Page 37 of Angel of Light (Lords of The Commission: New York #5)

“I didn’t come here to discuss the incompetence you surround yourself with. I want you to tell me what the fuck is happening. No more games.”

Vincenzo didn’t answer right away. He took his damn time, slowly sipping his drink while my patience wore thinner by the second. But he knew that, so I reeled in my restlessness with a slow inhale and played into his game.

“I feel like you’re missing an ‘or else’ in there somewhere.

So I’m going to make it easier for you in case you’ve forgotten how these things are done,” He mocked, his eyes never setting on mine, “When you want something and have to take it by force, you’re supposed to follow up with a threat.

But you don’t have any, do you, Brother ? ”

I scoffed, knowing that the card I held under my sleeve would cut so fucking deep that Vincenzo wouldn’t be able to breathe once it hit him.

“I know you have a son. Is that leverage enough for you, Don Massimo?”

“How the fuck do you know that?” He tried sitting up straighter, but his body wasn’t compliant tonight. The hiss of pain under his breath was more than evident even as he tried to disguise it.

“What I don’t understand yet is why the fact that you have a kid with Diego’s sister is making you doublecross the Cartel,” I said, ignoring his question. “You’ve always been good at dancing to the rhythm of his Salsa when it suited your interests. Why does the boy change it all?”

“It’s none of your goddamn business.”

“Well, I think it is. I think it leans into the same reason why you wanted me to marry Alison three years ago. But then the threat went away.” I paused, my hand grasping my chin as if I were in deep thought.

“No. Not the threat. The reward. Camila was out of your grasp, there was no need to eliminate the only opposition you had to being with her. So you took advantage of the deal with the Cartel while it suited you. But now, you’re back to where you were three years ago.

Fighting for a Cartel princess and your bastard son.

Even after all these years, Diego would never accept it. ”

Gathering all the strength he had in him, Vincezo stood after placing the glass of whiskey on the side table, taking two remarkably steady and menacing steps in my direction, burning the space between us like a fuse on fire.

“Tread that line very wisely, Gabriel . I’d advise you to tame your tongue to a more respectful tone when you address my family.

You never know when you’ll be stuck in a crumbling building that’s going up in flames.

” The double threat was clear. Only, he didn’t know that Alison already knew part of my secrets.

“It was you,” I growled. The accusation and need for revenge clear in my tone.

“ Calmati, Bastardo. ” Calm down, Bastard.

“You’re gonna die for the pain you put Alison through, and I’ll be all too happy to be the one to pull that trigger.”

“Whatever you say. But that won’t be happening tonight. Because, see… while you’re here, wasting your breath and empty threats on me, Diego is sitting in my fiancé’s apartment, waiting for her to wake up.”

Restlessness doesn’t even begin to cover the feeling building up inside of me. I knew this fucker standing in front of me. Even if I thought he hadn’t seen me coming, he’d have precautionary measures in place.

“He won’t harm her. Not in Battaglia territory, at least. Not while I still hold the leash that pulls him back.” There it was, the armor, the protection he needed for me not to snap his neck right here.

“Tell me why.” I urged, stepping closer to him. “Alison has never done you any harm. Why would you hurt her like that?”

“I never said it was me.” He cocked that fucking eyebrow, that look of superiority of his that I wanted to slap off his face. “But my wild guess would be to make sure the Battaglias stuck to the agreement and held as much of a grudge against the Cartel as needed.”

“As you needed,” I corrected.

“Potato. Potahto.” The mockery in his sing-song made my mouth foam with the craving to sink my teeth into him right here. “In my defense, she wasn’t supposed to be there. If only she didn’t refuse to wear the ring I gave her. What woman in her right mind refuses a ruby?”

“The ones who despise who gave it to them.” But then his words started clicking into place like a damn puzzle. “You had a tracker in that horrible thing.”

Vincenzo shrugged as if it was a normal fucking thing to do.

