I start again. “I have to marry for an alliance—”
“We know that, Vin,” Tommy interrupts. “You think we don’t understand duty? We get it. But the way you handled it—”
“Was necessary.” I cut him off, my voice steely. “There can be no connection between her and I. It’s safer that way.”
“Safer for who?” Matti asks.
I don’t answer, because I don’t fucking know.
“Aurelio,” I say, forcing the word out. “We’re talking about Aurelio. Where is he?”
Tommy and Matti exchange a look, then Tommy picks up his phone again, and Matti turns back to his laptop.
Good. This is better. This is what I know how to do.
I may not be the man Sophie needs, but I know how to kill the man who’s been destroying my family.
I study the maps, the surveillance photos, the financial records until Aurelio’s patterns emerge like a ghost. He’s careful, but he’s also predictable. And he’s paranoid.
The brownstone. It has to be the brownstone.
My phone buzzes again. I glance at the screen, expecting Valentina calling back.
But it’s not Valentina. It’s Sophie, her name still saved with the crown emoji I added after the first time I called herregina.
I stare at the screen, thumb hovering over the answer button until it stops buzzing. A few seconds later, a voicemail notification appears.
I should delete it and block her number, make this a clean break. Instead, I slip the phone into my pocket, the unheard voicemail heavy.
“Found him,” Matti says suddenly. “The brownstone. He’s been moving money through a web of shell corps and the one at the center? Registered to that address.”
“Good.” I grab my jacket, check my gun. “Let’s move.”
“Now?” Tommy stands. “Vin, it’s getting dark. We should plan this out better, give the men time to prep—”
“Now.” I’m already heading for the door. “I want this finished.”
Once Aurelio’s dead, once I’m officially boss, the contract becomes active. I’ll marry Ashlyn MacCuinn, secure the ports, and Sophie Bellamorte will just be a memory. A memory I’ll spend the rest of my life trying to forget.
We pile into the SUV, weapons loaded, plans made. I ride shotgun while Tommy drives and Matti’s in the back, both of them silent.
As we cross the bridge into Brooklyn, my hand finds the phone in my pocket. Sophie’s voicemail, still unheard. I pull it out, stare at the notification. Then I delete it without listening.
Some beautiful things, you have to destroy before they destroy you.
The brownstone appears in the distance, windows dark, security lights bright. Somewhere inside, Aurelio Demonio is waiting, no idea that everything ends tonight. All of it.
I check my gun one more time. This is who I am. This is what I was born to do. Not loving Sophie or making her come while whispering that she’s my queen.
“Vin.” Matti’s voice cuts through my thoughts. “You ready?”
I shove Sophie’s face out of my mind. Lock away the memory of her touch, her taste, her trust.
“Yeah.” I chamber a round. “Let’s finish this.”
The SUV goes dark as we kill the lights and coast to a stop two blocks from the brownstone.
Time to become the boss. Time to kill my father. Time to marry a woman I don’t love and spend the rest of my life pretending I don’t miss the one I let go.
