I twist hard. Pasutto lets out a sickening croak as his spine cracks. His tongue rolls from his mouth, swollen and blue. The light fades from his eyes as death takes him.
Russo falls back on his ass. He covers his face in horror as he stares at the corpse of the Don of the Pasutto Famiglia. One of the five great Dons of New York City is dead.
I climb to my feet and smile.
“You enjoyed that too much,” Lucy scolds lightly. “Really, Mass. We’re going to have a lot of cleaning to do.”
“I suspect the others won’t be happy about this.” I nudge the corpse lightly. “What should we do with those two?”
“They’re already running to their planes. I can have them stopped.”
“Don’t bother. I want them to tell Medved what happened here.” I walk to Allie’s father and offer him a hand.
He stares at me like I’m the grim reaper come to drag him down to hell.
“What have you done?” he whispers. Tears roll down his cheeks.
“I drew a fucking line, and now the rest of the world has to decide which side they want to stand on. Same goes for you, Don Russo. You can be with me and your daughter, or you can be with them.” I gesture at the dead Pasutto. “What’s your choice?”
He hangs his head. The pathetic fuck doesn’t have half the grit of his daughter. “I’m with you, Dragon.”
I pull my hand away and leave him to cower in the corner. “Go home. Tell Licciardi and Trentino what happened here. Gather your family and keep them close. You’re my father-in-law now, Don Russo. You’re a lucky man.”
“Yes, Don Cardone. I’m very lucky.”
I leave him in the conference room. Someone will come around to drag away the body soon enough. They’ll get Russo on his feet and show him back to the private plane he took here.
Lucy walks alongside me. “You realize you started a war.”
“The war was already running. I only changed the game.”
She looks thoughtful. “How deep do you think they’re in with him?”
“Medved owns Licciardi and Trentino. Zaza and Catania are still mine. With Pasutto gone, New York’s up for grabs.”
“Why not kill the other two?”
“If I do that, none of the other smaller families will fall into line behind me. I want them to tear each other apart from the inside.”
“I suppose we’d better get to work.”
ALLIE
The nursery is stunning. Someone painted a beautiful jungle theme on the walls. Cartoonish lions and panthers stare out from shockingly realistic trees. The furniture is all high-end and brand new. Dozens of stuffies are scattered all over, and there’s a massive, gorgeous dollhouse in the corner.
Rosie loses her mind the second she sees it. I try to keep her away, but it’s a losing battle. Eventually, I let her play in there, and when she gets tired, I reluctantly place her down into the crib. I keep telling myself that if she doesn’t like it, I’ll bring her back out.
But she seems content to watch the slowly turning mobile hanging above her pillow until her eyes grow heavy and she drifts off to the sound of the noise machine playing chirping birds and whirring insects.
I feel wrong leaving her in there, but at least there’s a monitor. The camera shows every inch of her room. I keep it close as I sit back out in the living room, drinking good wine and looking out at the moon hanging over the ocean.
This isn’t what I had expected.
Coming here still covered in blood right after my wedding, I assumed this would be like getting thrown into a dungeon. I had one night two years ago with Mass. That told me basically nothing about the guy.
When I saw what he’s capable of, I figured I was finished.
But this is more domestic. It feels almost normal. Which is dangerous, because it’s definitely not.
