Page 66 of Vows in Violence

“We lost so many people, and this whole time, it was his little buddy doing it,” I snap, my eyes still locked on Luca. I want to kill him.

“Azrael is a secret organization; it’s not like Waylon would tell me that he was heading it,” Luca retorts, his voice edged with frustration.

“It all makes sense now,” I say, my mind racing with the pieces falling into place. “The license plates that lead nowhere. The public files that disappear. The fact that none of these murdersare making the papers. It’s a giant cover-up. You haven’t infiltrated the police, Marzano; they have infiltrated us.”

Damon steps between us again, his hands up to keep us apart. “We know our enemy now. That is more information than we knew this morning. It’s not an ideal situation, but now we can make a plan.”

“Hopefully, the plan will go better than the greenhouse,” Luca mutters, his eyes still burning with anger.

Fuck him.

I lunge at him, wanting my pound of flesh. Luca sees my movement and lunges, too, but Damon shoves us back with more force. “I fucking mean it. Stop.”

We glare at each other, breathing heavily, both looking for any sign of weakness. Slowly, the rage subsides, replaced by a grim resignation. I don’t believe Luca betrayed us. He seems genuinely shocked at the name that spilled from Hugh’s mouth.

“So, what do we do with Hugh?” Luca asks, his voice calmer but still tense. I clench my fists and take a step back.

“Kill and dispose,” Damon says without hesitation, his tone cold and final.

"No."

Damon and Luca turn to look at me, confusion etched on their faces. Vivi’s words echo in my mind. She had begged me to find another way, to lead the mafia in a new direction. This was going to be our world; we didn’t have to play by the rules of the old one. We didn’t always have to be monsters.

"Clean him up, and we will release him after this is all over," I say firmly.

"Release him? An assassin?" Luca’s incredulous tone cuts through the silence.

"We just took off his mask; he isn’t Azrael anymore," I explain, my voice steady. "They’ll be looking for him. We also took off Waylon’s mask. This isn’t another mafia fight. A police commissioner has practically an army at his disposal."

Damon and Luca exchange glances, the weight of my words sinking in. This isn’t just about us anymore. It’s about the bigger picture, about changing the way we operate.

Chapter 25

Vivi

The morning after findingAzrael and unmasking the wizard behind the curtain, Ivan wakes me with a hand on my shoulder. We’re still in my old bedroom, having decided to stay at the Valachi mansion until this war is over.

It’s kind of surreal, being back beneath my childhood roof, living once again with my sister and Damon. Nothing’s changed, and yet everything is different.

When Ivan gently shakes me awake, I’m dreaming of my childhood again, of little blond Angel and the boat at the fountain. I open my eyes and peer groggily up at the man leaning over me in the faint line that spills through a crack in the drapes. It feels early…too early.

“What time is it?”

“Early,” Ivan confirms. “You need to get dressed and head downstairs.”

His tone is laced with a sense of urgency that bleeds through my residual sleepiness and wakes me. “Has something happened?” I sit up and push the blankets aside as I swing my legs over the edge of the bed.

“Nothing yet, but we need to prepare for the worst.”

“I see.” I grab for the nearest article of clothing, the slim-fitting sheath I wore to Eduardo’s funeral, and start to pull it on. Ivan stops me.

“As pretty as you are in it, not the dress. You need to wear something you can move in.”

“Okay.” Moving to the closet, I pull out some athletic wear that I haven’t worn since high school. The leggings and T-shirt still fit fairly well, considering the years that have passed, and the tennis shoes are as comfortable as they were years ago.

Ivan nods his approval, and we head downstairs to find Evie standing in the foyer.

“Good morning, Vivi,” she starts. “Did Ivan let you know what we are doing today?”

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