Page 53 of Lie to Me

“I’m sorry, sis.”

I nod into him, my voice muffled by his shirt. “I know.”

Chapter Twenty-Five

Finn

Past - March 2022

Icheck my phone for the third time in ten minutes, my foot tapping impatiently against the concrete floor of the warehouse, waiting for the message that will change my entire life.

Just as I’m about to sigh and shove the phone back in my pocket, it vibrates with an incoming text. Salvatore Romano’s contact flashes up on my screen, telling me it’s time. I haven’t had much contact with the Italian Don, since my father prefers to keep their meetings just the two of them, so to say it was a surprise when he reached out to me would be an understatement.

He offered me a deal I couldn’t refuse. If it wasn’t for the knowing look he had in his eyes during the meeting, I wouldhave been more skeptical about his intentions than I am, but I know his reputation. And his reputation is that he’s a family man first and foremost.

My dad knew about Sloane and Marco back when it happened, so I can guarantee that Salvatore knew, too. I’m guessing he found out too late to stop what happened, and I’m also guessing that he’s been sitting and waiting for what’s about to happen. Waiting for the right time to strike.

I’ve been slowly getting rid of my father’s most loyal followers for years and getting more and more of the organization on my side. I’ve had to do things quietly and from the background. If my dad got even the slightest hint that I was working to overtake him, he’d put a bullet between my eyes without even blinking.

He doesn’t give a fuck about me, personally, and he doesn’t give a fuck about Sloane. He never has. And he never will.

So when Romano contacted me and we had a meeting where he proposed he’d help me get my father to a secluded spot so I could take care of him while he faked his death in an explosion on the other side of the city, I was shocked as shit. And even though this could all backfire on me, I’m going ahead with it anyway.

Even my best friend and second in command, Kian, doesn’t know what’s going down. To involve him would be to put him in danger if anyone happens to find out, and I can’t let that happen.

Headlights fill my vision as a car approaches before pulling to a stop at the opening of the warehouse. Salvatore steps out and approaches me.

“You okay to do this?” he asks gruffly, and where I normally would be tensing up at the indication I was incapable, I don’t because there’s something that looks a lot like… concern? In his eyes.

I give him a brisk nod and he eyes me before returning it.

“I don’t need to tell you that this needs to stay between us, do I? My sons don’t even know what’s going down, and I’d like to keep it that way,” he mutters gruffly. I can tell from his shiftiness that there’s one son in particular that he’d like to keep it from. He doesn’t want Marco to know what he’s doing for him.

We stare at each other for a beat, silently acknowledging our shared reasons for doing this before I give him my agreement and he heads to the back for the car, opening the trunk. He reaches in, and the muffled shouts hit my ears before I catch sight of him.

My father scrambles to his feet, his hands tied behind his back and a piece of material wrapped around his mouth so tightly that it’s probably piercing his skin.

I share one last look with Salvatore before I grab my father by the scruff of his neck, haul him into the warehouse, and lock the door behind me. I trust Romano to take care of things on his side, just like I’ll take care of them on mine.

I throw my dad for the floor before fixing my attention solely on him. I stare down at him, not bothering to hide the hate that courses through me every time I look at him like I’d usually do. He glares back, his shouts muffled by the material in his mouth. As easy as it would be to just pull out my gun and shoot him while his arms are restricted and he’s gagged, I’m not about to take the coward’s way out.

I crouch down in front of him and take the knife from my pocket, using it to cut through the material over his mouth and the rope that binds his hands. I stand and take a measured step back, fully prepared for him to launch himself at me.

Only he doesn’t.

Instead, he slowly climbs to his feet and rests his hands casually in the pockets of his slacks, like he doesn’t have a care in the world.

“Let me guess,” he deadpans. “You think you can take me out and take over the business.”

I smirk at him, finally letting go of the mask I normally have in place whenever I’m around him.

“Yup,” I say, a hint of glee in my tone because fuck, have I waited a long time for this. “And I plan to make it hurt.”

He snorts out a derisive laugh and pins me with a look so full of malice for someone who’s supposed to love and support me. “You’re not man enough to take over from me, and you’re sure as hell not man enough to kill me. You’re a weak little bitch, and if you really think I’d just sit back and let someone likeyoutake over my life’s work, then you’re even more of a—” He doesn’t get to finish his tyrant, because I throw a punch to his throat before he can keep speaking.

Salvatore Romano might think I’m doing this for my sister and only for her, but that isn’t the entire truth.

Yes, I’m doing this for Sloane and to get payback on him for everything he’s put her through, but I’m also doing this for me.

---