Page 14 of Mafia Don's Secret Baby

He spit something at me in Russian, and I didn’t bother giving him a second chance.

I flung the man head-first over the railing, and I heard his head crack on the concrete floor a story below.

I moved to another guy—one who seemed to have more power than the last. He still hadn't regained his composure enough to fight me, and I had him dangling over the railing within seconds. “You saw how it went with your friend. Do you have anything useful to tell me, or do I need to go to another guy?”

I felt a tremor run through his body, and he bucked beneath me. His entire body shook as he clawed at the railing in a useless attempt to escape me. “Use my phone and call the boss. He sent us to take the weapons you keep here. I have his number.”

I scoffed and allowed my grip to loosen slightly. He screamed before I tightened my grip on him again. “Just to take the weapons here?” I asked.

I didn’t have a large store of weapons here. If anything, I kept a small cache of emergency firearms, but nothing worth an attack. I didn’t know how he’d heard of the place.

“Yes.”

“Give me your phone.”

His trembling fingers fished in his pocket and handed me the phone.

“What’s his name in your contacts?”

“Vlad,” he shouted pleadingly. “Please—”

I released him the same way as I had his friend.

I pulled up the contact information and dialed his number. I tucked a hand into my pocket and took a deep breath as I looked at the carnage around me. Useless. It was fucking pointless to go to these lengths.

“Did it go smoothly?”

“It’s one thing to declare war with the Genoveses. It’s another to do so with me,” I said with a clenched jaw.

Anthony stood before me, and I pointed to the last survivor. He nodded, understanding my meaning.

Keep him for questioning.

“Ah,” Vlad said, his accent thick. “Matteo.”

“Only my friends call me Matteo, and you’re not my friend. Did you do this to kill me?”

“You know that blood calls for blood, Matteo.” My mouth tightened at the clear disrespect. “I thought you would stand down at the wedding, but you took what I wanted and ran.”

“We were allying with you,” I shot back. “Both Alessio and I had nothing but honorable intentions.”

“You had honorable intentions. Alessio only ever wanted us out of the picture,” Vlad said coldly. “He spent years leading us on. First, with the bitch of a daughter who stood up to my son, then with deals of business arrangements that never happened. He deserved what he got.”

“You’ve made an enemy of me, too, Vlad,” I snarled into the line.

I watched Anthony haul a limping man down the stairs, and I leaned into the railing as I watched two women walking around downstairs, feeling our guys for pulses. There were too many of them lying on the floor.

“I’m out for blood, and I’m owed more than what I’ve taken.”

“You’re owed nothing.” I took a deep breath and calmed my rising voice. “I owe you nothing. You started a war with this stunt. Alessio didn’t have enough of a force to challenge you, but I do.”

“I have nothing against you once you give me the girl.”

“What girl?”

He huffed. “Stupid doesn’t look good on you. The Genovese family made too many plays for my territory over the years, and I won’t risk them reconvening under Lilianna. Give her to me, and this can be over. When I get the daughter, I’ll leave your guys alone.”

“We’re beyond that, and you know it,” I replied.

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