Page 117 of Bad Medicine

That was one thing I had always appreciated about Enzo; he was content to let me be silent.

As a general rule, I was the guy who always had somethin’ to say. Need a joke to cut the tension? I was your man.

But sometimes, a man just needed to stew in his own thoughts. To let things percolate until a clear plan had formed. A way to accomplish what you needed and handle your business.

And you could be damn sure that was what I was doin’.

Because as the sun started to crest the mountains, the early dawn light chasing away the neon brilliance of the Strip on the horizon, I had a goddamn plan.

“Enzo?” I asked, breaking the silence for the first time in hours. “It’s time.”

“Election is in two days,” Enzo said, his voice low.

“It is.” Even thinking about Gregor Belikov made my fuckin’ skin crawl.

“Projections are lookin’ like he’s gonna win.”

“I know.” I hated it, but it was the truth. These last few weeks, Gregor had run an exemplary campaign, painting himself as the golden child of Las Vegas; the prodigal son returned who had come to lead the town to prosperity.

Of course, that wasn’t hard to do when you ran on a fake name and lied like a cheap rug.

The plan had always been to prevent Gregor from gaining a seat on the city council; from the moment Enzo had overheard him threatening that spineless schmuck, Donald Wilson, all those months ago, we had known that we needed to do anything in our power to prevent it.

But between all the shit that had gone down with Francesca’s uncle, then the way the DA in New York had rushed her father’s retrial, the whole damn situation had just gotten away from us.

And now we were down to the wire. Less than forty-eight hours until the new leader of the Las Vegas Bratva became a political powerhouse in the city.

Inourcity.

If that was all—if it was only the fact that Gregor was most definitely going to prove to be a massive pain in our collective asses once he gained even a modicum of power—then I’d let Enzo run point and watch the whole thing play out from the comfort of my position as number two.

But Gregor had committed some pretty grievous sins.

Sins that I wasn’t willing to forgive him for.

First, he’d terrorized Jasper, taken him from his mother, and scared the fuck out of that sweet kid.

And on top of that, the stupid fuck had put his hands on my woman, hurt her both physically and emotionally. He had been a demon that haunted her for over six years.

So, no. This time, I wasn’t gonna just sit back and let Enzo lead the way he’d been doing our whole lives.

“I want this one,” I stated, feeling Enzo’s gaze on me as he looked my way.

“You sure? There’re some pretty sizable emotions attached to this one for you. That kinda shit can fuck with your head. Don’t want you doin’ something you’re gonna regret later.”

“Did you regret it when you choked the life outta that dipshit Dino after he’d smacked Francesca around?” I asked, and his jaw clenched at the memory.

“No. You know I didn’t. I enjoyed the shit outta that one.” With his gaze on the sunrise, Enzo took a sip of his drink before continuing. “But it’s not you I’m worried about.” When I frowned at him, he went on. “You’re planning on keeping Mia around long term, yeah? The kid too?”

“They’re kind of a package deal, man.”

“No shit.” He laughed. “Just making sure you knew that, too.” Turning back to me, his face serious, Enzo dropped his voice, as though someone would be close enough to hear us in his massive backyard. “What I mean is, what if you do this, end Gregor once and for all, and then Mia or the kid have a problem with that? What if, say, ten years from now, Jasper starts asking about his dad. Wanting to know why he’s never come around. You gonna regret being the one to deny him that?

“Then there’s Mia. She’s a doctor, Rock. A real MD, with that ‘Do no harm’ oath hanging over her head. How’s she gonna feel about being with a man who has been known to do a fuck of a lotta harm.”

Curling my hands into fists, I considered his words, hating that they made me doubt my actions or Mia’s feelings about me and what I wanted to do.

Would she hate me if I ended Gregor’s life?