Stepping out of the house, I pause. Like an omen in the making, the howl of the wind stills, ominous and more threatening than the brewing storm a second ago. Unnerved, I head for the car and stop. Something doesn’t feel right. I glance around before lifting my gaze to the bedroom windows on the second floor. It takes a second to register.
“Bella!” I yell and—
“Lorenzo?” The sudden shake to my shoulder yanked me out of a nightmare I relived every time my eyes closed. I was sleep deprived because of it but I didn’t care. The time for rest would come when I got the answers I needed.
“You okay, son? You were calling out in your sleep.”
Confused, I stared at Frank Scaglione, my mother’s brother, then sat up. “Long way from home. What are you doing here?” I raked a hand through my hair and rolled my neck to ease the tension at my nape.
“It’s been a while, Renz. Three years, I think.” He chuckled, using the nickname only my family dared to call me. “I figured it was time to pay my favorite nephew a visit.”
“Tells you just how good things are running here that you’ve never needed to visit before.” I didn’t keep the sarcasm out of my voice as I stood and walked over to the bar. While respect was key in the Rossi family, my uncle didn’t waste time reprimanding me for my lack thereof. He was accustomed to my brash desire to fight the norm. Still, he knew I was right. With three underbosses and fifteen capos to oversee, I was the least of their problems. As the only blood related capo, I ran a tight ship, made sure I was accountable for every minute detail and never fucked up. So far. “Drink?”
“The usual.”
Old in the game, my uncle enjoyed his Campari neat while I preferred mine on the rocks. Drinks in hand, I crossed the room and handed him the glass. “How’s the legs?” I asked, sipping my drink.
“Can we sit?”
Nodding, I gestured to the table. I sat while Frank ambled over, rested his walking sticks against the chair and took a seat on the opposite side.
“That’s better.” He sighed before downing his drink. “I miss that.” At my arched brow, he added, “The small things in life I can’t do no more. Standing for long periods. Threatening someone with my height by staring him down or kicking in his teeth when I can’t take the snivel anymore. Pounding into a fucking whore, hard and fast the way I liked it.” He snorted a laugh. “Now, I just have to lay back and take it like a fucking woman.” He shook his head on a dismal grunt. “I’ve seen better days, you know. The cold makes them throb like a bitch, and I don’t travel much because of the pain.” He massaged his thigh. “You remember that night, don’t you, Renz? When those Russian bastards stormed our club, put a bullet in my spine,” he scoffed. I nodded. “And remember how you retaliated the next day? Went in guns blazing, killing the lot of them?” I cocked a brow, sensing this conversation was headed somewhere but left it to play out. “And you remember what I said after your return?”
“It was time to pull back, to stop the war between us and them because we’d lost too many men already.”
“You were just a boy back then and I didn’t blame your hot-headedness.”
“Is there a point to this story, Frank?”
He took a drink and ran a slow hand through his more salt than pepper hair. “I wanted revenge, Renz, so badly, I could taste the coppery tang of blood on my tongue. But, while the Russians regrouped and grew in numbers, I sat back. Watched them take down more of our people. Still, I buried the pain of what they’d done to me. Yes, we got back at them through the arms they were dealing in, still, I wanted in on the action. But, I couldn’t. They took that away from me and now I have to watch myself. Just like you have to as well.” And there it was, the point of his fucking tirade.
“What are you not saying?” I kept my calm, only because I respected the man. He’d been like a father to me when my father spent his bonding time running the family business. As head of one of the legendary Italian families, my father was duty-bound. Frank made sure I didn’t forget my place in the hierarchy though and I had him to thank for where I sat today. A shrewd mafia leader at thirty-one with an easy lineage to the throne. And just like my father said, I could reach out and take it, snap the ties that bound me, but I planned to wait. The time had to be right.
“I know revenge for Bella’s death is eating at you and you’re determined to continue this crusade you’ve plunged into. I’m asking you to pull back,figliolo.” He sighed, calling me son.
“You’re fucking kidding me, right?” I shot up from my seat, grinding my teeth as I glared at my uncle. Any other man, and his blood would’ve painted my charcoal carpet a deep crimson. “Is Mother the reason you’re here?” I scowled.
He shook his head. “I came because I heard about the chaos—”
“Chaos!” I barked. “Arabella didn’t just die, Frank, she quit living three days before she did. Who does that? I feel like fucking shit because I could do nothing to stop it. Someone will pay.”
“Ti prego, figliolo, ascoltami.” He begged me to listen to him. “There’s been quiet for so long. Peace between the families.”
I knew where he was coming from, but I owed it to Bella to find out what happened. A month had gone by and there was nothing, not one person could tell me what happened. In the process, I’d killed nine men, mere soldiers, from opposing criminal families and burnt down three clubs. The repercussions of which were still to come. And Frank’s visit indicated I’d stirred shit back home in Italy. My family was highly respected which was probably the reason the lash back hadn’t happened yet. I cared two fucks either way. “How do I live if I don’t avenge her death?”
He stared at me, his dark brown eyes assessing my angry expression. “I understand, Renz. But you must move on. You need to find love again. Someone to heal your broken heart.”
I uttered a caustic laugh. “Love? What bullshit, even for you.” Frank had always been a romantic at heart and while he danced to my father’s hardcore tune, there was a side to him only I knew about.
“You just need to soften up a bit, my boy.”
I snorted out a laugh. “Soften up? You had one too many Camparis, uncle.”
He chuckled. “Love can do amazing things for that hardened heart of yours.”
I shook my head, ignoring his love crap. “So, what am I in for?”
“Apart from half the underworld wanting a piece of you?” His expression turned somber, letting me know shit was about to get downright ugly if I didn’t toe the line. “If you keep this up, sooner or later you’re going to spill the blood of someone a lot more important than a soldier—”
