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That was the thing, though. There wasn’t a later. Once the Commission made the decision to back my father, he’d be untouchable. Even if we did kill him, they’d come after us in turn. The only way to end this for good was by interfering in this meeting before the decision had been made. We wouldn’t be able to counter the decision afterward—not when my father had made sure it was in the works for long before this.
“There isn’t a later, Vincent,” I explained, shaking my head and pushing away from him. “This has been in the works for a long time, and he believes he has a good enough case to end it today. It’ll be a case full of lies, and the only way to end it is by telling the truth right now. There’s a reason he’s done all of this without an official hearing. He doesn’t want your counterstatement. He wants this to beover.And it’s going to be if we don’t end this.”
I didn’t think he understood, and I didn’t have the time to explain it to him right now. I couldn’t explain that my father had been picking at the Colombos’ reputation foryears,and he’d built enough of a following with his position in the Commission to be believed and trusted. He’d used that position to lie and deceive, and he’d done it so subtly that nobody had ever thought to question him. Only I would be believed. Only I could stand against him as his daughter and the heir to his entire empire. There had been too many people I hadn’t been able to save, but Vincent wouldn’t be one of them.
“It might be safer for you to leave, but I don’t know if I’ll be believed without you here.”
He shook his head. “I’m not leaving you behind.”
He placed all his trust in me, and holding it close to my heart, I turned and strode out of the house. I made it a few steps before my father saw our approach and stood, pulling his gun immediately. The woman at his side stood as well, following in his motions and removing her own weapon.
I held up my hands. “We’re unarmed,” I told him, looking at the woman instead of my father. “I don’t know what he’s telling you, but there’s no reason to eliminate the Colombo rule here in New York. My father has been—”
“Get the fuck in the house,” he snarled, his hands shaking.
I intentionally stepped closer to Vincent, angling my body in front of his. My father wouldn’t hesitate to shoot him, but I prayed he’d hesitate about shooting me, despite what he said earlier.
“He’s been lying,” I continued. “Vincent took me from my home as vengeance, and I learned precisely how he and his family work. They’re not horrible people like he’s been saying. I’ll answer any questions you have, but there’s no reason for an execution.”
The woman narrowed her eyes at me, almost as if she didn’t believe a word I was saying. “Pete wouldn’t come to us with false allegations like this. They’ve been a constant issue for years, and he’s trying to look out for everyone’s best interests. This isn’t a one-time issue.”
“He wants the territory,” I told her. “Have you not thought about how he’d benefit from this? He’ll gain an entire fifth of the territory here in New York, and he’ll expand all his businesses. What will stop him from going for yours next? That’s all he’s wanted for years. He’s trained me to be an assassin for him and take care of the Colombos if the Commission wouldn’t do his dirty work for him. He’s lying to everyone.” Something flashed in her eyes. Realization.
My father spoke first. “This is a private meeting,” he said, and I could hear he was trying to put on a front for this woman. She spoke to him on a first-name basis, so she had to know him better than some of the other representatives. I imagined there was a reason he’d chosen her to make this decision.
“I’d like to hear what they have to say about the murders.”
“Murders?” Vincent asked. “It was the Genovese who murdered my entirefamily,” he shouted.
“And you murdered two dozen of his men who live in your territory,” she said.
My father’s eyes whipped from person to person. He’d flung horrendous accusations toward Vincent, and he never expected them to be questioned. He never thought the truth would come out, but I recalled what he’d said in the car earlier about the woman being a pawn. He had done horrendous things to ensure he got what he wanted, and this was just another drop in the bucket. I was going to spill the goddamned bucket at this woman’s feet, and we’d see who gained the upper hand.
“He told me he killed them,” I said, shaking my head. “My father did that, too.”
