Total pages in book: 38
Estimated words: 35213 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 176(@200wpm)___ 141(@250wpm)___ 117(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 35213 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 176(@200wpm)___ 141(@250wpm)___ 117(@300wpm)
"Cristo." I shoot a dirty look in Mattia's direction. He holds his hands up like none of that was his doing. "My office." I don't wait to see if he follows me down the hall. I just turn on my heel and start in that direction.
His soft laughter chases me, letting me know the bastard is hot on my heels.
"You know who she is?" he asks as soon as the door closes behind us.
"I do." I quirk a brow at him. "Do you?"
"Genesis Burbank." He slides into the seat across from my desk, steepling his hands together. "Missing heir to the Burbank fortune. Ward to Alexander Santorum."
"He murdered her father."
Mattia's right brow climbs toward his hairline.
"Santorum has been embezzling funds from the police department and using them to buy up guns. Her dad found out and planned to turn him in. Guess Santorum didn't approve." I drop down into the executive chair behind my desk, kicking one booted foot up on the edge. Unlike my office at Valentino International, I don't spend a whole lot of time here. Yet personal shit covers the office. Photographs and mementos line the wall-to-wall shelves.
Huh. Maybe that's why I rarely spend time here. It's easier to avoid this room and the memories it contains than to face them every fucking day knowing how far we've drifted from who we used to be. Once upon a time, we had plans for this empire. Rafe wanted to make it something different, something better than just another goddamn mafia stronghold. The three of us were going to build a new mafia, one that played by new rules.
Instead, we did the same fucking thing everyone who came before us did. We lost our way. Rafe built his kingdom on the bones of his enemies…and Luca helped. I didn't stop them. What was the point? We are who we are.
Except I'm not entirely sure I've ever known exactly who we are. I'm not entirely sure I've ever known exactly where I stand. Where did we go wrong? Where did I? The accident? Before then? I don't fucking know anymore.
"The rumor is that she's unwell," Mattia says carefully.
I hit him with a hard glare. "Does she look unwell to you?"
His lips turn up at the corners. "Not particularly. Story he's floating?"
"She stole the records her dad had. He wants them back." I scowl as something dark and twisted slides through me. "He wants her."
"I'm guessing you aren't on board with letting him have her."
I don't bother answering. We both know it wasn't a question anyway. Alexander Santorum isn't touching her. Not today or tomorrow or any other day. I'll kill him myself before I allow him anywhere near her.
"Having him in our pocket could be useful." Mattia picks an invisible piece of lint from his suit, not meeting my gaze. "Especially with the FBI breathing down our necks.
I pin him with a sharp look. "She isn't a pawn. Tell Rafe that I'll tear our empire down myself before we trade her for our gain."
Mattia meets my gaze now, his level, curious. "You really think he'd do that?"
I shrug. "Wouldn't be the first time he's let an innocent pay for our sins."
"You think Ruben Shores was innocent?" Mattia laughs abruptly. "He was beating the hell out of his wife and kid, Gabriel. The kid showed up to the scene that night covered in bruises. Had he been one of ours, Rafe would have ended his miserable life. Since he wasn't, we handled it and your situation."
One thing Mattia doesn't do is lie. No matter how hard a truth is to swallow, he gives it to you straight. He's telling the truth.
All this time, he let me fucking hate him. Rafe let me hate him, or something damn close to it.
"Why?" I growl, stunned. Why the fuck didn't they tell me? Why let me believe the worst of them for all these years? Why now, goddammit?
"Ask Rafe," he says quietly, holding my gaze. "It was his decision."
I don't have to ask Rafe. I know, dammit. I know. He gave me someone to blame other than myself. I needed someone to be angry with, someone to hate. The rage, hatred, and shame were so fucking heavy, especially during the early days. Had I turned it all inward, I wouldn't have survived it. So he offered himself and Mattia up, silently shouldering part of the burden for me.
It was never theirs to carry.
All this time, I thought he was the one who had lost his way. Turns out, I've been the one stumbling in the fucking dark.
Cristo.
Mattia rises to his feet. "I'll send Domani and Angelus to help guard her until we figure out how to deal with this situation." He purses his lips, shaking his head in disgust. "Killing the Superintendent will be bad for business."