"I didn't particularly consider it a tragedy that I had to put a bullet in his brain," Lino answered casually and shrugged. "He wronged us for his own interests. We do not tolerate such betrayals." Having been the one who was there to witness Gabriele's death, I knew he didn't regret it in the slightest.
He hadn't regretted letting me torture his father before he died, either.
There was nothing a Bellandi wouldn't do for his woman and children, and Lino's father had never been a true Bellandi. Not with the way he beat his son and tried to get rid of Samara.
"Let's stop with the false pleasantries and dancing around our words," Matteo grunted, lifting a hand to the table to touch the surface. He immediately retracted it, rubbing his fingers together with a sneer as if he found the place distasteful or dirty.
My guess was both.
"Yes. What made you request a meeting, Matteo?" Murphy asked, daring to speak to Matteo like they were equals. They were not. Only Liam O'Connell held that honor within the Irish syndicate, and even that was only allowed because of mutual respect between the two men.
Matteo smirked, unperturbed by Tiernan's attempts to ruffle his feathers. Very little could aggravate the man who was known for ruling with a frozen fist, untouchable by even the saddest of stories. Murphy didn’t have a sad story he could tell, nothing useful to implore Matteo to trust him.
He was just another asshole.
"I am aware that you have been in conflict with Cuevas for the remains of Adrian Ricci's operation. Given that he has retreated from the city, I assume it is correct that Cuevas has withdrawn himself and it is now yours?" Matteo phrased it as a question, but it was clear from the intent stare on his face that he already kn
ew the answer. I eyed the men at Murphy's back, watching as they glanced at each other in a nervous exchange. It was laughable, really, that Murphy had selected them to be his backup for a meeting with the crime boss who controlled the city, and they couldn't refrain from shaking in their boots until after we left, even when we'd made no moves toward violence.
And we didn't intend to, not today, not in a restaurant with only the six of us present. Not on their turf.
We weren't idiots.
"That's correct." Murphy crossed his arms over his chest, leaning back in his chair. "I intend to use the earnings to purchase Aoife a lovely wedding present."
"I'm sure she'll appreciate the fact that her husband rapes and sells women for his business. What a lovely gift," I snarled. I'd never met her, had only interacted with Liam in a limited capacity occasionally, but I felt nothing but horror for the fate I knew she would face as Tiernan's wife.
He shrugged. "Men will be men."
"Sometimes men will be pigs," Simon inserted from Matteo's other side. Matteo held up a hand, silencing his bodyguard even though he looked amused at Simon's statement.
"You would let your men disrespect me in my house without reprimand?" Murphy asked him.
Matteo raised his brow, smirking cruelly. "Is it disrespect if it's true?"
I coughed to cover up the smile that came to my face, Matteo's rare moment of humor being used as a dig at the man I wanted to rip to pieces was enough to make me laugh. I held it back, but only just.
Murphy's face morphed with fury, but Matteo plowed on. "I'm sure you know I have a very strict rule of no trafficking within my city. So long as you respect the limits of my turf, we won't have a problem. But should I discover you're selling people within the area I protect, you will find you learn very quickly what the Bellandis do with pigs."
Murphy narrowed his eyes as his ruddy face reddened. "I do not take well to ultimatums."
"No ultimatum," Matteo shrugged as he stood. "These rules apply to everyone who does business in my city. One businessman to another, I merely wished to make sure you had all the information before you make a choice you will regret. A war would be costly, and it would take me away from my family more than I tolerate nowadays. Don't piss me off, Tiernan." With Matteo leading the way, we followed him toward the door.
“A man of your lineage is wasted playing dog to the Bellandis, Mr. Fiore,” Murphy called as we strode for the door. “Let me know if you change your mind and would like to come join a family a little more reminiscent of home.”
I didn’t bother to answer as we made our way out. There was nothing else to be said. Nothing to be done, even if I wanted to break his spine for throwing out my history so casually. All we could do was wait for Murphy to break the rules.
And then we would strike.
Forty-One
Calla
Getting out the door that morning proved interesting, with Ryker determined to delay us until it became almost pointless for me to go to work at the studio. With him going to work too, Ines was with my Dad again, and they were both thrilled with the arrangement. It made me happy that they enjoyed being with one another, even if it was harder for me to justify working when Ryker had the means to provide for us all. Because he'd taken my options away from me for so long, I wasn't ready to willingly give up that taste of freedom. Not even when he'd dropped Ines off with Dad himself, taking a stop out of what would have been a busy morning. It seemed so simple, like trusting my husband to bring my daughter to my father's house should have been a given.
But it was the first time I trusted Ryker to take either of the kids somewhere without me, and it felt like a massive step forward in our marriage. I may not have trusted him in certain aspects, like respecting the choices I made for myself and my body, but I trusted him with those kids. There was nothing anyone could say or do that would make me question his loyalty to them and their safety.
If he loved me, the love he felt for them was like something out of this world.