“He hasn’t asked me for anything, Mia. I don’t think he’d be stupid enough to ask for double when he’s barely going to get the agreed rate.”
“But if he wasn’t talking to you, then...” I trailed off, thinking of the conversation Angelo had. “Oh God...” My blood ran cold as I realised the possibility of who else he could be speaking to. Teamed with the other comment he’d made about people wanting to see the back of me, it made sense to jump to the conclusion that Angelo had found Xavier and was looking out for himself before the rest of us. “Luc.”
I wasn’t the only one to make the mental leap. Dante straightened up so quickly that he knocked a bowl of the counter and it fell to the floor, smashing to pieces and scattering the contents everywhere. “He wouldn’t dare,” Dante said.
“Is everything okay?” Franco asked, getting to his feet.
Luc put the bottle of wine on the counter and pulled out his phone, but Dante was already striding out of the kitchen.
“He wouldn’t fucking dare!” Dante roared.
“Luc,” I whispered, worried about what Angelo had done and where it left us.
“Stay here,” he instructed firmly, following Dante from the room. “Stay with her,” Luc ordered Franco. “We have some business that we need to deal with.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
Dante
Iran down the streets back towards my home, Luc's footsteps sounding behind me. Blood meant nothing. Blood family was nothing but circumstance and timing and a shitty tool for emotional blackmail. It was lines drawn in the sand that could be washed away when the tide came in and forgotten with ease. Family, true family were the people you made your own. The people who would die for you and who you would die for.
And yet, I thought Angelo might just be worth taking the chance on. A mutual agreement where we both got something we so desperately needed. We needed Xavier's location and Angelo needed a hefty paycheck that would get him on his way out of his black hole of debt. Angelo's price was high, but Xavier must have offered him more than we'd agreed on. If only we'd known. Greed was a sin that we were all guilty of, but Angelo’s day of reckoning had arrived.
Throwing the door of the house open, I yelled his name, "ANGELO!"
There was a scrambling sound of movement and I ran through to the kitchen, where he opted to work most days, to see the room empty. I walked through into the living room to see Luc had Angelo pinned against the wall, forearm pressed tight against his throat. Angelo's phone laid on the floor next to them, having fallen during the scuffle. He must have been on a call when Luc caught him.
"Where do you think you're going?" Luc asked him, spittle flying with the words. "I think we need to have a little chat."
Angelo writhed against the wall, red in the face as he struggled to take in enough air. I pulled my gun and aimed it at him ready to kill. It had been years since I'd felt such white-hot anger hit me. I had no desire to ask questions but would rather be done with the traitor because I couldn't bear to look at him. Couldn't bear to believe that I manifested from the same gene pool as this rat. He'd been willing to put my true family at risk.
"Brother, wait," Luc told me, looking over his shoulder. He'd need to move if I wanted a clear shot. Part of me hoped Angelo would run just to give me a chase. It was never fun to shoot a sitting duck. "He knows more than he's letting on," Luc said. "I want that information first."
I looked between them both, trying to contain the violent anger that felt like it would split my skull. Angelo was clawing desperately at Luc's arm. His nails caught and broke the skin in small patches.
"Fine," I spat the word out.
Luc let him go and as I predicted, Angelo made a break for the door, but Luc anticipated the move and caught him. He pinned Angelo's hands behind his back and swung him around to face me. Angelo wasn't a fighter. He was barely a man.
"May as well work some of that anger out," Luc said to me with a twisted smile.
Putting my gun away, I rolled up the sleeves of my shirt.
"Dante! Dante!" Angelo said. The fear and panic made his voice waver an octave higher than usual. "Think about this first," he pleaded desperately. "I'm your family."
"You're pathetic," I hissed at him.
The rest of his pleas were drowned out as my fist connected to his face. Punch after punch. He struggled at first but he took the impact of each blow, Luc holding him as steady as possible. He had one job to do for us, get paid and leave. It should never have led to this, but greed had made him sly and he could choke on it.
"Enough, D," Luc told me.
Blood dripped down Angelo's face and was smeared across my knuckles and the back of my hand. He hung limply in Luc's arms. "Warehouse," I said. "I'm not cleaning up his shit from this house." I refused to mess up my floors for the likes of him.
"Call Mia," Luc ordered me. "Tell her we won’t be home for dinner. Tell her Franco doesn’t leave until we get back. Are you good to drive?"
I nodded my head and pulled out my phone and keys. Mia wouldn’t blame me, but I felt ashamed that I’d let her down.
“Dante?” she answered the phone. She sounded so worried that it broke my heart. “Are you and Luc okay?”
