Page 85 of Dangerous Rhythm

“Mamma.”

A deep voice so similar to his father’s startled Serafina. Her shoulders tensed as she straightened. After flicking the offending tear off, she rigidly turned to her eldest son.

“Junior,” Serafina said regally.

Tony Jr. stood in her kitchen in a dark blue suit, his usual tortoiseshell glasses perched on the bridge of his nose. Except for the slight crookedness at that nose and the scar crossing his right eyebrow, he could pass as a banker working on Wall Street.

Serafina took pride that she bred handsome children, but she didn’t know where she went wrong with Junior. She raised him to be her successor, to be the leader of this family. A Stiletto leader had to be ruthless and fearless. But instead of inspiring fear, Junior offered their enemies handshakes.

“Did you finally do what I told you to do? If the Murphys are still breathing, I do not want to hear anything from you,” Serafina said.

“Are you out of your mind?” Junior questioned evenly. “If you keep pursuing this war with the Murphys, we’ll end up with nothing in the end but our asses thrown in jail.”

“I want their blood!” Serafina shrieked at him. “They butchered my son! Your brother. How could you not want them to pay?”

“If it was them, yes, I want them to pay. But when will this vicious cycle end? It was Rocco who whacked Connor Murphy’s cousin for some fucking reason none of us are aware of.

“We almost had some understanding with the Murphys—might’ve been a profitable endeavor and could’ve ended this generational feud—before all of it blew up in our faces.” He gritted his teeth. “I’ve worked too hard through too many obstacles trying to make our business legit. I will not let you ruin it.”

“Me? Ruin it?” Serafina stormed at her son with her blade in her hand. “I am still the leader of this family, am I not?”

To his credit, Junior didn’t flinch. Maybe the boy had some spine after all.

“Yes,” Junior answered shortly. His eyes were as sharp as Serafina’s blade.

“You better remember that, son. I didn’t win this family with just my smiles and meat sauce,” Serafina hissed. “I won it with blood. Not because I wanted to, but because I had to. For you, for Sofia, and Rocco!”

“Then you should let us run it the way we want to run it for the future generations,Mamma.” Junior stared her down. “This is not your era anymore. The days of wielding your little daggers are dwindling. If you want us to survive, this is not the way anymore.”

Serafina narrowed her eyes at her son. “What are you saying?”

“Stop this ridiculous vendetta. The police are hovering over us like vultures, just waiting for us to make a mistake.”

“The police have nothing on us. If they do, we wouldn’t still be here.”

“I’d like to keep it that way. But if you insist on waging a war with the Murphys, believe me, we’ll end up the losers. Is that what you want for us? For your grandchildren?”

Serafina stepped back and laughed bitterly. “I’m doing this for them. So who did this to their uncle won't be breathing long. So those bastards know not to cross our family.”

Serafina turned to the kitchen island and dropped her dagger on the marble surface with a clank. “You think you know loss, Junior. But you won’t know until someone murders your son in cold blood. If someone took Luca the way someone took Rocco from me, you’d want blood, too. You would tear the Murphys apart with your bare hands.”

She turned and faced her son again. “Tell me I’m wrong.”

With his eyes hid by the glare of his glasses, Serafina couldn’t tell if there was finally fire in them. But he answered, “You’re not wrong,Mamma.”

He turned to leave, but stopped mid-stride. “I’ll do anything to protect my son,” he stated.

Serafina watched her firstborn walk away.

Maybe the boy finally gets it.

thirty-four

Hong Kong

So much food. So much laughter.

Curtis took his guitar out of the case and walked back to the children at the seating area in Ed and Siu Lin’s apartment. The small space was filled with more people than it probably could house. On top of Lina’s immediate family, Ed and Siu Lin’s children had arrived with their little broods. There were greetings exchanged,hóngbao—red money envelopes—were given out to the children, loads of auspicious food was eaten.

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