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“Even ifshetalks tome?”
“She can sing you a fucking song,” I say, which would be more than he deserves, hearing her angelic voice. “You’ll still keep your worthless mouth shut.”
He sighs. “The point is, fellas, I’m always looking for a way to advance my cause and help my men. I put feelers out years ago, dozens of different plans. The Irish mob, the Cartel, the Marinos… any way I could get anin. For years, I searched. For years, I failed. I’m man enough to admit that.”
Mom shudders, squeezing her hands together. On the exterior, she looks glamorous, her rings flashing, but a desperate sadness tells me something terrible is coming.
“Get to the point,” Luca says.
“I finally got a lead,” Russel says. “A man heard I was searching for a way in. This fella was real smart and real scared. He was sitting on some dirt that could tear your Family apart, but he didn’t have the manpower. He didn’t have the vision. So he sold it to me instead.”
“Soldwhatto you?” I snarl.
“A tape,” Russel says, a sick note in his voice. “Are you sure you don’t want to explain this part, dear Alessia?”
Mom looks up, tears in her eyes. “You’re a dirty, disgusting man. You’re notevena man.”
“What sort of tape?” Luca says, but the hitch in his voice tells me he already knows.
“What do you think?” Russel snaps. “Twenty years ago, your mother had an affair. They made a little video together.”
My blood turns cold. The mob life is hypocritical. I’ve never agreed with the rule that the woman has to be loyal and the man can sleep around if he wants. When a man chooses his woman, they shouldbothbe loyal. Dad feels the same. He’s told me it many times, but Russel’s right. If this got out, it would be a massive blow to the Family.
“Blackmail,” Luca says in disgust.
“Not just simple blackmail, my friend,” Russel says. “That’s a very simplistic way to look at it. I knew I would have to wait for my chance. Leonardo Marino has a fierce reputation. I had to be careful.”
“But then he had a stroke,” I growl, “and you knew Mom would be vulnerable.”
“He said I had to go along with it,” Mom whispers. “I had to pretend Leo was talking to me.”
“For the stadium project,” I say, applying more pressure to the knife. “He knew we’d never do business with a scumbag like him otherwise. What else did he make you do, Mom?”
“Nothing,” Mom replies.
“It was allset up,” Russel says. Even with his voice made quieter by the pressure of the knife, he sounds proud. “You had to believe in the lie. So, for the time being, I had your mom pretend your dad was giving her regular instructions. Keep the business running. Nice and simple.”
“And then the stadium,” I say, nodding. “Well done, Russel. You sick fuck. You exploited my mother’s moment of weakness.”
“Not just a moment—”
Luca suddenly springs across the room, murder in his eyes, fists clenched.
“Wait,” Mom cries, leaping to her feet and pushing her chair into his path. “You can’t hurt him.”
“Oh, really?” Luca snarls, trying to get past Mom, but she blocks his path.
“If anybody hurts him,” Scarlet says, glaring, “he’ll release the video somehow. That’s it, isn’t it, Russel? That’s what you are. A pathetic lowlife using a woman’s sexuality against her. Ibetthat’s it.”
Russel wisely doesn’t respond to this. I wonder what my woman thinks about the cheating. I can’t let myself think about it right now. Twenty years ago, when I was twenty-two. Mom and Dad have been together since before I was born. I never could’ve imagined her having an affair.
“I check in with one of my boys every four hours,” Russel says. “If he doesn’t hear from me, he has instructions to release the video. We’ve got the email addresses of several of your men. We made sure to choose the more old-fashioned and power-hungry ones who’d use it as an excuse to start a war. Your Family will tear itself apart.”
“So as long as your men hear from you every four hours, the video stays hidden,” Luca says, nodding. “You stupid fuck. You shouldn’t have told us that.”
A shiver moves through Russel. I feel it through the knife. “In p-person,” he says.
“Nope,” Luca replies. “You can’t lie now. Dumb fuck. Right. Let’s tie him up, bro. We’ll force him to check in.”
