“You’ve missed two family dinners in a row, and you’re hurting my wife’s feelings.”
Wife.
“I love Lulu, you know that, but family dinner isn’t high on my priority list these days.”
“No, disemboweling and dismembering men seems to be all the rage for you.” His ice-blue eyes hold mine as he takes another drink of the whiskey. “At the risk of sounding too soft, I’m worried about you.”
Shaking my head, I push off the counter, but he doesn’t leave it alone.
“If you’re this upset, it’s because you’re second-guessing yourself.”
“No, I’m not.”
Yes, I fucking am.
“We saw the evidence, Julian.”
“I’m not talking about this with you. It doesn’t matter. It’s over. She’s gone.”
“It does fucking matter.” He stands and follows me into the living room. “Because now you’re being reckless.”
“No, I’m not. I’m taking care of business. I’ve let things slide for too long, was too lenient. It’s time the people in this city remember who the fuck we are.”
He nods slowly. “Or, you’re?—”
“Stop.” My voice is hard as fucking granite.
“You’re grieving,” he says quietly. “I get it. If it was Eloise ... I can’t even think it.”
“It’s not Eloise,” I remind him. “And it’s my own fault for buying her innocent doe-eyed act, thinking that she was sweet and perfect and not as ruthless as her piece-of-shit father.”
“Natasha isn’t ruthless,” Rome says, shaking his head.
“Are you telling me that you think I was wrong?” I stare at him, incredulous. “You werefucking there, like you said. You saw it all. I sent you that video of her with her father. She was fucking spying on me. Onus.”
I throw my glass against the wall, not feeling any better when it shatters, and then push my hands into my hair.
“I know what we saw,” he says quietly and then takes a deep breath. “I hope we’re right, Julian.”
“Weare. Because if we’re not, that means I kicked my innocent fucking wife out on her ass and left her at her father’s doorstep.”
He winces and then nods. “What are we going to do about Ivanov?”
“His days are numbered, but I don’t just want him. I want his entire organization, and to do that, we need to plan. I’ve been a little busy.”
“We’ll all help you,” he reminds me. “Now, really, you need to move the fuck out of this apartment. It’s depressing as fuck. No wonder you want to kill everyone.”
I glance around, taking in the bile-colored, empty walls and plain hardwood. It’s bare bones. No decorations, just the simplest furniture. And like he said, there’s no view.
I took the worst apartment in my building. We never use this unit.
But this is what I deserve after I got my men killed and tore my own heart out of my chest.
This is what I deserve for forgetting who the fuck I am.
I’m not the kind of man who lives happily ever after. I’m the head of the Greek Mafia. That’s my job. My whole reason for being.
“Whatever you’re thinking to yourself right now is bullshit,” Rome says, and I just flip him the bird, making him laugh.
