Page 23 of Blood in the Water

Sorrow changed to rage. Despair shifted to hatred.

There was only one person responsible for all the fucked up shit that happened to us. One person on whom I could lay the blame.

Cas told me to use what happened as fuel to keep going.

Andfuckwas I going to.

That bastard was not going to get away with this. He was not going to steal both my father and my best friend in two days. Not without consequences.

Vengeance was the mafia way. It always had been.

After my mother died, my father hadn’t rested until he killed those who were responsible. When he’d finally had their blood on his hands and their bodies at his feet, we could finally patch together the broken pieces of our hearts. It was only then that we started to heal, to move on.

All of this—my broken heart, Cas’s broken body, my father’s stolen empire—could be fixed if I got my revenge, too.

I wasowedit. My father deserved it.

As Cas struggled to breathe and slowly died beneath my hands, the old Leona was dying alongside him.

No longer was I the mafia princess whose biggest worry was whether someone would marry me.

I was being reborn, like a fucking phoenix in the flames

I was going to slit Maximiliano’s throat myself. I would take from him everything he took from me. I wouldruinhim andrestore my Family’s empire. My father’s legacy would live on as I burned the bastard’s body and dumped his ashes in the sewer.

Revenge was the only answer.

9

OBI

One week ago, Volpe and Vero tried to purchase our services.

As the head of the Shadows, it’s my job to determine which contracts we accept and deny. Most people believe they can throw their money at a problem and buy a solution, but despite their assumptions, we don’t work that way.

I don’t agree to contracts easily, especially not when the bids are coming from within the same organization.

That was my first point of interest.

Power struggles are not unusual, yet I was surprised when I first received the requests. All accounts pointed to Vero and Volpe being close, with an almost father-son bond. So why would they suddenly order hits on one another?

I’d needed to understand why before I accepted either hit.

I wanted to see their dynamic and gather information, understand how each man moved through their Family—and how better than at the birthday party of the Don’s daughter?

So I’d infiltrated the party and watched.

I’d been there when Volpe took matters into his own hands. I’d stood on the edge of the great hall, pretending to sip champagne, while the gunshots rang through the house.

When it was clear Vero was dead, I should have left. The contracts were resolved without the Shadows’ interference. I could have left, right then and there, and got on the plane to China, where I’d been expected at a meeting with a tech mogul.

But then I’d seen her. Leona Vero, caught in the crossfire of her father’s murder and her childhood friend’s coup.

For some reason, I couldn’t look away.

That had been my second point of interest.

My logical brain told me there was no reason to interfere. I was the leader of the deadliest assassination organization in the world, and I had better things to do than observe a mafia princess. While unfortunate, she was simply going to end up a casualty of war. That should have been the end of it.