Page 43 of Dirty Mafia Torment

Right, that. “A technicality…”

“They resuscitated you.”

I rub my fingers across my jaw. “I made a mistake.”

He shakes his head. “So did I by granting you your freedom.”

Ouch. “I’ll change.”

“Right.”

“Take on more responsibilities.”

“Right.”

We lock eyes. Yet I’m certain I’m the only one who sees me for me.

“This is my offer.” His eyes narrow, then he surprises me. “Go to Rome. Work with Dante Lucchese. Learn the business. Lay off the partying, women, and drugs. Prove yourself, and I’ll make you a made man.”

Despite everything—the overdose; his disappointment; assaulting him, my capo, my father, on his wedding day—he’s offering me what I’ve been waiting for: a second chance. He’s handing me everything on a silver platter as if I haven’t wasted years fucking around.

This time, I don’t hesitate.

“I’ll go to Rome.”

His eyes gleam with satisfaction.

“If you allow Fina to keep the money she stole, without consequences.”

He stares at me for a long time. Like he’s trying to read my fucking soul. Good luck with that because it’s as black as a starlessnight. Giving up, he jabs a finger into my chest. “Get your shit together and prove yourself. Be the man I need you to be. But leave that hellcat alone. No contact. No goddamn marriage. You let her figure out her own bullshit, or I’ll cut off your dick and feed it to you. Capisci?”

Do I understand?

Yes. Leave her be.

As for Accardo …

What happens next remains to be seen.

CHAPTER SIX

FINA

I returnto Los Angeles with a bruised lip, a wide smile, and a renewed spring in my step.

Sebastiano Beneventi’s interrogation was brutal. For a nerve-racking moment, I was certain he knew I’d stolen from him. The thought still makes me shiver. What would the consequence have been? A one-way trip to the Beneventi dungeon? A shallow grave beneath the golf course?

Would Renzo have let that happen?

That question consumes me. I keep replaying the moment he burst into the library like a man possessed, took down three mafiosi with terrifying ease, and then launched himself at his father. Seeing his violent side was thrilling. He knocked the guard who’d hurt me out with a single punch. Risked his father’s anger, for me.

I could’ve used that version of him back when I was cornered by Emo.

The answer to my question seems clear: no.

But what’s that expression? Once bitten, twice shy?

Renzo has always been a contradiction, furiously loyal one moment, absent the next. I’m grateful he showed up when he did, yet I’d be a fool to lose myself in the what-ifs.