Chapter One
The soft rustle of leaves and din of far-off traffic are the only sounds to be heard apart from the priest’s droning sermon by the silent grave. I’m surrounded by family, but the only one who matters isn’t here. Almost all of our members and their families showed up today to pay their respects to Sage. All of them look at me with speculation, rumors already flying that I was the one responsible for the well-loved man’s death. I heard the quiet mutters as I entered the church for the service, but I ignored them and held my head high as I sat in the front pew alone. I kept my emotions in check and my face blank as the priest provided a sermon suitable for someone who was well respected and will be sorely missed. Sage was the charming face of the Russos and will be mourned by many.
A soft sob across from me has me rolling my eyes internally as I keep my stony gaze on the coffin as it lowers into the ground. I can’t believe they had the audacity to attend Sage’s funeral. I lift my gaze and meet Gio’s across the grave. He has his arm around Casey, who is crying quietly against his shoulder. His eyes are full of anger and hatred, but I just raise an eyebrow at him, and his expression quickly turns to shame, and he looks away. He knows all this is his fault. He didn’t listen to Dad, andnow we are up shit creek without a paddle and Sage is gone, no longer able to be used against me like Mario planned. Only Gio retains that title, but not for long. My plan is in place, and when I’m done, no one is going to know what hit them.
My gaze shifts to the row of people behind him. I spent the last two weeks alternating between screaming with anger, crying with hurt, and plotting like a fiend. I trusted them after trusting no one but Sage, and just like Stacey, they betrayed me. Fool me twice, shame on me.
They are sitting with Penelope and Mario. Mario studies me quizzically, like he’s trying to figure out how my mind ticks, but he’s never going to figure it out. Penelope just looks bored and studies her fingernails, not meeting my eyes despite recent revelations, there was no love lost between her and Sage. Xavier sits next to them, stone-faced with his arms crossed, wearing an expensive suit. His gaze is also fixed on mine. His poker face is as good, if not better, than mine, and I hate him for it. Not a sliver of emotion shines through. We could be putting a stranger in the ground for all the emotion he shows.
Next, I look at Tristan. There are tears glistening in his eyes, but they don’t fall. What a good little actor he is. It actually appears like he cared about Sage when we all know the truth. I’m not sure why he is keeping up the facade. Vienna’s even worse. When I turn my head to look at her, she’s shaking in Colton’s arms, and her eyes and nose are red like she hasn’t stopped crying for days. I wonder how she managed that. Maybe some chili powder. She plays a grieving friend so well, I’m sure half the people here will believe she truly is upset. Colton is murmuring to Vienna as he watches me, but unlike Xavier’s cold stare and Tristan’s emotional one, his eyebrows are drawn together, and he looks at me quizzically like his adoptive father. I think he’s trying to figure out what my next move will be. Hopefully, I will surprise him.
“Mr. Russo, would you like to say a few words?” The priest gestures to my brother, who stands and unfolds a piece of paper, and this time I do roll my eyes. Fucking Gio. He knew Sage longer, but I knew him way better than Gio or my dad ever did. Of course this is one occasion where he can’t let the responsibility fall to me. There are too many people watching. He needs to pretend he’s a good little mob boss to everyone who knows better.
I don’t hear a word of his eulogy, my mind already past the funeral and on my next step. I’m so focused, in fact, that the hand that lands on my shoulder makes me jump.
“Tori, it’s time,” Ben whispers from the seat behind me. I’m surrounded by my most loyal. Suzette and Ben sit behind me with Lacey and Bryce next to them. Flanking me are Sam and Dean, who are on full alert, their heads constantly swiveling as they watch for danger, although most of their focus has been on the people directly across from us because of their betrayal. They know where the danger lies now, and Sam sneers as Gio takes a rose and tosses it on top of the coffin before helping Casey to her feet, allowing her to do the same thing.
Fuck, he’s treating her like she’s his wife, allowing her to go before me. I will gut him for this—or I would have if I didn’t have other plans. Only my plan for vengeance stops me from pulling out a gun and filling both their chests with lead.