“She also told me she was going out of town. I guess she decided that work was more important. Bottom line, it wasn’t exactly my fault that she got hurt when the bomb went off.”

In under a blink, my arm jerked, and I punched him right in the face.

Vincenzo stumbled back before falling to the ground, quickly reaching his cane to point it at me.

I was about to laugh at his lame attempt to keep me off him, but as soon as I charged at him again, a sharp blade darted out the end of the damn thing.

“I don’t want to hurt you, Fratello. ”

“You gave Matt an ultimatum,” I hissed, the words scraping against the edge of my throat. “Move the wedding up, or kill me. That’s not business, Vincenzo. That’s desperation. And it doesn’t sound like you don’t want to hurt me.”

“Matteo would never kill you. But options always seem less like entrapment. I was just making sure I got the desired outcome.”

“Why the sudden urgency?” I watched him crawl to the chair, using whatever remnants of strength he had to pull himself up. “Tell me. We can fix it together.”

“That was quick,” He said between groans of pain. “We’re into bargaining already. Your five stages of grief are showing, Max.”

“I am not ever going to accept this marriage. So if you want any chance at achieving whatever fucked up goal you have, you better start talking, or you’ll attend your wedding in a coffin.”

“You broke the code, Max,” he said, finally managing to sit again. “You don’t fuck a woman promised to another man, let alone one that binds two of the most powerful families in our world. I let you walk away once. I won't make the same mistake twice.”

“To hell with the code. To hell with honor and whatever fucking concept you’ll try to throw at me next. My love for Alison is greater than all of that. Greater than the need to survive you.”

Vincenzo cocked his head to the side, a slow smirk spreading across his face as if he’d won. Silence took over the space for a while as I tried to replay all his words. The viper in front of me was wise beyond his years, treacherous, and full of wicked games.

His strength might have been eroding at a rapid pace, but his mind was still sharp and as cunning as ever.

I stopped. Not a blink, not a breath.

“You see it now, don’t you?”

“Camila,” I whispered in realization. “Camila gave you an ultimatum, too. She won’t let you see your son if you have ties with the Cartel. And Diego will kill you if you end the agreement.”

It was so damn simple. So basal. So human beneath all the bloodshed and power plays.

“You’re cornered,” I said, the words falling from my mouth like ash. “She’s making you choose. Her or the empire.”

Vincenzo didn’t move. He didn’t blink. But his silence was the loudest confession I’d ever heard.

And suddenly, everything made sense.

The urgency. The marriage. The need to secure this alliance. He needed the Battaglias to fight his battle. He counted on their thirst for revenge, their need to avenge that fucking bomb. He needed Alison as the tie to wrap around this clusterfuck with a neat bow.

Not for love. Not for legacy.

But for leverage.

“You’re terrified,” I said, staring at him.

“For the first time in your life, you’re not the one holding the knife.

You’re the one with your throat against it.

Well, the second time,” I motioned to the scar on his neck, the one Diego’s father gave him as he warned him off his precious daughter. Did he know she was pregnant?

“You’re terrified that Camila will disappear with that little boy if you don’t step away, aren’t you?”

Vincenzo’s jaw ticked as he sat straighter, his face holding nothing but a fake impassiveness that I could see right through. But still, he said nothing. That alone told me I was right.

And for the first time, I didn’t want to kill him.

I pitied him.

“Break off the wedding.” I urged, my voice softer now.

“You know I can’t do that. It’s either your heart or mine.”

“Marrying her won’t make Diego cower. He won’t step down from war just because you have an army.”

“I know.”

He was willing to risk the lives of everyone around him for her, and as much as I hated him for it, I couldn’t deny that I’d do the same thing for Alison. Burn this mother fucking world down if push came to shove.

“I’m not giving up. Not until I’m dead.”

Vincenzo nodded once, “Then we have an understanding.” He picked up his glass of whiskey again and tipped it towards me in a toast, “To the last man standing.”