Page 193 of Vicious Intentions
“How is your wife, Don Donato?” The mention of my Anna feels like an ice bucket to my system. “I hear that your marriage morphed from a strategic war move to a love match.”
“My wife has nothing to do with what we’re talking about,” I defend.
“Ah, but you see,” he says, leaning forward, clasping his hands on the table, “she does. She is the very proof of how your selfishness far exceeds any duty you have for theCosa Nostra. Tell me, Matteo. Did you decide to marry her before or after you were already in love with her?”
I’m fuming now.
“Tread carefully with your next words, Moretti,” I snarl, with a murderous look in my eyes.
“So it was before, then,” he says somberly, as if I’ve just confirmed all his suspicions. “I’ll admit one thing. You played us all for fools with perfect precision. It took me until your wedding day to realize Romano’s daughter wasn’t just a pawn in our war games, but the very prize you meant to claim all along. Anyone with eyes could see you loved her. But not many understood what that meant. Your selfishness has put the wholefamigliain jeopardy, and it will continue to do so if you place your wife above it. If there was ever a time to tell me that my misgivings about you are wrong, it is now.”
I know what he’s asking. If push comes to shove, would I put theCosa Nostra’sinterests above my wife’s? And the answer is a resounding no. My silence says it all.
“That’s what I feared,” Moretti laments.
I can see it in his green eyes that he’s genuinely saddened by what my answer will force him to do.
“You’re going to tell the other Don’s about how I killed my father, aren’t you?”
“Yes.”
Again with the fucking honesty.
“When?”
“When I feel it’s more prudent to do so. We can’t be divided now. Not with how the Outfit is retaliating against us for stealing theirprincipessa. We need to remain a united front if we are ever expected to win this war.”
In other words, once the war is won, then he’ll tell the world that my tainted hands are unworthy to hold the crown.
I get up to my feet, Moretti mimicking the move. I extend my hand for him to shake, surprising him. “You’re an honorable man, Alfonso. I’m sorry we stand on opposite sides on this matter.”
He clasps my hand in both of his. “As am I, son. As am I.”
I offer him a curt nod and turn my back on him, knowing that once I leave here, Moretti will cease to be my ally and turn into an enemy. He’s going to do everything in his power to dethrone me, while I must do everything in my power to keep the kingdom I bled for.
As I step onto the street and look around the busy sidewalk, while the skyscrapers of my city look down at me, I no longer have that burning need to claim it as my own. As long as I have Anna, everything else fades into the background. It’s just noise. Noise that no longer holds any melody for me. My desire to rule New York doesn’t come close to the love I have for my wife. It’s almost nonexistent in comparison.
I do know one thing. Anna would breathe easier if I didn’t have such a large role in theCosa Nostra. In fact, if I could somehow have no role at all, she’d be thrilled. But that’s not how our lives work. I took theomertà, which means there’s no way out for me. And once Moretti tells the other Dons about my treasonous act of killing my father—my so-called predecessor—sides will be drawn.
Another war is on the horizon. If we win, I’ll have to remainCapo dei Capiof every New York family to ensure my family’ssafety, killing friends and foes alike. But if we lose, I’ll make my wife a widow before we even celebrate our first wedding anniversary.
“Boss,” Rocco calls out to me with Niccolò walking beside him.
“What is it?” I ask, pinching the bridge of my nose, needing this day to end already.
“Just got word our men captured three Outfit soldiers. One of them was seen with Marcelo Romano a few days ago. We think he might know where their base in the city is.”
Fuck. My. Life.Cazzo!
“Okay. Let’s move then. I should talk to this soldier myself. Where are they now?”
“I can do it, boss. I can interrogate him,” Niccolò says before Rocco is able to tell me their whereabouts.
Niccolò has been temperamental lately. Ever since Anna and I came back from the Hamptons, he’s been in a pissy mood. No. He was already in a sour mood before then. A fact made clear when he outed my wife’s family’s dirty laundry on every news outlet there is. I didn’t punish him for it, but I sure as shit wasn’t happy he went behind my back and did such a thing. Things between us haven’t been good since then. And me going off on a honeymoon has only increased the rift between us.
“Are you questioning my interrogation skills, brother?” He shakes his head, but I don’t miss how his jaw ticks. “Good. Now get in the fucking car. You too, Rocco.”
Rocco runs to the other side of my car, holding out his hand for me to fling him the keys. Niccolò slides into the passenger seat, leaving me to be chauffeured around in the back—his little fuck you to me. That’s fine. Let him be pissed all he wants. I’ve got bigger fish to fry. Like how the fuck am I going to be able to interrogate an Outfit soldier, while making sure the asshole doesn’t snitch on his underboss’s whereabouts?