Ignoring them, I take my one branch to the grave. Unlike Gio and Casey, I don’t have a rose. I have a branch of Sage’s latest strain of weed in my hands, and as I toss it into the grave, the priest sucks in a breath of shock. The rest of the crowd rumbles their amusement as they line up to do the same. I ordered his newest crop to be stripped and distributed to all our members so they could file past and pay their last respects to Sage. I’m sure he would be furious with me if he knew, but he’s never going to. I cross myself like the good little Catholic girl I was raised tobe and walk away without looking back. It doesn’t take long for Sam, Dean, and the others to catch up with me, and we make our way to the limo to return to the estate for the wake. It’s an event I didn’t want to have, but Gio insisted. He said we need to show a strong, united front in the wake of my actions. I wanted to gouge his eyeballs out with a rusty spoon, but Ben and Suzy talked me down. Just because it will be held in my home, much like my father’s was, doesn’t mean I actually have to attend it, but we must keep up appearances, and as it turns out, it fits perfectly with my plans.
The drive to the estate is quiet. My replacement limo carries my inner circle, but I ignore them as I stare out the window at the forest as it passes by.
“What happened to Lorenzo’s body?” Bryce breaks the silence, and everyone looks at me.
I nod to a paper bag sitting on one of the shelves next to the small mini bar. “Cremated him. I haven’t quite figured out what to do with the ashes,” I mutter, and Suzy wrinkles her nose.
“That’s him?”
“Yeah. I thought about pissing on them, but it seemed like too much work. Maybe I’ll just flush them down the toilet. It would be the easiest thing to do.”
“Sage would have used them for fertilizer for his plants. He would have called it poetic justice,” Ben says with a small smile, and I can’t help but smile with him.
“Yeah, he would have. Maybe I’ll put them down there, and whoever takes over for him can do that.”
“Have you thought about what’s going to happen with the drug side of the business? We can’t let it slide for too long, and you’ve lost both of your main manufacturers.”
I sigh heavily, not wanting to think about any of these things today, but alas, life goes on, and we need to put plans into motion.
“One of the guys who used to work for him in the grow house is going to step in for the moment. Sage trusted him to take over whenever we were out of town. He will do for now. As for the other manufacturing, I have some irons in the fire,” I say vaguely, and that seems to satisfy them for now.
I feel eyes on me, and when I look up, I see Suzy studying me carefully. “Are you okay, Tori?”
I’m getting sick of people asking me that, but I know they are doing it because they care.
“I’m fine,” I reply and turn my attention back to the forest. “Did that thing I ordered happen?” I ask Dean, not bothering to look at him. Neither Lacey nor Bryce know the plan. The less people who know, the better, so only my two bodyguards, Ben, and Suzy know what is going on.
“Yes, I spoke to Mickey. He’s on it.”
Ah, Mickey. I finally decided it was time for him to die too. We pulled the plug on the imposter in the hospital, and the news spread like wildfire through the funeral today. I’m sure many people will offer me double condolences once we get to the house. What nobody knows, though, not even Gio, is that Mickey wasn’t completely paralyzed in his accident. His spinal cord was swollen, which temporarily paralyzed him. When I spoke to him last week, when he told me about the traitors, and it was just him and me on the phone, he informed me he had full use of his legs again.
The relief I felt almost outweighed the fury that pulsed through me. I now have someone else I can rely on, and he’s going to work from the shadows to achieve the next goal. Soon, we will be one step closer to making sure the Maricuso family goes the same way as most of the other families on the West Coast—straight into their own unmarked graves.
“Are you ready for this?” Lacey asks as the limo pulls up at the front door, allowing us to enter through the front for a change.
I look at all the cars parked on either side of the driveway and sigh. “Not at all, but sometimes we have to do things we don’t want to. That seems to apply a lot in my life.”
When the car comes to a stop, I allow everyone to climb out before I do, quietly preparing myself to field what I’m sure will be numerous questions that will be hard to answer.
