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"What I mean," Rafe says, turning back to us, "is putting the four of you in charge of daily operations for a while. You'll work together to handle whatever the fuck needs handling while we focus on other shit."
"You've gotta be shitting me." I stare at him as if he's lost his ever-loving mind. Matter of fact, I'm certain he has lost it if he's suggesting putting me in charge of running shit alongside Mattia, Coda, and Domani. I have no interest in ruling over his little empire of criminals.
"He's serious," Luca Valentino says from beside him, drumming his long fingers on the table. His probing gaze meets mine. "They'll need your help keeping the law off their backs."
"Have you forgotten that you don't trust me?" I arch a brow, expanding my what the fuck look to include him. "Last I checked, I was only included in this council out of necessity."
"We haven't forgotten anything," Rafe says, speaking quietly. The man never raises his voice. I don't think I've ever heard him shout. When he's pissed, he gets quieter than usual. "But the past is in the past, is it not?"
The past is in the past. It's fucked up to sit across from the man who murdered my father and agree with that sentiment when I spent most of my life determined to make him pay. It's equally as fucked up to sit across from the man I tried to destroy as if I'm a welcomed member of the family. And yet…here I sit, anyway.
I mean, goddamn. Amalia's father murdered Rafe's mom and shot Rafe. Rafe's father killed her parents, leaving her an orphan. If they can let all of that go and end up happy together, our shit seems like pebbles in comparison.
Dario Marchesi was a lot of things, but he wasn't a saint. Hell, he wasn't even a father, not really. Alvise Butera raised me. He taught me how to survive this world. He's the one who deserves my loyalty. All Dario ever did for me was complicate my life.
I don't know why I was so hellbent on avenging his death. It seems so goddamn pointless now.
"The past is the past," I agree, holding Rafe's gaze. "But I'm a fucking lawyer, not a sottocapo." I jerk my head toward his brothers. "They're your backup, not me."
"And they agree with me," Rafe says, his voice level.
"Che palle! This is madness."
"He's not wrong," Coda mutters. "No disrespect intended, but I know fuck all about being in charge, Rafe."
"We'll be here to guide you. You'll answer to us. We're just taking a step out of the thick of it for now to focus on legitimizing a few things."
"Why?" Mattia asks, the only important question at this point. Why now? What the fuck are they thinking? There hasn't been war or the threat of war in months because the brothers are united. This is what they've always worked toward…peace between the five families. A break from the constant treachery. Why risk overturning the whole fucking cart now?
"The baby," I say quietly. It's the only logical answer. Of course, he's taking a step back because Amalia's pregnant. He lost his mom to this world. She was murdered right in front of him and Nico. Rafe nearly lost his life the same day. I'm guessing that shit still haunts him. He may be a lot of things, but he loves Amalia. If there's even a chance of someone harming her or their baby, he won't risk it. He wants out of the spotlight for their safety.
Rafe lifts his chin in acknowledgement, confirming my suspicion.
"Cazzo," I groan, pinching the bridge of my nose. He picked the worst time to make this decision. Any other day of the fucking week, I might have gone along with it, simply because it's Amalia we're talking about here. But not even two hours ago, Athena White was standing in front of me, threatening to send my world up in flames. If it ignites, Rafe's goes up too.
"If this is what you want," Mattia says. Coda and Domani are already nodding their agreement, willing to fall in line.
"We have a problem," I blurt. We're beyond breaking the news gently. Christ. We were beyond that when Athena showed up.
"Figlio di puttana!" Gabriel growls. "I've had about enough of those."
"An FBI agent followed me here."
"Jesus fucking…" Coda mutters.
"Cristo." Luca whips his head toward the window as if looking for her. It's pitch-black outside and the house sits behind massive gates, an impenetrable fortress. He can't see anything. I'm not even sure if she's still out there or if she only followed me to get under my skin.
Either way, it worked. I thought about pulling over and dragging her out of her car to finish what I started in the parking garage. My fucking dick was hard the entire drive here, thinking about her in the car behind me, hot and wet. Sticky for me.
