Page 30 of Sweetest Sin

After a few minutes of silence, I say, “None of this makes any sense.”

When I woke up to my phone ringing this morning, I thought it would be Matteo telling me he’d found Brielle. Instead, he told me our father was dead.

From what he could gather, our father had found Brielle and brought her home, and then he took off for a meeting with Joseph, Giuseppe, and Anthony.

Shit went down, and Joseph shot our father. After taking him out, Joseph went after Giuseppe, but he was able to get away unscathed. Giuseppe is now looking for Joseph, and Matteo was able to grab Anthony.

When I spoke to Giuseppe after arriving back in Harbor Point, he said he’d walked in on the tail end of the conversationbetween Joseph, Anthony, and our father and had no idea what had been said. When I had my security guy, Eddy, pull the footage, he discovered the cameras had conveniently been wiped clean.

“Hello?” Matteo answers his phone.

He mouths to me,It’s Giuseppe.

He listens for a moment and then says, “Okay,” before hanging up.

“Joseph is dead.”

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Anthony groans, obviously having woken up and heard the news.

“What are you so mad about?” I ask him. “You couldn’t stand the man.”

While Matteo and I were smart about keeping our hatred toward our father a secret, Anthony did little to hide the animosity he felt toward his old man.

“Doesn’t mean I wanted him dead,” he mutters.

“I’m bored of this,” Matteo says, pointing a gun at Anthony. “Talk, or you’ll be buried right alongside your dad.”

“Fuck,” Anthony cries out. “I don’t know what happened!”

Matteo pushes the gun against Anthony’s temple, and he whimpers like a little bitch.

“I swear! I was with my dad when Andrey called for a meeting, so I went with him. We got there, and they argued about the arranged marriage. Giuseppe walked in and then shit went down. My dad shot yours and then we took off. We got to the house, and my dad said he needed to handle some shit and left. I stayed at the house with my mom until Matteo showed up and dragged me out. That’s all I know.”

I glance at Matteo, and we exchange a look. Something is missing from the story, but without the footage, we can’t prove shit. If we kill him now, with his dad and ours dead, we might never know what really happened in that meeting.

I nod at Matteo, silently telling him to let Anthony go, and he glares my way.

I give him another look, conveying that I’m not playing, and he sighs. Then, like the asshole he is, he punches Anthony in the stomach, making him double over in pain.

“Fuck!” Anthony groans. “Stop … please.”

“Well, since you asked so nicely”—Matteo pulls a knife out and cuts his binds—“you’re free to go … for now.”

Anthony widens his eyes, momentarily stunned, and then stands. “What about the marriage?” he says, looking at Matteo, then me.

“What about it?” I ask.

“It’s still happening, right?”

He juts out his chin, and I stifle a laugh because this is precisely why his father didn’t let him run the business. The guy could’ve been killed—hell, I wouldn’t put it past Matteo to still do it despite me making it clear he’s to let Anthony live—and instead of running, like a smart person would, he’s poking the beast.

“Is he fucking serious right now?” Matteo barks out a laugh, glancing from Anthony to me. “He’s clearly nuts. C’mon, Dominick. Let me kill him. I’ll even clean up the mess myself.”

“No,” I tell Anthony, ignoring my brother’s antics, “the deal is off.”

“That’s bullshit!” Anthony barks. “I want what’s owed to me.”

Before I can stop him, Matteo punches Anthony in the mouth, and he flies backward. I know Matteo went easy on him because if he had hit Anthony with his full strength, he’d have sent Anthony into a coma.