Page 44 of The Hitman's Prince
“As yours.”
I shrugged. “My circumstances are different.”
“And yet, here we all are.”
“Trying to enjoy lunch if you’d say whatever you came here to say.” I lifted my sandwich to my mouth and took a bite.
“I think my father is planning something,” Daren said.
Luca’s sandwich sat untouched as his hand flattened in the middle of Daren’s back drawing soothing circles across his spine.
“I’d be disappointed if he wasn’t.”
Daren’s concern mirrored the rumors I’d been hearingwhen I listened hard enough. The rumors Vince had been willfully blind to.
“Vince gave me some names to look into, most of them led back to my father and my uncle. They’re not happy with how things have changed,” Daren said.
“I can’t imagine they would be.” I dropped my sandwich onto my plate and wiped crumbs off on the front of my slacks. “Your father especially. He worked too long and hard. He was too close to greatness to not just take a back seat, but get out of the car entirely.”
“He’s…he hasn’t cut me off.” Daren bit the inside of his cheek, hard enough for me to see the suction as he chewed on the soft skin. “But he’s not being as forthcoming with me about things as he used to be.”
I glanced at Luca. “What about yours?”
“My father is happy enough in second.”
“Then why was he so adamant about positioning his bastard at the right hand of Gideon North?” I asked.
Daren pushed up from the counter, lunging forward like he was going to fight me. I took a step back, hands raised in surrender, even though if I wanted to put a bullet through his forehead, I could have.
“It’s fine,” Luca said softly, hand still working reassuring lines across Daren’s back. He pursed his lips, looking from Daren to me. “I think it was as much of an apology as he could offer for the way he’d treated me my whole life.”
“You are the most competent of his sons, that’s for sure.”
Luca smirked, pushing his gold-framed glasses up the bridge of his nose when Daren settled back into his seat.
“I think my father and my uncle are working together, and I think they’re planning something big,” Daren said, shoulders sagging. “But I have no idea what, and I’m worried I’m already too late.”
Chapter 33
Jacob
By the time I finished with all of the church-related rituals I had to perform, Vince was long gone…and so was the red-haired ghost who’d been there the night of his attempted assassination. I hadn’t put it together at the time, but I would have bet my identity that he and the man who admitted to the attempt in my confessional were the same person. I should have tried harder to see his face through the grate, should have done something…
Instead, I’d kept to my ruse, maintained my own cover. My own safety.
If Vince found out, he’d never forgive me.
He’d probably kill me, and I would deserve it.
People didn’t just lie to the heir of the Angelini family and live to tell about it. I was foolish to think I could ever be an exception, just because he wanted to fuck me. Just because he’d taken me into his home and made me dodepraved things for his pleasure. No. Who was I kidding? Vince hadn’t made me do a thing. I’d gone into his home willingly, stood alongside him and Orion, on my knees and on my back.
My family would kill me if they knew.
It seemed like there was no winning for me, I realized, cold sweat breaking out against the small of my back as I changed from my vestments into street clothes. I was going to die at the end of this; the only control I had was choosing by whose hand. I thought about the implications of that choice on the short walk to Vince’s townhouse, lost in thought as I climbed the steps to the front porch.
Orion had given me a key—at Vince’s behest—and I was to come and go as if the place was mine. I had to let Vince know when I was leaving and coming, but I wasn’t expected to knock, wasn’t expected to wait for entry. The key went in with a small amount of force, the teeth freshly cut. I shouldered the door open and followed the sound of Orion’s voice into the kitchen. I didn’t know if Vince had made it back yet, but if he wasn’t there, I would tell Orion about the mystery red-headed man. There was an unspoken animosity that lived between the two of us, but I knew he put Vince’s interests above his own and he’d set aside any feelings about me to do that.
“It’s never too late,” I heard Orion say as I came around the corner into the kitchen. He was with two men I didn’t recognize, until one of them turned their head tothe side and the overhead light reflected off the shiny gold-frame of his glasses.