Page 43 of The One Night Match (Mafia Matchmaker #1)

FORTY-THREE

CRUZ

W atching Riley open my gift with a smile on her face only proves how perfect she is for me.

Too bad I can’t keep her.

Not when it means she’s in danger.

Not when she could be killed for no other reason than because she’s my wife.

The camera feed in the bedroom plays on the screen in front of me, distracting me from the calls I should be making.

I can’t take my eyes off her, and my chest aches to be close to her.

Making Lexi deliver the news that she couldn’t see me was a dick move, but I knew I wouldn’t be able to walk away myself.

I knew I wouldn’t be able to say it to her face. Because I’m a coward. A piece of shit. Scum of the earth. It’s the only way you can explain how I could let her be hurt twice in one week. I put the business before my wife, and it got her hurt.

And yet I continue to do the same thing. To put her second. To put the De Luca legacy first.

To be fair, I don’t have a choice. It’s not a decision I’ve made because it’s what I want. Because the truth is, if I had a choice, I’d walk away today.

I’d pack Riley and the demon cat up, and we’d be on our way to some island to live out our days in safety.

But that’s never going to be a reality for us, and that’s why I have to let her go.

Riley deserves everything that’s good in the world. She deserves a man who can put her first, who can love her and protect her.

But I’m not that person.

Colten sits across the desk from me, glaring at me every so often when he can drag his eyes off his screen. My best friend has never been particularly emotional. Lexi is the exception to that rule for him, but right now I’m on the receiving end of his disdain.

I’m actually on a lot of people’s shit lists right now, but none more than my family.

“You find anything?” I ask, finally minimizing the camera feed so I can focus.

“Nope.”

“Colt, I?—”

“No, Cruz. You’re being a fucking idiot.”

“Says the guy who has loved my sister since elementary school and has never made a move.”

He huffs. “We’re not talking about me. We’re talking about the fact that your wife is sitting upstairs, scared and uncertain, and you’re down here punishing yourself for something that wasn’t your fault.”

I flinch. The idea that Riley is suffering without me once again has nausea rolling in my gut. “She’s better off without me.”

He rolls his eyes and returns his attention back to the screen in front of him. He’s the only one who knows for sure what I’m planning to do, but something tells me his reaction won’t be the worst.

My mom’s will.

Or perhaps Lexi’s.

Either way, they’re going to hate me, but they’ll never hate me as much as I hate myself.

“We need to call a family meeting,” I say. “I want every capo at the estate in the next hour. I don’t give a fuck what they’re doing. This is a mandatory meeting, and failure to attend will be punishable by death.”

Colten’s brows rise almost to his hairline, but he just gives me a quick nod and starts typing on his phone.

It’s time to weed out the rats, no matter the cost.

I stare down my men from where I’m sitting at the head of the table.

It’s a position I’ve been in too many times to count, but today is different.

Since taking over for my father, I’ve tried to rule the family in a way that was fair. I wanted everyone to have a voice, to push the family into the future together. But it seems that was a mistake.

Maybe it was wishful thinking that a crime family could ever be a democracy.

The last of my men take their seats, and I lean forward slowly, moving my eyes over everyone in the room.

The fifteen men who sit before me have been part of the organization for as long as I can remember.

Some grew up in the ranks, others served under my father, but none of them is above suspicion.

“For a long time, Colten and I have been aware of a quiet rebellion happening within our ranks, and we’ve been working to weed them out. However, we never wanted to accuse anyone without evidence.” I pause, watching for any tells. “That was a mistake.”

A few of the men glance toward the door, but Colten steps in front of it, making it clear that no one is leaving this room until we’re good and ready.

“Until each of you can prove that you’re not a rat, and that you haven’t contributed to the decline of this family, you are a suspect, and I’m sure I don’t have to remind you what happens to rats.”

The threat is clear, even if I wouldn’t actually act on it. The standard punishment for betrayal is to watch everyone you care about die, but I don’t believe in killing innocent women and children, and I refuse to allow this family to stoop to that level.

“How the fuck are we supposed to do that?” Danny asks. His head is freshly shaved, but that doesn’t stop him from running his fingers through the short strands of hair. We’ve already cleared him, but he doesn’t need to know that.

“Colten will be collecting your devices, and we will be doing thorough checks of them. We also have our security team pulling the information from the internal GPSs in your cars, and we will be questioning your wives and children if they are old enough to understand what we do.”

“You can’t do that!” Harry snaps as he rises to his feet.

“Sit down,” I say evenly.

“No. You’ve been running this family into the ground ever since you offed your dad. You had no right to do that, and you have no right sitting at the end of that table.”

I nod slowly before flicking a look to Colten by the door.

I push myself to my feet slowly and place the gun that was sitting on my lap on the top of the table. “Go on,” I bait Harry. “Tell me more about how I’m the one who’s ruining this family.”

“You’re a spoiled brat. That whore of a mother spoiled you, and that bitch sister of yours?—”

He doesn’t get a chance to finish his sentence before the bullet slices through his forehead. But it wasn’t me who pulled the trigger.

Colten stands behind him, his gun raised and his body ramrod straight as he watches Harry collapse onto the table. Blood splashes across the table, but I remain in place. Watching. Waiting.

The reactions around the table differ from surprise to anger, but they all remain rooted in place.

“Anyone else have something to say about my leadership?” I ask.

Silence falls over the room, and Colten takes a step back, once again standing with his back against the door.

“Great. As I was saying, we will be doing thorough checks on each of you, and while we do so, you will remain here, in this room. Once you’re cleared, you will be permitted to leave.”

“What about the business?” Bobby asks.

“The business cannot continue to run the way it has been. I take full responsibility for that. I thought that I could prove to each of you that I could be a better leader than my father was, but that was a mistake, and one I will not be making again. That being said, Colten and I will manage what we can as we continue to clear each of you. If things slip in the meantime, I will wear that. There will be no repercussions for things that are missed during this time.”

“Where are Dennis and Vernon?” Danny asks.

“I’m glad you asked.” I lean forward, both hands pressed to the wooden table.

“They are who we believe to be the ringleaders of those rebelling against my leadership. After it became very clear that they were stealing from us, we had them isolated in a safe house as we put together evidence to bring to you all. However, last night they escaped, taking out a team of highly trained security personnel. It seems they’ve been working with a rival family, and we are actively hunting them. ”

I pause, meeting the eye of each man in the room.

“If we get wind of any of you having had contact with them, we will consider that treason, and you will be killed.”