Top Dog

“What are you doing?” I asked.

“Just come over here,” Vincent said.

I walked over to him, and we tucked ourselves away like he was about to tell me a dirty secret. I didn’t like where this was going. “Why are we standing in the corner?” I asked.

“Romeo, I don’t think I have to tell you twice that Stefano Bianchi is a psychopath,” he said softly.

“Nope. I’m pretty aware of it,” I said.

“What if I told you I thought he was behind the murder of his own brother?”

I paused, my glass against my lips as my eyes locked with his.

“I’d tell you that you better have some good fucking evidence,” I said.

“I do. A couple of months before Giuliano died, he and your father were talking in the shadows.”

“What?” I asked.

“They had occasional off the books meetings I attended as your father’s personal guard. The two of them were discussing peace among the families, brokering a truce that would put an end to their rivalry and benefit both families financially.”

I was so stunned I couldn't even speak.

“Your father knew about your son. And he told me time and time again that the newest generation of Martine deserved a life they could be proud of. That a grandson was a

wonderful reason to clean up both family’s acts. But Stefano was infuriated. He crashed one of our meetings, and I had to draw my weapon on him. He was in Giuliano’s face roaring about how Martines could never coexist with Bianchis. That we were dirt that needed to be overturned.. Stefano was irate with Giuliano and your father.”

“So you think Stefano orchestrated the killing of his own brother because he didn’t want peace between the families?” I asked.

“I do. The night of that car accident, your father and I were waiting for him to have another meeting. We were across town in the kitchen of a rickety diner when the accident happened. Your father was nowhere near that thing, but guess where Stefano was?”

“Where?” I asked with a growl.

“Two blocks down the road in a restaurant. And then Stefano came out of the woodwork and was the first one to mention that it looked like a Martine.”

“Vincent, what you’re telling me, it’s insane”

“I know, but so is Stefano Bianchi. If what I believe to be true is in fact so, that means—”

My head started to pound as I finished his thought. “That means that he killed my father in retribution for a crime he committed himself.”

I gripped the glass so hard in my hand it shattered. The amber liquid soaked through my pants as the glass fell to my feet.

Matteo.

That psychotic murderous traitor was under the same roof as my son.

“I have no proof other than my involvement,” Vincent said as he bent down to pick up the busted glass. “But I’m almost certain that’s how this all panned out. Which is why it would make sense that Stefano would be after you the way he is.”

“Because he’s heard my family wants peace and that pisses him off,” I said.

“Taking over your family business would be a way for him to ensure that peace between the two families never happened. It would make all the scheming and conniving he’s done up until this point worth it.”

“And I threaten that.”

“You do.”

“Then how does Julia fit into the equation?” I asked.