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“Leave an example,” Benito said.

I grabbed the severed cock and pried open Chandler’s mouth. Shoving the limp cock down his throat was messier than I’d assumed. The member squished and folded under my fingers. Blood eased the way as I stuffed him like a Thanksgiving turkey. I grabbed my knife once more and carved the word thief into his flesh.

Blood rolled out slowly, the heart no longer pumping it through his veins. It made cutting him a lot easier. I moved around and shoved him a little way down the table. I traded out my knife for his kitchen meat cleaver. It had a good weight to it as I raised it and brought it down over his wrist with a substantial amount of force.

I hacked away at his wrists two, three, four times before they pulled free.

“Get in here and clean up. Leave the body,” I said.

Some of our men moved in with gloves on and went about cleaning up the evidence. All that would be left behind was the body of a thief. No one stole from the Vitale family and lived to see another day.

I washed the blood from my hands before heading out of the house and toward my car. Giancarlo’s hand gripped my shoulder, and I stopped. I cocked a brow at my brother as he studied me.

“You seem different.”

My natural reaction to tell him he was seeing things didn’t come forth. Could I deny it when I felt different?

“Things are changing.”

He nodded. “What are you going to do about him?”

Gin didn’t have to specify for me to know he was talking about Tex. My heart fluttered, and I absentmindedly rubbed at my chest. “I’m going to drag him home.”

Giancarlo’s mouth tilted down in a frown. “He’s a cop.”

“He’s the man I love.”

We both stood there, Gin’s eyes wide as his mouth fell open. Saying it aloud only cemented the feelings.

“Enzo.” Gin’s voice was sullen.

I pulled free and turned to face my brother. “Tex is mine.”

Gin pushed his fingers through his hair. “You know what they say. If you love something, let it free or some shit like that.”

I shook my head. “That is ridiculous. It should be, if you love something, lock it away so that it never escapes.”

Giancarlo laughed. “Man, I’m starting to feel bad for a cop.” He moved past me. “We solve this shit and get things back in order. After that, we’ll see about you getting your cop.”

“Tex.”

Gin cocked a brow at me.

“He is more than a cop. His name is Tex.”

Giancarlo laughed and it helped dissipate some of the tension that constantly surrounded me as of late. “Right, a mobster and a cop.” More laughter bubbled out of him. “Fuck, you got it bad.”

There was no denying that. I loved Tex Caster, and there was a future for us even if I had to clear the way with blood.