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His fist slams into my jaw, hard. My vision blurs, and I taste blood. I stagger, catching myself against the desk. “I didn’t do anything!” He’s my cousin, but I guess it’s true. Not all blood relatives are family.

I can feel the tears threatening to spill out, but I force them down. “You won’t get away with this.”

Ezra’s smirk is fucking sadistic. “Oh, but I already have. You’re just too fucking stupid to see it.”

I don’t know what he means. But I do know one thing: Ezra will regret ever laying a hand on me.

I grip the desk, steadying myself when he comes at me again.

And everything goes dark.

40

Alessio

I shove off the wall in what used to be Liv’s room, still gripping the damn diamond she threw back at me. My knuckles are white, and I feel the rage pulsing under my skin. I let her get too damn close, and now this is what I’m left with.

Everything’s exactly where she left it, clothes on the bed, all her random shit still lying around. She didn’t take a damn thing except her phone and whatever she was wearing. Hell, she even hurled the ten grand I offered her right back at me like I’m the asshole here.

But none of that compares to the real kick in the dick. Liv is working as an informant, a fucking rat.

Or maybe it’s deeper than that. Maybe this is about her mom, and Liv’s out for revenge, and Ezra’s her way in. She knew I went to Detroit. So why the fuck else would Franco text Ezra while we were there? And then, what a coincidence that Ezra happens to show up at mycasino andruns intoher? The timing’s too fucking perfect.

Now I get why she was poking around. My head’s spinning so hard I feel like I might snap any second.

And now all I can think about is whether she played me or if I let her.

“Hey, man,” Kota says from the doorway like he’s afraid to step inside. He’s been trying to calm Paola down. She’s pretty rattled after hearing what went down. Guess Liv did a real good job worming her way into everyone’s hearts.

I don’t even bother hiding my irritation. “What?” I snap.

“This might be nothing,” Kota starts, scratching the back of his neck, “but Raf called.” Raf, my longtime bookie, keeps tabs on all the fights atSatana’s. “Someone tried to bump your opponent last night. Wanted to fight you themselves. Any clue who that’d be?”

I grind my teeth so hard that it makes my jaw ache. “Ezra,” I spit.

“Bastard put half a million on himself, thinking he’d win. But he couldn’t make it in time, so Louie fought instead. Ezra lost every damncent on that bet and took it out on Raf. Threatened him that if he didn’t refund him, there’d be hell to pay,” Kota tells me.

“There’s no fucking refunds on bets. Besides, that prick doesn’t stand a chance against me,” I grit out.

Kota nods. “Yeah, well, Raf kicked him out and banned him from coming back.”

“Good.” My blood’s already boiling and hearing this shit doesn’t help. I tighten my grip on the diamond, the edges digging into my palm. Liv’s gone, Ezra’s pulling bullshit, and I’ve got a million fucking questions and no answers.

I yank my phone from my pocket and shoot Seb a text.

Me:Pull everything you can on Ezra. Background, connections, the works.

He calls me before I lock the screen, so I pick up, skipping hello. “What do you got?”

Seb’s breathing hard, and that alone sets me on edge. He starts rattling off details about the last message between Franco and Ezra. Apparently, Franco told Ezra I was at his shitty little sex dungeon in Detroit. But instead of backing Franco up, Ezra fucking killed him. Seb tracked Ezra’s phone and pinpointed the towers he used. All tech shit that mostly goes over my head, but if Seb says it’s solid, I believe him.

Then he drops a damn bomb on me: Franco and Ezra are brothers. Tito’s illegitimate sons, which is why they’ve got different last names. Ever since I bought out their father’s failing casino, those pricks have been gunning to take me down.

“Anything else?” I grind out, already bracing for the worst.

Seb pauses, and I can practically hear him trying to figure out how to say what’s coming next. “Yeah,” he finally says. “Last night, Morte Penitentiary called Ezra’s burner. All the calls are recorded, and I managed to hack into their system and listen to them.” He takes a breath, then spits it out. “Tito put out a hit on Olivia.”

A flash of rage slams into me so hard I damn near see red. My hand tightens around the diamond Liv threw at me, and I barely notice it cutting into my skin. She might’ve betrayed me, but that doesn’t give anyone else the right to lay a fucking finger on her. If they want her dead, they’ll have to go through me first. And that’s a death wish for whoever fucking tries.