Before that, we’d had a good relationship. But over the years, I learned something: it’s far easier to face an enemy head-on than a friend who’s secretly plotting to stab you in the back. With the first, you sleep with your eyes open. With the second, one day you wake up to find a knife buried to the hilt in your spine.
I draped my arm over the back of the couch, leaned back, and gave him a look. “What do you want?”
Brando didn’t waste a second. “You know exactly what I want, Carlo. We need to deal with Aldo. He’s screwing with my business again.”
“What’s he done this time?”
“He’s hosting underground fights on my turf. And everyone knows I’ve got the exclusive rights to those matches.”
“And you’re absolutely sure it’s him?”
“Who else would have the balls to cross me like that?”
“Just because he kicked your ass a few years ago doesn’t automatically mean he’s behind this.”
His eyes flared. “I was only sixteen. If you’d backed me up then, that bastard would’ve never dared to come at me now.”
“I’m not on your payroll,” I replied coldly. “And I’m not your bodyguard. You carry the Bruni name, so start acting like it. Learn to fight your own battles. And win.”
“But you’re my brother. You’re supposed to back me up. If you don’t, who the hell will?”
“Half-brother. Don’t forget that.”
A red flush crept over his face. “Tony doesn’t see me as his brother because we don’t share the same father. You don’t count me as yours because we’re not from the same mother, and of course, because in your eyes, I’m a threat to your throne.”
His jaw tightened, his voice dropping into something firmer, steadier, dead serious. “Let me tell you something, Carlo. I’ve got no desire to be the Mafia king. Not now. My life is perfect with women, booze, and gambling. But if one day I decide that the only way to deal with the bastards circling me is to take the crown, I might just go for it.”
He didn’t wait another second and stormed out.
The little punk thought he could threaten me. Let him try. No one would ever take what was rightfully mine. I’d die first before letting that happen.
SEVEN
Carlo
The big night had arrived, and still, there was no word from Maxim. Since I didn’t join the others for meals, I’d only seen Emily once, through the balcony doors of my room. Hers was directly across from mine, which only deepened my suspicion. Tony had placed her there deliberately. He wanted me to see her.
I slipped into my formal suit, adjusted my cufflinks, and decided to forgo the tie. This party wasn’t just important, it was critical. According to the doctor, my father had no more than two months left. Which meant the transfer of power was imminent. My coronation, something I’d been preparing for all my life, was finally within reach.
But I knew Carmen and that bastard Giuseppe wouldn’t go quietly. They’d been working for years to turn the underbosses against me, sowing doubt, twisting loyalties, poisoning the ground I’d built with blood and precision. They wouldn’t step aside without a war. Tonight was the perfect opportunity to separate the loyal from the traitors.
Most of the underbosses had already pledged their allegiance to me in secret, after the accident that left my father paralyzed and silent. According to Mafia law, the crown was mine by right. But Giuseppe wouldn’t stop meddling. Killing him back then would’ve triggered chaos.
The underbosses still trusted him at the time. And for all his scumbag ways, trafficking women, for instance, I had to hand it to him: the bastard was sharp when it came to business. But after tonight, there was no reason to keep him breathing. His time was up. And his death would be my first message to the rest of them.
When I stepped out of my room, Lucia was already waiting. She wore a floor-length ivory gown, her makeup minimal, unnecessary, really. I felt nothing for her, but I couldn’t deny it, she looked like royalty. They called her the Sun Princess. One look at her, and no one questioned why.
“We need to go. The guests have been waiting a long time,” she said, her voice strained. She was usually composed and nervous around me, but tonight, she was clearly on edge.
I gave her a brief nod and walked ahead. As we neared the hall, I reached for her hand, and the chill of her skin made me pause. I glanced over. She looked paler than she had minutes ago. Her hands were trembling.
I didn’t need to ask why. I gently took her by the arms and pulled her a little closer. “Nothing bad will happen to you tonight, Lucia. I have no reason to hurt you. And no interest in it either.”
She forced a smile and wrapped both hands around mine. “You’ve been kind to me these past two years, Carlo. You gave me a life my father never would’ve allowed. You respected me. He never did. I want you to know I’m grateful. Truly. And I’d never hurt you. Not willingly.”
I narrowed my eyes. There was something in her words, something off. I didn’t know what it was yet, but I already knew I wouldn’t like it. Still, tonight wasn’t the time for questions. Nothing would be allowed to ruin this show of strength.
I turned to Lorenzo, standing by the door in his formal suit. “Is everything ready?”
