Page 135 of Vicious Behaviors

“Not at all. It’s just some bureaucratic nonsense I need him to clear up, nothing more. No harm will come to him or his family. I promise.”

“Fine. Wait for my call.” And with that, Owen hangs up.

We all stare at Vincent, neither one of us understanding what we just witnessed.

“Who is this guy? And why do we need a favor from his nephew?” Jude asks, looking just as confused as the rest of us.

“Oh, I think there isn’t a person in this room who doesn’t know who Turner’s nephew is.” Gio smiles, looking more relaxed, picking up Selene’s hand and kissing her knuckles.

“Who is he, Father?” Annamaria asks, looking uneasy about the show of force her father just demonstrated.

Vincent gets up from his seat, softly lifts Anna’s chin, and replies, “His name is Lincoln Hamilton,dolce angelo.And as luck would have it, he just so happens to be the President of the United States.”

Chapter 29

Marcello

“What did you do with the body?!” Haynes shouts, slamming his hands on the metal desk, his spit flying every which way.

I keep my lips sealed as the fucker continues on with his interrogation. I’m not saying anything. Not one damn word.

As the hours pass without Gio, I’m starting to wonder why he hasn’t arrived yet. The feds are either purposely keeping him from the room—thinking they’ll be able to wear me down and coerce a confession out of me—or there is a more nefarious reason behind his absence.

When Haynes and his crew came rushing into the gym, putting me under arrest for Father McDonagh’s murder, he didn’t add racketeering, extortion, money laundering, or any other crime to the charge. Murder was the only crime he charged me with, out of the hundreds I’ve committed.

As time keeps ticking with Gio nowhere in sight, I begin to wonder if this motherfucker has him locked away in a cell somewhere, along with Dom and my father, too.

No. Not possible. My father and Gio go to great lengths to clean up the Outfit’s mess, so none of our criminal activity comes back to bite us in the ass.

Haynes only has me. His beef is only with me. Which sucks for him. If he thinks I’ll ever admit to killing that motherfucking priest, he’s got another thing coming.

“So it’s like that, huh? You’re just going to sit there and not say a word?” Haynes grumbles.

I lift my head, stare him in his beady little eyes, and state, “Not without my lawyer present, no.”

He scoffs, his nostrils flaring at my nonchalance. He then pulls the chair opposite me and sits. “You know, I thought you’d be scarier looking from the things I heard about you. But now that I get to look you in the eye, I don’t see what the fuss is all about.”

‘Wait until he gets a load of me,’the voice comes out, but this time I don’t feel the usual chill in my spine or the prickle at my nape. All I feel is a sense of calm.

“I got this,”I tell the voice, who seems to nod back in what almost feels like submission mixed with pride.

“The talk on the street? They have you pegged as some sort of madman. But all I see is a fool.”

My lips curve as I lean back in the chair, not biting on the bait he’s slinging my way.

“All I see is a spoiled mafia prince still needing his daddy to get him out of trouble.”

“You’re going to have to do better than that, Agent Haynes. I don’t get frazzled easily.”

This time it’s his lips that curve into a smile.

“No?” he arches a taunting brow. “That’s not what I’ve heard. Agent Graham seems to think that she struck enough of a nerve with you just by batting her eyelashes.”

I bite my inner cheek, hating that this motherfucker is using Izzie to rile me up.

“Bet you didn’t see her coming, did you, pretty boy?” he laughs. “You have the reputation of being this hard-ass, a machine without feelings, and yet look where you are now, beaten by a woman.”

My hands ball into fists as the cuffs, chained to the metal table, scrape my wrists. Haynes sees it too, causing him to laugh in my face.