A knock at the door interrupts my self-recrimination. Adriano enters without waiting for permission, his face grim.
“You should eat something.” He sets a plate with a bagel on it. “The chef is?—”
“I’m not hungry.”
“Too fucking bad. You need to eat to?—”
“Jesus, you sound like a mother.”
He leans over my desk. “I don’t want to die because you’re not levelheaded or strong. Eat the fucking bagel.”
Asshole. I take a bite of the bagel. “Happy?”
“Not nearly.” He sits in the chair in front of my desk.
“They all need to go. The best way to avoid a full out war is to take out the family.”
Adriano's expression doesn't change. He's always been the executioner of our family, so the talk of eliminating people doesn’t bother him. "All of them?”
I know he’s asking about Isabella and perhaps her mother. We’ve always been known not to hurt women or children. Mrs. Vitale is a shell of a woman, not worth killing. Then again, she’s clearly miserable. Perhaps she’d welcome death.
But Isabella…
The security footage loops again. Enrico slipping into the building using the key Isabella had to have handed him.
“Mrs. Vitale can live, but she needs to leave.”
Adriano studies me. “And your wife?”
“They destroyed a shipment worth millions. They infiltrated our operation through her."
Adriano arches a brow. "You're sure about that?"
I glare at him. “You’ve seen the footage. Enrico had my key. The key I kept right here.” I open and then slam the drawer. “The only person who could have given it to him was Isabella."
"The same Isabella who looked at you like you hung the fucking moon?" Adriano shakes his head. “I don’t know. You need to be sure, Alessandro.”
"Yeah, I liked her." Adriano's admission surprises me. "Reminded me of Eva, actually. That same fire underneath all that proper bullshit."
Eva betrayed us as well, although the circumstances were slightly different. And Eva was coerced and eventually tried to end her betrayal by faking her death. Isabella was a willing participant.
"That's not the comparison you want to make right now," I warn.
"No? Eva betrayed me, lied to me, and still ended up being the best thing that ever happened to me. Maybe I'm not the best judge of character, but I'm a pretty good judge of love."
"This isn't about love," I spit.
"Bullshit." Adriano leans forward. "If it were just business, you wouldn't be drinking yourself stupid at five in the morning."
I drop my gaze to the video again, unable to face my brother's piercing gaze. “This alliance is over. It’s time to deal with the Vitales once and for all.”
"So kill Marco and Enrico." Adriano shrugs. "But Isabella? Your wife? The mother of your potential children?"
My head snaps up. "What did you say?"
"I said kill the ones who deserve it. Not the?—"
"No. About children."
