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“I’m fine.” It’s partly the truth. I can’t bring myself to say the rest. If I tell her that he put his hands on me… I shudder. Millbury is a Mafia town. I can’t rule out Julia’s father being one of them. And I don’t believe violence is the solution to violence.
There’s a beat of silence. “You know what will solve this.” She clicks her tongue. “Dancing.
We’re going out.”
“You can’t be serious.”
“Don’t try to talk me out of this, Christina. Go home, get ready, I’ll be at your house at eight.”
She ends the call before I have time to fight back.
2
Nico
I check my cards before turning them face down. I won the last hand, and I’m on a streak.
Maybe my luck is beginning to change. I could use some good luck right about now.
“What’s that smirk for, kid?” Ron asks from across the table.
I raise my eyebrow at his disrespect and look pointedly at the pitiful pile of chips in front of him.
The old man is scared. Scared and losing.
Good.
That knowledge alone is why I don’t flip this table over and strangle one of my father’s men.
Instead, I roll my eyes.
“Bratty fucking—”
My blood boils and I reach for my knife, but Enzo beats me to it. He flicks open his
pocketknife and stabs it between Ron’s splayed fingers, piercing one of the cards.
“Do you want to finish that statement?” He asks, his deep voice smooth and casual, as if we’re just sitting here talking about the weather.
I smirk as Ron’s face pales.
“I’m out,” Ron says, backing away from the table and holding up his hands. “No offense, kid.” He takes another step before walking away, fast.
Enzo’s jaw ticks but I shake my head. I hate the disrespect as much as he does. But until I turn 25 next month and am a “made-man”, my father refuses to officially make me underboss. Just one more month and then I’ll be able to claim legitimacy in their eyes. To them, it doesn’t matter that I’ve been working to advance our family’s interests for the last six years or that I’m twenty-four-fucking-years-old. Without that legitimacy, I might as well be an actual child, not the heir, destined to become Don.
The dealer reveals the next two cards.
Fuck.
I scratch my chin and look around. Enzo folded, Ron walked, and Danny is out. Alec and Tommy aren’t giving away any signs. I toss in two chips, raising the bet.
What’s life without a little risk? It’s what I’ve been trained for my entire life. And I am more than ready for the future I was born to take on.
I need a sanctioned kill in order to be accepted – preferably completing a hit contract.
Last week, I tried to talk my father into letting me kill Bernie, the Cossi solider they caught stealing from our warehouse. But he refused and told me to be patient.
I’ve been fucking patient for years and I’m tired of it.
