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“There is another way,” Bruno said. He handed her his gun and walked out of the bedroom before she could protest.
“Fuck,” she spat. Trish wondered if she should follow him or stay in the bedroom to wait him out. Telling her the plan might have been a good idea, but her brother never did things by the book. He was always a fly-by-the-seat-of-his-pants kind of guy.
“Don’t shoot,” Bruno shouted, “I’m coming out.”
“What the fuck,” her father growled. “What are you doing here and where is your sister?”
“She’s gone, Dad,” Bruno said. “I got here just before you did and she’s not here. I was checking out the bedroom when I heard you shouting.”
“And you didn’t think to let me know that you were here?” their father chided. “I thought you were at the family meeting with Victor, here.”
“No,” Bruno lied. “I didn’t go to the meeting with Victor. I’m not interested in joining their alliance.”
“What’s changed?” his father spat. “You were hell-bent to take my seat from me, why the change of heart?”
“Because I’ve come to see that the old ways have their appeals,” Bruno said. He sounded so convincing that Trish wanted to run down the hallway and demand that he stop talking that way. She knew that her brother didn’t want the old ways any more than she did, but he was trying like hell to convince their father that he did.
“Why should I believe you?” their father spat.
“You shouldn’t,” Bruno quickly said. “Give me a chance to prove my loyalty to you and the family.”
“And in return, what do you want?” his father asked.
“I want you to let Trisha go. Let her live her life the way she wants,” Bruno said. Trish covered her mouth to hide her sob. Her brother was sacrificing himself for her and it was too much. She knew that if she ran out there now to stop him, she’d end up getting them all killed.
“What about him?” their father asked. She knew that he was talking about Victor, and she held her breath waiting for her brother’s response.
“Let him go,” Bruno said. Trish blew out the breath she had no idea that she was holding.
“No fucking way,” his father shouted. “Why would I let him go? He’s the head of the Sloth family now.”
“Right, and if you kill him, the way that you did his old man, the rest of the families will retaliate. There is already chatter about you killing his father and the rest of the syndicates thinking that they need to somehow stop you.”
“As if they had that power,” their father spat.
“I agree, but we don’t need that kind of trouble right now. We need to regroup and come back stronger than ever. That will speak volumes and let the other families know that we aren’t to be messed with. But for now, let Victor go. Extend this olive branch to the others and let them believe that we’re playing fair.”
“Dupe them,” their father said. Trish knew that their old man loved a good double cross. If he believed that Bruno wanted to work for the syndicate again, he’d have everything that he ever wanted. This plan would allow them to regroup and come up with a plan on how to get Bruno out of the syndicate and take their father down, once and for all.
“I like your plan,” their father breathed, “but, if you cross me, I’ll have no problem putting you in a body bag. It won’t matter that you’re my son.”
“Understood,” Bruno agreed. “Now, we need to get out of here before the rest of the families find out that you’ve kidnapped Victor.”
“Fine,” their father spat. “Let’s move,” he said to his guys. “Tie him up.” Trish listened for the rustling around in the family room to end and she carefully emerged from the dark bedroom to find Victor gagged and bound to a kitchen chair.
“Oh my God,” she breathed, quickly pulling the rag from his mouth. “Tell me that you’re okay.”
“I think I am,” he agreed, “thanks to your brother’s quick thinking.”
“I wanted to come out here, guns blazing, but Bruno said that he had a better idea. I couldn’t stop him before he walked out of the bedroom to talk to our father. Do you really think that he bought Bruno’s lies?”
“You knew that he was lying?” Victor asked.
“Of course, he was,” she insisted, “Bruno wants change as much as you and I do. He was at that meeting with you, and that’s how he knew that my father kidnapped you.”
“Right,” Victor said, “that’s also how I knew that he was putting on a show for your old man. When he swore that he wasn’t at the meeting, I knew that everything else he said was a lie. I have to admit, he had me going at first.”
“What now?” she asked, untying his arms and legs from the ropes that they used to bind him to the wooden chair.
