Page 91 of Mafia King's Surprise Baby

“I am an open book,” I tell him, then glance at all the men in the room one by one. “I have no secret to hide. It’s true my twin brothers are a little fucked up in the sense neither has had a relationship with a woman so far, but these little shits love sharing a woman between themselves every other night.” I shrug. “I guess some chicks find it thrilling to be taken by two identical men at the same time. As for my other brother, Tristan, he is only my half-brother, yes. Not my father’s blood. Don Eduardo knew this, though, and even if him being married to Tristan’s mother made the boy legally his, he had papers drawn and signed the very day my brother was born, adopting him as his own. His biological father is the tennis instructor Don Eduardo’s wife was having an affair with. Great coach, but didn’t know how to swim, as it was found when he drowned in a pond on the eighteen-hole golf course at the country club he worked at.”

They’re all listening to me, rapt, though Dons Salvatore and Vespucci are squirming a little.

No one would guess Tristan isn’t my father’s son. The apple of his eyes, he was adored. Don Eduardo Pellegrini loved this child who wasn’t his own as much as his own blood, because who else was going to love this innocent baby who didn’t ask to be conceived from an affair? Tristan is the proof of how big my father’s heart was.

“As for me, my secret is that I was indeed having an affair with Bianca Bonucci when she was promised to another man. A man I killed, because no one comes after what’s mine.” I shrug again. “Like father, like son.”

I let this sink in. They know I killed Ardian Abrashi, and it was never confirmed nor denied that my father held the head of the man who’d slept with his wife and impregnated her under the water of the country club pond.

Here’s the thing about knowing people’s secrets and not being afraid to air out your own: it gives you power. If they have nothing over you, but you do over them, they get scared, then. Respect is earned, somewhat by twisting their arm, but earned nevertheless. I can see this dawning in the eyes of the Dons around the room.

The two I’m concerned with, I see defeat in their gazes. I hadn’t dared hope it’d be this easy to topple them off the high branches they’d been hiding in, but it worked, without any need to resort to blackmail. I dare say my father would be proud of me today.

With the silence still deafening, I get up and do up the top buttons on my suit jacket. All the Dons except Salvatore and Vespucci give me nods as they stand up, too. This meeting is over. I’ve clearly won, and they’ve all been given leverage over the two fuckers who thought they’d preside over this council.

We file out and make it to the car. Pano, my driver, opens the door for me. I get in while Mattia slides in from the other side of the vehicle.

“That was something,” he says on a laugh.

I smile. I can’t say I didn’t like the thrill of holding these old goats’ balls in my hands. Though the image makes me grimace, and I give my mind a good wipe-out to erase this very thought. I want to go near no one’s balls, thank you very much.

My victory today, it’s all thanks to Bianca. She brought me the original intel that allowed me to crush these old coots in my fist. Without her, I’d be under their boot. I can’t wait to tell her how it all worked out and also thank her properly.

We’re on our way to Lenox Hill when my phone rings.

“Don Pellegrini,” Luigi says in greeting. “Boss, someone got in touch with me. Says they have intel about a raid that’s planned in the Port Authority region and our businesses there tonight.”

Sighing, I close my eyes briefly and pinch the bridge of my nose.

“Says who?” I ask, staring out the window.

“It’s an unvetted source, boss. Says they’ve got a feed and want to do you a solid. I’ve been informed they’ll be in Lighthouse Park on Roosevelt Island all day today, if you care to listen.”

My ears prick. “IfIcare? They want me to come?”

“Sounds fishy as heck, boss. Let me round up a crew for you.”

I glance at Mattia. “We packing?” I mouth.

He shows me the gun he’s got tucked in a shoulder holster underhis jacket. Ahead, Pano nods. “Trunk,” the driver says quietly.

No time like the present. If there really is a raid landing on one of my clubs tonight, it’s a headache I don’t need. Nothing is worth more to me than Bianca and my son, but I also have to protect my people, the ones counting on me to look after them in those spots.

“We’re going,” I tell Luigi.

“Boss?” he asks.

“Dispatch a small crew to each of the clubs in the Port Authority area. Make sure everything’s clean in case we do have the police or the feds landing on us.”

“Got it, boss.”

Pano exchanges a glance with me in the rearview mirror. I nod, and we cruise through Lenox Hill on the way to Queensboro Bridge.

“It’s been a long day,” Mattia says. “Tell you what. Let me and Hana babysit tonight, and you can take Bianca out for dinner. You two have a lot to talk about.”

Especially now, with what’s gone down with the Dons. I need to apprise her, and this will be best done alone, in an adults-only setting.

“Good idea,” I reply, getting my phone out to send Bianca a text telling her to be ready at seven when I’ll pick her up.

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