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I rub my hand over my mouth, my chest tightening, breathing speeding up. “Wait, why did you say ‘I've’, haven’t you got the same charges?” I ask Tom. “Why was only Alek’s place raided?” He and Alek share a look and I wave my hands in emphasis when nobody answers me right away.
Alek rolls his neck. “Tom’s only been charged with dangerous driving.”
My eyebrows shoot up and I turn on Tom. “And why is that?”
“Chill out. I said the drugs were mine.” Alek cuts in, like he hasn't just sentenced himself to god knows how long. I wheel back to my brother, shoving his chest. “Why the fuck would you say that?” Deep down I know my brother would do that for his friends. He's loyal to the core and selfless. Apparently way too selfless.
He just shrugs avoiding my eyes and Tom cuts in, “I called a lawyer and we have a meeting tomorrow morning.”
“Don't change the subject. You let him take the fall for this?” I whirl around and jab a finger towards him.
He glances down at my finger and when his eyes come back to mine they’re sharp and angry. “Wasn't much I could do, Cas.” I can tell he is putting a measurable amount of effort into keeping his voice calm in front of Aleksy. His eyes tell a different story.
“You could say they were yours too?”
“What good would that do, if we both end up inside, who's going to pay back Big Reyes? One of us needs to keep grafting.” He shrugs.
“Are you serious right now? I’ll fucking pay him back! Why is it Alek who has to take the fall?” Tom’s face drops but he looks at Alek. “Give us a minute, will you mate?”
“Whatever, I'm going home anyway.” Alek pushes away from the counter and stalks for the door.
“I'll come with you.” I walk after him looking back to Tom. He's practically snarling and I know this is going to cause a huge argument later but I can't bring myself to care. I take a deep breath willing the anger to stop bubbling but I'm vibrating with it. He doesn't deserve my brother as a friend. Alek is the one taking the repercussions because Tom was driving like an idiot. This never would have happened had it been Alek driving because Alek isn’t fucking stupid.
I follow after without a word to Tom. I'm not about to have this argument in front of my brother. Tensions are high right now, I just need a breather. When we get into the car, I look at my brother and start tearing up. His face softens and he puts a hand on my shoulder. “Please don't cry.”
“Why would you say it was yours, this will ruin your life.” I sob.
He turns away from me resting his fist against his mouth. “What is there to ruin? This is all I'll ever be.” His voice sounds so empty and it makes me sob harder.
11
Enzo
Present-day
Manhattan, New York City
“What the fuck was that?” Luca yells from the back seat of my Mercedes as he wraps a bandage around his shoulder roughly.
“That was them trying to make a statement,” Raff says, his knuckles white as he grips the steering wheel, his face a mix of anger and apprehension.
“I’ll show them a fucking statement.” My whole body is vibrating with anger. So much I’m sure I can taste it.
“What's the plan?” Raff asks me quietly.
“We're burning down their casino.” That’s where their biggest income in the city comes from. I've had this information for weeks. I was waiting for the perfect time to act but I can’t let this go unanswered, we need to strike whilst they’re still high on adrenaline from shooting up my family’s fucking restaurant. People get stupid after they’ve done something risky and think they’ve succeeded. Usually, I would send soldiers to do this type of thing but this is too personal.
We pull up to the back entrance of my club where our cousin Carms waits for us leaning against his car.
“Golden Balls,” Luca shouts in a way of greeting.
Carm makes a resigned face. “You definitely know how to pick your moments.” He says pushing off his car and falling into step with us towards the back entrance. “I was on a date.”
Luca claps him on the shoulder. “We did her a favour then.”
Carms shrugs. “Probably, she seemed a bit vanilla.”
“I quite like The vanilla ones. You get to corrupt them, you know?” Luca says. That prompts Carm to start telling him how fucked up he is and they both start nattering about shit I don’t fucking care about.
