Page 147 of Steal My Heart

“Yes.” The muscles in my jaw tighten. “With a crooked finger.”

“Ten million, and twenty percent,” he counters.

“Twenty million, forty percent, and your dislocated finger. Final offer.” He doesn’t respond, and I lean forward in my chair. “If there’s no agreement, then you can find out for yourself how inconvenient it is when the mayor wages war against organized crime.”

He chuckles. “You actually make a hell of a boss. Vitto would be proud.”

“Vitto can rot in hell,” I say with venom.

He studies me for a beat. “And here I thought I was the only one that man terrorized.”

“Maybe we’ll exchange war stories another time. Do we have a deal?”

“Deal.”

We rise, and Fabien extends his hand. Grabbing his index finger, I snap it out of socket.

“Fuck!” he screams, his finger hanging limply.

“Don’t be a baby,” I chide as I pop it back into place with a satisfyingcrunch, and he screams again.

“Happy?” He bares his teeth, cradling his finger, which is now turning a lovely shade of purple and doubling in size.

“Very.” I laugh.

“Pretentious prick.” He spits at me.

“Let’s go make the announcement.”

We both head for the door, reaching it at the same time as we try to squeeze through the tight space. “The boss goes first.” Fabien shoves me.

“I’m still the boss until you’re sworn in, so I go first.” I shove him back.

“If you two don’t stop, I’ll pop you both and take over this entire empire.” Al appears, her backpack flung over her shoulder.

“Sure you will, kiddo.” Fabien ruffles Al’s hair as she squeals in protest.

“You’re still grounded,” I remind her as Fabien and I squeeze through the doorway and sprint for the basement stairs. He shoves his way past me, and I kick the back of his calf, and his leg buckles as I plow past him.

My calf receives a blow, my leg buckling as he darts past me.

I lunge forward, taking him down the remaining steps with a shoulder tackle, the two of us tussling at the foot of the steps.

Someone clears their throat, a reminder that the entire damn family is here, waiting on the boss—that would still be me—to make an announcement.

“Enough.” I hiss at Fabien, and we rise from the floor, both of us straightening our suits.

“Gentlemen, welcome,” both Fabien and I say in unison. I eyeball my brother, and he shuts his mouth. “In case any of you haven’t heard the news, I’ve been named mayor of New Orleans.”

“That’s great, boss.” My biggest ass kissing capo pipes up.

I nod. “With my mayoral duties, I will be unable to lead this family. I’ve decided to step down permanently and name Fabien Calvani as boss.”

Shocked silence.

“Gentlemen, we are here to swear in the new boss of this family.” As soon as I hand Fabien the knife, it crosses my mind that he could slit my throat, just as I did Vitto’s during my ceremony; by the look in his eyes, the thought crosses his mind too.

But Fabien pricks his palm and makes a fist, and the red droplets fall onto the family Bible.