Page 122 of The Boss

I knew by the flash of surprise in his eyes I was right. No wonder Leandro had reached for his weapon.

“Don’t. Wait,” he spit out.

I squeezed until his face and neck turned bright red. While I was eager to end this, the man deserved to suffer.

“Let him up, son. We’re not done with him yet,” Pops told me. He’d allowed his voice to be filled with sadness. That pissed me off even more.

Exhaling, I did as he requested, tossing Eros aside like the piece of trash he was. “How much did the fuckers pay you to betray your friend?”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“How much?” Havros snapped. “How much to betray our family?”

Eros looked out toward the ocean, puffing out his cheeks before blowing. “Enough.”

“So this was about money?” I demanded.

“Yes. I was made a very wealthy man while eliminating some scum that didn’t deserve to live.”

“And Leandro?” I stepped closer when he didn’t answer right away.

“His death was a test,” he answered.

A test? What the hell was he getting at? “Let me guess. The people who hired you no longer trusted you to carry through with the task they’d bought and paid for, killing me. So you chose Leandro to prove to them you could go through with utter betrayal.” Putting the pieces together made my skin crawl.

“Yes,” he answered, finally doing so truthfully.

“You were playing a game at the funeral.” This time, I made a statement. “You hired people to fire off weapons to throw us off your disgusting scent. You never intended for any of to be hurt.”

Eros wasn’t a bright man after all. He laughed. “Yes.”

I laughed with him. Why not? He had limited time left on this earth.

Christos moved closer. “Who the fuck hired you?”

Eros acted as if he wasn’t going to answer.

“Davit Ajernian,” Pops suggested. “Did you kill his father for him?”

I couldn’t believe Eros had the audacity to continue laughing. “That pigheaded kid couldn’t do a damn thing on his own. No, he did not order the hit on his own father.”

“Then who did?” Havros demanded.

Eros lifted his head, locking his goddamn eyes with mine.

Oh, my God. The fucking Italians. Luca Marciano had promised retaliation no matter how long it took. Delphina’s fiancé.

That’s when I knew the nagging thought had been correct. Only Eros didn’t completely understand killing the baby brother in the family hadn’t been about a test, but more of eye for an eye. I was made to suffer like Luca, the person who’d hired him had done sixteen years before.

My gut was screaming, all the ugly bloodied pieces coming together.

Willow was next.

My death would be left to the very end after I’d endured the same amount of suffering.

“Turn the goddamn boat around,” I snapped.

“What? We’re not done here,” Pops said.

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