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Elio regards me with a sneer. “Remember what I told you all those months ago? How I have seven brothers? Yours truly just so happens to be a fraternal twin.”
I frown, confusion making my head spin. “You’re a twin?”
“Milo and I don’t look that much alike, so I don’t blame you for not noticing. Most people don’t. Hell, even Dominic doesn’t know. Milo got our father’s unfortunate nose.”
I shake my head, continuing to struggle against my bindings. “This doesn’t make any sense. Dominic trusted you! You’re his right-hand man. He trusts you with his life!”
“Exactly,” Elio says with a self-satisfied smirk. “He’d never see my betrayal coming in a million years.”
“Butwhy?” I shriek, tears streaming down my cheeks. My eyes burn, my head pounds. I’ve got to figure out a way to get out of here.
“Do you want to know why I joined the Family?” Elio asks me. I’m certain his monologue is coming regardless of my answer. “I wanted to belong,” he continues. “My older brothers all joined out of some misguided sense of loyalty. You know what I say? Fuck loyalty. It doesn’t mean shit.”
I grind my teeth, desperately looking around for a way out.
Elio goes on. “I spent years dedicating my life to their cause. Following orders, getting my hands dirty, playing fucking babysitter to you and your brat. And how was I rewarded for my years of hard work? Nothing. I got nothing. Time and time again, I was passed over for promotions and pay bumps. Nothing I did was ever recognized, and what little credit I did earn went to Dominic because he was my immediate superior.
“For years and years, I watched from the sidelines as territories were mismanaged. Capos were shuffled around like playing cards. Milo was having a bit more success than me, but we realized one day that the only way we were ever going to climb the ladder was if we cleared the way.” He chuckles menacingly. “Lorenzo, that lazy fuck, was our biggest obstacle. We had to get rid of him, but we knew it was going to take a lot to get him to fall from grace. He was too well protected, and Dominic would never allow a direct attack.”
Rage burns inside me as I struggle against my bound wrists. The rope bites into my skin, the burn excruciating. “Then how did you do it?” I mutter bitterly.
“Milo’s always been a gossip. You’d be surprised how much damage a well-placed whisper can do. It didn’t take very long before Lorenzo started doubting his number two. Dominic’s always been well-respected, and he knows how to run things. All Milo had to do was convince Lorenzo that Dominic’s ambitions were getting to his head. A fake text message here, a couple of false rumors there… Desperate men do stupid things, Arin. If Lorenzo didn’t do something about Dominic soon, Lorenzo could kiss his position on the ladder goodbye. At least, that’s what my brother led him to believe.”
“So that’s why he came after Dominic?” I rasp. “Because you convinced Lorenzo it was either him or Dom?”
Elio chuckles. “I must admit, it worked out surprisingly well. Of course, I didn’t expect Lorenzo to drag another capo into everything, but that turned out to be icing on the cake. It opened double the territory that Milo and I could split. Once my brother distilled enough distrust between Lorenzo and Dominic, the rest was history.”
“Youusedhim,” I gawk. “Dominic trusted you and you used him!”
“Cry me a fucking river, sweetheart. That’s just politics.” Elio circles me like a bird of prey. “It was only a matter of time before Dominic made his move to oust Lorenzo on his own. He did all the heavy lifting for us. Instead of taking out three motherfuckers, we only have to focus on one. Work smarter, not harder and all that jazz.”
“What does kidnapping me have to do with any of it?”
“God, you’re fucking dense, huh?” He grabs me by the throat, his fingers squeezing so hard I can feel his nails breaking skin. “I’ve seen the way he looks at you, Arin. Dom would destroy the sun and the moon if it meant keeping you safe. Do you think I could truly destroy him without using you to do it?”
Dread claws through me, shredding my lungs and my stomach and my guts. My insides are hollow and cold. “You wouldn’t,” I wheeze around his chokehold, tears stinging my eyes.
He pats my cheek. I don’t appreciate the condescension. “Oh, but I would.”
“You don’t have to do this.”
“Oh, but I do. Killing you, one of their capos,anddecimating one of the Family’s biggest warehouses is going to send the perfect message. We’re done working for them. We work for ourselves.”
“One of their capos?” I echo, confused.
Milo arrives, interrupting out conversation, dragging in a body with him.
Dominic.
I choke on a sob. His face is almost unrecognizable from all the cuts and bruises. His shirt is stained red with blood, his form limp and unmoving.
“Dom!” I cry. “Dom, oh my God!”
Milo drops him at my feet. The only reason I know he’s conscious is the shallow rise and fall of his chest.
“Arin,” he mumbles past his split lip.
Milo kicks him in the gut. “Shut the hell up!”
