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“The business deal I was sent to Greece for didn’t go as planned,” I grumbled, rubbing my forehead as she stepped up closer to me.
She frowned deeply, staring into my eyes. “But you never make a mistake! You are the best negotiator in this family! How did you-” she paused as realisation dawned on her face and my heart started to speed up. “Her. You fucked it up because of her, didn’t you?”
I stepped around her and continued towards the entrance of my papi’s house.
“Alessio! You are not this man! You are letting her get to you when you shouldn’t give two shits about her! She is no one! You may be fucking her. I don’t even care if you are because you will soon get bored of her, but don’t let her get inside your head like this! She is manipulating you for her own gain!”
I spun around to glare at her, not able to keep the rage inside me.
“Well, you would know a thing or two about that wouldn’t you!”
She stared at me with hurt in her eyes and her mouth hanging open. I didn’t wait for her to respond before storming into the house and heading for Diego’s downstairs bedroom. I knocked once and I heard Elio’s voice calling for me to enter.
I gulped down my shock as I saw Diego lying in his grand four-poster bed, an oxygen tank next to him and a mask over his face. He looked as if all the energy had been sucked right out of him and he was hanging onto his life by a thread. Elio stood up from the chair next to the bed and made his way over to me.
“He’s sleeping. But he will want to see you when he wakes up so stay by his side. You fucked up, Alessio. I’ve been waiting for you to put a foot wrong and you finally have. Let’s see how this plays out now, shall we?” he sneered, his green eyes narrowing on me with vindictive intent. Elio had never once dared to say a word to me since the night I nearly cut his dick off, but I knew he had been biding his time. It seems my enemies were coming out of the woodwork quicker than I thought. He left the room and shut the door softly as I walked over to the chair and sat down. I placed my head in my hands as I went over my plan to try and deal with this shit show. It wasn’t looking good and a lot was riding on Diego’s reaction. I had to play it by what he wanted to hear and I wouldn’t know that until he spoke to me.
An hour had passed before he finally stirred, his eyes blinking open a few times as his frail hand came up to the mask on his face and he pulled it off.
“Water,” he croaked as I stood up and grabbed the glass off the bedside table and passed it to him. He pulled himself up with difficulty, sitting back against the pillows as he started to cough violently. I passed him back the mask of oxygen, but he shook his head, pushing it away with his hand.
“You’re here,” he wheezed, turning his head to look at me.
“I am.”
“I thought Galiz might have killed you,” he smirked and I felt a tiny spark of relief that he seemed to be able to joke. That was a far better sign than I had hoped for.
“As if he would dare,” I held his gaze as it turned hard and the dread returned. “You’ve spoken with him?”
“I have. He is not happy.”
I sighed and sat back in the chair, “Then you know the deal wasn’t for us.”
He studied me carefully, searching for any sign of my nerves, but I refused to show any. I couldn’t, if I had any chance of this working. “You have single-handedly made an enemy of a potential ally who could have helped us take the North. And for what? A girl?”
I frowned my eyebrows, faking my confusion. “No. The original deal he wanted was for us to own 15% of his human trafficking scheme. The same one you had denied him years ago. He tried to play me against you. Somehow, he knew about your illness and that I was soon to be Don. He wanted to try his luck with me, which was an insult to you. I decided then and there that I did not want to go into business with a man that did not respect Diego Barbieri.”
“Galiz is an asshole. He has no respect for anyone but himself. Most Dons don’t. So, you are going to keep turning down alliances because they don’t show respect? I don’t buy it, Alessio.”
Panic started to swell in my chest as I held his dark, scrutinising gaze. “We don’t need him. He was getting far more out of the deal then we were. Our plan for the North is going well and I am confident I can gain alliances from the commission by myself.”
“Then why haven’t you?” he snapped, his jaw tensing as his impatience came to the surface. “The way I see it, Galiz was willing to negotiate a fair deal. Instead of trafficking, you give him the hostage. And you denied him. You even had her there at the fucking table as your mistress. Why the fuck should I believe that you know what the fuck you are doing when you are willing to throw away an important connection and a sure as hell way to take the North?”
“Because I am your son and your heir. Everything I do is in your name. You trained me and taught me to not rely on anyone but myself. To follow my gut in business and think with my head. And that is what I did! I had her there to keep an eye on her. You told me not to let her out of my sight because she was valuable. Why would I give the most valuable thing we have in this war over to Galiz? She is the only thing stopping Buccini from retaliating against Lorenzo’s rampage over the North. We have four families who have already signed contracts to work for us and have control over three cities in the North already. We do not need Galiz.”
We stared into each other’s eyes, neither one of us flinching as I tried to control my pounding heart.
“I want to trust you, Alessio. But I am not sure I do.”
I didn’t speak as I let him make up his mind. There was nothing more I could say right now. He had to decide if it was enough.
“Elio believes you will go back on your word as soon as I am dead, which won’t be much longer,” he stated, narrowing his eyes on me. “That you will not see this through. You will pull out of the North.”
“And why would I do that?” I asked, folding my arms over my chest.
“Because you care about the girl.”
My body tensed and my mind went blank with sudden anxiety. This was it. The moment that could change everything. I could try and lie to him. But if he saw through it, I would lose all his trust. Or I could come clean. And try to sway this to my advantage. Potentially find a solution so Elle and I could be together and I could still take the North. But it was a risk. If he hated it, I was dead.
