Page 64 of Make You Mine

But a whine from the closet draws my attention.

Nori.

Micah goes to him, opens the door, and immediately bends down to pet him. He’s a tough dog, but at this moment, he looks as anxious as I feel.

“Ashley must have put him in there… Holy fuck.” I hear Micah gasp, his gaze locked in on something under the couch. Adrenaline kicks in, and I jump to my feet.

And that’s when I realize what he has in his hand.

“Did you know about this?” he questions, gripping the white plastic stick found among the other discarded items of her purse on the ground.

I snatch it from his grasp, and my body goes limp.

Two pink lines.

Twenty

Nico

“Don Amato is on the phone.” Leo passes me the cell as I step into the hall. He covers the speaker, filling me in briefly on what the boss of the Jersey crime family is saying. “He just received an interesting call from one of Santini’s guys. Also, Bishop took a few men with him to find Luca. They found some pings on his location.”

I press the phone to my ear. “Hello.”

“Nico. We just received a phone call from Joey Cabrera, Santini’s underboss. They’re on the way here and want to discuss some issues involving The Saints interfering in their drug deals. Micah Castrovinci’s name was brought up, stating he’s helping and even aided in a planned attack on them today by you all.”

Fucking bullshit.

I know Hugo Amato sees through Junior’s bullshit, which is why he is a trusted ally, but the manipulative lies constantly told by my nephew infuriate me.

“So what? They are going to try to spin Junior’s misdealings on us now. It wasn’t enough to kill Micah’s father. Now he has to come for his head as well?”

“I’m not entirely sure what they are hoping to gain. I think he knows they are losing allies within the families.”

“Damn right, he is. You and I both know he doesn’t deserve to be a leader.”

“I know, and as I told you before, you have our full support in taking him out. We feel there is no other way to control him. There will be no backlash from the surrounding families.”

Commotion sounds behind me, and my heart aches for the turmoil Trent is experiencing. I have never seen a man love a woman the way he does.

Hugo’s voice pulls me back into the conversation. “And from what I heard, Italy didn’t go over smoothly. His title is threatened if he doesn’t resolve his issues with the Russians. I think now that there is a known problem with The Saints too, Junior realizes he will lose more support. Especially with the respect you still have within the family.”

When I left the Santini Crime Family, I was completely shunned. My own mother had to sneak around to see me. But over time, those made men, including my father, needed favors, and favors were always given as long as they fit the moral code of The Saints.

“Well, just to bring you up to speed. We are at the Santini home right now and have reason to believe he has severely injured his wife and possibly one of my men.”

“I’ll update you as soon as they arrive, unless you can get here faster than them.”

Looking at Leo, I circle my finger in the air, signaling that we need to go.

“We will ride the choppers in. Keep your phone close and make sure they don’t suspect anything,” I say into the phone and begin my trek down the bloodstained stairs.

I’ve never collected anything in return for the favors I doled out until now. I allowed Giovanni Santini to take from me my whole life, and I refuse to sit back and watch his son do the same, no matter who his mother is.

Because ofher, I’ve allowed him to bring more turmoil to the city I love. I knew Trent hated him for obvious reasons, but when Ashley approached me, there was no doubt in my mind that the man was a monster for his wife to take it upon herself to seek help.

“Ari looked stunning tonight.” The beautiful young woman standing beside me says.

I noticed her earlier by the bar; she’s gorgeous and far too young for me, but the type of beautiful you can’t look away from without allowing yourself one more glance.

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