27
MASO
“So, how did you get roped into all this, Maso?”
Just hearing her say my name made my wolf spin in dizzy circles, howling loud and wild in my head, my skin flushed from his constant movement. I’d searched for her for so long I half-convinced myself she was a dream I’d made up, but she was here and so very real. It was just my luck that my runaway mate was the youngest Syndicate boss.
At this point, I was taking it as a sign that my life was always meant to orbit this world, these people, this chaos.
“Why did you leave?”
The words slipped out before I could stop them, and I instantly regretted it. I turned my head to the car window, wincing. Out of everything I could’ve said,thatwas what I led with?
I could kick myself, but with Alic driving, his eyes flicking back to me now and then like he was trying to solve me, I couldn’t hold it in. I needed to know where I fit into all this.
She went quiet, turning to her own window. The only sound was the low hum of the radio.
Talk to her, damn it. Say something. Anything. This is your chance.
“I contract for the Syndicate.”
The leather seat of the car creaked as she shifted, her eyes landing on me, expectant, curious. Her floral scent filled the space, making my fingers twitch against the seat as I fought the urge to touch her.
“I do odd jobs now and then. Mostly for Nova, sometimes for Ezra.”
“How? Why? When?”
Her questions fired off in rapid succession, and for a second, I almost smiled. She wanted to know more about me—me. It was more than I ever thought I’d get again.
“The Syndicate mostly works with the paranormal side of the underworld, but there’s still a human side to it. Smaller, but it’s there. My parents were turned into wolves, got caught in the wrong place at the wrong time, but they kept going and had me and my sister.”
A sharp pain knifed through my gut at the memory, but I pushed through it. They were safe now. That had been the deal, and the Syndicate didn’t break deals.
“My uncle’s Nicoli Gambino, leader of the Italian mafia in Staten Island. Growing up, I worked for him as muscle.”
I swallowed hard, remembering the night I overheard him call my mother a disgusting she-wolf whore who had gotten hisbrother cursed. How he bragged about using me as a tool, no better than a dog to sit obediently at his feet.
“At the time, your father, Avery Glovefox, kept the Syndicate mostly focused on the skin trade in Manhattan. He typically stayed out of human businesses, but things started changing. More supes were showing up or taking over jobs we ran. That was when I met Ezra.”
I risked a glance at her.
She was staring at me like she could read every word inside my skull. I reached inward, toward the bond, to see if I could glean anything from her. Mine was still reaching, glowing gold and lonely, while hers was locked up tight. Out of reach. What would it be like once they joined and made us whole?
“She told me she was doing rounds, checking on the Syndicate hubs. Asked me how it was working with humans in the business. I told her the truth. Some were coming around to supes… but others would always see us as animals.”
When she smiled at me like she did, I should’ve known it was the beginning of the end for the Gambino family.
“That night, she and her crew wiped out my uncle, his family, and all the top heads of the organization. When she came to my house, she gave me a choice.” I didn't mention it was with a gun to my chest while her men waited outside of my family's bedroom doors.
I paused, eyes flicking to the floor. “I could take my family and disappear… or die with the rest.”
It wasn’t until much later, when Nova visited me, that I learned the full truth. My “family” had been planning to kill my motherand keep my sister locked in a cage as my uncle's insurance and leverage to control me and my father.
The thought of that still burned me. The only people I had known my whole life not only saw me as a thing to be used but also as so disgusting he would threaten a little girl to get me to do what he wanted.
I looked at her. Her lips were downturned, brows pinched. She was obviously torn, caught between pity and trying to justify her sister’s actions.
This time, I reached out and cupped her chin, giving her a small smile to say I was okay.
