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I can fix this. I can stop what the Scorpion did to my father.
My fingers shook at first as I began to type, and then my blood started to fizz. As I slipped through cracks, knocked down walls, and crept closer and closer to the Scarfone heart, adrenaline made my code sing.
Finally, I pressed enter and recoiled with a gasp. I realized I was grinning from ear to ear a few moments later, and a wild, buoyant laugh escaped me. I couldn't stop laughing after that.
Because oh my god, imagine Scarfone’s face when he realizes what I’ve done...
CHAPTERTHREE
Mauro
Am I bored at a strip club?
Sprawled in a low leather chair, the private stage with beautiful women lit up as if by fire and not fancy tech nonsense, I should've felt like a God.
But after the shit I’d pulled off over the past year, culminating in today’s victory, Iwasa God.
Maybe that’s the problem.
“Are you drunk already?” My cousin asked in his honeyed accent, the Sicilian curling and flicking off his tongue as though he hadn’t spoken English his entire life. But if Raffaele wanted it to play into his charm, who the fuck was I to cockblock the suave bastard?
“Not exactly,” I said and took a sip of the whiskey that cost as much as one of the women winding around the pole in front of us. Nothing but grace, long limbs and pure lust.
“We’re supposed to be celebrating.”
I grinned at him. “We are.”
“You are plotting.” Raffaele’s immaculate brows pulled together. He swept his hand over his rakish brown curls, his hazel eyes assessing me. “Take one goddamn night off, Mauro.”
“You know it’s hard for me to turn my brain off,” I replied.
Even now, I couldn’t stop turning over the steps I’d taken to truly fuck over the crumbling Fedulov empire once and for all. My grandfather had to be roaring with laughter in Hell, probably pissing off Satan himself. And I couldn’t deny that I was restless to finish them once and for all.
There was still so much to do.
A small smirk played over my mouth. There was always so much more to do.
“He’ll want war, but Viktor also knows he doesn’t have the resources,” I mused out loud and Raffaele let out a theatrical groan that only a Sicilian could pull off. A few of the dancers glanced over in alarm. “It’s nothing to do with balls or weakness, I’ll give old Fedulov that. But—history repeats itself. You can’t win modern wars with old toys. No matter how much blood you spilled with them in your glory days.”
“Santo Cielo,” Raffaele muttered and lifted his head from where he’d let it fall against his arm. “I wish you were drunk.”
I threw back the rest of my drink and clinked it against his. “Happy?”
“Am I drowning in ass instead of listening to you scheme?” Raffaele asked and I couldn’t help but laugh at his mournful expression. “No? Then no.” He heaved a sigh. “You want me to go make calls, yes?”
“Yeah, just feel it out,” I said. “Make sure the inferno is still consuming the Fedulovs.”
“Fine, but you have to stay here and enjoy yourself,” Raffaele stood up and pulled his suit into order, then glanced around. “Hm. Yes.” He moved with an easy confidence and grace of a movie star, pulling the room’s eyes with him. A second later he reappeared with a curvy redhead on one arm and a tall brunette on the other. “From your men. Enjoy.”
I gave the women a lazy grin, and they both shivered as they exchanged glances instead of approaching me. I didn't bother hiding how I examined them, assessing the swell of their tits or the bouncing roundness of their ass. The redhead's hair was too flaming red to be real, but I wasn't about to be a dick about a woman doing what she wanted with hair dye.
Not when I was a raging dick in so many other ways.
They were used to gangsters of all shapes, sizes and temperaments. Some of the seasoned strippers even got this distinct, bored and glazed look as those gangsters threw their weight around and acted like macho dumbasses.
But with me, never.
No, I could see the chill skitter up their spines, like a breath of cold air, and the goosebumps they got when they came too close. They sensed the dark, smoldering demon lounging under my skin, and flashing from behind my eyes.
