When I hunted her down, she’d vanished, and all I found was some loose proof at her old apartment suggesting she was actually a member of the Red Serpents, a smaller family who have been biting at our ankles for over a decade.
This was confirmed when I conducted a thorough investigation into her past and discovered that she had been close with Leo Pesci, the leader of the Red Serpents.
I had been fooled.
Tricked.
Lied to.
I was nothing but a pawn to her and by trusting her, I doomed the XXX Syndicate and The Wolves to six months of bloody war.
In the end, I offered up my life to Naz as payment because Maeve was in the wind and I couldn’t produce the traitor to prove my innocence.
I expected Naz to kill me immediately, but he didn’t.
He kept me alive and put me to work.
For two years, I was a dog for The Wolves.
I beat, mutilated, and murdered anyone he pointed me at. I did his dirty work and didn’t complain, all while waiting for the noose to tighten around my neck.
There’s a saying in our world. To cross a Gallo is to tie your own noose.
I expected Naz to be my executioner but after two years of service, he let me in on a little secret.
I had worked off my debt and a new age was drawing between us because Naz had suspicions.
He wasn’t fully convinced that Maeve was the leak and if she was, in his eyes, she wasn’t working alone.
I hated him for giving me a sliver of hope, the tiniest doubt that maybe Maeve hadn’t broken my heart and trust on purpose, but her sudden disappearance from the hospital screams guilty.
“My baggage,” I say eventually after silence has dragged between us, “is the reason we even have a good relationship with The Wolves after what happened. My baggage is why we now have a lifelong drug-running deal with them. Without me, The Wolves wouldn’t even let us near the casinos Antony is spending so much time at. We cook and sell at a low price to them and in return, they let us sell through the casinos for a fraction of the fee they charged others. And they run security. The sheer volume of product we’ve managed to shift in six months alone alreadyshows how lucrative this deal is for both families. That’s what mybaggagehas done for this family.”
“And yet it’s Antony who is at the meetings and not you. It is Antony who makes the calls and shows face. Not you.” Elio turns to face me. “I want you to succeed, Son. A transfer of power between us and the Marinos will be rough and could turn bloody. You know your uncle has been hungry for power ever since my sister passed. So believe me when I say I root for you. But what do you have to offer that he doesn’t?”
Underneath my father’s cool, calm demeanor, I catch a glimpse of worry.
If Antony continues to ride the high of my achievements based on never having a black mark on his record and earns those votes, then it won’t be just me on the chopping block.
My mother and father will be too.
“If only there was a nice daughter for you to marry and secure everyone’s fears about an heir. You’ve scared most of them away.” Elio pats my forearm and flicks his cigarette over the balcony. “You need to show up, Son. Show me you’re serious.” He pats my arm once more and heads back into the penthouse, leaving me with the distant hum of the strip.
Fuck.
Is this really the power Meave has over me after all these years?
I should have left her to die in the parking lot or killed her in the hospital.
Now she’s an ever-present, distracting problem.
“Hey.” Chip appears a few minutes later and presses a Bourbon into my hand. “You look like you need it.”
I nod and drain the glass in a single gulp.
“How was it?” he asks.
I stare out over the city and quickly fill him in on how my lack of appearance at the meeting has given the painful impression that I’m workingforAntony rather than competing against him.
