“So, you know?” I scratched my chin. At his nod, I dragged in a much-needed breath of air and now understood why he hadn’t left. “Let’s go.” I began walking to the car and he followed.
When we returned home, Lucia was sitting on my bedroom balcony. She glanced over her shoulder as I entered, and her eyes widened. “What happened to you?”
“What the fuck are you doing in here?” I barked, removing my soiled shirt and tossing it to the floor.
“I thought you could use some company.” She drew closer and the look in her eyes was a blatant invitation to fuck.
“I have a beautiful wife who fucks like a queen, Lucia, get the fuck out of my room.” I walked into the bathroom, stripped, and stepped into the shower. When I walked out ten minutes later, she was sitting on the edge of my bed with a glass of brandy in her hand. She stood and held it out to me. “Should I have you physically thrown out? Over the balcony?” I snarled.
“Please, I just need a minute then I’ll leave. Promise.”
“Speak.” I whipped off the towel around my waist not caring that she stared at my cock like a fucking bitch in heat and entered my closet.
“Leo asked me to do something.”
My ears pricked up and I turned to look at her while stepping into dark pants and when I slipped on the white button-down, I walked out. “I’m listening.” I accepted the brandy she held out and downed it in a quick gulp. She took the glass from my hand, and I began buttoning up the shirt.
She went back to the bed then turned with a document in her hand. “He asked me to get you to sign this.”
“Why the fuck did he ask you to bring it to me? Where is he?” Frowning, I took a step closer and reached for the document.
“He had a meeting to get to and rushed out, shoving this in my hands as I came in. Said he was in a hurry. Something about the roundtable.”
“How long ago did he leave?” What was the fucker up to, attending a roundtable without me knowing? The roundtable, started by my father as one of the most influential mobsters among his band of thieves, consisted of twenty-five crime lords who met once a month to discuss their businesses or as I called it, complain about shit. None of the meetings convened without my authority.
I looked at the document again and the word ‘proxy’ stood out. I tried to read the words below it but they seemed to fade off the page in spots, grow large and smaller in others. I shook my head, blinked, and tried to refocus.
Lucia said something but it sounded weird—a warped echo booming in my ears before decreasing in volume. I glanced up, her face, however, distorted for a second. I shook my head once more, the document slipping from my hand. My vision focused for a second on Lucia’s Cheshire cat smile. Her hand on my chest, she turned the brandy glass in her hand.
My heart rate flipped the switch to high as a single word flashed through my mind.
Drugged.
Fuck! I shoved her away and stumbled to the bathroom. Opening the faucet at the sink, I stuck my head under the running water, then turned my head and opened my mouth, swallowing in quick gulps and hoping it would influence the drug. Even a little to fucking spill blood. Rage gave me strength and I gripped the edge until my knuckles balked at the pressure.
“That’s not going to work, lover boy,” Lucia’s grainy voice filtered through the hiss of the spray.
“Wrong, bitch.” I lunged for her, my movement slower than usual and she shot out of the bathroom. When I followed on unstable feet, Leo was standing in my bedroom. Lucia disappeared behind him, using his body to shield her from me.
“How much did you give him?” Leo asked, his voice laced with distinct fear. The gun in his hand wavering a little. “He should’ve been knocked out by now.” He sounded annoyed.
I grinned. “You two make quite the fucking pair, don’t you? Are you fucking each other too?” I could hear the slur in my voice. My time was limited. If I was going down, I was taking at least one body with me. “What’s the deal, Leo? Kill me and get what?” I took a step forward and his gun lifted slightly.
“Just sign the fucking proxy, Vincenzo. It gives me power over everything you own and to command the roundtable. You don’t have to die, I’ll give you enough money to make it a comfortable life.”
“You think you have it in you to run what I built, fucker?” I sneered.
“Yes.”
I barked out a laugh. “You need balls to do what I do, Leo, not empty fucking coconuts and shit for brains.” I took another step forward. “Where the fuck is Gianna?” I growled. “I know you didn’t follow my orders.”
“Korea.” He grinned. My blood turned icy. “You should’ve married Lucia instead of that stupid child who was nothing more than a pain in the ass and now you’ll never see her again. She’ll make the perfect whore—”
“Fucker!” I charged.
“Shoot him,” Lucia screamed, shaking our uncle’s shoulder.
The air filled with a loud crack and my left shoulder jerked, molten heat seeping into my skin. I didn’t care. Throwing myself at him I grabbed his hand holding the gun and twisted. My strength waned but not enough to stop me. Lucia grabbed my shirt trying to pull me off Leo. The material ripped and she fell backward with the impact, landing on her ass with a yelp. I wrestled Leo as he tried to angle the weapon toward my chest. My forearms strained with enough force to bunch the muscles, veins popping beneath rigid skin.
