Beautiful Seduction

So much for power.

“Who hired the assassin?” Dominik glanced at me as he sipped on his drink.

“I don’t know for certain. I believed Casimine could never want his brother dead, but now, I’m not so certain.” I’d agonized over that question for hours. If not Casimine, then what other player had surfaced? With Lazor and one of his sons gone, that left a kid still wet behind the ears to run the Adamos organization out of Chicago. I doubted he’d had the balls or the knowhow to kill off his family.

But with Casimine’s reaction, I had serious doubts he was behind his own brother’s murder. What I didn’t doubt was that the contract for my death remained in place, although given Casimine’s demanding phone call, it would appear he was determined to handle it personally.

“Then what the fuck are the plans?” Alexei snarled.

My father glanced into my eyes. I’d already told him what I had every intention of doing. If it meant the loss of my life, then so fucking be it.

“First of all, we continue to garner information on the streets,” Salvatore suggested. “Someone will talk with the right incentive.”

“That’s fine, but don’t do anything rash at this point. Valentin is correct. There’s too much at stake. We wait until Casimine makes a second call. Then we go hunting.” My father’s voice was unusually strong. He knew how I felt, but he refused to accept the potential loss of my life.

“You will do nothing without my approval.” I allowed the words to sink in, glancing at every man in the room. While no one verbally acknowledged my command, at least they had the decency to give me their nod of respect. This was my battle to fight. Then the Russians could sweep the streets of every fucking Pole as far as I was concerned.

“What about the traitors?” Niccolo finally asked.

“They’ll be handled at a later time. This is the only thing that matters.”

Another round of tension presented itself.

“I think we’re done here. When Casimine makes contact, we will be in touch,” Pops said to the others.

Vladimir took his time finishing his drink before standing. Then the man did something so uncharacteristic I bristled. He walked closer, placing his hand on my shoulder. While my inclination was to pull away, there was something entirely different about his intense gaze.

“Pust’ kryl’ya angelov okruzhayut tebya,” he said then repeated himself. “Let the wings of angels surround you. We will help eradicate the scourge. Please keep us informed.”

Perhaps most men would be touched by his words, but I wasn’t most men. The emotions I’d felt had been shoved inside a box, now chained with iron. If I didn’t, it would be the reason I lost something so precious.

After they left, Niccolo cursed in Italian. Only my father seemed to tolerate the Russians, but at this point, the Poles needed to be taught a lesson they wouldn’t soon forget. “I’ll continue to have my soldiers search for Filip. There is still the issue of the two detectives sniffing around. What do you want to do about them?”

“I’ll handle them,” Pops said. “I assure you that Commissioner Worthington can be a reasonable man. It’s all in how you handle him.”

I nodded, taking a deep breath. At least the bases were covered at this point. However, I had no intention of remaining in hiding for fear of Orpheus surfacing. If he did, I’d be the first one to place a bullet in his eyes.

“Call me, brother. For now, the club will remain shut.”

“For now,” I answered Niccolo. The last thing we needed was to appear weak on any level. After glancing at the four Capos, they knew when to leave the family alone. Only then did I address our father. “Why didn’t you tell us about your victories against the Adamos family while in Italy?”

I’d briefed my brothers earlier, and while this wasn’t the best time to confront him, I had no doubt Casimine’s act of revenge was based in part on the fact his family had all but been destroyed, his father killed by a much younger Cesare Vincheti.

While my father’s face paled, he didn’t hesitate to answer. “Because whether or not it plays into Casimine’s decisions on attempting to destroy us doesn’t matter.”

“That’s bullshit, Pops.” Salvatore was angrier than the rest of us, although he and Dominik had been much younger during our life in Italy, kept away from the family’s more unscrupulous businesses.

“There isn’t an enemy that we’ve faced who doesn’t have a reason in their minds for hating us, determined to take what we have. My father, a man all four of you adored, served in the Great War. He saw exactly what happened to those poor people, many of which sought asylum in Italy. My God, the bastards all but crippled their own country, for fuck’s sake, all because of their greed. The unsuspecting Poles were tortured, their homes and children stolen from them. He instilled in my father a sense of pride that he’d been able to help. When the Adamos family decided to invade Italy, taking what didn’t belong to him, I was determined to keep them from destroying all my father had built. If you think I was the only one fighting to keep them from gaining any power, you’re wrong. If that’s the reason for Casimine’s actions, then I can look myself in the mirror without issue.”

I looked at my brothers. We’d faced wars of many kinds, but nothing in comparison to what my father was talking about.

“What it will do is make him relentless, his bloodlust consuming him.” Dominik’s words were well said. That was the issue. With a man like Casimine, his grief could cause him to act without thinking.

“Do any of the rest of you want to challenge me?” Pops demanded as he pushed up his sleeves. “If so, do it now. Casimine Adamos has tainted blood running through his veins and I have no problem ending his life.”

“Whatever we do must be handled carefully.” A dull ache formed across my temples. It was almost time to talk to Cassidy, a conversation that would nearly destroy me.

“Valentin is right.” Niccolo headed toward the bar, refilling his drink.