“Right.” Mariella rolls her eyes. “Anyway, negotiations have dragged on forever, but I think we’ve finally reached a compromise.”
“What is it?” Val asks.
“We need to pivot to less obvious practices,” Angelo announces. “Disappearing women raises too many red flags, and it’s only a matter of time before you’re exposed.”
“So what are we supposed to do?” Serafina frowns.
“Deal with the root of the problem,” Mariella explains. “I can grudgingly admit that, as many women as we’ve helped, there’s always been one fatal flaw in this plan. We can move them out of the country, get them new identities, and start fresh, but it’s never a guarantee that they won’t be tracked down or recognized at some point. The only fail-proof option is eliminating the threats entirely.”
The room falls silent as everyone processes that information. It’s not really a shocking development, considering we’ve handed out poison to the women we couldn’t safely remove. In those cases, the wives had to kill their husbands themselves. But Mariella has also had to use lethal measures during a few incidents. Those were always last-resort options though.
“I thought that was the entire reason we had to hit pause.” Val looks at Angelo. “You didn’t want us involved in something so risky.”
“I still don’t,” he says. “That’s why we’ll be handling that part from now on.”
I glance between the two men as an unsettling realization hits me. When he says we, he really means Romeo. His job in theCosa Nostrais to get rid of people, and up until now, it’s always felt like some distant, mysterious thing. But this is different.
A weird, panicky feeling washes over me as I consider how dangerous this could be for him.
“I don’t like this idea.” The words slip out before I can stop them.
Everyone swings their gazes to me, including Romeo, and I shoot him a glare to hide my feelings.
“Gabs.” Abella leans closer, lowering her voice. “What’s going on?”
She can tell I’m upset, but I couldn’t rationalize it even if I tried.
“It’s just…not the way we do things.”
“I understand this is a big change.” Mariella meets my gaze. “But I’ve thought it through, and it makes sense. They can offer us protection, and we can keep the network alive.”
I can’t argue that point with her. She’s the one who created Aegis, and it’s not my place to tell her how to run it. But the idea of Romeo putting himself at risk makes me ill.
I pull the lollipop from my mouth, the sugar souring on my tongue.
“So you’re willing to betray your own brotherhood?” Chantel asks pointedly, shifting the focus to her.
“It’s not a betrayal.” Angelo’s eyes darken. “My men are held to the same standards I live by.”
“And what about The Society?” Serafina questions. “They have their own justice system. This won’t go over well if we’re exposed.”
“That won’t happen.” Angelo’s voice dips, carrying a lingering note of rage over what IVI did to him.
“How can you be so sure?” Lucia challenges. “There’s a reason we didn’t use the poison for every case. It would be suspicious?—”
“We won’t use theBellamorte,” Mariella cuts in. “It will be clean. Heart attacks, car accidents, financial problems leading to disappearances. There are plenty of options.”
A beat passes, but I can see the slow ripple of acceptance sweeping through the room. Even I can admit it’s a good strategy, with the exception of Romeo being involved.
“Why don’t we put it to a vote?” Abella suggests.
Murmurs of agreement echo around the table. Unsurprisingly, everyone votes in favor of the change.
“Alright, let’s plan on reconvening our monthly meetings,” Mariella says. “If anything else comes up in the interim, I’ll let you know.”
Chatter fills the room as I rise on stiff legs and push in my chair. When I turn around, Romeo’s standing so close I nearly collide with him.
“Don’t worry, short stack.” He plucks the lollipop from my hand and slides it into his mouth. “You won’t have to see me…much.”
