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Papa waves an impatient hand, brushing my words aside with an irritated look. "The past is past. Now, there are matters we must resolve."
This is the first time my father has seen me since I disappeared, nearly sixteen years ago. Not a single question about how I am. Not a single flicker of regret in his eyes.
It seems as though he would simply have preferred me gone forever.
Nero jumps in again. "Yeah, we have shit to sort out—like you abducting my fiancée on my wedding day. Inciting unrest with our allies. Endangeringeverythingour Family has built." He ticks off each accusation on his fingers, nearly shaking with outrage.
I take another sip of wine before replying. "Endangering the Imperioli Family? I built the Syndicate with a view to strengthening the Family. What I offer is an alliance. All my wealth, all my soldiers, all my mercenaries for hire. As long asI'm named heir to the Imperiolis. While you…" I give him a disdainful glance. "What do you have to offer the Family, apart from drunken lechery?"
Nero halfway lurches out of his chair, murder in his eyes. Zepp captures his arm in an iron grip, yanking him back down. "Sit. Down," he grates. Nero seethes but complies.
Zepp turns his attention back to me. The guise of mediator has slipped. He speaks quietly, intently. "Hadria, this childishness must end. And so must this running around Chicago pretending to be some—some hardened mercenary. I would welcome you back to the Family, you know that I would. But not as a leader." He pauses, exhaling through flared nostrils. "And not while this insult to Nero stands. You must return the girl to him."
"If you have a problem with it, speak to Jimmy Verderosa. He's the one who offered his daughter to me years before he tried to sell her to Nero." I shrug. "I simply collected what was owed to me."
Nero scoffs. "You expect us to believe that? Jimmy told us he ain't got any clue what you're talking about." His lip curls in disgust. "And what the hell do you want with her, anyway?"
I allow a cryptic little smile to play about my lips. "Oh, we've become quite…intimate. She's provenmostsatisfying." I put a lurid emphasis into my words, and have the pleasure of watching Nero's expression curdle with rage.
An eternal weakness, that rage of his.
And yet…I feel a strange discomfort speaking of Aurora like this. In front of anyone else, I wouldn't. And if I heard anyone saying something similar, they would soon lose their ability to speak at all.
Before Nero can retort, Zepp slams the table again. "Goddamn it, girl, this isn't a game!" His composure finally cracks, revealing exhaustion and frustration. "Give up this foolish crusade. Make peace with your brother. For the good of the Family."
For an instant, I feel an unexpected twinge of remorse, seeing the toll our contest of wills has taken. Heisstill my father, after all. The man whose approval I so badly crave.
But I crush the sensation ruthlessly. Sentiment will gain me nothing here. What I want ispower. Power and formal recognition.
Leaning forward, I meet Papa's eyes, my voice glacial and precise. "The good of this Family? You dare speak to me of family, when you always valued this fool over me?" I flick my gaze disdainfully at Nero. "I might have left, Papa, but it was you who cast me aside. And now I have a new Family, people who are loyal to the death…unlikeyou."
At that, Papa chuckles. "You don't have a new Family, girl. Mercenaries are only loyal to one thing: money. You have a group of people who'll put up with you ordering them around until someone pays them more than you do—and then you'll end up with a blade in your back."
I push back from the table and stand, straightening my jacket with savage tugs, and remind myself that I did mentally prepare for this outcome, even if I hoped for something better. "I'm not a girl, Don Imperioli. I am a grown woman and I intend to take the Family from you, if you won't give it willingly." I give my coldest smile. "Or I'll kill every last member of it before I see a weak, impotent fool like Nero inherit what is rightfully mine."
Nero stares up at me, slack-jawed. But my father's expression hardens, grudging respect mingling with the outrage in his eyes.
"So that's how it is, then?" he asks softly. His hands clench to fists atop the pristine white tablecloth, knuckles bone-white. "You'd threaten your own father's legacy, everything I built, to satisfy your petty jealousy?"
"If I were you, I'd think carefully about my offer, Papa. I've been preparing for war for a long time." I turn to Nero with a sneer. "See you on the battlefield, little brother."
He stands, throwing off our father's restraining hand. "Oh, I'll be there, bitch. Make sure the girl is, too, because the first time I fuck her, I want to do it on top ofyourgoddamn corpse!"
Turning on my heel, I stride from the alcove room, not deigning to glance back.
Righteous fury carries me back out into the hushed restaurant, and everyone there must have heard my brother's crude shout. The waitstaff averts their eyes, not daring to meet my gaze.
I keep my shoulders rigid until I reach the elevator with Lyssa, who mutters, "Well, that went well." I don't respond, barely let out a breath until I'm back in the car. Only once settled back against the leather seat, the tinted windows concealing me from prying eyes, do I allow myself to release the tension in a long, shuddering exhale.
Lyssa slides in opposite me, reading the signs of a confrontation. "So…we go to war?"
I give an almost imperceptible nod, staring fixedly out the window as the car pulls away from the curb. She takes the hint, thank God, settling back without another word.
I watch the city lights stream by in silence, trying to quiet my mind by replaying each exchanged barb and threat. Despite Nero's outrage and father's blustering disapproval, they know now I am utterly serious about taking control of the Family. Of the city. By any means necessary.
My path is set. All that remains is to eliminate any obstacles. Starting with my dear baby brother.
When I have him at my mercy, I will slowly and brutally castrate him and then watch him bleed out, because his threat toward Aurora has driven all thoughts of restraint from my mind.