Her jaw tightened, and she said nothing more as she continued staring at us. I couldn’t tell from her expression what she believed, but I could see the outrage growing on my father’s face as the truth came out. He knew that with these allegations, the Commission would be forced to delegate people for an investigation before a verdict was made. And when they investigated, they would likely find some trace of my father’s men there. He thought he was going unchallenged, and I knew he wouldn’t have been cautious enough to keep the truth under wraps. We’d just opened a whole new can of worms that went against everything my father had been trying to do for years under the table. I brought too many things to light, and we both knew that everything would unfurl. He’d never had someone fight him before. Until me, he’d always played the game well enough that he could easily go unchallenged.
“Pete,” she said, her tone neither light nor accusing. It held a breath of professionalism that I knew wasn’t there before.
He shocked me. He turned to her as if to say something, and he fired. I gasped, covering my mouth as the woman fell, dead before hitting the ground. It was something I hadn’t expected to happen. He’d been friends with the representatives of the Commission, and I never would’ve expected him to kill one. He knew the repercussions, but I didn’t think for a moment he’d considered them through his rage. I stared at the woman and wondered if it was my fault she’d been killed, too. My decisions had been the reason for so many deaths, and my chest ached at the thought as I stepped more in front of Vincent.
“I warned you, Mia. I told you what would happen if you betrayed me.” I could see in his crazed eyes that he’d do it, he’d kill me where I stood, and there’d be nothing we could do to stop it.
Vincent shoved me back so quickly that I fell to the ground and watched as he took my place in my father’s aim. “No,” I screamed. A shot rang out, and Vincent fell to one knee, holding the place in his calf my father had shot. Dad rushed forward and pulled Vincent away from me, pressing his gun into his neck. “You only gave me more leverage,” he snarled to Vincent. I could only imagine how hard he pressed the gun to his neck as Vincent winced. I’d seen the pre-existing bruises forming, and I knew how much blood he’d be losing from his leg. He was in no position to fight right now. “You forced my hand, but the result is the same. I’ll say that you escaped and attacked us. You killed Jen, and then you turned on us and killed Mia for spite. I did what I had to do to protect my family.”
“There are too many witnesses,” I shouted as he turned the gun on me. I knew he’d shoot, and I didn’t want Vincent to see it. I couldn’t let him watch another person he cared for die. God, he’d never survive that. “Look around, Dad. People are everywhere, and I know they heard.”
“I’ll kill them, too,” he snarled, and I knew he was serious. It would be a bloodbath, and I had a feeling he’d still come out on top. “They’ll trust my word. They’d never believe I’d kill my own daughter.”
He steadied his hand and I took a deep breath, closing my eyes and knowing he’d follow through. But a shot came from the distance and my dad shouted, his gun clattering to the ground. Blood oozed from his hand, and I looked toward where the shot rang.
I hadn’t noticed her hiding behind a nearby bush. I had no idea how she’d gotten there undetected, but she didn’t care about hiding now. Caterina strode forward, pure malice on her tear-stained cheeks. She must’ve known what had happened. She must’ve found Alessio and come straight here. “You killed him,” she said in a cold, unemotional tone, loading her gun again and pointing. This time, he lost a finger and screamed as he jerked away from Vincent, grabbing his hand.
She only reloaded, ignoring both of us. “You took the man I loved, and you’re going to suffer.” She shot him in the ankle and reloaded. Through his screams, she did it over and over. She shot him in a dozen different places as he cried out and begged her to stop. He made false promises, but she kept going. As Luca came around the corner and went straight for Vincent, she didn’t stop. Each shot was aimed to cause the most pain, and I didn’t bother stopping her. I let her enact her revenge for all of our sakes, and I watched emotionlessly as I thought about Isabel, Alessio, and all the innocent people he’d killed.
I saw a lot of people in the yard looking on. Some of the people had been groundskeepers, and others were soldiers who had pledged their loyalty to my father. Not a single person stepped forward, so I stood and looked at all of them. Over two dozen people stared back, and I made sure each of them heard my voice. “You can all make a choice right now. Switch your loyalties or die. We will have none of you spreading lies to the Commission about what happened here today. If you testify honestly, you keep your place here. If you plan to betray us…” I looked back at where Caterina continued firing shots into my father’s writhing body. “We’ll show no mercy.”
26
