Page 70 of King of War

Gian’s jaw works. “If you’re lying⁠—”

“Then you can put a bullet in me yourself. But I’m not lying, and you all know I’m not, because some part of you already smelled a rat. The way he’s been making reckless decisions, demanding more money, more proof of our unwavering loyalty.”

Ilario leans back, considering me with the cool, assessing look he’s well-known for. “Let’s say we believe every word. You understand what you’re asking us to do?”

“I’m asking you to choose between loyalty to a man who’d burn every one of us to save himself, and your own family. I’m not pretending this is easy, but I’m telling you that doing nothing will be worse. He will never be satisfied, and he will come for all of us eventually. I have served by his side since I was old enough to hold a gun, been his second since I was twenty-one, been nothing but loyal, and this is how he repays me. Setting me up to take the fall for murders he ordered.”

Gian glances at Ilario and then they both look the phone screen sitting on the table like an unexploded bomb.

“Play it,” Gian finally snaps.

I press play on the recording, playing for them the full conversation I had with Carmine the day after Vinny’s death. His voice. His words. Telling me how he was working with the pakhan and how everyone would fall into line.

The recording plays for four minutes and twelve seconds, and nobody speaks for a full thirty seconds after it ends.

Gian, the don’s closest ally in the room, reacts first, shoving his chair back so hard it clatters to the floor. He’s simmering with rage, and for a second, I think he’s going to put his fist through something. But then he doubles over, hands braced on his knees, sucking in deep breaths.

“Oscar’s wife brought him lasagna every fucking day after his wife died,” he said to no one in particular. “He was Joseph’s godfather.”

Nobody speaks. Tomasso simply stares at Gian like he’s lost his mind. Rocky chews on the inside of his cheek like he’s thinking. It’s Ilario I’m watching intently though. He hasn’t said much, hasn’t moved. He’s still in that way he is before he’s about to make a decision he can’t unmake. “Who else knows about this?”

“Nobody but you and my brothers. I purposely only disclosed it to the people I could trust. Nero Mancini will use this to undermine me and step into the don’s vacant shoes, and Antonio Bianchi will back whatever action Nero takes.”

Ilario nods, like he agrees with that assessment.

“So, you told us, why?” Gian snaps, having regained his composure. “Because you expect us to back you to take the don’s place?”

“No. I have no designs on the being the new don, but that doesn’t mean we sit back and let the current one play us all for fucking fools while he brokers deals with the Russians using your livelihoods. And while we may not have been allies in the past, Gian, I know you are a man of principle. A man who would die for his family.”

That seems to appease him a little, or at least it soothes his ego. He rights his chair and takes a seat again.

Tomasso leans forward, hands clasped in front of him. “So what do we do now then?”

“Whatever we do, we do it carefully,” Ilario says. “Carmine didn’t get to be don by being stupid. If he so much as smells what we’re discussing in this room, or even that we’ve been in the same room together, then we’re the next families in body bags.”

Rocky hums. “Yeah. We need to act before he does.”

“Agreed. So we need to keep the Mancinis and the Bianchis busy. Carmine is already whispering in the right people’s ears that I carried out the hit on the Bertellis under my own steam, so there’ll be pressure for someone to take me out. I have no doubt Nero and Marco Mancini will try. That means we all have to play the game. You pretend to be loyal to him—until you’re not.”

“And who’s going to do it, actually take out the don?” Rocky asks the question no doubt on everyone’s minds.

“That will be me,” I tell them.

“So you do want to be the next don,” Gian accuses.

“He’s the best man for the job, Gian,” Rocky snarls. “He’s been running the show for years now, or hadn’t you noticed?”

Tomasso and even Ilario nod their heads in agreement.

“That’s not why I’m doing this though. Yeah, he was gonna fuck us all over, but he also ruined my life a long time ago, and now I’m looking for some good old-fashioned retribution. I’m going to enjoy every fucking second of watching that lying piece of shit die.” My voice drips with the kind of venom that makes them all sit up.

“What the fuck did he do to you?” Rocky asks.

“You remember I mentioned that thing the don doesn’t want made public?”

Curiosity ripples around the room. They probably assumed it was the Russian connection.

I signal to Rafael, who’s been standing guard at the door the entire time. Wordlessly, he leaves to go get Rayne. It’s time to show the world who’s my whole fucking world.