Page 62 of Wounded King

"DeSantis?" Luciano asks as soon as he disconnects the call.

"This makes no fucking sense," I curse, digging a new phone from my drawer and looking for Stephano's number.

"Hold on," Luciano cautions before I can press dial. "Let's check the footage first, before you go apeshit on a Conti."

He's right. But fuck, we're talking about my sister here.

Stephano Conti's another Cosa Nostra prince, gearing up to take over his father's empire. We were barely on each other's radar before, but that changed fast. Now we're aligned—for one reason: taking down Edoardo.

Well, two reasons. The Kingsley mess lit a fire none of us saw coming. A few weeks back, Enrico called me out of nowhere, asking for a favor in Sicily. It wasn't hard to deliver it since I still have enough connections in the old country. In return, he handed me Senator Preston Kingsley trussed up like a gift. That alone would've been enough.

But it wasn't just Kingsley.

It was a fucking storm.

A ghost-level assassin showed up—Ledyanoy Prizrak—the Icy Ghost, aka Alaric Bastian. Aka Igor Pavlov. Whatever name he used, he was a ghost. And he worked for a very real organization—Omertà Infernale. Hellbound Silence. It sounds theatrical, but it's not. We checked. They exist. And their mission is to enforce the sacred code of Omertà—silence, especially when it comes toLa Famiglia. And they don't just silence people. They erase them.

They wipe scandals clean. Delete entire social media histories. Scrub court records. Pay off therapists. Make whistleblowers vanish. They don't just bury the mess—they burn the whole building down and salt the earth after. And the one who made the mess?

They disappear too. We still don't know who is behind it, but Stephano is on it. He's obsessive like that. Has been ever since his brother vanished a few years ago. He's good. Scary good.

Too many hands are moving in the shadows. Which is why the four of us—me, Enrico, Stephano, and Toni—are closer now than we've ever been.

Because something's coming.

And we're not waiting around to find out what it is.

Which brings me back to Stephano. Why the fuck would he or one of his underbosses be involved in Sophia's kidnapping? I'm not going to jump to conclusions. Whoevertheyare, they infiltrated my guards in order to assassinate me. They could have gotten to Raffael too. The question is, why? And how he is involved.

Luciano's phone vibrates, and he checks a text. With an uncharacteristic grin, he types a reply.

"Who's that?" I finally ask.

He looks up, guilt written all over his face.

"Vi," he finally says.

"Vi? As in my Violet? My nurse?"

He swallows and nods. "Yes, boss."

"You two are texting?"

He nods again.

So, she's texting him, but not me?

No, I'm not going to let her distract me again. First, I need to find my sister. Second, "Get a detail on Helen Gordon. I want to know what else Edoardo might be up to." I order, pretending Luciano never mentioned Violet's name. Which is fine—totally fine—because I don't need to think about little nurses and their kisses. I don't need to think about a woman who doesn't want me in her life.

And third, "I want Fabio!"

Luciano:

He's doing fine.

Me:

Good. Has anybody checked on his wounds?