Total pages in book: 48
Estimated words: 43928 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 220(@200wpm)___ 176(@250wpm)___ 146(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 43928 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 220(@200wpm)___ 176(@250wpm)___ 146(@300wpm)
"Maybe."
He chuckles and kisses me again. "Behave today. When I get home, we have something to do."
"What?"
"You're meeting your brothers."
"I already met them, Mattia."
He tips my chin up until my eyes lock with his eyes. "No, little mouse. You're meeting them as their sister. No more hiding. No more lies."
"But—"
"Brio has taken enough. It ends now, Aurelia. You're meeting your brothers."
He's right. Brio has taken enough. I'm tired of hiding. I'm tired of pretending. I'm tired of all the lies. I just want to be free. I want to get to know my brothers and love Mattia and believe that everything will work out.
It has to work out. Because if it doesn't…I'm not just going to lose my mom. I'm going to lose everything. Including Mattia. That thought is way too fucking painful to even consider.
"I'm ready," I whisper. "I'm ready to stop hiding."
Chapter Nine
Mattia
"We have a problem."
Rafe glances over at me as we stride across the harbor side by side. "Tell me something I don't know," he mutters, his brows furrowed.
"I'm not talking about this shit." I nod at the shell of the warehouse marked off with yellow crime scene tape. He's not wrong about this being a problem, though. We've killed more people in that fucking warehouse than I care to consider at the moment. We clean up after ourselves, but let's be honest. When you've killed as many people inside as we have, evidence is bound to be left behind. Having the cops sniffing around is a major problem.
If the fire didn't gut it completely, they're going to do everything in their power to find a reason to scour it from top to bottom. They always do when they're allowed on Valentino property.
"What's the issue?" Rafe asks, his voice pitched low so it doesn't carry to any of the fucking cops milling around.
"Brio Cascella."
A dark scowl crosses his face as soon as I say the prick's name. He doesn't even know the half of it, though. What Aurelia told me last night is an entirely new level of fucked up. He intended to use Rafe's own sister to kidnap his son. And he's holding Aurelia's mom hostage to accomplish it.
God knows what he intends to do with the baby when he gets his hands on him. At best, he forces Rafe to step down in exchange for the baby's safety. At worst…well, the possibilities are too fucking grim to consider.
And Aurelia has been living with them weighing on her mind for months. She's been tormented with the possibilities for weeks, knowing if she does what Brio wants, she rips an innocent child from her brother's arms and condemns him. And if she doesn't, she condemns her mother to death. It's no wonder she's been so afraid to trust anyone. He made it fucking impossible for her to trust. How could she when the consequences of telling anyone the truth meant killing the woman who raised her? He fucking put that on her—made her live for months believing that she'd be responsible for the death of a child or the death of her mother.
I'm going to rip him apart for that alone. Every fucking moment of torment he's visited on her mind, he'll pay for in blood and flesh. I want him howling in agony.
But Rafe has a right to know exactly what's been going on, too. He's the Capo. This is his family. But make no mistakes about it. When Brio dies, I intend for it to be by my hand.
"He's plotting against you," I murmur, my voice pitched low. "I've got proof."
"You're surprised?" One of Rafe's dark brows arches. "I've been waiting for that shoe to drop since Elio dropped dead. Figured he'd have made a move long before now."
"He did. We just didn't catch it."
"What kind of move?"
I hesitate for a moment, reluctant to tell him the particulars out here with half a dozen of Chicago's Finest milling around. He isn't going to take it well, and I'd rather not have an audience for this shit.
La Cosa Nostra business is La Cosa Nostra business. That's always been our way. We don't parade it out in the streets. We don't involve the cops. We handle it behind closed doors.
But we're past that now because we've got two potential crises on our hands, and we need all hands on deck.
"He kidnapped Aurelia two months ago," I say, my voice flat. "He intended to use her against you. It didn't work out for him."
Rafe stops walking, turning to face me. "What the fuck, Mattia? How long have you known about this?"
"I've known bits and pieces for the last few days. There are reasons I didn't tell you, but believe me, Rafe. This isn't the place you want to discuss them." I cut my eyes at the nearest cop, silently reminding him that we have an audience. "I'll tell you everything you want to know as soon as we're finished here, but you need to call everyone in for this. Nico included."