Page 90 of Belonging to the Mafia Dons

I take a step back in shock.

Giovanni.

He’s basically family. Albert’s best friend.

A betrayal at that level would shake our entire organization to the core.

I look at Alec. “How certain are you?” I ask.

Alec holds up his hands and shakes his head quickly. “Not certain enough to say anything just yet. It’s just a suspicion.”

Nico leans against the doorjamb.

“We can’t take it to Father without proof. We need to keep an eye on him. Better to watch than to be wrong.”

I nod my head in agreement.

Betrayal of our family in such a manner is unthinkable. We need proof before we make a call that will end a man’s life.

“What would be his motive?” I ask, wracking my brain for a reason.

“That’s the part I don’t understand,” Alec says. He’s stressed. I can see the worry etched on his face. “But I swear on my life, I’ll figure it out.”

I nod. Alec will do his due diligence, but there’s very little comfort in that. The words are already out there in the world, the suspicion has already been voiced.

There’s no taking that back.

I feel a surge of determination welling up within me. We may be facing our greatest threat yet, but we are Venittis and we do not cower in the face of adversity.

Turning to Nico, I meet his gaze with a silent understanding. We may have been blindsided by this revelation, but we will not be defeated.

We are the future of the Venitti empire, and we will unravel this web of deceit and emerge stronger than ever.

“We need to connect Giovanni with the Cossis and put someone on Antonia as well.” Nico says.

I nod and turn to Alec. “Make sure we do a banking check as well. I want to know how Giovanni’s financials are looking. Maybe he’s in debt to Cossi? Find out.”

“It would be just like Antonia to fuck with us like this,” Nico grumbles, twirling his knife in his hands. Antonia is a bitch. We both hate her. She’s pretentious, annoying, and always in the way – but as far as I know, she doesn’t have a death wish.

Starting a war between her family and ours out of pettiness would be colossally stupid.

She’s not the brightest person I’ve ever met, but surely, she wouldn’t go that far.

If it’s Giovanni – we will find the reason why. We will connect him.

It doesn’t add up now, but it will.

“In the meantime, I want double guards out here at the warehouse to protect our shipments.

Alert our vessels that they could be facing a threat, and they should be prepared to fight back.

I will talk to Mario about reaching out to our customers and our suppliers to make sure our pipeline is still rock solid. The last thing we want is Cossi fucking with them too.”

Nico and Alec both nod.

It’s not the best plan in the world, but it’s something.

We’re going to figure this out. One way or another.

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