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“You’re going to torture someone who’s hurt this family, Roc. You’re going to do it in front of our men. Remember what I’ve said. If I’ve noticed what’s happened, you can guarantee that our men have too.”
“You’re telling me to not let Jade touch them?” he says quietly.
“I’m not telling you to do anything. I’m cautioning you to remember who you represent. Who you are.”
“I won’t be long. Once he passes, call Elio. He’ll need to know.”
I stand tall. “Will do. Make it fucking hurt.”
He gives me a solemn nod and moves from the door. I keep my head high as I walk into the bedroom. Emiliano is lying on the bed, his face a ghastly gray color, almost translucent. He’s bleeding profusely through the bandage we managed to do for him, but it’s no use. He’s already lost a fuck ton of blood.
“You know,” he begins, his words low and slurred, his breathing hard. “You’ve grown a lot over the past year or so, kid.”
I grimace. Even now, some of the men still call me a kid.
“I thought you’d end up like your old man at one stage, especially with the shit that went down with Gio and his wife. I don’t know what made you do it, Dario. It was beyond fucked up.”
“You know about that?”
He nods, his eyes wide and round with pain. “I had to clean that shit up, man. It was horrific. It gave me nightmares for months after that.”
I bow my head. “I’m sorry,” I say low. I hadn’t realized that he knew what happened.
“You’ve got a lot of anger inside of you, kid, but you’ve changed. You’ve become a man that I respect.”
I blink at his words. “I’ll never be able to atone for what I did, Emiliano. Not fucking ever.”
He nods in agreement. “No, you won’t. There’s a lot of shit that we’ve all done that we can’t or won’t ever come back from. That was yours, Dario. It happened when you were too young to do it and couldn’t understand the ramifications.”
“Bullshit,” I fire back. “I knew what I was doing. I was nineteen, Emiliano. I knew better. She shouldn’t have died. I shouldn’t have touched her.”
“Hindsight is a bitch. You’ll live with their deaths for the rest of your life. Ensure you learn from it.”
I learned from it alright. It’s haunted me ever since it fucking happened. I fucked up.
“I’m dying, aren’t I?” he asks.
“I’m sorry, man, but the doc’s not going to make it in time.” The doc’s tied up on the other side of town.
“Fuck,” he grits out. “I fucking hope Rocco’s making that cunt pay.”
“Don’t worry, he will. We’re going to find out who the fuck is after us, and they’re going to fucking pay.”
He gives me a grin as his breath starts to slow. It’s only a matter of minutes, now, until it’s the end. “Take care of my mom.”
“You know we will.” She won’t be wanting for anything. We’re not like our father. We take care of our family.
“You’re not your father, Dario. Remember that.”
I grit my teeth as I watch the life leave his eyes. Fuck. He’s gone.
Rocco had better have some fucking information for us. If he doesn’t, I’m going to lose my damn mind.
FOURTEEN
DARIO
I look at my brother, who looks scared. Never—I have never seen him like this before. He’s terrified and I can’t blame him. The deaths of our men, the attempts on our lives, are all targeted at Teagan. She’s the intended target for the hit. We’ve been lucky that she hasn’t been killed. Although she’s come close a few times.
