Page 130 of Forsaking All Others

Vomit surged in my gut, but again, I swallowed it down.

Even with the feelings Luca was stirring in me, it was impossible to truly distance myself from the idea of Dario. He was the majority stakeholder in our marriage, the one I spent the most time with even if there was little of that. He might not have realized it or acted on it as readily as his brother, but as I had looked back over our history with a fine-tooth comb the last few days, it was impossible to ignore that he cared about me in his own way.

And I felt the same.

Whoever had him—Felipe, other Sicilians, I didn’t care—they were dead men.

“Why would you go against your father like this by showing me these?” I asked the obvious question. “You always loved him, and he, you. He is probably grooming you to take over.”

Something indecipherable moved over Niccolo’s face before he blinked it back. “He’s destroying my legacy before I can even take it over. Going against the Ferrettis? It’s a death sentence. I wanted to bring this to them, but they would never give me an audience, so . . .”

“So me,” I concluded. “What would you have me do, then?”

He was visibly relieved by the question, and I realized he didn’t know me well enough to hear the restrained sarcasm in my tone.

Good.

Like most men, Niccolo would come to regret underestimating me.

“Stop Felipe before he makes a mistake we can’t turn back from.”

“You could just release Dario yourself and become a hero to the Outfit,” I suggested.

“No, Felipe is here in Chicago. He wants to convince Lando that he isn’t behind his son’s abduction. I can’t do shit now.”

No, but he could have. I’d remember that.

“You want Lando to kill Felipe,” I said, because it was the clear solution Niccolo was dancing around. “Then you can step into his shoes as easily as you please without having to put your own bullet in your papà’s brain.”

The coward’s way, I thought privately, but Niccolo smiled. “You were always more than a pretty face.”

He couldn’t see my “pretty face” through my mask, of which I was grateful.

“How did you find out I was the Oracle?” I asked, because I couldn’t figure it out.

No one except for my inner sanctum knew, and I truly couldn’t believe any of them would give the information up unless they were tortured for it.

Niccolo flashed that smug salesperson smile again. “Help me take down Felipe, and I’ll tell you. He’s staying in a private home on the Gold Coast. The Outfit should strike tomorrow before the arranged meeting on Tuesday.”

I kept my face neutral but wondered if Niccolo thought I was truly an idiot.

Kill Felipe, the only man with real answers, before we could talk to him?

I didn’t think so, and I knew Luca would make the traitor’s interrogation even longer and more thorough than the one he had conducted with Joey last night.

The idea gladdened me.

Felipe deserved that and more for what he was doing to Dario.

“Fine,” I said, collecting the photos together back into the file. “Give me the address and as many details as you can about his security, and I’ll see it done.”

Niccolo’s brows rose. “You have that much sway with Lando Ferretti?”

I swallowed my scoff.

Cazzo, no.

But I did with Luca Ferretti.