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I should be happy,thankful. But my heart accelerates when my thoughts switch to Theo. No matter how many times I’ve told myself we can never happen, my lips still find him somehow. Everyone would consider me a rat if they knew. They would call me a traitor. Cops don’t chase after mafia princesses. Theo hasn’t attempted to cover that he’s investigating our family.
My father’s words,la famiglia protegge la famiglia(family protects family) rotates in my mind. I’m honestly the worst daughter there is. Could I be falling for a cop, one of the good guys? The thought makes my stomach drop. The consequences would be fatal. A hit would be taken out on Theo so fast he would never see the morning sun. As for me, my hope would be death. That would be the compassionate, kind thing to do. All other options would break me, torturing me for the rest of my life.
My guilt for the way I feel eats at me, making my breathing difficult. My chest tightens with the start of a panic attack. I hold on to Marco harder, trying to escape myself. He should be what I want. Me loving Marco will keep me safe… and Theo still breathing.
The ballroom doors swing open, and cops run into the room. Everything erupts into chaos. Letting go of Marco, I step away. I pivot in a circle, looking for the rest of my family.
I watch Ariago back to the wedding. My men and I have secured the building. I was in the process of it when I spotted her in her beautiful blue dress. She’s naturally stunning. No matter what she wears, she looks perfect. I try to banish those thoughts. I need to hate her or use her willingness to speak to me to my advantage.
As soon as she mentioned Marco, his name flashed in my mind. I know the guy. On paper, he’s an accountant, but he also earns under Nicoli. His hands are just as bloody as everyone else’s.
I shuffle my feet, wanting to run into the room after Aria. I thought by now the families would kill each other, making our presence natural. But as the night becomes late, I worry I’ll lose too many of the top men I need to arrest.
I give the signal through my comm to go in. We have men at every set of doors. I didn’t have the luxury of using all the guys I trust, but this group is solid.
Walking through the front, I spot Aria’s hand in Marco’s. It infuriates me. She deserves someone better than him. He’s into some bad shit that her father knows nothing of. As I step farther in, someone calls for everyone to freeze as my feet swiftly take me near the dance floor toward Marco. Without hesitation, I pull on his shoulder and arm, slapping handcuffs on him behind his back. I read his rights from memory. The whole time I’m speaking to him, I stare atherpast his shoulder. She watches me from under her thick dark lashes as the chaos of the night surrounds us.
People are running for a chance to escape. I raise an eyebrow, challenging her to do something about it. Marco shoves his shoulder into me, but I tighten my grip on him and pull at his cuffs, causing them to bite into his skin. I get an unexpected but welcome amused grin from her. My smile matches hers as I get to do my favorite part of my job with her watching. Seeing Aria’s gray eyes light up has me pulling Marco harder than necessary as I move him out. I want to say I’m doing this for myself, but it’s also for her. All these emotions fuel my movements as I realize the last time I did something for someone else was five years ago, when my mother died.
I want to yell“You’re welcome.”Instead, I wink at her, memorizing how stunning she looks in her blue dress, her hair curled to perfection around her shoulders. Right now, if she was anyone else, I would be demanding her to give me a chance. Before I allow myself to think too hard into all those thoughts, I’m reminded that she now owes me a favor, and I have every intention of collecting. With any luck, hopefully this arrest will stop her engagement.
CHAPTER 11
Iraise myshot glass in cheers. The people around me slap their glasses to mine, celebrating our win at the Rossi wedding. We were able to arrest several people from that event. Our hope is we can break down the ones we arrested to get more information on either Mancini or Rossi.
Much to my annoyance, we can’t arrest the bosses. They keep their hands too clean. There’s always a middleman. No order gets put in place directly by either of them. It makes it extremely difficult to get any evidence that will stand up in court. I’m not looking for a momentary arrest in which their attorney gets them out of. I want something that will stick and make them pay for their lifestyles. We need to break down their organization lines. If the top cracks, the rest will fall down nicely.
The one informant we have has given us part of my dream on a silver platter. My fingertips itch with wanting to bring them in, but we have to take our time. One wrong move and their lawyers will get them off on a technicality.
“To Theo!” is called out, and I’m patted on the shoulder a few times. There are some glances our way from people who aren’t as happy about my raid on Luca Rossi’s wedding. But they can’t say much at the moment. My biggest fear is evidence disappearing.
My mind once again wanders to Aria. She looked beautiful in her dress. I noticed every man trying not to look at her. It’s too bad she isn’t a normal woman. I’ll end up breaking her, then her family, and ultimately I’ll get my revenge. On that day, my heart and soul will get to rest, and I’ll be able to continue my work on cleaning up this crime-infested city.
My father once tried to remove organized crime from our streets, as I am. He was gunned down and killed for his views. They swept his murder under the rug, as if it is a blemish that no one wants to talk about. His murderer was never found. After my father was killed, my mother was forced to leave town. Rumors were made, saying he conspired with the mafia, but then changed his mind. That is why he was killed. Other rumors ran, saying it was a cop who didn’t like how skillfully he was doing his job.
Either way, both sides no longer wanted to associate with us. She began looking over her shoulder each time we would walk to the car. She was scared. Scared the mafia would come after us because they thought we might know something. She blamed it on the memories of my father being too great in our house, but I know the truth of why she moved us. She feared the mafiaandthe cops. My father’s friends turned their backs on him for whatever reason.
It’s been a long time since I’ve been that scared little boy. I’m a man willing to fight for his family. My father’s death needs to be avenged, corrected, and made right. I promised my mother I wouldn’t push the issue, but now that she’s passed, I don’t feel like that promise needs to be upheld.
It’s why I transferred here. I refused to be sidetracked from my goal. I had to wait a lot of years to get here.
“I’m out of here,” Grant says, downing the rest of his beer, drawing me out of my head and back into reality.
“You can’t cut out on our celebrating early.” My hands go wide, highlighting our party. We needed this win. I can feel our optimism rising.
“Trust me, I’m continuing the celebration.” He smirks at me before chuckling. Looking by the door, a hot blonde is waiting for him.
“See you tomorrow.” I finish my beer and decide to get up for another one. Going to the counter, I’m flanked by two guys who are known to take bribes from the Mancinis.
“Tough break on not getting Mancini or Rossi tonight.”
I lift my finger to the bartender, signaling one more beer before turning my attention to them. “Slow and steady. We have enough in custody to make them nervous.”
“Be careful who you make nervous. In this line of work, accidents can happen too often.”
I stare them down. I’m used to having my attempts pushed away. What I do never makes me more popular. It adds another bullseye to my back. This reminds me of why I do it. It’s not right that the mafia controls everyone. No member of the mafia is innocent, even Aria. They’re all tainted. I will go down in history for taking these families out. There will be documentaries made about my work.
“I’ll be sure to double-check my steps. I would hate to miss something.” We glare at each other as I refuse to back down. “How are your wives?” I ask.
