“Do you?” He walks toward me, stopping inches away. “Because if you make a mistake—if your judgment is clouded—it won’t just be you who pays. It will be every man in this room.Every soldier under our command. Every family that depends on us for protection.”
“I understand.”
“Good.” He clasped my shoulder, a rare gesture of something almost like affection. “Then prove it. Show me you can still lead. Show me you haven’t lost yourself.”
He left me standing there, alone in the empty boardroom.
I exhaled slowly, running a hand through my hair. The portraits watched me. The weight of a hundred years of blood and power pressing down on my shoulders.
I stepped out onto the terrace; the city hums below, a thousand lives unfolding in the dark. I lit a cigarette, allowing the smoke rush into the night.
“Quite a meeting, eh, cugino?” Costa said from behind me. His voice carrying that familiar edge of mockery as he comes to stand beside me, lighting his own cigarette.
“You handled the union thing well. Reminded everyone who runs the show.” He took a long drag. “But I noticed you zoning out in there. Thinking about the pretty little thing you’ve got back home?”
“Costa.”
“I’m just saying.” He grinned. “You’ve got the whole family worried. The great Lorenzo Falcone, heir to the empire, distracted by a piece of?—”
I moved before I could think.
My hand grabbed his throat, slamming him against the stone wall. The cigarette fell from his lips. His eyes widened, but he’s too shocked to fight.
“Finish that sentence,” I growled, my voice low, deadly. “I dare you.”
He choked trying to laugh. “Easy, cousin. I was just?—”
“You were just disrespecting my wife.”
“Wife,” he laughed the word. “You actually did it. Married her behind Uncle’s back. And now you’re ready to kill your own blood over her?”
“Yes.”
The words came out without hesitation.
Costa stared at me. Something flickers in his eyes—fear, maybe. Respect. Or pity.
“Let me go, Lorenzo.”
I held him a moment longer, letting him feel my strength. Then I released him. He staggered, rubbing his throat.
“Jesus. You’ve lost it. Completely lost it over some woman.”
I turned away, gripping the railing as the wind whipped around us. “She’s not just some woman. She’s mywife. In front of God, in front of whatever laws we still pretend to follow. She’s mine.”
“You’re in deep, cugino. Deeper than I’ve ever seen you.” He straightened his jacket, watching me carefully. “I hope she’s worth the war you’re about to start. Because if the boss decides she’s a liability…” He lets the threat hang.
The words hitting me like acid.
She wouldn’t be a liability. I’d kill every man in that room before I let anyone take her from me.
My family was so quick to assign blame for my wavering loyalty to someone else, instead of noticing that my loyalty to the family, to this world, was drifting long before I laid eyes on Zara.
“Your mouth is really starting to piss me off tonight, cousin,” I said through gritted teeth.
Costa’s hands flew up. “Okay, okay! I get it. She’s off-limits.”
He laughed, straightening his shirt. “I guess I owe you a congratulations then. Can’t wait to see little Enzos running around here.”
