sure anymore. “Are we playing riddle me this, Luca? Spit it out.”
“Forgiveness never comes easy, no matter how old one gets. Hatred, on the other hand, festers, turning into a pustule that one day becomes so malignant, it explodes. Combine the two and you have a ticking time bomb. I’d say the countdown on mine has reached a critical mass.” Luca stared at Jared, his eyes were glimmering with remembered heartache and anger.
“This is about me,” Jared mused. “Are you saying you’ve been waiting all these years to take revenge on Marco for what he did to me over thirty years ago?”
“You have no idea what my life was like after you were gone. Not a fucking clue, brother. All Marco cared about was succession, even though at the time he was only a rookie soldier in the Mafia. His goal all along has been to become top dog.Il Capo di Tutti Capi nel Mondo.It was drilled into me from that day. Always be prepared. Make sure your legacy never dies. He’s always been ambitious and we both knew he would succeed.” Luca snorted. “I’ve become a cog in the mechanism of his legacy, the one who has been tasked to ensure that his name will be forever etched into the memory of those who come after.” He turned to Brock. “You believe I could’ve walked away— to tempt fate and probably end up as shark bait, like my brother or else succumb to some other grisly fate? We’ll never know what might’ve happened because I saw with my own eyes what my father did to my brother. I have news for you both. I have no intention of allowing Marco to get away with what he’s taken away from me… from my young brothers and most of all, my big brother.” He poured himself a stiff drink and threw it back. “Or from our mother. To this day, she still mourns your death.”
“I find that hard to believe. Knowing Marco, he wouldn’t have lied to her. No, Luca, don’t fool yourself. She knew he left me there to die and she still stayed by his side… complicit in her silence all the way to the end.”
Luca frowned as he considered the possibility. Throughout time, he had watched Isabella Boneiro. She was one of the strongest women he’d ever known— always admiring the way she stood up to their father. Now, the seed being planted that she might have known Luca had left Angelo to die, he recalled how Marco had always stepped back and conceded to her demands… like he was pacifying her… soothing her battered soul. Or was it her heartache for what he’d done to her eldest child? Was that why she’d been silently mentoring him in the ways of undermining The Commission over the years?
