Page 78 of Mercy in Betrayal

“No dice, miss,” Cassidy says without looking at her. “This is a fight between the men.” I agree with Cassidy on this one. I won’t watch my sister die.

Evie steps up beside Cassidy and narrows her gaze on him. “Now, darling, don’t make any rules that I can’t follow.”

“And that’s Missus, you fuck,” Carina speaks; her voice wild and high-pitched. I have a moment of pride until I shake my head. This is insane.

I’m prepared to take on Luca and Cassidy, but not my sister and Evie. I’ve never hit a woman in my life and don’t intend on doing it before I die.

Ian, who I remember from the meeting before, steps into the middle of the tennis court with his hands raised in the air. “Each side will choose five combatants. One representative from each side will check the other combatants for weapons, as this is a hand-to-hand battle.”

Fuck.

I’m not happy, but everyone is nodding in agreement.

I try to talk myself down from the rising panic at seeing my sister here. I have trained for moments like this. I know how to swing a punch and avoid one. I can plan my attacks, making sure my sister is out of the way and kept safe. It’s not ideal to have to worry about myself and my sister, too...but maybe that’s why she’s here—to distract me.

I point at Luca. “Is she here as a fucking distraction?”

Luca sneers. “She’s her own person. Something you’d know if you’d spent five minutes in her company recently.”

Arturo and three other of my most trusted men stand beside me. We all hold our arms out as a member of the Marzano, O’Rourke, and Papparado families check us for weapons. Cassidy isn’t the one checking us, but he keeps his eyes on me while he’s being patted down, too.

I grin like I’ve got this. I have to win. I have to see Rowan again.

When everyone is checked, Ian takes center stage again. “State your grievances,” he says loudly.

“I am here in support of my husband and my brother.” Carina looks briefly at Cassidy. “No offense, Evie, but the O’Rourke can fuck himself.” A snicker ripples through the crowd, and Evie’s cheeks flush red. “There is a misunderstanding between us all, one that needs to be righted.” Carina’s gaze is steady on mine. “Enzo, I knew about Francis. And you know why I didn’t blame Luca. You know this. I know you know this. I avenged him, Enzo. Our father is dead because of me.” Carina’s speech has my world tilting, and I steady myself.

“What? Are you saying…” My heart hammers viciously in my chest. She knew that Luca killed Frances, and she took our father’s life?

“No rebuttals!” Ian cuts me off. “This is only for the airing of grievances.”

“Evie and Cassidy have been trying to undercut our business.” Luca speaks up next. I’m still staring at my sister, who keeps her focus on me, her chin raised proudly and her eyes pleading for me to understand.

I can’t hold her stare, so I focus on Luca and his words.

I’m not overly surprised by this, but I want to wrap my hands around his throat and squeeze the life out of him like he did to my brother. I might actually get the chance. That thought has me shifting my feet. I’m ready to go, but Luca isn’t done flapping his mouth.

“We kept Enzo in the dark about what happened with Francis in order to keep Carina safe from retaliation. Enzo, brother to brother, I am sorry for what happened. Trust me. But you should have handled it differently. You burned down my fucking house. And you killed my father. That wasn’t for you. I was going to kill him myself until he got his lung cancer diagnosis. I wanted him to gasp for air for the rest of his miserable life.”

My gaze burns into his, conveying my response without words.

I enjoyed killing your father.

I’m glad I took that opportunity from you.

And I’m not your fucking brother.

Evie takes a single step forward. “Undercutting business? Isn’t it sad, Luca…when you have a deal, a business arrangement, and someone rips it away from you? Don’t get me wrong—I am happy with the way things turned out. However, the fact remains that you wronged me, and the payment I received is far from what I wanted. I am here for you, Luca. I have been gunning for you since the moment the Valachis gave me the go-ahead to expand my business into yours.” Evie’s words are loud and angry, and then those angry eyes swing to me. “And for you, as well, Enzo. Wherever the fuck Rowan is, I swear to God, she’d better be safe. She’d better be fucking safe.”

I cock my head a fraction to the side, my eyes narrowing. There’s no way they don’t know where she is and are wasting time with this foolishness. What utter bullshit.

“Don’t worry, love, he isn’t leaving this court. You all know why I am going to put my fist through Enzo’s face,” Cassidy drawls. I snort at that. How fucking courageous of him.

“And Luca? I just want to hurt you. I am a jealous lover, you see, and I don’t take too kindly to anyone who has looked at Evie the way I look at her.” Luca tightens his fist; it’s nice to see that I’m not the only one struggling not to answer back. But, now it’s my turn.

“I am here because my wife is missing, and Cassidy wants to fuck around instead of finding her,” I bark.

“Fuck you… you piece of shit.”

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