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Today we lay our cousins to rest, and then we move forward with the plans to own everything that has been the De Rosas. We’ll take care of damage control from the bloodbath at the mansion, this latest fucking entertainment magazine release, and then I’ll deal with the smoking hot reporter who can’t keep her nose out of my family business.
De Rosa had fair warning, a chance to lick his wounds and accept his fate. We may have stripped him of his capital and hijacked the women he was moving toward the coast, but we didn’t touch his infrastructure. Old man De Rosa could have easily begun to build back as long as he stayed away from trafficking women, because that we just won’t condone.
Even though we told him it couldn’t be done, it could have with a little ingenuity.
But instead, he kidnapped my cousin. He knew going in that Alena was off limits. Anyone who’s anyone knows that Salvatore’s greatest pride is his baby sister. They should be expecting us to hit back with a vengeance, because we will.
The plan for our revenge is what fuels me as I take the private elevator down to the lower level of the casino, walk out into the blazing sun of Vegas, and get into the sleek black limo behind the two limousines that are driving Salvatore and Dominic.
Agreed upon by all of us and a protocol set in place by our great-uncle years ago. Until things cool off, the three of us don’t drive together. Great-Uncle’s vehicle leads the way to the graveyard, a sign of respect that Salvatore shows our uncle, a mentor and father figure to all of us growing up and one we have to thank for all that we have today.
I glance at my watch, wishing we could have had the church ceremony and burial all at once, but that’s not the way things happen in families like ours. Especially with so many families coming in to pay their respects and so many of our own injured and healing. The church ceremony was held under the strictest of security in our church at the resort. Today’s service will be far more open, leaving us vulnerable to a surprise attack by the enemy.
Every soldier on our payroll around this region will be in attendance, assuring the protection of the family. Even with all the careful planning that went into the event, the security of our family still weighs heavily on my conscience, no matter the amount of firepower in and around this site.
It’s getting close to four in the afternoon by the time we get through the traffic and inch our way into the spot by the graveyard. A half hour ceremony to pay our final respects, and then time to give our thanks to those who attended, before a family dinner. Only after we get through that and my is family is still safe will I be able to breathe and get on with the rest of our plan and have time to make that reporter pay for running with that story.
Izzy Arden may have printed a halfway decent story, but the entertainment magazines she sold it to did not. Now the whole world is speculating a marriage between the two families, which will have all of the enemies of both families in a spin not knowing if they want to do business with us if we’re joined with the De Rosas.
Fucking mess…
I get out of the car and head toward the graves of my dead cousins and their immediate families who grieve by their sides. My jaw locks tightly at the atrocity laid out before me. I silently vow to our forefathers that we will set this right. We will avenge our cousins, and we will do it soon; not by destroying all that De Rosa has like we originally intended but by building it up and taking it over. Letting him see how his empire could have prospered, while he lays destitute and unable to do anything but see how powerful our family becomes as a result.
The only thing on our side right now is that they are on defense. They know something’s coming, just not when or where. Maybe the public partnering of Dominic and Emelia isn’t so bad. It certainly doesn’t hurt if certain people in the criminal underworld, including his family, think that Emelia was captured by us and is being made to marry the enemy.
I let that mull around a bit and like where it lands us strategically with everyone we deal with around the globe. Let them think what they want after the article. All the better for us if De Rosa believes even his prized daughter has been taken from him instead of leaving of her own accord because the way it went down that night, he has no clue.
The catholic priest, who has been with us for years, begins the small ceremony by thanking everyone who is in attendance and comforting all who grieve. He pays tribute to the men who will be placed into the ground below us and will look down on us from heaven in the days to come.
Our entire family is somber as he begins the final blessing, and we end in a prayer together.
Great-Uncle begins the casket procession on the arms of Salvatore and Adrianna. They stand at each cousin’s casket, paying their respects and placing a black rose that symbolizes that each and every one of the Larussio lives before us will be avenged, before moving to the next. A solemn time-honored tradition handed down from our forefathers.
Dominic and Emelia are next, and when it’s my turn, I walk alone. I’m sure my single status will be one of the topics of my aunts when they get together with a couple bottles of the imported Larussio wine later. It will without a doubt not be put to waste tonight. Gossips and notorious matchmakers, every single one of them, especially after a little vino, but I love them all dearly.
As I pay my respects to each of my fallen cousins, I vow to each of them that their families will be taken care of forever, and that we will send their killers straight into the burning depths of hell. Because we will not allow their lives to have been taken in vain.
I join Salvatore as Adrianna and Great-Uncle turn to speak with other relatives. Salvatore’s keen eyes look out over the vastness of the desert landscape, through the tall wrought iron that surrounds the graveyard where only the most powerful and prestigious get laid to rest. “See anything?” he asks.
“Everything’s been quiet, but our men are on the ready in the event they come out of the woodwork.”
Dominic and Emelia join us. This could be awkward, the enemy’s daughter attending the funeral of the men her father had killed, but Salvatore knows how to be smooth and polished when he needs to be. He extends a hand. “Thank you for coming, Emelia. I’m looking forward to the official announcement between the two of you. In the meantime, let me be the first to welcome you to our family.”
A flash of red hair catches my eye, and my jaw locks tight. I barely hear the rest of the exchange as my eyes follow the reporter who dares to show her face at the burial of my cousins. Salvatore clears his throat. I turn my attention back to Emelia and extend a quick hand. “Nice to see you again. Let me put you at ease, Emelia. While there will be much to discuss about the two families, rest assured we welcome you. If you’ll excuse me, though, the reporter who plastered your names all over the cover of the tabloids just arrived.”
I walk toward the reporter whose mane of red hair is styled in big curly waves. She wears large sunglasses but takes them off and puts them in the pocket of her long black coat. “Izzy Arden, or should I call you Isabella Arden Pellegrini?” I ask the woman.
Her already pale skin gets paler in the heat of the Nevada sun.
“The last time we spoke, I distinctly remember telling you to stay away from my family. Yet, here you are disrespecting the ground we bury my cousins in?”
Her blue eyes flash, the sunlight making them brighter than they were in the dimly lit elevator. “That’s a horrible thing to say. No matter what your family has done, disrespect was not my intention. The truth, however, is. And you seem bound and determined to keep me from learning the truth, which makes me believe you have something to hide. Vicious circle, right, Mr. Lorenzo Larussio?”
I can’t help the smirk. A fiery beauty in relentless pursuit of her cause. “What truth is it that you seek, Izzy? Perhaps I can help you with what you want to know. Then, perhaps, you can stop stealing badges from my employees, no?” I ask.
She blushes, her cheeks tinging pink. “Guilty. It was the only way to see for myself what the top floor looked like. I tried all the more conventional routes. Your membership and guest screening didn’t leave any opportunity to sneak in and take a peek.”
Her fading blush and forthrightness causes my cock to shift against the seam of my pants. I push that thought to the back of my mind. Izzy may be beautiful and desirable, but she is a danger to our family and herself with that dogged reporter determination to find truths that should stay buried where we put them.
