Page 67 of Gorgeous Villain (Marchetti Mafia)

“The bitch wasn’t yours, Vinny,” my father huffs.

Another nod in agreement. I feel like a fucking bobblehead.

“Now, I convinced Cristian to hand over the cunt for ahefty price, of course.” My father jabs his meaty finger in Vinny’s direction. “Which you’ll reimburse me for. You can have the whore and do as you please.”

“Wait.” I draw in closer, finally speaking. “Cristian is giving you Natalia?”

If Gigi finds out Cristian handed her best friend over to Vinny, she’ll never speak to him again. With Cristian’s cunningness, I'm sure he’ll cover his tracks and convince Gigi that all guilty fingers point to Vinny.

“We’re meeting Cristian tonight.” My father checks his watch. “Before then, you need to select a man for us to give to him in exchange for the one you killed.”

“Wait,” I repeat, clenching my jaw as I step closer. “One of our men has to die because of his mistake?”

“Yes.” My father’s face lines with displeasure. “I just ask you to select someone we don’t find valuable.”

I jerk my head toward Vinny. “Can I nominate him?”

“Funny, Antonio.” Vinny forces a harsh laugh. “You know, you’re beginning to sound like a traitor.”

I refuse to take his deflection bait. “And you’re beginning to sound like a fucking degenerate.”

“Enough,” my father yells, his voice slicing through our tension. “Make your decision, Vinny.”

“Sacrificing one of our innocent men is reckless.” Disputing his command is another sign of disrespect and puts me on slippery ground. I no longer care.

“None of our men are innocent,” he fires back.

“They don’t deserve to die for Vinny’s carelessness.”

We expect our men’s loyalty. And now, my father wants us to betray that loyalty and hand over one for slaughter.

“Yeah.” Vinny steps forward, his confidence building by the second. “I say we meet up with Marchetti and killhim.”

Fuck. He is delusional.

The disgust is clear on my father’s face. “This is the only”—he pounds his fist on the desk—“theonlytime I step in for you, Vinny. Don’t fuck this up or do anything stupid moving forward. Make your selection.”

Vinny nods in false understanding before sliding his attention to me. “Come on. I guess we have a decision to make.”

I shake my head. “This is on you.”

I’m not a good person.

It’s not an attribute I wear as a badge of honor, but I have no problem acknowledging it. I murder, bribe, and engage in criminal activities like they’re my salvation.

That doesn’t mean there isn’t guilt when we invite Paul to join us on aspecial errand. His face lights up like the fucking Fourth of July. He thinks he’s receiving a promotion when we’re sending him to his death.

At least Vinny chose well. Paul has fucked up twice, and he’s bound to fuck up again and end up dead anyway. The difference is that it would’ve been forhisfuckup. Not Vinny’s.

Vinny squirms in the passenger seat as we drive. I ball up my fist, fighting the temptation to deliver a blow to the back of his head and tell him to calm the fuck down.

My jaw tenses so tight that I’m sure it’ll fracture while my father parks his Lincoln in the back alley where he arranged tomeet Cristian. We silently wait in the car until a black Escalade joins us.

We step outside, and Cristian and hisconsigliere, Rocky, emerge from the SUV. A burst of screams erupts from the backseat, and Rocky drags Natalia from it. She struggles to escape Rocky’s hold as we walk toward Cristian.

Rocky being Cristian’s right-hand man isn’t surprising. The scarred fucker is a torture fan and as sadistic as they come. While we all do our fair share of torture, Rocky practically comes in his pants from it.

I watch Cristian’s every move while Vinny focuses on Rocky restraining Natalia. The overhead light shining down the alley displays the strain on Vinny’s face and the pronounced veins standing out on his neck.

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