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“But I knew. Fuck, I knew that if it were true, if it were true and I tied her to me? I’d have it all. I’m tired of being a Capo. Don’t wanna be doing the dirty work of dumbasses my entire life, yeah? So I planned.”
“You set my dad up.” Strange to feel relief, knowing now that my father wasn’t completely wrong when he said hecouldn’t lose.
“He’s as dumb as Nikola Capone. Ambitious politician but filled with fuckin’ greed. I figured if Nikola tried to sell his own daughter to strengthen ties, Turner would do the same,” he says of my grandfather.
“So you set him up to get Lilah?”
“Catchin’ on.”
“But you got me?”
“I’ll be honest, didn’t realize you would be there, payin’ his shit. Didn’t know Libby left you money for it. She thought ahead, saw this coming.” He sighs. “No, I didn’t see you coming, Lola. That first time scared him, us goin’ to you. I couldn’t get to Lilah. Is that your work? Keeping her in the dark?” I scrunch my nose because he doesn’t deserve that, to know the lengths I went to keep this from happening, the sacrifices I made.
“It was good work you did. Definitely not Shane. You’re not like your dad, loyal to your family to the core.”
Unlike Dad.
Apparently, also unlike my grandfather.
God, how deep does this poison of addiction and greed go in my family?
“So you had my father rack up a debt?”
“He offered to pay it slowly. But Carmello wanted more. I was in his ear, telling him to ask for more. More than Turner could afford. Permits and allowances. Kickbacks. Things he couldn’t give without raising alarms.” He smiles a sick, wicked smile. “I was going to swoop in, offer Turner a way out. Lilah and the connections she would give me, in exchange for freedom of his debts. I would handle them.” My mind is racing, trying to line up the timeline.
“But . . . I still don’t get it. Arturo . . . He’s been dead for years.” He died not long after Lilah was born. When Mom died, I spent weeks learning about the intricate parts of her secrets, the people involved, and the threats facing Lilah. “It was all over the news. A drive-by.”
Johnny smiles and the look churns everything in me.
“I told you this plan had been in motion for years,bellissima.”
No fucking way.
“You . . . ?”
“I killed Arturo Russo. I did it to free up space. His father would be scrambling, wanting blood to take over. I heard whispers about the Turner girl being family. It was all I needed to know. It was a gamble, I’ll say that. Could have been for nothing. But here we are. I knew once I married Lilah, he’d accept me. I have good ties to Carmello. I could bring the families together. Less fighting, more money for everyone. Carmello is starting to . . . dip his toes in new businesses. We need allies.”
“Jesus fuck,” I hear Ben say through the headphone, but I can’t focus on that.
I want to throw up.
I want to rage.
I want to shower and scrub my body, every single place where Johnny’s vile hands have touched me.
And most importantly, I forget about needing to waste time.
“You’ll never have Lilah,” I say, my voice low and angry.
“Excuse me?”
“You’re sick. I will never let you take my sister.”
Rage, unhinged and clearly not mentally stable, sears in his eyes.
Fury.
He is fucking insane. I can see it now.
