Page 98 of The Fractured

As I set her feet down on the curb beside the Volvo, Mark drove off. I predicted I would get a text in a few minutes about heading to his office to talk about what happened last night — one event from the night would be queried heavily with scrutiny. The other would be about the subtle threat from Gabriele.

After Lily climbed into the car, her mother glared ahead in the front seat while Jane sat in the back, waving at her boyfriend as he rode away.

I closed the car door softly behind Lily, and she rolled down the window, motioning with her finger for me to lean in closer. And I did, bracing my hands on the side of the door as I duck my head into the car and kissed Lily, adding just enough tongue to leave her breathless.

Kate was breathless because she found it offensive, and begin to steer the car away from the curb while I withdrew from the window just in time. Her mother’s abrupt exit didn’t stop Lily from peering out the window. She grinned at me as the wind whipped through her hair, and blew me a kiss with a wave.

I’m the luckiest man alive,I thought as I watched the car drive from view, unable to wipe my own smile from my face.

Despite her parents being…difficult individuals, I felt a small weight lift from my shoulders. Lily would be safer here. Under her mother’s constant watchful eye and her father’s strict love for the law, she wouldn’t be left unguarded.

Chapter 34

Dean

In several red and green cushioned booths, tucked away in the rear of a pizzeria, we all went silent as Antonio addressed us. With his bodyguards surrounding us, and Terry, his old bouncer from The Den, keeping watch at the door, anyone who wandered in for a pizza would think otherwise about staying.

Roxy stood on Antonio’s left side wearing a black pantsuit and heels, looking more professional than anyone else here as she kept her chin high.

“After the revelations of last night,” Antonio said. “I have decided to pull you all from Castello di Vetro. Especially since my children were so quick to retaliate and took one of our own early this morning.”

There was a shift in the room between the other fighters.

Seb was beside me and pivoted his head to see who was missing from the group.

I couldn’t remember the faces of the other fighters very well. It was down to pure laziness that I hadn’t bothered to get close to any of them besides Seb.

“What happened to him?” another fighter said from the booth behind us. His voice was hoarse.

“Jacob’s—or rather, The Viper’s head was delivered to my front gates this morning. Along with his girlfriend’s.” Antonio planted his cane in front of himself and folded his hands over the golden eagle head on the top.

My stomach dropped. Okay, maybe I remembered one other fighter. The Viper was a Russian guy who barely spoke and fought with relentless precision, matching the reputation of the snake tattooed on his scalp. He fought on and off for Antonio, and sometimes versed us after Antonio instructed that we needed to work on our technique. He seemed untouchable until he and his partner had their heads lobbed off this morning.

If someone like him failed to protect his loved one, how the fuck were the rest of us meant to do it?

I crossed my arms while that familiar bounce started in my leg.

“If I am to rebuild another successful fight club, I need you all alive. Some of you will continue doing a few small jobs for me, but other than that, lay low, stay vigilant, and do not go anywhere near Castello di Vetro again.”

“Seems easy enough for me,” Seb muttered.

“After this meeting tonight, I will only contact you when I really need to. When this is all over, I will see you all here again.” He spoke the words as if it was a promise we all had to keep.

Don’t die before the next meeting, basically.

Without any further questions, we were free to go and walked out of the pizzeria one by one. I was the last to leave the booths when Vince approached me. Followed closely by Antonio while Roxy lingered nearby.

“The gun you asked for,” Antonio said as Vince pulled the weapon from his jacket and offered it to me. A black 9mm with the serial number shaved off.

I took it, weighing it in my hand. Everything about the moment reminded me of the time Antonio handed me the gun I was meant to use the night my father died.

Vince stepped back, giving Antonio room to take his place in front of me. The mob boss put a hand on my shoulder and squeezed.

“I know I say this about all my fighters, that we are family, but you are important to me… You’re like the son I never had.” His words were meant to inspire something in me, but instead, they only made me hate the situation more.

Antonio implying he never had a son would only make Gabriele’s anger worse — their retaliation worse. I couldn’t help but think about how the words contradicted Antonio’s actions in the past too. Anytime I spoke or stepped out of line in the past, there was a punishment. Those were almost no different from what my father did.

Checking the safety was on, I tucked the gun into the back of my jeans and pulled my T-shirt over it, moving my thoughts on to how I was to present it to Lily. There was nothing romantic about bringing a gun home to your girlfriend.