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After Bree woke up, and she and Enzo finally got their shit together and got married, his sister in Seattle managed to basically dismantle The Loro Ombra with the help of her bodyguard. Most of the members, including Salvatore Ricci were now in prison, leaving a large amount of territory unclaimed.
With the help of Enzo, Dad had captured the Italian territory and expanded our business to four times the size it had previously been. He was under a lot of stress, and his mood and his health had taken a turn for the worst.
Cait and I had put the wedding off several times in order for me to be there for him…
Not this goddamn time though!
I didn’t care how moody he was. I wasn’t waiting one more day to marry my girl.
Enzo shot me a sympathetic look from across the table as I sat beside my father. He knew what it was like dealing with a father who was constantly disappointed in you. The rest of the inner circle sat silently, eagerly awaiting whatever my father had come here to say.
“As everyone knows, for several years we’ve had an alliance with the Russians to keep Cazadores scum off New York streets with their shit drugs and their trafficked women.”
Everyone murmured in response.
“Well, unfortunately, that alliance has come to an end.”
What?
Why the fuck had Dad not said anything to me? I was supposed to be his second in command.
I glared at him as the room erupted, various shouts of disgust, anger, and confusion flying around my ears.
What did all of this mean? Were the Russian’s now siding with the Cazadores? If they were, that meant the city’s years of peace between warring families had come to an end. There’d be the war we’d all been trying to avoid for so long.
My father waited until the room had calmed some before he spoke again, the silver in his accent turning sharp.
“The parties responsible have been, dealt with.” His eyes flickered towards Niall at the back of the room, and I followed his gaze to find a sheepish expression coloring Niall’s face.
What the hell had happened? Had one of Niall’s guys gotten out of control? I knew Conor had always had a problem with the Russians. Had he started something?
I turned back to Dad.
“We need to close ranks. Make sure all of our inbound cargo is diverted elsewhere. The sneaky bastards know all our routines.”
“We will double the guard on each new shipment for now,” Enzo interjected, and my attention snapped to him.
Who’d fucking put him in charge? It seemed he knew more than I did!
“Well, that’s all for now.” Cullen raised his hands, signaling that everyone could leave, “Keep your wits about you, and trust no-one.”
As soon as the room had emptied out of all but my father and my brother-in-law, I got to my feet and glared at my father.
“What the fuck are you playing at, Da?” I growled, slamming my hands down on the table. I couldn’t recall being this angry in quite some time.
Cullen rubbed his hands over his face, exhaling loudly. Enzo wisely kept his mouth shut.
“You’ve got enough going on with the wedding. I thought to keep you out of it.”
“You think I can’t handle more than one fucking thing at a time?”
“I’m sure you can, but that little lady at home would never forgive me if you ended up getting whacked a day before your wedding.”
I paused, all the fire leaving my body. He was right. I owed it to Cait to stay safe as much as I could. Once I was in charge, I’d have no choice but to stay out of a lot of the action, leaving the dirty work to my men.
“Sorry, Da,” I sighed, scrubbing my hand through my shortish hair. I knew Cait liked the curls, but they made me look soft, and I couldn’t have that.
“It’s alright, son. There will be plenty of time for you to know everything once I’m gone. For now, let your old man steer the ship. Alright?” His demeanor softened further until a rare smile creased his face and he reached over and clapped me on the shoulder. “Now I believe you’ve got a bachelor party to get ready for?”
