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Viktor couldn’t be pulled too much into this world. I couldn’t risk my brother’s cover with the DEA for this.
As for the youngest of us four, Ilias had been warned to never step foot in New York. It’d been part of the arrangement we’d set the night of the gala.
All four people I trusted had to stay. Leaving me with Rio and Sergio as my answer. They were loyal and had proven themselves to me from time to time.
My eyes found the bourbon-filled glass I hadn’t yet tasted. I concealed my smile with one last swirl of my cup as tomorrow promised her emerald-colored eyes, and I gulped down the liquid to pacify my thirst for vengeance.
The private jetlanded smoothly against the late February snow. I hadn’t taken a step out into the cold weather, and I already looked forward to my return to Miami’s sun and warm weather. I stood once the cabin door opened. A gust of wind traveled inside, cooling my warm skin. I buttoned my coat and stepped into enemy territory.
Our Italian Outfit consisted of five families: Miami, New York, Las Vegas, Chicago, and Los Angeles. All united by our own territories. As in every family, conflicts arose, and feuds were never forgotten. To keep us strong against our enemies, we came together as one. If an issue emerged that could break or harm our syndicate, it would be taken to the council. Each boss would vote, and a decision would be made.
Our closest tie had always been Las Vegas and its boss, Alonzo Costa. New York’s had been Chicago, whose ruler, Stefano Russo, was near death in age, but his heart still pumped. Marrying a Vitelli not only favored my ill desires, but our allegiance would weigh heavily in council.
Even then, this was New York. Not my city, my streets, or my men. Since it did not answer to me, I treated it as an enemy.
“Boss.”
I turned and gripped the waiting car door. Rio had stayed behind to speak to the captain but had made it back to me.
With a nod, I acknowledged Rio while I kept my eyes on Sergio’s task. Sergio held one of Viktor’s gadgets he had snatched from the DEA. It traced anything from wires to explosives, as well as GPS signals. He made a quick lap around the car before he got into the driver’s seat.
It was clean.
“Our pilot advised us to return by noon,” Rio said. “The radar shows unsafe flights any time after that. It’ll clear by morning.”
I glanced at my watch. I had three hours.
“Let’s go.” I opened the door and slid inside the warm vehicle. As soon as the car rolled, so did my mind.
Three hours.
VII
KATIA
New York
I staredat the bruises left on my cheeks. The dark stains left by fingertips that paraded with the morning’s light, along with the busted skin by my hairline from the strike it had taken by the butt of my father’s gun. The amount of makeup I had used to fade them wasn’t enough. Their shadows remained unhidden.
I straightened my fitted black sleeved dress as a soft knock announced my time was up. Tommaso, my guard since childhood, stood in front of me. A crown of thin hair rested on his head, and tired round cheeks sagged to his jaw. His eyes wandered to the corner of my forehead, and he gave me a curt nod. I guess my hair concealed as terribly as my makeup did.
“You’ve been asked to join your father’s study.”
This was it.
The trade of one cage for another.
Fucking men. Too proud to recognize our power but quick to shove us to amend their mistakes for their own gain.
I felt like cattle as I walked through the corridor. The slaughter may have been a better outcome than the humiliation to be traded as one. The closer I got, the harder it was to tell my feelings apart.
Humiliation. Dread.Suffocation.
They all blended into one, settling deeper with everyclick, clacksound created by my heels.
Click, clack.
There it was, the grotesque mahogany door. One last touch to my hidden best friend on my thigh and I rolled my shoulders to reveal the men that hid behind the door.
