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As he strode out of the room, I stayed in my spot for a long moment, staring at the door. It should be a good thing that they didn’t know what to do with me, but instead it felt like a curse. Some options were far worse than others, but in the end my death was inevitable. I hated that my first reaction was to shred the documents and say to hell to the consequences, but I knew that being tortured would only make my goal more difficult. I wondered why Vincent was hesitating with choosing the most brutal option, especially as I thought about all the things I’d been told as a child about his family’s brutality.
My mind trailed into absent thought as I grabbed the documents and brought them to bed with me, looking over the top handful and beginning to sort through them. I certainly wasn’t doing this for the Colombos, but without anything to do in this room, I’d go crazy. So I got to work on being a free employee to the Colombo family, biding my time until I could do something truly useful.
6
VINCENT COLOMBO
A day later, and no decision had been made. I did the work that seemed most important, and I tried to throw myself into it fully, but I couldn’t get the damn Genovese girl off my mind. There were high tensions among my people and the surrounding territories as people pulled on their leashes, breaking in my leadership as their new boss. It was to be expected, and I had to make an example of two underlings this morning for challenging me too hard and too publicly. My frustration at an all-time high, I rushed to Mia’s room to see if this encounter would give me the answers I needed. I couldn’t continue worrying about her as collateral. She was a tool, and I’d use her as intended. I neededto make a decision, despite the fascination I felt for her and how she intrigued me more than anyone ever had.
I barged into her room, and she shot a bloodshot stare in my direction. She sat slouched and flustered, and a massive stack of documents rested around her in various different piles. She didn’t say anything as I came inside, just stared through vacant eyes as I approached and looked down at…
“Who gave you these?” I asked.
“Alessio said to make myself useful, so here I am.” Her voice came out scratchy from disuse, and if she were anyone else, I’d feel bad for her. I watched as she carefully moved the documents out of her way and leaned back on the bed, never moving her eyes from me. I thought about the difficult workload that Teressa, our accountant, had been handling since my father’s death. She kept all the books of all profits and losses, and she manipulated the money so that it appeared legal and legitimate. Sometimes, the less important things like the debts owed to us fell to the wayside for months until she got back on track.
“Are you making progress?” I finally asked.
She only shrugged, completely deflated by either being kept in this room to await her fate or the tedious financial documents I knew would make anyone irate. It struck me, how unfair this entire situation must feel to her. She’d done nothing but be born into a family of monsters, and I was exploiting that and using it as a reason to end her life. There was no choice, it had to be done, but I could see how she was nothing more than the bystander who had to pay for someone else’s misdeeds. It didn’t help that she sat here looking so vulnerable in her worn-out condition. Until now, she’d been stubborn and hardened, but seeing the woman beneath all of that…
“Did you come in here just to see if my free labor was serving you well?” she asked, raising her brows. There was the woman I’d come to know.
Before I had a chance to respond, my phone began ringing, and I pulled it to my ear immediately. “What?”
“Down here where you killed the two guys yesterday, there’s a conflict. Some of the Genovese men are demanding we give back the girl. They said you’ve had her for a week, and the boss is getting real antsy that you haven’t sent word about her yet.”
“Fuck,” I muttered into the phone. “Can you talk them down? I’m busy.”
“There isn’t any talking these people down,” he said. “If you don’t come and give them some answers, they’re going to destroy the block. There are a lot of men, and they’re all armed. We’re outnumbered here, boss.”
Turf battles happened more these days than I wanted to admit, especially in those few streets bordering our territories, but this wasn’t a turf battle. If it were, there wouldn’t have been much talking. The only one who could settle a conflict like this was me, but from the shouting I heard in the background, I knew better than to assume the conflict wouldn’t escalate before I arrived. Within another minute or two, it would be an all-out war against our people, and nothing I could say would stop it.
“Did Genovese say anything to them? There has to be a message.” I glanced at Mia, and I found her watching me intently
My man on the ground huffed. “They said something about going through with the deal. You know what that means?”
“Whatexactlydid they say?” I pushed.
“He said he wants the deal that was agreed upon, and that you already have the key to make it happen. I assume that’s the Genovese girl. If so, she’s a bargaining chip, and he expects her to be either returned to him or to someone else who will make a suitable alliance for him.”
His demands made me tip my head back to the ceiling and laugh, but the laughter faded as I recalled the predicament my men were in. Those demands made it sound like the kidnapping of his daughter meant nothing to him—like he only cared about using her for an alliance. Had I underestimated how much he cared for the girl?
“Don’t let there be bloodshed. Protect yourselves. I’m coming,” I told the man, thinking about the people who were likely with him. A new made man worked on that side of town, and I knew he’d step into the conflict if given the chance. I hung up and turned out of the room.
“Wait,” Mia shouted. I looked back at her. “Where are you going?”
I whipped around. “I’m going to kill you father’s good-for-nothing men.”
She shook her head. “Please, think this through. You don’t need to kill them. I don’t know what they did, but—”
I stormed toward her and snarled into her face, “They’re there to deliver a message from your father. He doesn’t give a fuck what happens to you. Your dad is fine with me having you so long as I make an alliance with him. And if I don’t keep you, he only requests I sell you off to someone who will make a better alliance.” It wasn’t exactly what I’d been told, but it was close enough.
I could see her eyes darkening as I spoke the words. Were her hands shaking? “Take me with you,” she demanded.
“This might be a fucking bloodbath and you want to go with me?” I scoffed.
“Please,” she enunciated. “I’ve always been a pawn to that man, and if he doesn’t give a shit about my safety, I want to show him and his men that I’m more than just a pawn. I don’t belong to whichever man will provide him the best fucking alliance, and I’ll show all of them that. I’ll kill them all myself.” She paused and shook her head vigorously. “I’m not going back there to be used by him again. I’d rather be killed by your hand than be handed back to my father to be sold off for whatever price he sees fit.”
This was the last thing I’d expected to hear from her, and I examined the face full of fury with a new, sparking interest. Seeing her attempt to kill her father’s men in a fit of rage would certainly be interesting. What was the worst that could happen? If one of the guys shot her, she’d be just as dead as if I killed her myself. And if Pete learned that one of his guys was responsible, it’d be just as satisfying to see their downfall. Moreover, if Pete learned that his own daughter fought against him, I knew that would be more of a slap in the face than anything I could do to her. “If you’re not in the car at the same time as the rest of the team, we leave your ass behind,” I said, turning to leave.
