stunt he pulled.” He drained his drink, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.
“The Diablos don’t want any trouble,” I said. When we’d sat down with their leader, Manny Perez, he’d been clear he didn’t want war. But he did want compensation for Dane’s attempt at moving in on the Diablos' territory in and around Roxbury. A compensation my uncle had reluctantly agreed to in order to save his son’s life.
“Yeah, well, it’s created a problem we didn’t need.”
“Sounds like Dane isn’t the only kid causing trouble.” Benny smirked at me, clapping me on the back.
“Vai a farti fottere,” I growled, my blood itching for another fight. “It wasn’t like I planned on any of this.”
“Relax, Nicco, I’m busting your balls. What better reason to go to war than over love?”
“Benito,” Alonso hissed, motioning for his capo to leave.
“I’ll see you around, Nic.” Benny took off.
“Excuse Benny. He is one of my most trusted men, but he is a fool.”
I smirked at that. “It’s okay. I know people won’t understand my reasons.”
“The Capizola heir.” He let out a strained breath, rubbing his neatly trimmed beard. “Antonio must have blown a fuse when he found out.”
“If it wasn’t for the fact she was...” I swallowed the words, pain squeezing my heart like a vise. Seeing Arianne hurt like that, the blood and bruises, it made me murderous. It made me want to drive back to Verona County and make Scott Fascini pay for his sins.
“He told me she was hurt.” I nodded. “We are all guilty of losing our cool now and again, but to defile a young girl so brutally...”
The words hung between us, only fueling the anger swelling inside me. It was like a fire, sweeping through me, threatening to scorch me to nothing but ash and bone.
“It is a rare thing to find what you have found, Niccolò.” Alonso’s hand landed on my shoulder, heavy yet reassuring. “But don’t let it consume you. I have seen many a man driven to madness by love.”
“You sound like my father,” I said.
A smirk tugged at the corner of his mouth. “Antonio is a wise man. It would do you well to listen to him.”
“I’m here, aren’t I?”
His smooth chuckle washed over me, easing some of the storm raging in my chest.
“The Family must always come first, Niccolò. It is the burden we bear.”
My eyes flashed to his. I’d never heard one of my uncles refer to this life as a burden before. Being mafioso was in our blood. Ingrained on our souls. You entered this life alive and you left dead. There was no other way.
I raised a brow and he chuckled again. “We all have stories, son. But some of us prefer to keep them close to our chest.”
“I keep thinking it would be easier not to love her... to let her go, instead of binding her to this life.” A life of secrets and heartache.
“You truly think you could do it?”
“No.” My hand curled into a fist once more. “And I hate myself for it.”
“Antonio has filled me in on the details and it sounds like her life was decided long before your paths crossed, the same way your life was decided. Setting her free is not the answer here.”
“So I fight?”
“You fight. This thing is bigger than you and Arianne, Niccolò. It is a broken history demanding to be righted. The Capizola and Marchetti were always supposed to be united.”
It wasn’t the first time someone had suggested it, but I couldn’t see past the war heading our way.
And to think I'd trusted him.
I'd trusted Roberto to do the right thing and be the father Arianne deserved. But instead he'd deceived me. He'd played me like a fool, and I'd left.
I'd fucking left her there and now she was... engaged to that piece of shit Fascini.
My knuckles turned white as they clenched the glass again.
“Niccolò.” Concern coated Alonso’s words. “You will get through this. We are Marchetti. It is what we do.”
I gave him a sharp nod. It was all I could do, while the inferno raging inside me burned hotter and hotter. It was my duty to protect her. To shield her from harm and keep the monsters at bay. Yet, here I was. Banished to some far away land unable to reach her.
My head knew it was the right call, knew it was the only option. But my heart... my foolish fickle heart was quick to forget the vows I’d taken, the responsibility that