Page 135 of Empire of Seduction
“Like murder.”
He didn’t say anything and I wrestled with this new information. It was one thing to know Vito killed peoplein theory,but here it was staring me in the face. I grew up with Jimmy Tate and saw his mom around town every now and then. How was I ever supposed to look at her again, knowing this?
God, I had been so stupid. It had been incredibly foolish to think Vito’s world wouldn’t bleed into my life. The power and violence of the mafia was a disease and it had slowly crept into my life, much like the Red Blotch crept into the vines. It infected and destroyed, and now an enemy had retaliated against Vito, taking me and the winery down with them.
“You look at me as if I am a monster,” he said quietly. “But aren’t you curious why?”
“Why you murdered some bikers, you mean?”
“You might believe the Red Raiders are innocent, but I assure you they are not. Three of them saw my cousin in Sparkles, dragged him into the woods, and executed him like a dog.”
I scrubbed my face with my hands. What kind of world was this? Murders and executions. Retaliation and mayhem. “Jimmy and two others, you’re saying.”
“Yes.”
I wasn’t naive enough to ask why they hadn’t gone to the police instead. Anyone who’d ever watched a movie or television show knew that wasn’t how the mafia dealt with their problems.“And because you killed three of their guys, the rest of the Red Raiders just torched my vineyard.”
A muscle jumped in Vito’s jaw. “As I said, I will find who is responsible. And I will rebuild your vineyard.”
Tears scalded the backs of my eyes. “You can’trebuildthis. This—” I gestured in the direction of the charred remains outdoors “—took decades, Vito! Over sixty years! My grandfather, my father—” I choked on a sob and the tears broke free, sliding down my cheeks. He took a step toward me, but my hand flew up to stop him. “No, don’t. I don’t want you to try to make me feel better. This isn’t something you can fix with a cappuccino or a hot tub!”
“Angelo, please. Calm down.”
An angry, wounded sound left my lips as I furiously brushed tears away. “Donottell me to calm down, you fucking asshole. Youknewthe Red Raiders would retaliate. It was why you kept talking about increasing security around here. You knew, yet you didn’t tell me the truth. Then you took me off to Toronto and made me feel special, while lying to me the whole time.”
“I considered the matter with the bikers settled,” he tried, but I interrupted him.
“Bullshit! You brought an army from Toronto. You brought your sister, your brother. You didn’t think this wassettled. And how did my brother know all of this was going on when I didn’t?”
Vito’s chest expanded as he dragged in air. “He was with us when we discovered Gaetano’s body in the woods.”
Oh, my god. I sagged, absolutely flabbergasted. “Why? How? Have you inducted my brother or made him one of your men?”
“No, of course not. I ordered him to stay in the car while we searched the woods, but he didn’t listen.”
“I can’t fucking believe this,” I muttered, rubbing the ache in my chest as more tears fell. “After the Red Blotch, I actually thought you might be a good thing for the winery. And afterToronto, I thought you might be a good thing for me. God, I was so stupid.”
The skin of his throat flushed, but his voice never changed. “I know you are angry and you have that right, but I never thought it would go this far. I never thought they would hurt you or the winery in response.”
“We’ve covered this.” I blew my nose with a cocktail napkin I found on the desk. “Maybe you didn’t know, but you suspected. Yet you kept me in the dark the whole time. Even lied to me about it. Slippery, evasive Vito. If not for Mikey, I wouldn’t have ever known, would I?”
“As I said, it’s not safe for me to take you into my confidence when it comes to that part of my life.”
“That isn’t how this works. Because if you think you can throw private jets and diamond necklaces and concerts at me to keep me from asking questions, you are dead wrong. Those things don’t matter to me. I want someone I can trust, someone who isn’t always hiding shit from me.”
“You are demanding that I risk your life!” he shouted, the sound echoing off the walls. His lips were thin slashes of fury in his handsome face. “You could be tortured for information on me, or put in prison. Or killed. I will not do it. I will not drag you into my world and risk harming you, even if you hate me for it.”
“Vito, newsflash. I’ve already been harmed! The vineyard is gone because of you and your world. I’m already at risk.”
“A smaller manageable amount.”
Why he felt the need to clarify this made no sense. “But risk all the same. How did you see this working between us? Were we even going to be a couple?”
“You say this as if we are not already a couple, as if you haven’t already saidmany timesthat you belong to me.”
“Sex games are not real life. And for god’s sake! Just answer a fucking question for once in your life!”
“I was going to give you the penthouse in Toronto.”
