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Watching his face as he tried to make the Albanian a smear on the concrete made her realize that her friend was changing. Soon, she really would be alone. She’d been telling herself to accept it since he’d gotten married, but watching him lose his control made it more obvious than ever that she was no longer the first person in his heart.
And it hurt, dammit. Not because she wanted him to be only hers. This was the pain of having to let go of family a little; to miss out on changes in them that happened out of sight. She’d never had to do it before, and no one had ever warned her it would hurt so fucking much.
The way Beatrice was staring helped Vespa shake off her fugue and tug on Montrell until he stopped. “Fuck, Montrell,” she muttered, keeping an arm tight around him even though she’d told herself she would stop touching him so much.
When he was able to focus on Beatrice again, Vespa stepped back and left the two of them to it. She wasn’t surprised at all when Beatrice was the one to put the Albanian out of his misery. Vespa watched Montrell’s wife lean in to kiss him before she dropped down to focus on the body.
Her chest squeezed, and she told herself to focus. The business and anything else Montrell needed came first. She didn’t have time for feelings.
Sirens wailed in the distance. Fuck, cleanup would be messy with the cops around. She barked orders at the lingering men and was relieved when Beatrice left the scene.
Chapter 6
Antonio didn’t feel chipper or relaxed the way he normally did after a night out. No, he was annoyed as hell that his mind was full of someone. As he showered away Vespa’s smell, he told himself not to think about her.
He avoided the kitchen; Nera didn’t need to deal with his current mood. His sister-in-law was more amazing than the Di Salvos deserved, all but Giovanni. Antonio had initially worried she wouldn’t be good enough for his half brother, that she would judge him like everyone else always had, but Nera had risen well above even Antonio’s stringent expectations.
She and Giovanni were perfect together, and he regretted the moments he’d considered destroying her—or worse, taking her for himself, which would have resulted in the same thing.
Not that he could have. No, she had been made for his half brother. Despite the shit hand that Giovanni had been dealt, Nera had turned everything to aces.
Being around her now would soothe Antonio, but he didn’t really want to be soothed.
So he slipped out the garden doors and sucked in the grape-flavored nicotine that reminded him of his fucking mother and let his anger grow behind his pasted-on smile.
When a voice weaved toward him, the irritation and anger inside crystalized into something with sharper edges.
“She’s fucking blind,” one of the men said with a mocking laugh. “The Di Salvos are growing pathetic now that Giovanni Senior is gone.”
Antonio stalked forward.
There was a second Di Salvo soldier present, but he was shaking his head. “Don’t say that shit. The boss’s wife is stronger than she looks.” His eyes widened as he saw Antonio, and his face paled.
Antonio usually hid the part of himself that knew the world was a complete fucking joke and deserved to burn, but the mask had been cracking more over the years. Most of the Di Salvos had seen snippets of what lay beneath.
The man who had been disparaging Nera whirled around, his mouth flapping loosely even though no other words escaped.
Antonio punched him in the face. It was a mistake. A snarl rose in his throat as the fury inside encouraged him to follow the man down and continue his assault.
“You want Nera to see this?” a calm voice asked over his shoulder. Enzo always knew what to say to cut through the noise in Antonio’s head. He should have. As Antonio’s uncle, he’d been keeping an eye on him long enough.
Antonio paused, his lungs heaving as he looked down at the broken mush of features. The man was still able to groan. He was alive—at least for a little longer.
Antonio’s eyes cut to the other Di Salvo, who had shuffled back and fallen on his ass. “You agree with this one?” he asked, his words clipped and cold.
The man shook his head and shouted out his denial.
“Quiet down,” Enzo snapped. He moved closer to nudge Antonio’s shoulder. “You heard him defend her. You know he’s solid.”
“Then he’ll warn everyone else what happens if they even consider having a negative thought about my sister,” Antonio said, spitting on the pulp of a man he wasn’t yet finished with.
The other man nodded as he bolted toward the front of the house.
Enzo sighed. “You need this?”
Antonio didn’t deny it. “Help me carry him to the basement.”
His uncle bent for the legs. “Let’s hope Nera’s still cooking.”
