My brothers automatically looked at me. Guido looked at Donato, who stared at Lothario, who didn’t even blink after he’d said it.
When I first was introduced to the Fausti family, after years of being estranged, I was told that they didn’t come to arms any longer, but something like a race around the track would settle an issue (or issues) between one family member and another. What Rocco had failed to leave out were these few words, “when the issue or issues weren’t serious.” Meaning, if the man felt the issue was beyond the track or whatever had been chosen, he only had to say one word: “ludi.”
Ludiwas the term for public games, which were known back in the day as gladiator battles. As barbaric and archaic as those games were, the Fausti family used similar ways to settle disputes among family members. But right after Marzio came to power, they decided to settle their disputes in other ways, but they didn’t veto the practice all together.
The accuser (or the one with the issue) had to have a good reason for calling another man out, and theludihad to be approved by the head of the family. If he approved it, the man who was called out had to face his accuser or face a death sentence by the head of the family. In this case, though, the head of the family was suggesting it.
Romeo had told me about it one night. He said that some of the old-timers thought it was almost romantic. He thought it was, too, especially whenludiwas held over the love of a woman.
Fuck romance.
I wanted to destroy this motherfucker before we had to add his name to the ever-growing list of enemies to conquer.
Romeo nodded at me once, real subtle, his eyes almost burning with the thought of it. Aludiwould have been his way of dealing with Brandon Stone, if we could have taken him back to Italy unnoticed. He would have faced my brother as a man after what he did to Romeo’s wife and unborn child.
Yeah, maybe I’d give Romeo that. It was sort of romantic, doing this in my wife’s honor. But she’d never know about it.
“To make this clear,” Lothario said, stepping closer to me again. “There is trouble here, between you and Giulio Cesare. This will put an end to it, in a civil way.”
“An end to it,” I murmured. “I get to do your dirty work, and the family gets a show. All because he was able to get close to me through you.”
“What would be the reason he would want to find—” The words died in Lothario’s throat after his mind must have answered the question.
I had no fucking clue why Cesare had trouble on his mind when it came to me and mine, especially with the rumors going around about Luca being released, but it seemed like the answer had suddenly come to Lothario, and he wasn’t going to share it.
Lothario stood taller. “Do you accept?” he spoke in Italian.
“Sì,” I said. “I do.”
Lothario asked Cesare the same thing. He accepted, but not as quickly. He was a thinker, but time was ticking.
“As the head of the family,” Lothario continued. “I will arrange this.”
I cleared my throat when Lothario and his group started to walk away, after one of them told Donato he’d be in touch with details.
Lothario stopped at the sound, his back to me.
“As theactinghead of the family,” I said in Italian.
“Repeat that,” he answered in the same language. He didn’t bristle, but he didn’t have to. I could feel the energy radiating from him. He wanted to rip my heart out.
There was nothing wrong with his hearing, so I refused to repeat myself, but I went in for my point. “That’s all you’ll ever be. Theactinghead of the Fausti family.”
He stood in the same position for a minute or two before he made a move and his men followed him.
Donato said something to me that made me snap to attention, looking toward Scarlett and Mia. Lev, the Russian assassin who had helped Scarlett save my life, stood close, having a conversation with her.
We were not on friendly terms, but he had proved to me that he valued Scarlett’s life. He had protected her in a time of war. That alone gave some credence to his intentions. He would drift in and out of our life like smoke, especially on special occasions.
Lev was eager to see the child she had. The truth was in his eyes when he looked into the face of my daughter to search for traces of her mother.
Sighing, I braced myself against the wind and went to retrieve my wife before any other dangerous men were drawn to her truth. That, and my heart needed to be brought in from the cold.
Chapter Forty-Two
Brando
It had been a couple of days since the meeting with Lothario, and when the call came in, Donato took it. I was in the gym with my brothers and a couple of men, sparring.
