Page 6 of Sins and Secrets

Somewhere on the other side of those trees, someone is out to get me. Men I’m supposed to trust with my life are doing what they can to bring me down.

Working for Paolo.

Because there is no way that Paolo would have been able to bring two dead bodies — the bodies of two of my men — to my doorstep without inside help.

I have been slacking. But no more. I’m going to hunt them down and make them regret the day they were born.

I sit on the step beside the bodies, not caring about the blood that stains my clothes. As I watch for Davide and Doc, I sift through everything I know about Paolo’s operation. It isn’t much, but I know that he is going to keep coming at me until he gets what he wants — control of Atlanta.

The roar of engines racing through the compound brings me back to the situation at hand. Davide is the first to park his car and get out, hurrying over to me.

“I spoke to a couple capos. There might be a way to get inside Paolo’s operation for information in two weeks,” Davide says. Glancing down at the bodies, he adds, “Do you want me to talk to wives and inform them of the tragedy?”

I shake my head as I stand. “No. I will handle that personally. What’s this about a chance to get inside Paolo’s operation?”

Davide nods as Doc backs up a black armored vehicle that was once an ambulance.

Doc doesn’t say anything to either of us as he gets out and gets ready to transport the bodies.

“Paolo is hosting an auction. Apparently, he’s done it before, about six months ago.”

“When he started this bullshit.” I run a hand through my hair before I think about the blood that is staining my hands. I can forget about my run, but I’m still going to need to shower before I head to the casino for the day. “What is he auctioning off?”

“Women.”

I see red. While the famiglia may not have the best reputation for how they treat women — something I try to fix — they would never think of auctioning them off like cattle. Just the thought makes me sick.

“And you think that attending this auction will be a good chance to see who he has working for him,” I say, pushing past the nauseous feeling.

My father used to say that I was too soft for a life of crime. There are some days when I think he was right, and I should have never taken over after Enzo died.

However, the proud man that lived inside me couldn’t let the family business go either.

Davide nods. “I think that it will be the best chance to see what he’s up to for a long time. There’s an auction in two weeks. Plenty of time to come up with how best to infiltrate his territory.”

I shake my head. “No. I will be going in alone. Until I know who is working for Paolo and who isn’t, I cannot trust anybody to have my back. Arturo is in the hospital despite the details of the arms run being a secret shared only by a select few.”

A select few who are now being tortured and killed for their part in what happened.

“I’m going to get cleaned up,” I say, watching as Doc loads the bodies into the repurposed ambulance. “And then I’m going to talk to the wives before going to the casino. See to it that these men have a proper burial arrangement. Spare no expense, whatever their wives want for them. Make sure the wives are both paid as well. We need to provide for them now that their husbands no longer can.”

“Yes, sir.” Davide pulls out his phone and starts sending messages.

I watch the ambulance take off before heading back inside my house to get cleaned up. Today is going to be a long day. I can’t talk to the widows covered in their husbands’ blood.

This is the part of my job that I hate the most.

It’s late that night when I get home. The moon is hanging high in the sky and the stars are shining. I had spent more time than I cared to admit at the hospital, trying to talk this entire situation over with Arturo, though I know he cannot say anything.

When I first took over the mafia, he took me under his wing and showed me that there was more than one way to be a good leader.

I don’t know how to continue leading without him at my side.

Right now, I have no choice. Hundreds of people count on me.

Falling apart is never an option.

And then there’s Billie, who didn’t say anything to me when she arrived to visit her father.

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