Cruel Vows

The casino isn’tbusy at this time of day, but I feel on edge as I enter.

If there’s a mole in the famiglia, I need to be careful who I speak to. Approaching the service desk at the front, I adjust my tie and clear my throat.

The lady behind the desk smiles at me, her eyes widening slightly when she recognizes who I am. “Mr. Morrone, how can I help you, sir?” She’s wearing a name tag and her name is Jane.

“Can you show me to the surveillance room? There’s some footage I need to check.”

Her brow furrows, but she nods. “Of course.” She stands and glances at the other woman behind the desk. “Shirley, I’ve got to take Mr. Morrone to the security office. I’ll be back in a minute.”

The other woman waves her hand dismissively as Jane comes out from behind the desk. “Follow me.” Her heels click on the floor as she walks. The sound only setting my already frayed nerves on edge as it’s like a gunshot echoing around the cavernous room.

She leads me out the back past the kitchens and then down another corridor to a small office. There’s a man sat in there. “Jamie, Mr. Morrone needs to check the CCTV footage.”

He almost spits out his drink as he looks up at me. “Oh, of course.” He quickly removes his booted feet from the desk and sits up straight. “How can I be of assistance?”

“I’d rather check the footage alone, if you don’t mind.”

His face pales slightly, but he nods. “Of course not.” He stands and heads out of the room. “I’ll just take my break now for…” He waits for me to fill in how long I’ll need.

“Give me half an hour and I should be done.”

“Sure,” he says, saluting and then walking away.

“Is that everything you need, sir?” Jane asks, batting her eyelashes at me.

“Yes, thank you.” I walk into the room and shut the door between us, locking it for good measure. There’s no way I can be too careful. The last thing I want is anyone knowing what I’m looking for in the footage, especially not if we’ve got a leak in our organization.

I take off my suit jacket and sling it over the back of the chair, sitting down and typing in the date and time I want to surveil the footage, selecting half an hour before I bumped into Adrik as a start time on the main floor of the casino. I fast forward through the footage, searching for Adrik. That’s when I find him sitting down at a roulette table about fifteen minutes before he bumped into me.

I stop forwarding and watch as Carlo sits down next to him, leaning toward him to speak. My fists clench as I wonder if he is our leak. Carlo has been a part of our organization since I was a kid and is one of the caporegime. He has a high-ranking position in the famiglia, so if he is behind the leak, then my father will make an example out of him. There’s no doubt about it.

I watch as they speak for a while before Adrik stands and heads away. There’s no doubt he wasn’t here just to gamble. In total, he spent no more than ten minutes at the table, talking with Carlo. I pull my phone out of my pocket and dial my father’s number.

“Massimo, have you found something?”

“Yes,” I reply, grabbing a USB drive off the table and adding the footage to it. “I know who it is. I’ve got the footage on a USB drive. Shall I bring it over?”

There’s a few moments of silence. “Who is it?”

I clench my jaw. “Carlo.”

“Cazzo,” he growls, swearing in Italian. My father only ever swears in Italian when he’s really pissed off. “Get here now.” He cancels the call.

I stow my phone in my pocket and clear my search history off the computer. The security office guard is waiting outside the door when I unlock it and he gives me a nervous smile. “All sorted?”

I nod. “Yes.”

He scoots around me and heads inside. “Let me know if you need anything else, sir.”

I grunt and head back into the main casino, where I instantly spot Carlo. He notices me as he’s talking with the woman who showed me into the back security office. Excusing himself, he approaches, making my heart accelerate in my chest.

Keep cool, Massimo.

“Carlo,” I say in greeting, taking his hand and shaking. “How are you?”

He smiles. “Good, Massimo.” His eyes narrow. “What are you doing at the casino at this hour?”

I shrug. “A bit of admin business for my father. He sent me on a quick errand, as he didn’t have time to come himself.”

Carlo appears to buy the story, nodding. “Do you want to have a game?” He nods toward the roulette wheel.

I shake my head. “I’d love to, but I’ve actually got a lot to do today.”

He chuckles. “I remember when you never had anytime for work, always playing.” He claps me on the shoulder. “How times change, hey?”

I tilt my head. “Are you talking about when I was a kid?”

“I suppose I am. Time flies so fast the older you get.” He sets a hand on my shoulder. “Don’t let it pass you by too fast, you hear me?”

I nod in response, looking into his familiar brown eyes. It’s hard to believe this man who has been like an uncle to me has betrayed our family. His side will be heard, but for now, I need to show my father the evidence. “I’ll try not to, but unfortunately it’s all work, no play. Especially since this war is beating our asses.”

His expression turns grave, and he nods. “Indeed. I hope peace will come soon.”

“We all do,” I say. “It was good to see you, Carlo.” I clap him on the shoulder.

“Take care, Massimo.”

I walk away, heading out of the exit as fast as I can. To say I’m on edge is an understatement. After father’s bombshell and now finding out Carlo is most likely the mole in our famiglia, my nerves are in tatters. Somehow we need to stop Adrik in his tracks, and Carlo may be our only way to do that.