They’re hungry.
For the very first time, I realize what this is.
The next generation of this mafia saga, this Family.
This no longer belongs to them, and it hasn’t for two years. I almost curse as I look around the room and realize.
It’s them.
These men.
It’s been them for a while.
And now.
Everyone will pay.
Chapter Thirty-Five
“I found Him in the shining of the stars, I marked Him in the flowering of His fields, But in His ways with men I find Him not. I waged His wars, and now I pass and die.”— Idylls of the King
King
Usually, I would say this was a normal night for us… everyone’s in the kitchen eating and drinking. Uncle Frank stopped by, you know, the dude who’s supposed to be dead because he handed down his entire empire to Dante.
And I’m watching him with everyone wondering what he knows that I don’t.
People are relaxed—they shouldn’t be.
Something is very wrong.
Something is very off.
Del comes up next to me and hands me a glass of wine. “Everyone seems to be doing the best they can—despite…” She clears her throat. “Despite the fact that he’s still in a coma.”
“Sergio says not to lose hope.” I take the wine and watch everyone laughing at the table; even the kids are in the kitchen running around.
I would like to think my dad would look around and smile then get annoyed at all the noise. Our house is huge, but still, our family keeps growing bigger and bigger each year as people have kids as generations move through in a wave that’s natural, progression, life.
I smile to myself and start wondering about all the things I’ll tell Dad when he wakes up—how we at least rallied at the end, how we loved even if someone was losing and betraying.
I stare at each face around the table, and I can’t find it; I can’t fucking see who would do this to us… or to them.
I have four days left until the commission, and all I can see is family around this table, love, support, blood. Life and a bond none of us would ever break.
“Stop thinking so hard.” Del elbows me. “The truth always reveals itself,” she says. “Sometimes I wonder if it’s us, my uncle, he’s that crooked, that power-hungry.”
I almost snort into my wine. “Right, but he’s also a dum-dum.”
She burst out laughing. “That he is.”
“He’s not some evil mastermind; there’s no way for him to pull this off, not even close.” I frown. “Unless he had help.”
It’s her turn to scowl. “Who would help?”
My spine tingles, which is weird as I glance at the door and see Dom, my half-brother, walk into the room. He’s next to Dante, who, if you don’t count Valerian, is the youngest boss—in his thirties, in his prime.
My brain starts to play tricks on me as I watch them talk in the corner before joining their wives for dinner.
Would they?
Could they?
Technically, the next heir to the Capo throne would fall to Dom only because of blood but would he ever actually hurt any of us? He’s been like a brother for years. He’s killed for this Family, and he’s nearly died for it.
I remember my father’s words before I got married.
“You have to be ready.” He was in his office, it was after our fight over this whole fiasco, and right before I told him why it was so hard to go through with it, because of how much I actually loved Del and wanted her by my side.
It felt like a punishment.
Now it’s my reward.
Now it’s everything.
“I’m ready,” I said.
Dad burst out laughing. “Oh, King… nothing will ever prepare you for this, nothing.”
I frowned because I’d already been through hell with the rest of my cousins, so what could possibly be worse?
He stood then and clasped me on the shoulder. “You won’t be ready until you have to make the hard decisions. Who lives, who dies, who’s true to you, and who’s betraying you. There will come a day when you realize that not everyone is your friend and you will have to make that call and often it’s all on your shoulders, and it stays there the rest of your life, the blood on your hands, their faces imprinted onto your soul—doesn’t matter if it’s your best friend, an enemy, lover, a family member—that’s your job, your call to make and it’s not something I would ever wish on anyone, not even my worst enemy.”
He left me like that, pondering all the deep thoughts I didn’t want to have to think about right before waiting for her at the altar.
And now his words are haunting me even more.
I know it in my soul.
Somebody in this room is guilty.
But who?
My eyes glance around all the smiling faces; nobody’s doing anything suspicious, which pisses me off even more.
Del grabs my hand, then drops it and turns, so her face is pointed toward me, her body away from the dinner. “How did it happen last time?”
“What?” I don’t look away from the group.
“The betrayal,” she says, and it feels like a bomb going off, just remembering the De Lange betrayal and Chase’s dead wife. People who know our story know that the poor guy’s happy and so powerful now that it’s ridiculous, but years agp his wife betrayed the Five Families for power, for prestige and tried to use the Russians to do it.
“Money,” I finally realize. “There was a trail of money. We didn’t see it until later, but in her private accounts, she was getting paid and trying to refill the De Lange Family coffers the only way she knew how—sacrifice.”
“Okay,” Del says quietly. ”So since it’s safe to say none of you need money—who needs the most power?”
My eyes search the group again; one by one, I go over all the different faces only to continuously come back to one.
He would never.
Would he?
I think back to his face when we walked in and shake my head. “No. I won’t believe it.”
“Who?” she asks.
I shake my head again.
“Who?” She grabs my arm and squeezes just as my eyes lock on his, and I don’t like what I see there when he looks away, nor the expression on his father’s face when they share a look I can’t decipher.
I can’t believe I’m about to say it.
But I say it anyway, because if I can’t trust her, who can I trust?
“Ash,” I say. “The only person I can think of—is Ash.”
Chapter Thirty-Six
“I’m in an awful pickle! I’m King!”—The Sword in the Stone
Roman
I thought it would be cooler, being pulled into the most powerful Families in the universe… but yeah, as of right now, I’m cleaning ranch dressing off the family table with a napkin and listening to everyone’s conversations while the old Capo lies upstairs in a deep sleep like Sleeping Beauty but, you know, with a horrible twist.
People are still smiling, but you can feel the heaviness in the air, and I can’t help but look over my shoulder every few minutes as Del and King talk.
I know I need to pull her aside tonight. I need to tell her that this is bigger than whatever the hell happens after the end of the week.