“I will be.”
“I think we have a lot to talk about.”
I give him a small smile. “I guess we do. Later though. Should we get back to the others?”
"They have it handled. How about we go home?
“To your house?”
“Toourhome.”
Our home.
Warmth fills me.
“Let’s go home.”
He leans in to kiss me softly before he leads me out of the building without looking back.
Epilogue
Lorenzo
“I’m no longer asking permission. I am standing before you todaytellingyou I am going to kill Fillipo. He’s my capo, and he’s under my rule. I understand your concerns, but we have let this go long enough. Consider yourself informed.”
I listen as Bash addresses the commission. Where he had been patient before, he’s now cold and calculating.
“Bash, please, let’s discuss this,” Antonio of the Lombardi out of Philadelphia says.
“No. We will not discuss this. I have been respectful. I agreed to the rule because I saw merit to it. Now I see it’s only used to try and control my family. It’s done. The rule stating that the commission has final approval over any changes in management within families is thrown out. I will handle my family the way I see fit.”
I advised Bash against the stupid rule to begin with.
No Don will terminate the position of any capos without getting final approval from the Commission.
When they proposed it, I knew it could come back to bite us in the ass. I noticed they waited until Tommaso passed to propose it. I understand their fear. Tommaso killed many capos without a second thought. Bash, being new in his role, saw this too and accepted it without complaint in order to keep the peace. Look at how peaceful it is now.
“You cannot simply change rules with the snap of your fingers, Bastiano. We must vote, as we did when we put it in place.”
“This is my house, my rules. I don’t come into your family and tell you how to handle it. I could have gotten rid of him silently, and you would have been none the wiser. I followed the treaty put in place. I came to you and presented my case. You denied me, and another one of my family was put in the crosshairs. The time for negotiation is over. This is a courtesy meeting. I will kill Fillipo with or without your blessing.”
“What if we do not agree?”
“I control all of New York City, along with parts of Florida, Washington, California, and Nevada. Let’s not forget my hold in Italy.”
The room becomes deadly quiet. All eyes are on Bash. All except mine and Gio’s. We watch the room.
“What are you trying to say, Bastiano?” Marcello from Colombo of Nashville asks.
You could hear a pin drop at how silent the room becomes. Not a single person is breathing.
All of a sudden, Bash lets out a chuckle, but not one filled with laughter and joy. This chuckle is filled with sinister evil. It’s filled with devious plans.
“Defy me and my family, and it means war.”
Bash turns and strides out of the room. Gio and I immediately stand and follow him. Before the door can fully close behind us, an eruption of voices spill out. As we silently walk through the building and out to our waiting SUV, I take in Bash’s demeanor.
He’s walking tall with a tension in his shoulders I have never seen before. As we get to the SUV, Gio jumps into the driver’s seat, while I slide in the passenger with Bash in the rear. We take off toward the airport. The tension in the car is palpable.
