“That’s why I’m here. I know I’m not the best strategist. That’s always been you.” His eyes cut into mine. My next breath stuttered. He was referring to the fact I’d been undercover as a Buccini soldier when we met. I didn’t think it was supposed to be a hurtful jab, but it sure felt like one. His voice softened slightly with his next words. “You are the smartest person I know. You see three steps ahead. You keep your head when everyone else loses theirs. If we don’t cut the Americans down, who will be next? Giovanni? Alessio? You? Me?”
My chest tightened. I glanced away from him. “I’ll speak with Alessio and we will draw up a plan to—”
“No. I don’t want him doing my dirty work. I’m not hiding behind his protection. I want the Americans to know they fucked with me, so it’s my wrath they’ll face. You think I don’t know they targeted my family first because I’m the youngest boss in Italy? They think I must be weak. They’re wrong. I’ll show them exactly what kind of man I’ve become.”
I stared at him. He’d changed so much. No longer unsure of himself or his role. Yet he still carried that fiery spirit that had drawn me to him, only now it burned with brutality. And I hated the way my body still responded to it.
“I have the resources. I have the money. I have the men. All I need is…” he paused, those blue eyes demanding my attention. My heart beat a little faster as he licked his lower lip. “...you.”
My blood rushed through my veins with every pound of my heart. My dick twitched. Then I remembered myself. This was what Enzo Aiani did to me. Made me fucking soft. Manipulated me with those eyes and his pretty words. He didn’t fly out here and demand a private meeting with me after ten years of silence because he needed me. He needed a strategy. A plan. He’d lost his consigliere, his voice of reason. He needed revenge.
Not me. Never me.
I pushed those thoughts away and sighed, tapping my fingers on the desk. I glanced at the framed photo of my daughter. He was right. The Americans would keep coming unless we put an end to this. They were losing patience and hitting us where it hurt—our families.
“Finn.”
My attention snapped back to him. My whole body went up in flames. I swallowed. Ten years, and still the sound of my name from his lips awoke a deeply buried flood of desire I’d been chasing ever since.
“You’re the only one I trust.”
Cazzo. I broke our eye contact, gazing beyond his shoulder at the wall because I couldn’t stand drowning in that sea of blue even for a second longer. Not when those words tore open an old wound I’d thought had healed. I set my face into marble, refusing to acknowledge the trickle of old emotions that tried to fight through.
“Fine,” I said once I knew my voice wouldn’t reveal how much he was affecting me. “You’ll get your revenge, but on my terms. I’ll draw up a plan, and I’ll be in touch.”
A smile curved his lips. A smile I had spent so many years trying to forget. We both stood up, knowing there was nothing more to say. Not about this, anyway. Unspoken words hung between us, but neither of us was willing to go there. The past was best left in the past. That’s what I had to keep reminding myself.
He turned and walked towards the door but paused with his fingers on the handle. He peered at me over his shoulder.
“It was good seeing you, Finn. I’m staying in Sicily tonight. So, I’ll come by tomorrow, and we can talk more.”
I nodded, not trusting myself to say anything else because all I heard was, ‘I’m staying in Sicily tonight’. Did he tell me that on purpose? To torture me?
The moment the door shut behind him, I slumped into my chair, the tension in my body finally subsiding. I closed my eyes. The worst was over. Yes, it fucking sucked that after ten years, that man still made my heart race. My mind and body betrayed me. All it took was being alone in the same room with him again, and it dredged up dangerous memories and desires I thought I was over. But they would fade. I’d become numb to him, eventually.
I had to prepare for battle, not only against the Americans but also against Enzo himself. I would build my walls higher, put on my armour, and shield my heart because I had more to lose now.
He broke me once. I wouldn’t let him do it again.
Chapter two
The Past
“This fat piece of shit weighs a ton,” Renato huffed as we lowered the corpse of the mafia boss, Francesco Aiani, into the boot of the Bentley he arrived in. I almost felt sorry for thestronzo, knowing he’d come to the Buccini residence just an hour ago, thinking he was forming a major alliance with the most powerful family in the North. Of course, he had no idea he’d be leaving with Don Salvatore Buccini’s bullet in his head. No one saw that coming.
Although I despised Salvatore, Francesco made him seem almost saintly, and this might have earned him a little more respect in my eyes.
Four of us Buccini soldiers finally twisted the fucker numerous ways to make him fit before slamming the boot shut.
“Good fucking riddance,” Angelo muttered, wiping his hands on his shirt. “No idea why Don Buccini wanted an alliance with thatfiglio di puttanain the first place.”
“Pretty sure there’s still an alliance. I heard rumours that Capo Maximus is marrying Francesco’s daughter. Lucky bastard. But the alliance is now with his son. Don’t see much hope there,” Renato chuckled, nodding his head towards the trembling, scrawny teenage boy sitting on the stone wall with his head buried in his hands.
“Boss should have just killed them both and been done with the Aianis altogether.”
“He’s just a kid,” I growled, pulling a cigarette out of the pack and placing it between my lips. “And killing him would draw the attention of the commission. Harder to explain a Don and his only heir being killed in a drug trade gone wrong. And clearly, Boss needs this alliance. Or did you really think he was trying to marry Giovanni to Camilla out of goodwill with nothing in it for himself? He needs the Aianis.”
“Well, Giovanni missed an opportunity there. He should have married the Aiani whore and kept his nanny as his mistress. The best of both worlds. Have your pussy and eat two.”
