“I was thinking the same,” he said with a nod. “Ciel, you and I will work on that.”
Ciel nodded.
The account numbers we’d found on the hard drive of my father’s computer were still unaccounted for and unsolved. Honestly, other things had been much more pressing and important. But my gut told me we might find some truth in those numbers. Some reason why this was all happening.
“So does that mean Volpe is now h-head—” Ciel paused. I sent him a weak smile of gratitude for changing the subject. “Volpe is now head of the Tommaso Family?”
I frowned. If that were the case, we’d be up against double the number of soldiers we’d originally thought. “Chiara has two brothers. Technically, the eldest would take over.”
But her brothers were idiots, and Max was a fucking evil mastermind.
“Leona, we know Max better than that.”
I bit the inside of my cheek and clenched my fists in my lap. “Max never would have agreed to that marriage if Don Vincenzo hadn’t promised him future leadership. Shit. We probably did him a favor tonight.”
I doubted Max would outright kill Chiara’s brothers, but Vincenzo could name a new heir if he wanted. If he had signed the paperwork to name Max heir after their marriage, it would be done—and Chiara’s brothers likely wouldn’t have the loyalty of the Family to stand against him.
It was another takeover.
He might not be officially married to Chiarayet, but he would be the de facto leader.
“So we can assume he’s going to take leadership or will attempt to do so in conflict against Tommaso’s sons,” Obi concluded.
I nodded. “Chiara’s brothers wouldn’t stand a chance against Max. So, he now has two armies. Mine and the Tommasos, if those men agree to serve under him.”
Ryuji rubbed his chin, a strange look on his face. “I don’t miss.”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“My aim was true.” He leaned back into the couch cushions. “That bullet would have hit Volpe.”
“But Chiara pushed Don Tommaso, and the bullet hit him instead,” Wynn added. He looked at Cas. “You said you had doubts.”
“What do you mean?” I asked. Everything was fuzzy for me after hearing the bombshell news. I hadn’t paid attention, at least not until I thought they had Max cornered—yet he got away once again.
Cas exhaled. “I don’t know. I don’t know what she tripped over when she pushed him. And at one point, I thought I saw a smile on her face.”
A smile? Had Chiara killed her own father? But why?
I shook my head. “That doesn’t make sense. They always had a good relationship. To me, she looked terrified on those cameras. She probably had no idea what was going on and just reacted.”
Cas nodded. “I agree. I don’t know what I saw. Fear makes us all do strange things. She might have not even understood what she was doing, and her actions just had unfortunate consequences.”
“You could have shot Volpe and ended everything,” Ryu pointed out. “You were right there. Your aim is that bad?”
Cas’s jaw clenched. “In the chaos, my bullets went wide.”
Ryu rolled his eyes with a dismissive snort. “Chaos is our life. If you can’t handle the fire, get out of the kitchen. Weak link.”
Cas hands fisted at his sides, and he shifted like he was going to stand, but I gripped his thigh and squeezed. “Stop. It’s okay.”
His muscles dropped some of their tension, but he fumed.
“Ryuji, that is enough,” Obi cut in. His voice carried that finality that sliced through my core. Maybe Obi could get these two under control because I certainly couldn’t.
“Chiara still ran,” Ryuji said, darkness in his voice. “She could have fought Volpe, tried to break free, but she didn’t. So we need to decide. Is she a target?”
“No,” I whispered before I could swallow the word.
