The man had been adamant throughout his entire life that he would remain single to his dying day. Hearing that the apocalypse was imminent would have been less shocking than learning my cousin had tied the knot.
With a nod, Enzo replied, “And fuck you very much for ruining our weekend away.”
“You’ve been doing this job long enough to know you’re on call 24/7.”
He arched an unimpressed eyebrow, folding tattooed arms over his chest. “What was so important it couldn’t wait until Monday?”
“I don’t fucking know.” I threw my arms wide. “How about me rising from the dead?”
“You weren’t dead, you were undercover,” he countered.
“Same difference. I’ve been gone for four years. I expected a little more excitement when I returned as the conquering hero.”
“Damn.” That single word was accompanied by a snap of my cousin’s fingers. “Can’t imagine how I forgot to schedule the party to celebrate.” Then his hazel eyes hardened. “Oh, that’s right, because we’ve been here in the trenches, fighting a war you started while you were off, God knows where, chasing down Rory because your needs came before the rest of the family’s.”
My jaw clenched, and I growled, “Watch it.”
Undeterred by my warning, Enzo kept rolling. “Do you have any idea how many bodies we’ve had to bury? How many families have been ripped apart? Matteo and the girls lost Allegra, and I lost—” His words cut off abruptly, and he shook his head, his voice coming out thicker when he continued, “And for what? Your fucking pride? Why couldn’t you just let her go?”
I was on my feet in a flash, roaring, “Because she’s my goddamn wife! She belongs to me!”
“Keep treating her like a possession, and she’ll never stop fighting you.”
“Sheismy possession,” I gritted out, chest heaving.
“No, she’s your Achilles’ heel, a distraction capable of causing your downfall. Right now, we can’t afford to have any weak points when we’re under attack.”
I waved off his concern. “Now that Rory’s back, I’ll make things right with the Russians. I’m sure we have something they want that will ensure peace.”
Enzo barked out a humorless laugh. “We obliterated the Russians years ago. Our newest threat comes from within.”
My eyes widened. “What the hell are you talking about?”
“You’re never going to believe this because it’s beyond inconceivable, but Dario has been undermining us this whole time. He’s the one who put the hit out on you that killed Allegra.And when you disappeared, he tried to take out Matteo. He wants the crown all for himself.”
“That motherfucker,” I hissed, my blood boiling over at learning that my own uncle was coming after what was rightfully mine.
“From our limited intel, he joined forces with the Russians, making them promises of a partnership if they helped wipe you and Matteo off the board. Beyond that, he was siphoning money from the casino and secretly selling our munitions warehouse, keeping the proceeds for himself. He’s got millions of dollars at his disposal, and whoever he’s paying to cover his digital footprint is better than Nico, because we can’t fucking track him down, making him more dangerous than ever.”
I absorbed that information, my mind working overtime to process it and develop a plan to protect my empire.
“Bring Logan in. If Dario’s in Chicago, we’re gonna need every cop in the city to be on the lookout for him.”
Enzo cringed. “Yeah, that’s not an option.”
“Shit, you’re right.” I dragged a hand down my face. “If they hauled him in, he’d flip on us in a heartbeat after securing an immunity deal.”
“That’s not why.”
My eyebrows rose. “No?”
“You see, the thing is . . .” Enzo pulled in a deep breath before saying on the exhale, “Logan’s dead.”
“Dead,” I repeated, my voice flat. “Were we the ones responsible?”
My cousin’s gaze fell to his lap. “Yeah.”
“Fuck, Enzo!” I slammed a fist down on my desk. “Do you have any idea how important it was to have the Police Commissioner in our back pocket? What the hell were you thinking?”
