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“That’s nice that you thought of me every night before you went to sleep.”
I grabbed my whiskey and held it in my hand, twirling the glass right to left and back again. “All of the first generation is gone except my grandfather. Technically, Frank and Luca are still around playing golf and deciding to live life as ghosts, but… the Cosa Nostra has us, Nixon. Just us. We’re too fucking young for this shit.”
“Correction,” Nixon leaned forward. His inky black hair falling over his forehead. “We were too old when we were sixteen, we’re basically old men at this point, and we’re doing the best we can with what we’ve been given. We’ve been through a lot of shit, a lot, since the beginning… since I met Trace… since Chase met Mil—”
“Since Phoenix shot Mil,” I added.
“Then Phoenix just rises from the fucking ashes.” Nixon laughed. “Tex became Capo. Sergio lost Andi, gained Val, and Chase went through his extremely terrifying dark stage that I’m pretty sure won’t ever fully leave him even after marrying Luc… I think Dante did help a bit though, as much as he could.”
“And me.” I nodded. “The most hated.”
“You have Alice and all of us as brothers,” Nixon said. “It’s as simple as that.”
“So.” Bile rose in my throat. “Is this where it all ends, then?”
“Is that what you wanted to ask me earlier?” He finished his whiskey and set the glass back on the table. “If this was our end or just another beginning for us? Like a reset?”
I pinched the bridge of my nose. “I have a bad feeling, and I can’t shake it.”
“It’s because your sister’s back, and you’re worried for her. Worry about yourself and your family, and let Santino worry about her, got it, man?”
I could barely nod.
He stood and started to walk away, then looked over his shoulder. “And the answer to your question is no, I don’t think this is the end. I think this is the closing of one chapter and getting ready for another. Every story has to end, Andrei, but that doesn’t mean we can’t write another right after.”
The door clicked shut behind him.
I stared down at the phone screen again and ground my teeth. I trusted Nixon with my life.
So I chose to believe him, even when my mind told me something wasn’t adding up.
I believed him.
I shouldn’t have.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
“I’m not mad, I’m proud o’ you. You took your first pinch like a man, and you learned the two greatest things in life… never rat on your friends and always keep your mouth shut.” – Jimmy Conway
Santino
After asking another ten times, I was convinced that no movement was happening with the hits taken out on us by my brother, which was a relief because I honestly just wanted to lay down and put ice all over my body.
Everything hurt. Getting into the SUV had been a monumental feat. Katya was dressed in a pair of black sweatpants, her black ADIDAS flip-flops, and a white tank top. She had two bags packed though. Her hair was pulled back, and she was quiet the entire drive—nervous quiet, I could tell by her posture. It’s not like I could actually kiss her without wincing in pain, so she didn’t need to worry about the wedding night if we could even call it that.
Fucking Home Depot.
I wanted to blame her, but really, it was partially my fault, wasn’t it? I gave in, and now I was married. The only bright spot was that it wasn’t to my ex-fiancé, who was a monster in her own right.
We pulled up to Tex’s compound. The security at the gate was ridiculous. I halfway expected them to ask for my spleen and a retina scan.
Finally, after some heavy discussion, we were let through the giant black iron gates and transported to paradise.
His house was three stories, over twenty thousand square feet, had two tennis courts, and four pools, one that led inside the house and beneath it, then popped up out front near the fountains. Rumors swirled that he had a camel, but I wouldn’t believe it until I saw it.
The SUV brought us down the long driveway and to the main manor. The guest houses were for when politicians visited or wanted to rent the place out. It was bigger than most people’s houses.
Katya’s eyes bugged out of her head when we finally stopped in front of the main door, which was also an impressive fifteen feet tall. “Seriously? He lives here?”
