Chapter 26
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LORENZO (37YRS)
Stepping off the chopper, I headed for the elevator that would take me down to the club. “Why the fuck couldn’t she come to the estate?” I growled at my brother, striding next to me.
“Do you even have to ask,” he snickered. “You and I both know she won’t step foot in that so-called fuck pad as she calls it.”
“What the fuck is she doing here in the first place?”
Remo pocketed his phone and gave me one of usual nonchalant shrugs. If it didn’t concern him, he didn’t bother with details. “She hasn’t left Italy in over five years and something tells me it has to do with your recent fuck up.”
Shaking my head, I glanced at my brother. “So, you call getting rid of Arabella’s killer a fuck up.”
Again, he shrugged. “Shit hit the fan, Renz. Wasn’t one of your finest decisions taking out a major player for the D’Angelo’s and while I know it had to be done, she doesn’t. Fuck, brother, the last four has been filled with the most excitement I’d had in years. I was getting bored with the whole keep the peace shit, anyway.”
I grinned. My brother loved action, especially the kind that required spilling blood. I’d finally gotten rid of the fucker. Luca hadn’t survived his ordeal, not like we cared. I had to give the D’Angelo’s credit for hiding him so well over the years, yet the victory of avenging Arabella’s death had been sweet, repercussions be damned.
“Good luck,” Remo said as we walked out the elevator, giving me one of his maniacal smiles, like the sick fuck he was.
A couple of minutes later, I stood outside the meeting room next to my office and dragged in a deep breath, knowing I’d need it to keep my irritation at bay. It always became erratic around her. She knew I hated being summoned without a reason. This time, however, I had an inkling behind her unexpected visit. I stepped inside the large room bright with mid-morning sunlight streaming through the windows. Outside, the view of Manhattan was spectacular, the night image even more so.
“Lorenzo.”
I glanced away, taking in the regal vision sitting at the head of the rectangular boardroom table. Sophia Rossi, Don of a formidable mafia family and my mother. In a cream power suit, hair coiffed to perfection, makeup articulate, this woman had it in her to bring a man to his knees with just a look. Only, she’d yet to intimidate me and she knew it.
“Mother.” I moved toward her and waited for her to kiss both my cheeks before I lowered myself into a seat as Joey, her bodyguard placed himself behind her.
“You know why I’m here?”
Despite the infliction in her words, I merely cocked a brow, waiting for the outburst that usually turned less than ladylike when she didn’t get her way. Unlike her other two sons and the people she bossed around, I could see right through her bleached teeth and pretentious personality, probably since the day I was born. She was my mother, in blood only. Apart from the same blue eyes, we shared nothing else. She wore her power like a second skin, and I would’ve respected her tenacity had she achieved her status with a little more decorum than breaking family ties to get what she wanted.
“Would it make a difference if I said yes, or no?”
My mother and I couldn’t be more opposite. The hate between us was palpable every time we shared the same space. It was the reason I avoided going home. Since my grandfather’s death, the estate in Italy ceased to be home.
Surprisingly, she offered me a smile, a narcissistic one she reserved for people she was about to take down. “This feud between the families has gotten out of hand, Lorenzo. I’m here to finish what you started.” She linked her hands on the table, index fingers steepled and tapping a silent beat. This was her modus operandi. Make a jaw-dropping statement then wait. Wanting me to ask the how and the why. Anyone else would be squirming under her darkened stare, itching to get out of there.
Her presence might be dominating but not where I ruled. I met her gaze straight on. “Unless you plan on taking down the entire D’Angelo family, I’m not interested.”
“Since you had Luca killed, your uncle and I have been trying to pacify the D’Angelo’s into staying a full-blown war.”
“Which they started,” I reminded.
“Yes, but your actions could’ve been better handled.”
