Page 25 of Twisted Fate

Leo frowns. “Madsen works for us. But his sister was with Bianchi…” He shakes his head. “You don’t think something is off about this?”

“That’s why I took her. To get information.”

“She tell you anything?”

I think of her expression, her voice, the way she looked at me when we spoke of my father’s death, of her parents’ deaths. I think of the admission she shared, that she’d wanted her parents’ killer to suffer, to die. She’d told me a lot of things, but none of them are what Leo wants to know. “Says she doesn’t know anything about who Bianchi works for or where he is.”

“And you believe her?”

“I do.”

Leo looks unconvinced. “You certain she’s not an informant? Bianchi brought her onto our turf the night our father died…”

I almost tell him I’m certain. But I don’t because I can’t be certain. And that pisses me off.

“That’s why I’m keeping her at the penthouse, guarded at all times. No one in. No one out. And I took her phone.”

Leo nods then pinches the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger. I know the weight of his new position is sitting heavy on his shoulders.

“We should go out on the boat. You, me, Sabina,” I say. Dante makes a soft groan. He hates the boat on the best of days, and right now he is not living his best days. “You can stay on shore,” I say.

“Appreciated,” Dante mutters.

As much as Dante hates the water, Leo loves it.

“Not a bad idea,” he says. “A little family time on the water would be good—”

His expression hardens and his gaze shifts to a point beyond my left shoulder. The men on the same side of the table as Leo grow tense, expressions closed and cold. I’m on my feet, turning before I even see the threat, putting myself between my brother and whatever is coming for him, hand reaching for the weapon at my right hip. Beside me, both Dante and Luca rise, the three of us forming a protective wall.

Nikolai Ivanov saunters through the diner, approaching our table, two goons at his back. His dark brown hair is windblown, his blue eyes cold and flat. The lopsided grin he offers doesn’t reach his eyes.

“What a coincidence, seeing you gentlemen this morning,” Nikolai drawls.

“Not much of a believer in coincidences,” I say. “What do you want?”

His lips pull down in an exaggerated frown, “Not happy to see me, Damiano?” He presses his right hand to his chest over his heart. “You wound me to the core.”

He turns to Leo.

“Leonardo,” he says.

“Nikolai,” my brother says.

“My father sent me to remind you that agreements were made between Salvatore and my uncle Vlasta.” Nikolai pauses, offering a tight smile. “You assured my father that those agreements will remain intact despite the deaths of your father and my uncle. Yet you overstep, Leonardo. My father will be only so patient before he oversteps in return.”

Rage surges. I want to punch the piece of shit in the face, feel the burn in my knuckles, watch his blood drip. Beside me, Luca sidles forward, using his height and bulk to fill the space. Dante rests his hand on his weapon. The goons behind Nikolai tense.

“You’ve delivered your message,” Leo says, his tone mild, a little bored. You can go now, errand boy, he doesn’t say. He doesn’t need to. The implication is clear.

A muscle in Nikolai’s jaw ticks, but there’s no other evidence of his fury at my brother’s dismissal. He stares at Leo, then says, his voice low and hard, “My uncle Vlasta was a fine man. He was good to me. Like a father to me.” I notice he doesn’t say second father. I’m not surprised. Everyone knows Nikolai’s father Mikhail is a self-centred bastard. “He was in his prime. Had a full physical a week before he died. There wasn’t a damn thing wrong with his heart. Got to wonder if there’s anything strange about the fact that he met with your father in the morning and dropped dead of a heart attack in the afternoon.”

Leo rises, his gaze never leaving Nikolai’s. Where Dante, Cassio, and Sabina look more like our mother, I take after our father. But Leo looks like our grandfather with the same square jaw and razor-sharp cheekbones, the same mouth, his lower lip fuller than his upper. My brother is a handsome man, but in this moment, he looks like a devil, eyes narrowed, burning with fury. With hate. Still, his voice is soft and calm when he says, “Don’t look for a snake in my yard, Nikolai, when you have a viper in your own.”

Nikolai holds Leo’s gaze for a long moment. “Figure your shit out, Leonardo,” he says, then he turns and strides out of the diner, his goons behind him.

“Anyone else find it interesting that he said Vlasta was like a father to him even though his actual father is hale and hearty?” Luca asks as we all settle back in our seats.

“Mikhail’s a piece of shit. Even to his own kid,” Dante says.

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