Page 2 of When She Tempts (The Fallen)
The same can’t be said for my own name. De Rossi and I might buy our suits from the same tailor, but some days when I see myself in the mirror, I can’t shake off the feeling that I’m wearing a costume. I still have the threadbare striped sweater I used to wear during the winters of my adolescence stuffed somewhere in the back of my closet. Before I got sucked into the vacuum of thesistema, I was a nobody. I suppose I’m a somebody now, yet no amount of achievements will wipe the subtle stink of lowborn blood off my lapel.
De Rossi pins me with a serious look and drags a hand over his silk tie.
“You dismissed the household staff?” I ask.
He nods. “Told them to leave while they can. A few hours ago, we received our first cocaine shipment from the Americans. We’ll be in breach of Sal’s contract with his suppliers—” he glimpses at his watch “—twenty-five hours from now, when we fail to pick up their weekly drop. As soon as word gets back to Sal, he’ll catch onto what’s happening.”
Cut off Sal’s drugs, then cut off the flow of money from Ibiza. It’s a move that’ll cause deep ripples in clan business and put the don’s power into question.
It’s a move that’ll start a war.
Do I think Damiano is going to be the best don we’ve ever had? No. But he’ll be far better than Sal.
Not to say that I was thinking of the clan’s best interests when I agreed to support him. He’s simply the most likely candidate to get the position, and I’ve grown tired of seeing Sal on his throne.
The wait’s been long, and my patience isn’t infinite.
Sal will pay for what he did to my mother, and then my wait will finally end.
“Vale and I will be leaving Ibiza tomorrow,” De Rossi continues. “Some meetings are already lined up.”
At the first sign of weakness, some of Sal’s allies will turn on him. Our don isn’t well liked by anyone with half a brain between their ears. Still, that leaves more than a few idiots who’ll stay loyal, and unfortunately, they control a lot of manpower.
“The wife’s coming with you?”
“She wouldn’t have it any other way. While she’s with me, I need to trust you’ll keep my sister safe.”
I hold back a sardonic laugh that threatens to spill past my lips. “You don’t need to worry about Martina,” I say, when what I really want to tell him isI’m not you, stronzo.
The fact that he’s failed so badly at protecting her is embarrassing.
I mean, the situation in New York was unfortunate and perhaps hard to preempt, but what happened in his own home? An inexcusable shitshow.
It was pure negligence on Damiano’s part. He was too wrapped up with his wife and his scheming to follow my instructions with appropriate diligence.
Why was Martina even allowed out of the house? Given the situation, she should have been confined to her room.
Annoyance pulses in my temple.
This island’s made him too relaxed. He’s forgotten how made men keep their women safe.
I haven’t, though.
“How did Martina take the news about coming with me?”
De Rossi lets out an exhale that suggests she didn’t take it well. “She’s hard to read at the moment. The latest attack has left her in a bad place mentally.”
I furrow my brows. “Explain.”
“She’s…not really there. I thought the wedding might cheer her up, but she just, I don’t know,existedthrough it. She put on a smile when the situation demanded it, talked when spoken to, ate when food was served. She went through the motions, but that’s it.”
The girl nearly got killed in her own home, and De Rossi thought a party would make it all better?Cazzo, despite what he thinks of himself, he’s definitely not winning brother of the year.
“Have you tried talking to her about what happened?” I ask.
His eyes narrow. “Of course we’ve tried talking to her. I’ve tried, Vale’s tried, even Ras. One-word answers are all we get as soon as the topic comes up. I wish Lazaro was alive so that I could kill him a second time.”
It was his wife who killed Lazaro, but I decide not to rub it in.
