Page 7 of Sin and Redemption

Amo scowled. “I won’t. I don’t need to.”

Luca ran a hand through his hair before he leveled a hard look at me. I held his gaze. I would accept whatever consequences he decided on. I wasn’t usually someone who gave up without a fight, but in this case…

“To dish out revenge as quickly as possible, we need to get as much information as possible as fast as fucking possible,” Luca said. His voice rang with barely restrained fury. He looked more furious than Romero and Flavio. Neither of them was known for violent outbursts unless required, but the tension in their bodies and the tight set of their identical lips told me a flood of emotions sat right under the surface, ready to be unleashed.

“I’ll tell you everything I know so you can punish me accordingly. I’d like to talk to my family before you deal with me, though.” My calm voice was detached, and my insides matched my tone. I felt numb. I’d never felt this way despite the many brutal acts I had to commit in the name of the Famiglia.

Luca released a slow breath, then glanced at Romero and Flavio. “I know this is difficult, and emotions are on the rise.” He paused before he turned to me. “You failed to protect Sara and yourself from being captured. That’s the only transgression I see worthy of punishment. What happened after…” He looked toward Romero, who met his gaze, his eyes full of anguish. “…happened because you had no choice.”

I shook my head, not sure he understood.

“I should have picked her up,” Flavio muttered. “I would have protected her.” Accusation rang in his voice, and when he finally met my gaze, it burned in his eyes too.

I wasn’t sure if that was true. As far as I recalled from my spotty memory, there had been too many enemies. But the fact remained that I had probably been the Bratva’s target, and Sara had only been collateral damage.

“Or not, and then you might have been in the horrible position to do to your sister what Max was forced to do,” Amo said firmly. He still stood by my side. I’d forever be grateful to him for his loyalty.

Flavio’s expression twisted with disgust. “I would have never—”

“You would have let the Russians have a go at her?” Amo countered.

“Would you have fucked Marcella if the bikers had captured you too?”

Amo tensed, his face becoming stone. Luca looked ready to go completely berserk. Jabba had done a good job of sowing discord. Maybe he wasn’t as stupid as I thought. If it came to acts of brutality, he had more creativity than I’d expected.

Matteo crossed his arms and regarded me with a stoic calm. He had been unusually silent so far. His lack of jokes and the fact that he hadn’t bothered styling his hair to perfection like a runway model told me things couldn’t be worse. “This discussion doesn’t lead us anywhere. Maximus isn’t related to Sara, and he did what needed to be done in a fucking shitty situation. Even Sara knew it. You heard what she said to him.”

I swallowed hard at the mention of Sara. “How is she?” I pressed out, my voice rough and low, every word scratching my throat. Maybe that was how Dad felt when he talked.

Nobody said anything for several seconds. Maybe I didn’t deserve to know.

“Liliana took her to a doctor. She’s doing okay… physically,” Romero said quietly. His brown eyes were carefully controlled as he leveled them on me.

I nodded. “Thank you for telling me.” I’d always felt the utmost respect for Romero. He was a loyal and very skilled Made Man. Today, I admired him even more. It couldn’t be easy to stay calm in a situation like this. If our roles had been reversed, I would already have killed him in a fit of rage.

The door swung open. Dad entered the room. With barely a nod toward the others, he stalked toward me. His expression was unreadable. He’d always had my back, but I wasn’t sure how he felt today. Many people said I not only resembled him with my dark hair, tall frame, and amber eyes but also his character. He gripped my shoulder and looked me in the eyes, then he squeezed and gave a slight nod. “I’m here.”

My heart swelled. I gave a grateful nod in return. I wasn’t the type to put into words how much this meant to me, nor was he the type who liked to listen to emotional admissions.

“We need to figure out how to get revenge. This needs to be at the forefront of our thoughts. We can’t change what happened, but we can make sure every fucker involved gets what he deserves,” Amo said.

Luca nodded. “Revenge will be our main focus. It’ll be our first thought in the morning and our last thought at night. I don’t care what it takes to kill every fucker involved.”

Romero met my gaze. “I want you to help us get revenge. You’re one of the best when it comes to hunting and torture.”

My chest constricted. “I will do everything in my power to give Sara and your family the revenge you all deserve. I won’t rest until every Bratva asshole in this city has died the most painful death imaginable.”

Dad nodded. “We’ll get revenge, and it’ll be brutal and merciless.”

“And we need to make sure our enemies realize we aren’t easy prey just because we have enemies in every fucking corner,” Amo said angrily. He didn’t agree with his father’s choice to attack the Camorra and make them the enemy too. “That’s why they picked this moment to attack. They think we’re weakened by too many wars.”

Luca’s expression was tight with rage. He and Amo had butted heads on that matter before. I wasn’t sure if Amo was right, if the Russians had attacked because we had another enemy in the Camorra.

“We’re not any weaker than before. The Camorra never helped with matters in our territory.”

“But we can’t focus on the Bratva like we used to because now we need to watch our backs. Remo will attack at some point.”

“Remo isn’t my fucking concern right now. If you hadn’t started things with Greta, the situation would be very different.”

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