Page 54 of Sins and Secrets

People rush toward the main house, glancing at me as I pass. I have no doubt that the story is already making its way through the compound and will soon be to the members of the mafia who don’t live here. It’s only going to be a matter of time before the old capos — the ones who have been around since my father was in charge — start to question my leadership.

I’m doing this for Billie.

And that’s the most dangerous thought of all. One woman is enough to make me change the way the mafia has run for the last several decades.

Except that she isn’t just one woman. She is far more than that to me, even though she shouldn’t be.

I make my way to my office building. Thankfully, Davide is still dealing with the scene at the main house, so I have a little time alone. I take a seat on the couch in the main lobby and pull out my phone.

The phone rings several times, the sound never-ending as I wait for Christian Herrera to pick up. It’s time that I deal with Paolo, and I’m going to need all the help I can get.

“Hello,” Christian says, his voice gruff as screams sound in the background of his call. “I thought you would be calling soon, but you sure do have shit timing.”

“Well, we need to talk about this now. I’m assuming that Jovan filled you in after I spoke to him?”

“He did.” Christian chuckles and a low thud echoes through the phone. A groan follows it. “Alright, I’ve finished up with what I was doing. What can I do for you?”

“Jovan has agreed to allow us to meet in Florida. It’s neutral territory for me and you. We need to discuss how we are going to deal with this Paolo situation without either one of us having the upper hand.”

“When do you want to meet? I have some things going on this evening that I need to be in Nashville for, but I could meet you in Miami in a few hours.”

I sigh and kick my feet up on the coffee table. “That works. I have to tie up some loose ends here today before flying out tonight. I’ve had to dispose of one of my capos who decided he didn’t need to stay in line. There is going to be tension in the next few days that I won’t be able to escape but getting away to Miami will save me a headache that my consigliere can deal with.”

Though I normally wouldn’t discuss business with a cartel leader who wasn’t already a solid ally, I want to build trust between us. Speaking with him about business that doesn’t matter that much is a way to build that trust with Christian.

“Oh yeah? What did this capo do? I have to admit, I heard of the brutality of your famiglia, though I have yet to believe it. You would think that someone so brutal would have already taken care of Paolo.”

“Yes, well, this capo was targeting someone important to me. Killing him sent a message to the others.”

“In that case, I hope your message works. If we both want to survive, we’re going to have to make an example of Paolo. I know that you have history with him, but I’m not going to allow others to think they can follow the same path that he did once he is dead.”

I swallow hard. Even after all that he has done, it’s still hard to stomach the idea of killing my brother’s best friend. I promised Enzo that I would look after him and now I have to go against that promise.

“I can do what needs to be done.”

“Good,” Christian says, an engine roaring to life on his end of the call. “I hope that proves to be true. For your sake.”

The call ends, leaving me with an unsettling feeling deep in the pit of my stomach. Christian is a dangerous man. He is not the kind to hesitate if he thinks that I can’t get the job done.

There is a good chance that I could end up dead alongside Paolo.

I’m not going to let that happen, though. Paolo has been plaguing my family for too long. He has been testing his limits and he’s crossing lines left and right. All I do to retaliate against him — to force him into backing down without killing him — isn’t working.

I’m sorry, Enzo. I’m going to kill your best friend.

Maybe that will teach Paolo a lesson about putting his hands on Billie.

If for no other reason, I’m doing this for her.

When I get home that night, Billie is singing to herself in the kitchen while she prepares two pizzas to go in the pizza oven outside. Her back is to me as she shakes her ass and sprinkles cheese on top.

She spins around mid-ass shake and grins at me. For a moment, I think that the fight from yesterday is forgotten and all is water under the bridge. That is until the smile falls away and she grabs her phone to turn off the music.

“I heard you killed Antonio this morning,” Billie says, grabbing a pack of pepperoni from the other counter and starting to lay slices on the pizzas. “What was that about?”

“He was the one who started those fucking bets in the first place. Now he’s dead. I doubt you’ll have any more problems with bets being made about you or other women here.”

Her mouth drops open slightly before it snaps shut. She nods and grabs some slices of bell pepper. “Do you like pepper on your pizza? I have some mushrooms cut up too. And slices of fresh mozzarella ready to go.”

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