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“I do,” I said calmly and his jaw clenched. “I will never lie to you, Boss. I’ve been fucking her. You can’t blame me for that. I do care about her, but I am willing to give her up if needs be. My priority will always be the North and nothing will stop me. You and I both know that the only thing standing in our way is Buccini. His representative is the head of the commission. In my mind, there are only two ways of taking the North at this point.”
“Which are?” he growled.
“Killing Buccini. Or forcing him into an alliance.”
Diego moved his gaze away from me and stared out the window, looking at a bird that landed on the bush outside. I could feel the sweat on my back glueing my shirt to my skin, but I remained calm and collected on the outside.
“Did I ever tell you how Cassy and I met?” he said in a whimsical voice, his mind was miles away in a past memory. Cassy was his wife. Technically, they were still married, even though she had run away from him years ago.
“No.”
“It was an arranged marriage. She was the niece of a Boss from another Southern family. I married her to gain their allegiance to take over more of the South. I fell in love with her at first sight so I thought I was one of the lucky ones.” He moved his gaze back to me, “Death can make you think about these things again. Our past mistakes. Our failures.”
I remained quiet, only the pounding of my heart in my ears. I had no idea where he was going with any of this.
“I have made many mistakes in my life. I thought for a long time that marrying Cassy was one of them. She could never give me an heir. And it ruined us. I let it ruin us. You know, I never tried to look for her,” he smiled sadly as he moved his gaze back out the window. “I told myself it didn’t matter. I had you. My heir. Her leaving me was a blessing. But I did love her. In my own way. I let her go because I loved her. It was possibly the kindest thing I have ever done.”
He sighed heavily and looked down at his finger where his wedding band used to be. “You are the only thing I have never regretted, Alessio. You have proven yourself to me time and time again. You are everything I hoped you would be. But during the last few days, you have put me in a position where that faith was wavering. Have I made another mistake with you?”
I shook my head confidently. “You have not. I will take the North for you, Boss. The Barbieri name will rule all of Italy. Or I will die trying.”
“That you will,” he replied firmly, staring deep into my soul. “I am going to trust you, Alessio. One last chance to prove to me that I have not made a mistake with you.” My shoulders sagged in relief as I nodded slowly, keeping my expression neutral. “You have twenty-four hours. Meet with Buccini and force him into an alliance. I don’t care how you do it as long as he works for us. You can marry the girl if it means we gain the North.” My heart flipped in my chest as my eyes widened slightly. I couldn’t believe those words had just come out of his mouth. I was hoping he would agree to this, but for him to be the one to propose it…
“However,” he narrowed his eyes. “If you don’t succeed and Buccini refuses, Galiz gets the girl and you kill Giovanni. Take the North by force.”
I couldn’t speak, my hands were sweating and panic swarmed through my body as I held his gaze.
“You betray my trust, Alessio, and I leave my empire to Dante. You know what that means,” he threatened, as rage rocketed through me. It meant I would be killed and Dante would be in power, because that would only happen over my dead body and he knew it.
“I understand.”
“Good,” he reached for my hand in a rare moment of affection. His fragile hand squeezed the top of mine lightly as I stared up at him in surprise. “Don’t let me down, my boy. You are my only hope and my legacy.”
I placed my hand on top of his as I gulped down my emotions and nodded. “I won’t, papi.”
Dancing In the Flames
Isabelle
I glared at one of my papi’s soldiers, forcing him to look the other way as I hovered outside his bedroom. Alessio had been in there for over an hour and I was starting to get worried. I saw how livid my papi and Elio were yesterday. Their raised voices had echoed down the hall as they seemed to argue over Alessio’s loyalty. Normally, I don’t concern myself when it comes to my papi’s business ventures, but when it comes to Alessio, I make it my business.
I could hear the low murmur of voices through the oak door but couldn’t decipher a word. My eyes flicked over to the soldier that was not so discreetly doing laps of the corridor, watching me suspiciously. If I stayed here eavesdropping, he would inform my papi later. Huffing with frustration, I stormed away and walked outside to the back gardens. I glanced around quickly, checking for any more of his men, but the coast was clear as I made my way around the wall towards the windows of my papi’s new bedroom on the ground floor. I grinned when I saw a window was open to let fresh air into the room. Feeling slightly ridiculous, but no longer caring, I crawled below the window and sat with my back against the white plastered wall.
“Elio believes you will go back on your word as soon as I am dead which won’t be much longer,” my papi’s strained voice husked. “That you will not see this through. You will pull out of the North.”
“And why would I do that?” Alessio asked calmly.
“Because you care about the girl.”
I frowned deeply, tilting my head to the side in an attempt to hear them better. Was he talking about Elenora? There was a long pause as I held my breath.
“I do. I will never lie to you, Boss. I’ve been fucking her. You can’t blame me for that. I do care about her, but I am willing to give her up if need be. My priority will always be the North and nothing will stop me. You and I both know that the only thing standing in our way is Buccini. His representative is the head of the commission. In my mind, there are only two ways of taking the North at this point.”
Rage swelled in my chest at his admission. But I also felt a little relieved. It was as I thought. He was fucking her. Having his fun with her. But he wasn’t attached. He’d give her back when the time was right. I had forced myself to be okay with the idea that Alessio would sleep with other women a long time ago. He allowed me that freedom so I had to allow it for him too. But I didn’t care, because he always came back to me. He loved me. Not them.
The conversation moved on and soon my heart ached when I heard my papi mention mamma. I had never heard him speak of her since the day she left us. And to hear him say he let her go because he loved her, because it was the kindest thing to do, just tore my heart to pieces. That could have been me. He might have let me go if she had been brave enough to take me with her. But she didn’t. Because she believed he would come for us.
But my anger and hatred for that man quickly returned when I heard him praising Alessio for being the only thing he had never regretted. So it was true. What I had always known deep down. He regretted me.
