Total pages in book: 53
Estimated words: 49562 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 248(@200wpm)___ 198(@250wpm)___ 165(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 49562 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 248(@200wpm)___ 198(@250wpm)___ 165(@300wpm)
And now, Lucca was able to ask the only question that seared his mind since One-Shot’s first kill …
“Why?”
“Just kill me and get it over with.” Vinny lifted his face filled with hatred for all to finally see as he stared at his new boss defiantly. “If you want to ask why … then ask your father.”
That was the thing. I did.
“He doesn’t know.”
Vinny snarled with laughter, “He knows.”
All right, then …
From the shadows, a man strode out to stand in the light. Cigar smoke filled the air as Dante came closer to stand next to his son.
“I don’t.” Dante stepped up to stand over what was had been his best friend. “We were raised side by side—you, Enzo, and me—and I never once, ever doubted your loyalty.”
Vinny’s hatred for Dante could no longer be masked, making them all wonder how he had been able to hide it so well for so many years, or worse … they all managed to miss it.
“How easy you forget Emilia.”
A pained expression crossed Dante’s face. “I’ve never forgotten Emilia.”
Emilia? Lucca had never heard that name spoken before, at least not in his presence.
Vinny lunged for Dante, but his father didn’t waiver. He remained still as stone as Drago dragged Vinny back to his knees.
“Do not dare speak my sister’s name,” he hissed. His usual regal tone as consigliere was gone. “When your father arranged yours and Emilia’s marriage, you refused to marry her the day before the wedding. She was humiliated.”
Dante angrily shook his head down at him. “That’s not true, Vinny, and you know it. You know exactly why I refused to marry her. I even had your father’s permission to break it and pull out of the wedding.”
“My father listened to Emilia’s pleas. I told him not to.” Vinny’s eyes no longer hid his true feelings of jealousy as he stared at Dante. “I knew who you really wanted.”
“Emilia came to me, begging the night before our wedding not to make her go through with the ceremony. She told me her heart belonged to the church and what her true calling was. She threatened to kill herself if we married.” Dante looked down at him in disbelief that he could see the past so differently than how it had happened. “Is that what you would have preferred? A dead sister over one who wanted to be a nun? I thought a man of your devotedness could understand that, Vinny.”
“Emilia would have never harmed herself. She would have never committed that sin.” Vinny shook his head knowingly. “Instead, you took the bride I had been promised.”
“I asked you before I accepted the arrangement. You’re the one who told me to go through with it. If you had wanted Melissa, I wouldn’t have agreed to our marriage.” Dante’s voice was now incapable of hatred as he spoke of his dead wife. “I loved Melissa more than life itself, but our love grew with time, like in any arranged marriage.”
“How was I supposed to say no to our fathers?” Vinny’s voice was filled with loathing after having to listen to him. “To you? My father was your father’s consigliere. To continue our lineage as the Carusos’ advisors was the source of our family’s pride. I would have been blamed if I had taken Melissa and you retaliated by making Enzo your consigliere. I couldn’t take that chance. Instead, I had to fucking watch her fall in love with you and give you the children who should have been mine.”
“You had a child.” Dante chewed on his cigar angrily. “Vincent.”
Vinny gave a snort of sarcasm. “Vincent is no Lucca.”
Lucca held no sympathy for him. Even though his son was irritating at times … “Vincent is a far better man than you. He would never betray Nero and Amo the way you have.”
“You took what was meant to be mine,” Vinny hissed before he smiled. “I bided my time … before I repaid in kind. I held my vengeance until I knew it would hurt the most.”
When Dante went for him, Lucca had to put out a staying arm to keep him in place.
He was finally able to understand all he needed to know. Once Lucca had taken Lucifer out of the picture, Vinny was able to suggest the two family bloodlines mix only so a Luciano could be blamed for his crimes. Choosing Dominic to take the fall was the smartest, as not only was he Lucifer’s heir who would seek revenge for his father, but Dom had only one method of killing. There was only one thing Vinny didn’t take into account—that Lucca had known all there was to know about Dominic Luciano. That not only would he never seek revenge for his father’s death, but he would never shoot a man through the back of the head if he could help it.