Page 37 of The Vendetti Soldier

“What’s going on, Matty?” I respond, since he’s keeping it informal. Maybe this isn’tCapobusiness after all, and I can stop stressing as much.

He gestures to the chair closest to him, and I take a seat, grateful for the warmth from the outdoor space heater behind us. The staff has two of the fireplaces roaring as well, so it’s toasty where I’m sitting. I relax back into the plush, oversized navy-blue chairand cast my gaze outward, taking in the white skies. “Fuck, more snow,” I comment, gesturing to the sky, and he nods.

One of the staff from the kitchen approaches, bringing us hot chocolate with Baileys. She sets down some fresh mozzarella, oil, and bread. We both thank her and wait until she’s gone to grab our cups. I take a piece of the hard sourdough baguette, dipping it in the oil and helping myself to a bit of the cheese. The flavors of basil and oregano explode over my tongue from the rich oil.

I swear we have the best chef; I love that woman.

The hot chocolate warms me from the inside out as I savor the creamy richness of the Baileys and the sweet afterthought from the mini marshmallows. Across from me, mio fratello takes a sip and lets out a satisfied sigh, appearing more at ease than I’ve seen him be in a long time. The snow continues to fall around us, softening the world’s appearance into a false sense of tranquility. We all know the snow can be deadly; it only takes one bad storm or ill-prepared moment, and your life could change forever. Most people hate the bitter cold… but to me, it’s another layer of protection when it comes to mio famiglia. Our enemies would freeze to death if they were to try and sneak up on our property without the proper gear or heated vehicle. It makes me sleep a little easier at night knowing our men would stop them before they were to get to the people we care most about.

“Winter is holding on as long as possible this year. We should probably be grateful. I have a feeling we’d be dealing with much more at our doorstep if it were warmer.”

So we are talking business, then.

“What has changed? None of them had the balls before to come at us, let alone to show up at the Vendetti Estate.”

“They’re desperate. People make stupid mistakes when they feel they have no choice. We’re more than aware our enemies are closing in at this point. Our every move being scrutinized and plotted against; they want us to feel cornered. It’s their mistake, because we’ve been doing this far too long to simply roll over and allow them to take what’s ours. The incident with the wedding has only added fuel to the fire. Now, instead of wanting to take the head of the snake, I want to chop the whole body up,” Matteo confesses, determination flickering in his stare.

“I know,” I immediately agree, my voice tinged with concern. I’m aware of how badly this is affecting our entire famiglia, not only Valentino. “Our backs will be against the wall before long. We need to act swiftly if we're going to come out of this unscathed.”

He dips his head, then sips from his hot drink. I eat some more mozz and bread, savoring each bite. After a moment, I finally get up enough courage to ask him about the laptop. I won’t be able to stop stressing out over what went down until I know for sure he’s no longer suspecting my wife. “Did you find something from Mischa’s search history?” He told us things checked out, and she was telling us the truth when he’d pulled her into his office last week during our meeting, but not about anything they could’ve discovered since.

“Nothing we didn’t already know. I meant it when I said her story checked out. If I didn’t have full faith in it, she’d be hanging in the basement right now,” he promises without a trace of an apology in his expression. He’s emotionless as he states the fact, knowing full well I understand better than anyone what it means to have her hanging in the basement.

After all, I did help Capo get information out of Fiadh O’Toole down there, amongst plenty of others on whatever job I’ve been ordered to take care of. My fingers curl into fists, thinking of Mischa in the same place. I clench them tightly at my sides, grinding my teeth to keep from saying anything in return. About how I wouldn’t allow him to hurt her. And that I’m the only one who will keep my wife in line, not my brother. He may be the Capo dei capi, and I respect him more than anyone in this famiglia, but Mischa is my wife. He should expect me to put her above all others, same as he does with Violetta.

“Calmati, fratello. No reason to be angry; she’s innocent. Sì?”

I nod. Though calming down isn’t the easiest thing for me to do, and it never has been. I’m a somewhat chill guy; I get along with everyone for the most part, mind my business, and try to make sure the wives are comfortable here. I help them if they ever need it, love my nieces and nephews, and do my job. I’m a soldato, so my work is the messy shit. I get rid of a lot of people for this famiglia, and over time, it’s turned my heartdarker. I crave control now, which is why the twins fit so well into my life. They offer it up on a silver platter, and I fucking love both of them for it.

“The man who tried to kidnap your moglie is dead. Luciano saw to it. The men who attempted to kill her father and killed his men are dead. Our famiglia saw to it. Romano still digs when he can on where Fiadh could be hiding. He’s in Italy more than any of us right now, so if she were there, he’d find out about it.”

“I get it, but it still doesn’t explain why we’re still watching over our backs. Why we’re still being hunted. We should’ve killed them all by now,” I practically hiss, ready to go out and take care of things myself. “You’re telling me there’s absolutely no new information? That I have to constantly worry about the man and woman I’ve come to love could still be killed because of some stupid clover-chasing puttana? How is she even heading up the Irish Mafia if she’s never on their goddamn throne? I want herdead,Matteo,fucking dead!”

I sit back, breathing hard after my rant. I hadn’t realized I’d sat forward in the first place. Fuck, I hope I wasn’t too loud. I sort of black out when I get to a certain point in my anger over something important. The staff chooses that moment to interrupt. Our dish and cups are quickly cleared away, replaced with fresh cups of coffee already fixed the way we both prefer, along with glasses of water.

“Thank you,” we say in unison, then are left alone once again.

My gaze meets Matty’s once more. “Send me. You don’t have to tell a soul. Give me her last known whereabouts, and I’ll go hunting for her alone. Take care of her in the middle of the fucking night and be home before anyone knows different.”

“It’s unnecessary.”

“How do you figure?”

“Look, Santino, I want her dead more than anyone, trust me.”

“But?”

“But we haven’t found her.”

“And?”

“And… we can’t kill her.”

My mouth hangs open at his statement. Is he fucking high? Of course we’re killing that crazy bitch. “I-I don’t understand,” I stammer the words, attempting to hold on to myself and not freak out until he can give me something more to work with on this. “Do the others know this, or have you only shared with me the fact you don’t want us killing the woman who has made it her mission in life to make ours a living hell? Think of your children, Matteo, think of your wife!”

At my outburst, he suddenly stands. His hands are on my shirt, tugging me up from my chair in the next breath. I didn’t know he could still move this fuckingfastand was sostrong. He’s gotten older, I don’t want to say softer because he’s moreRuthlessthan ever, but he’s yanking me up like I’m still a kid and he’s a spry twenty-five. He glowers, glaring down his nose at me, seemingly bigger and more powerful than ever as he growls, “Mind yourfucking tongue with me, Santino. I’m still your Capo. And mia Violetta is always thefirstperson I think of, capisci? Ordering me to think of mio bambinos, as if you need to lecture me? You forget yourself, your place,littlebrother.”

My head tips, eyes flicking down, offering him the respect he has no doubt earned. The hard way. I know better than to say shit like that to him; we all do. He’s proven over the years how insanely possessive and obsessive he is when it comes to Violet. He’s the type of codependent that if something ever happened to her, I think he’d literally wither away and die. Or go on a psychopathic killing rampage, but only time will tell.

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