Page 63 of Single Mom's Mafia Daddies

“I’m going with you.” Matteo sat across from me. “You’ll need me.”

“No, I need someone here.” I appreciated the offer, but Luca would smell a trap a mile away. My smile widened. “It’s me and Luca for this one. That bastard is so confident he can outthink everyone else.”

“And he thinks he’s immortal or some shit,” Renzo reminded me.

“That makes him arrogant and cocky. He’ll never see it coming.” I stood and stretched. “I’m going to change clothes. We’ll talk more tomorrow.”

I needed more time to figure out how to bait Luca into my plan. He was smart, with a vicious cunning that I’d never matched. My father would’ve known how to deal with theVerducci syndicate. If he was alive, none of it would have reached this point. His savagery kept everyone in line.

Was that why Vincenzo and Luca challenged me? Did they think I was weak because I didn’t follow in my father’s bloody footprints?

“We’ll talk right fucking now.” Matteo stabbed his finger into the table. “You’re not going off half-cocked on some revenge mission, fully expecting us to follow along like sheep, just because you fucking say so. I want to know the plan.”

“When I know more, you’ll know more.” It was the kind of answer my father gave when he needed space and absolutely planned on going his own way no matter what anyone else thought. It had worked for him…until it got him killed.

“Don’t give me that bullshit.” Matteo smacked my hand away from his shoulder. I didn’t even remember putting it there. “You told Renzo to stop being a martyr.”

Renzo grunted his approval of Matteo’s anger.

“I’m not about to stand aside and let you take his place.” Matteo glared at me.

“You’re overreacting.” I turned away from the table. “And you’re not the one they want, so while I appreciate your input, your concern is invalid.”

Matteo’s continued cursing thinned behind me as I walked into my room and closed the door. The tight feeling in my chest squeezed so hard my lungs seized. I removed my shirt and the vest that had saved my life, revealing the discolorations spreading across my ribs. No wonder I couldn’t breathe.

The door opened and closed.

“Matteo, I’m really not in the mood for another lecture.”

“Too bad,” Lila said.

I turned to face her. One hand braced my ribs and covered the majority of the bruising. “How’s Leo?”

“Sleeping.” She walked toward me with a kind of prowling stride that I’d never seen in her before. The sweet, loving girl I’d known had become a sweet, loving woman with a spine of steel and enough anger to spit nails. “You are not going in there and getting yourself killed. It won’t solve anything.” She punctuated each word with a stabbing finger in my direction.

I loved her passion. Her fervor for life was what had drawn me to her seven years ago, and it twisted me up inside to know I’d somehow been complacent enough to allow her light to be dimmed by my actions.

“I’m not going to die.” Not intentionally, anyway.

She stomped her foot. The action should seem childish, but coming from her it held a level of power I had no hope of matching. “Stop it, Alessio. Stop being careless with your life. You’re intentionally putting yourself in harm’s way.”

“I’m not arguing with you about this. It’s my decision.” I never pushed my will on her unless it was for her own survival, and this was the only solution that ensured that she and Leo live.

There was no other way.

She pinched the bridge of her nose and blew out a slow stream of air. When she looked at me again, her eyes shone with unshed tears.

“Don’t you look me in the eye and tell me that it’s your decision when it affects all of us.” The distance between us shrank to almost nothing as she bared her soul. “You’re trying to atone for your past, aren’t you? You really think throwing yourself at the Verduccis, whoever the hell they are, is going to solve this? You thinkdyingwill solve your problems? News flash.” She spread her hands wide and waved them in front of my face. “It won’t. It only makes things harder on the people left behind.”

“You think I don’t know that?” I gripped her shoulders and gave her a small shake. “You think I haven’t cursed my father forthe last seven years because his death is what started this whole mess? I know exactly how devastating it is to be left behind, to have to deal with the bullshit you never wanted. I’ve lived that nightmare for seven years. It’s time to end it.”

“Not like this.” She ran her hands over the bruises, her touch so light I barely felt it. “Not if it means we lose you.”

“I’ll do anything, Lila.” My voice broke, and I didn’t try to hide it. I took her hands in mine and held them to my lips, kissing the knuckles. “I’ll do anything to protect you and Leo, even if it costs me everything.” Money, power, my life. “Nothing else matters.”

“Don’t do this to me. Don’t come back into my life, tempt me to fall in love with you again, then leave like it never mattered. You say it matters. Prove it.” She stood on her tiptoes and brushed her lips across mine. “Prove you’ll do anything and fight from here, with the people who can protect you. Show me that what we had meant something.”

I stared into her eyes and softened my voice. “You were my everything then. You still are.” I lingered over the taste of the words and how her eyes lit up at my declaration. I loved her. I always had. Why was it so hard to say it to her? I rested my forehead against hers. “I’d give you the world, Lila. Anything you ask for. But I don’t know if I can promise I’ll stay here when I know how to end this mess once and for all.”