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He shakes his head. “You turned your back on the family business to create your own and we all know to what you owe your success.”
My father is bristling with indignation, which is almost amusing to watch because we all know my grandfather is speaking the truth.
He peers at my aunt and growls, “At least your miserable husband departed this world before me. I can die happy knowing your debt has been paid.”
“Mydebt?” My aunt is probably the only one in this room, nonna aside, who could interrupt Don Vieri and she says irritably, “My debt was yours. You used me to settle it and we all know it.”
She glares at him with delicious fury, causing him to say with a small shrug, “It was business. You were required to play your part.”
My aunt says nothing and just directs a hostile gaze his way, and I expect we’re all surprised when nonna stands and says icily, “Giselle. Don’t ever question your father’s motives. It was necessary, and you weren’t complaining at the time, if I remember rightly. In fact, I distinctly remember your own demands and, as always, you were granted every single one. So don’t play the victim card because we know there is not one victim among us.”
She sits down and my grandfather rests his hand on her back and his eyes shine as he stares around the room with pride. It always struck me that Ariana Vieri was the power behind the throne and that intrigued me more than the man who sat on it.
My aunt fades back into black, the place she prefers to exist in, and we turn to my grandfather as he says in a strong, unwavering voice.
“The Dark Lords are turning against us.”
I straighten up because now we’re getting to the reason we’re here.
He hisses. “They are turning against the founder member and trying to edge our family out.”
He begins to pace behind his desk, and I sense his building fury as he spits, “Respectability. That is the reason they give to erase us from their honor roll. It appears the very organization that kept them out of trouble is no longer required as they strive to distance themselves from the dirtier side of the business.”
I sense his rage and it excites me. It always has and as if we are of the same mind, I sense the connection with Shade and Serena as we hang on his words because like me, my siblings live for this shit and whatever he wants, he always gets from us.
My father obviously doesn’t share our love of the family business and says foolishly, “Then let them have it. We don’t need them anyway and if I were you, I’d call it quits and enjoy my retirement.”
As if he tossed a grenade, tension explodes in the room, and I watch with eager anticipation as my grandfather turns to stare at his only son with an expression of murderous rage, making me wonder if I will witness my own father’s death instead of his own.
“Let. Them. Have. It.”
His eyes flash with fury as he slowly recites the words my father used back at him, causing him to shrivel in his seat as he realizes the mistake he just made.
Nonna glares at my father with disappointment and rage that is rarely seen on her face and my father says with a catch to his voice, “What? I’m only stating the obvious.”
“Silence!” Nonna stands and faces her son with a twisted expression of anger and disappointment, and we stare at her in surprise as she snarls, “You will not disrespect the organization your father created that has enabled you to live like a king and assured you of richness. I willnottolerate the lack of care for something this family should die to protect. There have been many times in your life that you have disappointed me, Benito, but none even come close to this. Well, enough. You no longer have the right to offer an opinion, so pack your bags and leave this island. You are no longer welcome here.”
If anything, my grandfather stares with interest at a scene none of us expected and certainly not my father, who stutters, “But…”
“Now!” she yells, causing my father to scramble to his feet and say angrily, “I’ll go but don’t come crawling to me to sort this shit out. I’m not interested.”
He storms out without a backward glance, leaving a shocked silence behind him. As the door closes, my grandfather says with a deep sigh. “That wasn’t unexpected. He is inconsequential anyway, and he always has been.”
Nonna returns to her seat and her eyes flash as she stares around the room, her rage feeding my own tarnished soul and filling it with happiness. I love this shit. I always have and if you go against family, you ensure the wrath of the woman who has dedicated her life to it.
All eyes turn to Don Vieri as he says with a growl.
“The Dark Lords are about to learn that the Vieris have sat at the head of it for a very good reason. You will all play your part and if necessary, we will bring them down, along with our great organization, even if I must delay my own journey to the afterlife to see it through.”
Danger, excitement, anticipation, and revenge are the most delicious ingredients for something that I crave more than air. This is what I love. What my family thrives on and as we wait for instruction, I bask in the most massive surge of adrenalin as I wait for the storm to break.
CHAPTER3
PURITY
This city terrifies me. I’m the fool who believed she could pull this off, but coming from a small town wrongly named Heaven, never prepared me for life outside it. I thought it would be easy. I was very wrong.
I stare up at the skyscraper rising before me majestically into the heavens and I catch my breath as it threatens to derail me from my mission. I must see this through. It’s all I’ve thought about since that day I mether. The woman who changed the direction I was heading in and the woman who promised to make my life better.
