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“If we’re doing this, let’s do it,” I say, holding my hands out at my sides as if to say, Game on.
“This was all a setup to get Dante in charge,” Paulie says, stepping back from me, his voice petulant and frustrated.
“See, that’s your issue, Paulie. It was your father’s problem, and your grandfather’s: assuming that women have no power, no ambition. But really, at the end of the day, women are your downfall. Underestimating the women around you? That will get you killed. Women know all in this family—the men are just too fucking stupid to see it.” I see Teresa out of the corner of my eye, and though I wondered for a moment if she’d be mad I spilled her secrets, I see she has a smile on her lips.
She approves.
I can almost hear the words now.
Your mother would be proud.
A small, near imperceptible warmth starts to grow in me.
“You treat your men like shit, Paulie.”
“The fuck—”
“You treat you man like shit, boss them around like they’re your indebted minions instead of your family. As if they work for you and not with you. Your arrogance made it so fucking easy to play. So yeah, I pulled them to my side, encouraged them to be loyal to me instead of you, but it wasn’t hard. I didn’t have to tell lies or spin fantasies to make it happen. They were willing. You treat people like shit, and they won’t be yours for long.”
“Dante told you—”
“I walked in that office months ago and offered you a deal. You only saw a pretty, young thing you could manipulate, use, and sell. I saw an idiotic man who was so wrapped up in himself, he wouldn’t see what I really wanted. I came in that office to take you down, Paulie. Take down your family.”
For a moment, I forget there is a room full of people around us.
Family.
Friends.
Associates.
People who, over time, will probably hear this story manipulated seven ways from Sunday, so they might as well hear my side of it before it gets too far from the truth.
“I had a plan: learn what I need to, find the weak spots, take down the Carluccios. Funny, it seems my mother and Teresa once did something similar. A would-be Russo and a Carluccio working together to make men pay.” I smile like it’s finny. “You know, it was my mother who found the paperwork outlining the pump and dump scheme. Handed it over to Teresa, made sure it got to the right people.” I smile as I watch the gears move slowly behind drunken eyes. “There it is. You’re getting it now.”
“My father . . .”
“It could have been Carmine, but of course, he’s so fuckin’ selfish he wouldn’t save his own son if it meant losing power. So down went Tony. But that’s history. We’re talking about the present.”
I’m honestly surprised at this point Dante hasn’t interrupted, and when I quickly glance over at him, he’s staring straight at his nephew, waiting for the slightest movement in case he needs to step in.
But still, he lets me have my moment.
Letting me shine.
Letting me be queen.
“The present? You’re forcing a fuckin’ takeover.”
“I didn’t force a goddamn thing,” I say simply.
“That’s bullshi—”
“I’m bringing the Carluccios back to their grandest moment: before your grandfather took control, dragged this family down. Before my father was killed because my mother turned down yours. Back to before your family put a mark on a literal newborn baby, planning to somehow marry her off into your family to gain control. But again, men forget that women can want revenge, too. So when I found out, I came here looking to make your family pay for what it did to mine. Instead, I decided I wanted it for myself.”
“So what, you stole Don from me because you're a vengeful cunt?” I feel the air change.
Uh oh. He called me a bad name and now Dante is rising from his corner, ready to defend my honor.
