"Not really," I say. "Though I'm surprised you would consider it." I look him up and down. "You should know what I'd do to someone who'd betray me."
Marcello snorts. "Easy," he holds up his hands. "I wouldn't be here telling you if I was about to stick a knife in your back." He stands beside me. "Antonio didn't just make you a weapon, Saint. He made me one too. Just a different kind."
I study him. Really look at him. See the calculation in his eyes. The coldness that I thought was just lawyer detachment.
"You want this." It's not a question.
"Of course I wanted this. I'm his son. But he chose you, and it's yours by right. Your father would have been Don." No resentment in his voice. Just fact. "And I respect that. I accepted it a long time ago."
"Why?"
He sighs. "Because even if I sometimes fucking hated my father, he was brilliant. He held power for four decades. If he thought you couldn't do it, he wouldn't have named you his heir."
"Then why are the captains breathing down my fucking neck?"
"Because you're sloppy." His voice is sharp now. "Because you let emotion control you. Because you married a woman who is a ticking fucking time bomb."
My jaw tightens as he mentions Gemma. "Careful," I warn.
"It's true and you know it." He pulls out his phone, shows me photos. Gemma entering Eclipse. Gemma meeting with someone in an alley—could be Alexei, could be one of his men. Gemma receiving a package from a Morozov soldier. "How long did you think this would stay hidden?"
I barely react. Marcello isn't going to use this to bury me. If he were, he'd have done it by now. He wants something else.
"How long have you known?"
"Dad wanted her followed. He didn't trust Bianca Nero, and by default…" He pockets the phone. "Antonio knew you were too deep in it to think clearly."
"I hated her," I remind him. "I made that very clear."
Marcello shrugs. "Love. Hate. Two sides of a very confusing coin. Dad wanted the family protected. He thought she might be a plant. He respected Bianca, but he knew how she operated."
I glance at the file. "Who else knows?"
"No one, yet, but Saint, it won't stay quiet for long, especially considering what you did to Alexei."
I snort. "He's not going to talk."
"He'd love nothing more, and when he does, the Neros and the captains are going to be gunning for you and her."
I narrow my eyes. "What are you suggesting?"
"Get rid of her."
I grab him by the collar before I can stop myself and slam him into the wall. "Watch what you fucking say."
He doesn't flinch. "Hit me if you want. Won't change the facts."
I release him. Step back. I close my eyes, taking a deep breath.
"There's more," he says, straightening his jacket. "Adrian is closing in on her."
I snort. "Adrian can't find his cock to take a piss," I mutter. "And I've handled him."
Marcello shakes his head. "You did a shit job at it. He's slowly making his way through every contact he can drum up, and if they don't speak, he sends them to their wives in pieces. Only a matter of time before he gets to someone who can squeal."
"He won't kill her. Code. No wives," I shake my head. "Besides, she is his sister. He's a cold fucker, but I can't see him killing his blood."
"He won't kill her," Marcello agrees. "But he'll invoke the marriage contract."
