Page 31 of Mafia Don's Secret Baby

“Speaking of weapons…”

“We have business with the Esposito family in Chicago at the end of the week. We can expect both weapons and a considerable amount of snow.”

“Put the lower-level soldiers on it,” I told him, rubbing a hand over my jaw. “Get an accurate assessment of the size of the shipment, and make sure it’s all tracked to the dealers. We can’t trust these guys as far as we can throw them. The newest guys need an example of why not to fuck with me anyway.”

“You trust them to get the profit to the casino for laundering?” Anthony asked.

“Put one trustworthy guy on the profits and one on the weapons. We can’t afford those things getting fucked up.”

He nodded and tapped away on his tablet. “You want me to cancel all one-on-one meetings this week?”

I nodded and glanced at Lilianna. She sat in a leather chair on the other side of my home office, legs crossed as she stared at the floor in the center of the room. Her family’s bodies still hadn’t been recovered, and she had finally decided to get their headstones engraved.

It had been two weeks since the wedding, and it was time to proceed as if the bodies would never be recovered.

She’d been thinking constantly about the implications of setting up her family’s place of rest. I knew she had a lot to decide, and none of those decisions would come easily.

“I’m seeing a meeting with the Don in Cleveland. The Blackhand squad has been closing in on some of their assets, and they’re hoping for some additional manpower. We’ve turned them down in the past.”

I considered the police presence in Cleveland and the trouble they’d been causing. “Shorten the meeting but keep that one on the books. If I’m not meeting another Don or the goddamned president, cancel it or reschedule a month out.”

Anthony raised his brows, but he nodded. He knew better than to disagree with me.

“Go and take care of it,” I demanded,

He gave one more nod. “On it, boss.”

I turned my full attention to where Lilianna sat. Keen strategy lit her eyes as she continued staring toward the center of the room. As soon as Anthony closed the door, she met my eyes with a forced smile.

“We’re going to stop them,” I told her.

“I know.”

“Then tell me what else is bothering you.”

She shrugged—a gesture that I couldn’t remember ever seeing her make. There was a certain sense of composure about her now, and her eyes were lit with confidence. “I had both my father and brother’s headstones engraved yesterday,” she said. “There are no bodies to bury there. I can’t risk having a service for them without mafia bullshit blowing up and more people dying. I can’t honor them in any way. The people responsible are on top of the world right now, and we can’t seem to find them.”

“We will.”

She huffed. “I know,” she said. “I know we’ll find them, and I know they’ll pay. But it’s still too late. I miss being home, safe in Italy. Callum loved growing up there, and he mentions it. All the time I can’t help but wonder—”

She cut herself off and shook her head, not finishing the thought aloud.

I pushed on my desk and stood, walking toward her and dropping to a knee in front of her. “You can’t help but wonder what?”

She met my eyes, hers remorseful. “If staying isn’t worth it.”

It felt like a blow to my chest, though I knew it shouldn’t. She didn’t mean it personally. She was rightfully concerned about her and her son's safety.

She continued before I could say anything. “The only way I can make a difference is by accepting my role as Don, and that comes with too many consequences. I know the life expectancy of someone in the mafia more than anyone. I can’t leave Callum motherless. And if I don’t take over, we’re not even sure we’ll be able to find and stop the Russians. I feel useless right now, Matteo. I feel like my brother was killed, and there’s nothing I can do.”

“I can assure you that every part of my power is going into finding them. All my assets. All my everything. If you don’t want to take over for your father, we can make it work.”

She glanced at the floor again, but I gripped her chin between my fingers and forced her to look at me.

“Do you trust me?”

She didn’t hesitate. “More than anything.”

---