Staying in Vegas (Vegas Morellis 1)

I frown at him. “What is that supposed to mean?”

Before answering, he seems to consider. Weighing his options, Sin must decide it isn’t worth the consequences of finishing that thought, because he says, “Let’s not get into this. It’s late, we’re both tired—”

I shake my head. “Nope. I’d like to know what that means.”

“Yeah, well, I’m not your boyfriend; it’s not my job to satisfy your desires.”

That’s rude, but I can’t argue his logic, so I adjust my attitude and try again. “I don’t want to fight with you or be defensive; I’m just trying to understand your perspective, that’s all. Hearing that little snippet is the closest I’ve felt to even remotely comprehending why you care about my pregnancy when it has not a damn thing to do with you.”

“It does have a damn thing to do with me, because it has a damn thing to do with Rafe. If you’re pregnant with Rafe’s kid and it’s a boy, that’s the next boss of the family I serve. No one was even sure Rafe would ever have kids, so if he is, even by accident… it matters. I’m sorry if it’s inconvenient for you, but it does.”

That causes me to frown. “How would my hypothetical son be the next boss of a criminal syndicate? He can’t even survive outside of my womb yet, so you can’t know if he’d be any good at running crime.”

Sin rolls his eyes like he agrees with me, but it doesn’t matter. “That’s just how things are done in this family. That’s why Vince was set to inherit, even though he didn’t know the first thing about Vegas.”

I pause, considering. “Okay, so the boss position is passed down like a monarchy?”

“Exactly. Think of it like you got knocked up by a king.”

“A king of crime.”

Sin shrugs, apparently unrepentant about his own life choices. “Still a king.”

“That’s a really stupid way of passing on power,” I inform him. “Like, really fucking stupid. What if the eldest son of the current boss grows up and doesn’t want the job?”

“Well, then you have a situation like what we just had and there’s a potential for next in line to take power. Problem was, Vince was Ben’s only surviving son, so he didn’t have a younger brother to pass it on to. Technically, Rafe’s cousin Gio should have been next in line after Vince, if Vince didn’t want the job and had no age-appropriate heirs. But Rafe wanted it more, so… he took over without asking permission and anyone who had a problem with it… we dealt with.”

Our hands are still locked together on his stomach, but now I look closer. Scars cover his knuckles, and even aside from the scars, they’re all dinged up like he’s been in a fight recently. Only, his face and body show no similar signs of damage, so I guess it probably wasn?

??t a fight.

“I’m obviously not trying to put targets on any backs, so please take this with a grain of salt, but wouldn’t that make Vince and Carly’s son—if they ever had one—the heir? Rafe may wear the proverbial crown, but he’s a usurper. Does everyone just accept his line now?”

“Assuming he’s able to hold onto it, yes. The idea is, if someone is strong enough to take over, that person is probably the better leader anyway. If that happens though, the person they’re stealing power from should be imprisoned or dead, not pushed aside like Vince. It’s not smart to leave loose ends like this. It could potentially open up a situation in the far-off future where Vince does have a son who learns about his claim to power and wants it. Depending on his level of capability and Rafe’s son’s, he would have a pretty legit case for restoring power to his line, especially if people weren’t happy with the current leadership. Since my star is hitched to this wagon, I’m pretty invested in keeping things running smoothly for Rafe’s line.”

“You worked for Ben though, so you work for Rafe’s whole family, right? Not Rafe himself. If Vince had taken over, you would enforce for him. You only work for Rafe because he’s the current ringleader. If someone else took over, wouldn’t you just work for them?”

“It could go that way, but it depends on a lot of things. Since I’ve helped Rafe take power from Ben’s line, I highly doubt Vince or his offspring would keep me on if something changed now.”

“But Vince didn’t try to take over, right? I wasn’t around for all this so I don’t have the details, but my understanding is Vince doesn’t want this life. There’s no threat of him coming back. He just wants to open up a bar, adopt a dog, and live happily ever after with my sister.”

“Well, yeah, that’s why he’s alive. Vince only toyed with coming back and taking over his father’s rule someday, and it was for a stupid fucking reason. He was eclipsed by Mateo’s power back in Chicago and he wanted to impress that damn girl. He didn’t care about the business side of things; he just wanted the power for once in his life so he could keep her. Your brother-in-law is a fucking idiot.”

“He’s fine,” I say dismissively. “Mia was his kryptonite, according to my sister. She brought out his crazy side. Or Mateo did. Or… the pair of them? I’m not sure, but the point is, he never even wanted the power for himself and now he has a life with Carly. My sister is not into the mob life, so there’s no chance he ever comes back for it.”

“His son still could, though. Obviously down the road, but this isn’t the kind of job you retire from. Assuming I don’t get myself killed before then, I’ll still be around, and I would be one of the first to go in that scenario. Ordinarily in a situation like Rafe’s where someone takes over power, they clean house and bring their own crew in with them. Most of us are still around this time because we all worked together and had established relationships. If Vince’s son ever decided to stake a claim for power, he would have to clean house. Keep the ones who supported his bid, obliterate everyone else. He would have to be a stronger, more ruthless leader than even your son, because he would have something to prove.”

“I’m Vince’s sister-in-law though. He will be the uncle of any kid I have. If I did have Rafe’s baby, my sister’s baby and mine aren’t going to be rivals. They’re going to be family and best friends, just like me and Carly. They would never want to hurt one another.”

Sin is already nodding like he’s well aware of that fact. “Yes, which is a point in your favor. It’s not a guarantee, by any means; men are seduced by power all the time. Vince’s son could turn on yours, which is why I was strongly in favor of more permanent measures being taken, but Rafe doesn’t believe Vince is a threat in present day, and as I mentioned, he never planned on having kids, so he didn’t have anyone to look out for down the road.”

Unease moves down my spine and I pry my fingers out of his grasp. “When you say permanent measures…”

He watches me, his gaze flickering briefly. He ends up averting his gaze before he says, “Like I said, permanent.”

“But Vince hasn’t done anything wrong,” I insist. “Well, there may have been that kidnapping thing, I never got the full story there, but you know what I mean. He’s no threat to Rafe.”

“I just explained how he potentially could be. This isn’t the kind of business where you practice mercy and hope for the best, Laurel. In a kill or be killed world, you do what needs doing to protect your interests and your people. Only the ruthless make it here. You want sweet tempers and brotherly love? Join a church, not the Morelli family.”