Page 5 of Twisted Trust

He doesn’t listen. He pushes me back, and I land hard.

Then he’s on top of me with one hand around my throat and his fist is colliding with my ribs again and again.

Panic screeches through my mind, caught between survival and protecting my son.

Only one wins.

“Scott, run!” I croak around the meaty fist crushing my windpipe. “L–Like we practiced! Run!”

2

LEVI

“It’s Las Vegas! You’re telling me we flew all the way out here and we’re not going to stopanywherefor the fun of it?”

Chip, my best friend and bodyguard, dramatically throws his hands in the air and presses his knuckles against the roof of the car as we weave through the flooded streets of the Las Vegas strip.

“Yes,” I reply, casting my eye out the window and watching as the sparkling lights, glittering signs, and glowing adverts pass us by like a neon sea. “We’re not here for pleasure.”

“We never go anywhere for pleasure,” Chip mutters from the back seat. “It wouldn’t kill you to live a little.”

“He’s not wrong,” adds Donald, my driver, as he glances at me. “We’re only here for a couple of days and most of that is going to be checking up on Antony, right? So what are we going to do for the rest of the time?”

“Mope,” Chip replies. “Mope that fucking Antony Marino is going to be our next Don.”

“That’s not decided.” Donald’s eyes flit to the rearview mirror, meeting Chip’s gaze. “There’s still time. The vote isn’t for a while.”

“Is it even a vote at this point?” I cut in quietly. “It’s a done deal for Antony. We all know that.”

“Doesn’t have to be.” Donald wrinkles his nose. “You’ve got just as much claim as he does, more so even. He’s just your cousin.Youare Elio’s son. That holds a lot of weight for a lot of people.”

“Maybe five years ago. But not now.”

The car falls quiet and Chip groans. “No one remembers what happened five years ago.”

A lie we all tell ourselves but deep down, we all know the truth.

Five years ago, my claim to Don of the Gallo family, following in my father’s footsteps, ended in one of the bloodiest catastrophes we’ve ever experienced.

I’ve spent the past five years clawing myself back from reputational suicide, but just when I thought I was getting somewhere, my cousin Antony reared his head with a flashy enough deal that I’m old news.

“That’s why we’re here, though, right?” Donald looks at me and takes one hand off the wheel to point at me. “Antony talks a big game, but we’re here to make sure he’s walking one too. One singletoeout of line and it’s over for him.”

“Donald’s right.” Chip relaxes back. “Elio wouldn’t have sent you here if he thought everything was going smoothly.”

I study Chip in the rearview mirror as he turns his attention outside and drums his fingers rapidly on his thigh.

He’s been my friend and bodyguard for as long as I can remember. To most, he seems like an uninterested playboy with the attention span of a newborn puppy, but he’s the most loyal man I have ever met.

Donald comes in a close second.

“Plus, if you think about it…” Donald chuckles. “We could just kill him and pin it on?—”

“Look out!”

I see the child stumble out into the middle of the road just as Donald glances at me.

Panic lances up my spine like the hot slice of a blade and I lunge forward, grabbing the steering wheel.