But that’s not going to fucking be Sophia’s fate.Not as long as I have air in my lungs and the will in my heart to keep my kitten safe, alive and far, far away from this underground world that would surely steal her light.
Far too many minutes are spent in an internal debate as I watch my kitten lying protectively by her sister, but there’s no fucking way I could live with myself if something like what happened to my mom or her sister ever happened to Sophia.Even in the darkness and without opening her eyes at all, she shines light on the world and those around her.Her essence seeps into my very soul, giving me the strength to do what I know must be done.
The guard on duty has been with the family for twenty years.I’ll thank Leandro for pulling him from one of his trusted positions out on the street running our crews and putting him in charge of watching Sophia and Anna as soon as I see him again.Right now, Leandro needs time and space, as all of the Roselli boys do.Time to grieve what happened to our mother, to be thankful she’s still alive and will one day soon recover enough to tell us the things we need to know, and to prepare for the most brutal fucking war the city of Jersey has ever seen.
I send Jimmy a message to get an update on Georgeo, the fucking rat bastard who’s probably been feeding every move we make back to Gallini, and to have him meet me around front.When he arrives, he’ll fill me in on whether he and the others have been able to round that fucking rat up or get any additional information about the Gallinis from the men who were working for my father and are now sitting on ice in the warehouse where no one in their right mind wants to be if they’re an enemy of a Roselli.
When I get downstairs my father is in the great room pouring a glass of my Delmar, not his drink of choice, but after a night like this I suppose any alcohol to numb the pain will do.A conversation with him is not something I want to get involved in tonight, but one look at his face, and I change my mind.We may not always agree, but at the end of the day, he does have our backs and his love for my mother is unwavering, steadfast and true.
I walk to the crystal decanter on the bar and pour myself a glass and join him by the floor-to- ceiling window looking out over the front lawn.His dark eyes meet mine.“Nothing can ever prepare you for the ravages of war, especially when they use the love of your life against you.”
He’s not fucking wrong but it’s not going to happen to me and Sophia.I pat his back.I don’t fucking know what to say because my mind is swirling in a million different directions right now, but what I do know is that she will be avenged, whether he sees it that way or not.There will be no holding me and my brothers back from what we intend to do.The Rosellis will burn this fucking city down and rebuild it if that’s what it takes to put those fuckers in the ground.
Dad slams my sipping whiskey back in a long shot.“This is my fault, Massimo.I didn’t stay ahead of the curve, didn’t see the bastards closing in on our territory, and even worse, I didn’t trust the one man who saw it with the clarity of a born fucking leader.Effective immediately, I want you at the reins.You’ll have my support in everything you do Massimo, as long as you make me one promise.”
My jaw tightens as I swallow through the emotion, wishing that it had been anything but this that brought it to a head.“What’s that, Dad?”
“I want Barcelo Gallini and whoever was or is working for him to pay.I want him to suffer the way your mother suffered under his blade.Capisce?”
Finally, we fucking see eye to eye.“It will be done.”
My father looks into my eyes and nods.“I’m proud of you son.I always have been, I was just too scared of what I was seeing in the mirror, that age was creeping up on me taking my strength.I was fighting it when I should have been giving the last of it to you.I’ll call the elders tomorrow.Tonight, I’m going to go sit by your mother’s side and thank every fucking star in the sky that she’s able to breathe another day.
I don’t tell my father where I’m going.There will be time for more baring of our souls, but I don’t have the emotional energy tonight.Right now, I need to get as far away from Sophia as I possibly can and strategize the end of our enemies and beginning of a new Roselli reign in Jersey City before I fucking change my mind.
13
Sophia
It’s not until her hand squeezes mine that I wake, looking into the dark brown eyes that hold mine as morning light shines into the room.I glance around, flat-out amazed that I’ve slept for so long.“How are you feeling?”I ask, raising to stretch the kink from my neck after a night of sitting in the chair with my head resting on the mattress.
My sister’s voice is very audible.“Better, Sophia.How did you find me?”
“Barcelo took Massimo’s mom, and you and Dad were missing.We were looking for all of you.We found her at one of our old warehouses, and Barcelo took off.I remembered the times Papa used to take us out to the boathouse.The hope was we would find all of you there.”I take her hand in my own as tears fall from her eyes.“I’m so glad we found you, Anna.”
She nods, wiping tears and wincing as she tries to sit up.I move to help her right away.“The doctor has you wrapped pretty tight.Three busted ribs.”I don’t ask her about the other bruises that appeared to be fading, or the deep lacerations around her wrists that may turn to hideous scars that will never fade.Instead, I breathe through my rage, trying to keep a steady voice for the sake of my sanity and her health.
I have so many questions but she’s looking at me like just being awake and looking at the sunshine and me standing in front of her is overwhelming her.“Can I get you some breakfast?Maybe a little oatmeal and orange juice?”
Anna’s lip turns up in a half smile.“Oatmeal sounds so good.”Thank fuck.Something normal.I can get her breakfast but the minute I go to the door my chest tightens so hard with fear of leaving her that I don’t think I can go.Massimo has rats, they got into the house, they left a note for me when no one but someone in this house could have gotten it under my door.All of a sudden my mind is playing through all kinds of scenarios and not one of them good.I’m not about to leave my sister.Who knows what could happen.
I don’t want her to worry though.“I’ll ask for someone to make breakfast and bring it to us,” I tell her, sliding a hand in my pocket, checking for the gun I was carrying last night.My breathing relaxes feeling the smoothness of the barrel.At least with it, I can protect us from anything and anyone who walks through that door to do her harm.
“Sophia?”
I’m so caught up in my own thoughts that my name on her lips startles me.“Yes?”I ask, turning my full attention back to my sister.She wipes a single tear away from her face.“I thought Barcelo loved me.He just loved that I could give him the Cassone empire.I don’t think he’s going to let Papa go until he transfers everything over into his name.I don’t think he did yet or he would have killed him.”
My mind reels, wondering what the hell happened between her and Barcelo, why the marriage that was in the works didn’t move forward, because that would have solved everything for Barcelo.We all knew that once they were married, he would take over, at least the majority of the operations.
Anna will tell me when she’s ready.I have to be patient and let her do this in her own time.But there may be limited time for our father, no matter that she believes Barcelo will keep Papa alive.He is far more ruthless and sadistic than anyone ever thought.Anna’s condition and that of Massimo’s mother is proof of that.But the bastard is going to pay, I’ll make damn sure of that.
I walk to the door and open it cautiously.The gruff guard outside stands across the hall, tall, muscled and stern looking.His eyes meet mine, but he doesn’t say a word.I gesture down the hall with a nod.“I need Elsie.Could you send her up, please?”I keep a hand in my pocket, my finger wrapped around that reassuring polished piece of steel that can put a bullet in his head before he can make a fucking move if that’s what he’s got on his mind.But he just nods and says, “Yes.”
Clearly not a man of many words and not the slight bit interested in doing us harm no matter that my runaway mind is causing me to overthink everything.“Thank you.Where is Massimo?”
His eyes narrow as though I should know better.“You’ll need to ask him.”
I arch one eyebrow into the air.Like in my current state of mind and my sister’s fragile condition I have time for guessing games.“I’m supposed to do that without knowing where he’s at how?”
