Page 187 of Caught in the Crossfire

“I don’t know what I would have done about Luciano, but I can tell you one thing with absolute fucking certainty,” I replied, frustration coating every word. “I would have supportedyou, Max. I would have helped you figure this out. I never would have abandoned you or shut you out.”

His eyes closed while he shook his head. “I did what I had to do. I did what my father taught me. Everything I’ve done has been for him.”

“I don’t think your father would have approved of you tryingto kill Leona or torture me. I actually think he’d be pretty fucking disappointed in you, Max.”

His head snapped to mine. His mouth opened and closed. Pink dusted across his nose while his eyebrows furrowed. Finally, he turned on his heel to the door. His hand reached for the knob, but he paused. “Did you tell Leona?”

“No.”

He looked over his shoulder, surprised. “Why not?”

“You should be the one who tells her the truth.” The truth about everything. About how Luciano murdered Massimo. About how Max had been fighting a one-man war against him for ten years. About how the rot in our Family had existed for far longer than either of us knew, and Max had been trying to deal with it on his own all these years.

He shook his head. “It’s easier this way. I am the villain. I did try to kill her. Even if everything I did was to keep the both of you safe…I hated how, to her, getting married was the biggest problem in her life, when I’d been fighting for my life for years. After the night of her birthday party, I convinced myself that I hated her and her ignorance and immaturity. I convinced myself I hated you both, and I swore I wouldn’t let either of you ruin my plans.”

Everything I did was to keep the both of you safe.

My pulse roared in my ears. After reading that journal, I now believed him when he said he didn’t start all this shit intending to hurt us. He would have tried to get us out. He might have hidden the truth, but he never actually lied. Except somewhere along the way, he got it all so fucking twisted around.

His hate for Luciano blackened his heart and turned him against us.

“That’s not fair. She’s not like that,” I said. “No one ever gave her a chance. No one ever cultivated her potential or listened to her.”

“You did.”

“No. The Shadows did. You know how she used to beg the Don to be included, and he always shut her down. Buttheylooked at her and saw who she was. A queen in the making.”

His head leaned against the closed door. “It doesn’t matter. Our goals are still conflicting.”

“Bullshit.”

“It’s not?—”

“It’s bullshit, Max.” I ran my hands through my hair. “God, I want to fucking strangle you sometimes. You’re such an idiot. If you could take your head out of your ass for two seconds, you’d see how we’ve always been on the same side, but you fucked up when you decided not to tell us that thereweresides to begin with.”

“I didn’t come here to argue with you.” His eyes turned hard as he faced me. “Once we’re done with the Albanians, our truce is over. We’ll be back to trying to kill each other. So, excuse me if I’m the only one being realistic about this entire agreement. We are not on the same side.”

“Why not?”

He paused, but said nothing.

“You’re hiding something else.”

He glared and pressed his lips together. “I don’t know what you think is going on here, but I only came here for business. Once that business is concluded, I’m leaving.”

He didn’t wait for my response. He opened the door and left me behind, per fucking usual.

61

OBI

Iwas just hanging up from a call with Ryuji’s realtor—I’d put an offer in on the property I’d been eyeing—when Caspian notified us that Max Volpe needed to speak with us.

I did not like that he felt comfortable coming to our home so easily.

I did not like that he remained in this uneasy middle ground—neither an enemy nor an ally.

What would happen when our truce concluded? What would happen when we challenged the Camorra, the owner of his true allegiance?