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“I am. With the marriage of your sister, we own a majority of the territories within Italy. You can either become an important member of our union or not. That’s the decision you need to make. But you must do so right now.”
He said nothing at first, but it was easy to tell he was determining if he had any strength to pull off a coup of his own. “How do I know you won’t end up killing me even if I vow my loyalty?”
“You don’t. However, given you saved Lucia’s life, I owe you a debt of gratitude. I will honor my pledge as long as you honor yours. But don’t cross me, Enzo. I won’t take your deception lightly.”
Scowling, he knew there was no other choice. It was either choose life or death. “Fine. I will honor the sanctity of your union, but you don’t know what it takes to make a great leader.”
“Apparently, neither did your father.”
He half laughed, nodding in affirmation. “If you hurt my sister, I will kill you. We don’t see eye to eye, but she is blood.”
Blood. How fascinating the thought had crossed his mind. His statement made me smile. “I think I just might learn to respect you. You will be kept here until I handle a situation. Then we’ll talk further.” I started to walk away then stopped. “And you will protect her with your life if necessary.”
“Haven’t I already done that?”
There was a difference in Enzo, yet he couldn’t be completely trusted. As I turned toward Raphaelo, the sound of my cellphone was an instant irritant. I headed into the hallway before yanking my phone into my hand.
Tomaso.
“What is it, brother?” I’d yet to tell him anything, although it was likely he knew I’d returned to town.
“I was called to a goddamn meeting at the house. But there’s something going on. I think it was a fucking trap. Where are you?” His voice was exasperated, breathless, the sound instantly putting me on edge.
“Talk to me. What’s going on?”
“I can’t get Pops or Mattia on the phone. Neither can I track down a single fucking Capo. I’m thirty minutes away from the estate. I’m telling you, something is wrong.”
“Who called the meeting?”
“Mattia. He said it was urgent.”
Urgent, my fucking ass.
It would seem my brother wanted to clean house at one time. “Do not go to the estate, brother. Hear me. I’m less than an hour away. I’ll call you when I’m close.”
“Okay. I don’t like this. I don’t want our family destroyed.”
“Understood. Find a safe location to wait.” I shoved the phone into my pocket. As soon as the call had ended, Raphaelo took long strides into the hallway, obviously realizing something was wrong.
“What’s going on?”
“I think my father’s estate is under attack. What happened to the guards?”
“As usual, there were ten soldiers guarding the location. I’ll make contact.” He shook his head. “Unless Mattia found out and had them killed.”
That was entirely possible. “Stay here and guard Lucia. Do not allow anyone other than family to enter the premises. Do you understand?”
“Yes, sir, but I don’t like this. Take Lorenzo and Dante with you.”
“I will. Just take care of my wife and her family.”
He fisted his hand, nodding only once.
Things were about to get ugly.
* * *
Lucia
