"The damage was done the moment our eyes collided."
~Xavier De Luca
***
One life-altering night ignites a soul-scorching passion between a gangster and a good girl...One that could burn everyone they know and love to ashes.
Loyalties and legacies...
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Tony was dead. That's why he didn't answer his phone earlier, and that's why Christian busted in and interrupted us. Pa wanted me on the ground with Christian and our soldiers, out looking for information. And when the boss calls, we answer. No excuses.
Supposedly our enforcer put a bullet in his own skull, which was horseshit.
Tony never would've killed himself. He was a father to three beautiful daughters that he kept hidden in the Tujunga foothills with his life partner, Selena. His whole death reeked of something rotten.
I left Grace at my hotel, heavily protected, of course, by my most trusted guards. She kissed me like it might be the last time but didn't question the call.
Her actions spoke volumes, I could see it in Christian's eyes as I pulled myself together.
"So?" my brother eyed me joining his private elevator ride to the garage. "Che cazzo?"
"So, speak English is what the fuck," I growled, checking my guns to be sure they were loaded and ready. It was a forced habit that turned into a mindless ritual since I'd been initiated. "Grace showed up at The Landing Strip."
I knew I wasn't going to get out of my brother's debt without full transparency.
Pa's wishes couldn't have been clearer, and I'd flouted his orders like some headstrong teenage idiot.
"Matteo was out with me, chasing down a new lead on her brother's murder," Christian waited for me to continue with a droll look. "You'd be interested to learn that Mario-motherfucking-Vitale was responsible for killing the kid. That led us back to the club, where I found Grace about to be fucking raped by, oh yeah, I-"
"You had Leo executed?" Christian finished, flattening his mouth into a scowl.
"I should've run it by you," I admitted, stone-faced and looking him square in the eye. "You're Pa's Underboss and there's a chain of command-"
"Fuck the chain!" Christian exploded, "I'd have done the same if any of those apes laid so much as an eye on my woman. Matteo called me, out of respect. I gave my blessing for Leo, and he told me about that fucker Vitale. I'm behind you a hundred percent, brother. Something's not right about this whole situation, and I know Pa senses it too. The old man just doesn't want to start a war inside la Famiglia without respecting that chain of command you so like to shit on."
"Fuck," I muttered, inwardly reminding myself to figure out a way to thank Matteo for calling Christian. "So that's how you found Grace and me?"
"No," Christian flashed me a sideways smile, "I know where to look for you, Fratellino. And I'm happy for you. I can already see the difference."
"What's that supposed to mean?" I scoffed, straightening my shirt as the elevator neared my secluded parking lot beneath the building.
"It means," Christian nodded at his armed guards on the other side of the doors. "That your days of being a cocksman are up. You're in love with the Irish dame and everything feels out of control, but you've never been more alert, or aware, because you've got something invaluable to protect.
