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“I suggest we wait and watch, and confirm our suspicions before we make a move.”

Francesco is clearly just as anguished as I am at the thought of waiting to see what happens to Gia, but he’s right. Maybe we’ll learn more before we do anything rash. If we take the mansion and Gia isn’t there, they could kill her wherever she is.

It’s not what I want to hear though. I want Gia home, safe and sound. I want her in her kitchen baking up treats that we’ll complain will make us fat. But we’ll eat them anyway because she has a serious talent.

I clench my free fist and let out a deep breath. “We wait, and we see,” I confirm.

I hate that Gia is in danger. No matter how badly I want those damn casinos, I won’t risk her life for it. I’d love to be the leading family in Florida, but family comes first.

“I need to make another call,” I say to Francesco. “Let me know if anything transpires.”

“Will do.”

I hang up and call our lawyers.

Gerard answers his phone immediately. “Yes, Andrea?”

“I need you to withdraw our bid from the auction of the casinos,” I say quietly. “I need it done as quickly as possible.”

“I can request the withdrawal, but it might take a few days for your name to be lifted off the listing,” Gerard says. “Any particular reason why? You’re in a good position to negotiate for the casinos.”

“I have my reasons,” I say. “Just do it. That’s an order.”

“Yes, sir,” he says with a lot of respect.

If he had been sarcastic, I would have reached through the phone and throttled him myself.

I message Matteo to let him know it’s done and our name should be off the listing in a couple of days. He responds that it’s fine but to let him know when the names are off so he can confirm.

I have another call to make which I’m not entirely unhappy about making. I call Don Juliano Russo.

“Andrea, my friend. How are you?”

“I’m pulling out of the casino deal, Russo,” I say calmly. “Something has come up, and I won’t need your help anymore.”

“That’s a pity. We would have made an excellent partnership. If you change your mind, let me know. Stefano is ready and waiting.”

I shudder slightly. “I’m sure. Thank you. And again, condolences on Michael.”

He hangs up, and I put my phone down. He doesn’t like to speak about Michael. At a mention of his name, Juliano hangs up or disengages and leaves. He doesn’t even bother changing the subject. Just gets up and walks out.

I am kind of happy about this part. Stefano is the family hitman for the Russos and the new heir apparent. Every family has a hitman, but Stefano takes it too far. He seriously takes pleasure in his job. No one should do that.

I didn’t like the idea of Gia marrying Stefano, less so than her marrying Michael Russo. But at the same time I’m fucking livid we’ve lost out on the casinos.

It was such a good business venture and would have catapulted us into the next level of families. Matteo already has so much. Why does he have to be so damn greedy?

Lorenzo looks at me. “A penny for your thoughts?”

“Thinking about losing out on the casino deal,” I mutter. “Anything to distract me from Gia.”

Lorenzo sighs and comes to sit opposite me. “I agree, it would have been a brilliant deal and owning them would have seriously established us as number one. I mean, who the fuck does Matteo think he is pulling a stunt like that?”

I nod in agreement. “That’s the problem. He thinks he’s better than all of us. Maybe he is.”

“Don’t talk like that. There’ll be other opportunities once we have Gia home safely.” Lorenzo frowns. “We can’t just give up.”

“I’m not giving up. I’m fucked off,” I roar, and Lorenzo flinches. I slam my fist into the table hard enough to rattle the contents on top of it. “I want that fucker to pay for laying a hand on my baby sister. I want him to fucking suffer. Although I would prefer Stefano Russo to take him out rather than Francesco because then I know he will be tortured within an inch of his fucking life, left to recover, and then tortured again.”