Page 82 of Convenient Mafia Vows

Kyle shakes his head slowly. He uses the inhaler a second time, and we all wait for it to take effect. “I can’t do it. Not now. Not with Sienna in the picture.”

His eyes lock onto mine, and it’s as if he’s transferring his anxiety to me. I feel his heart racing, the shallow breaths, the gut-crippling spasms when he thinks about what might have happened to Sienna.

“But you’ve already taken the first steps.” Mom shrugs. “That’s the hardest part out of the way.”

“Leave it, Mom.” I step in.Little brother Caleb to the rescue. “Olivia will receive an invitation. She’ll be at the party with or without Kyle’s participation.”

“But we won’t have her exactly where we want her. We won’t have convinced her that she still has a chance of winning you back, and without that, she’ll just be firing bullets in all directions, hoping to hit a target.”

Nice metaphor. But she seems to have forgotten her eldest son’s fragile mental state.

“Okay, so we’ll find another way to convince her. I’ll stage a public argument with Victoria.” My fists clench at the thought of dragging Victoria even deeper into this, but having seen her at the last family meeting, I know that she’ll understand. “Olivia is so deranged that she’ll believe it because that’s what she wants to believe.”

“This won’t work.” Mom’s voice is firm. “It will jeopardize the alliance with Don Dragonetti. Whatever anyone thinks of him, he believes in strong family units, and your wife has already introduced herself to him privately. He won’t look favorably on a public tiff.”

I recall Victoria suggesting that she should speak to Olivia, and the way I shut her down without listening to her reasoning. But I already know that I won’t put her in that position. I don’t think anyone fully understands what Olivia is capable of.

“It’s fine.” Kyle sucks on the inhaler and holds his breath. “I’ll do it.”

“No!” I’m on my feet. “Fuck the alliance. We’ve come this far without it. It isn’t going to hold us back now.”

Terry’s eyes narrow, and he shoots me a look that says I’ve crossed a line.

“Sorry, Mom, but if Kyle doesn’t want to see this through, I think we should respect his wishes. Think about it. There’s a reason why Victoria came into our lives and brought Sienna with her. I’m not going to destroy Kyle’s chance to put things right because of an alliance that may or may not happen anyway if Don Dragonetti doesn’t recover from his heart attack.”

Mom arches an eyebrow. “Family comes first, Caleb. You know that. I’m surprised that you would risk this family’s future for a woman your brother met once in a nightclub.”

I’ve always known that my mom can be cold, determined, ruthless even. But I never truly believed that she would put family before love. She got lucky when she met Terry—without him, we wouldn’t be where we are today—and I always thought that she wanted the same for her children. Right now, listening to her talking about alliances and doing what’s right for the family, I know that I would walk away from it all if it meant that Victoria would be safe and happy.

“What if I said that I would risk it for Victoria? I’ll cancel the reception and deal with Olivia myself.”

Mom stands, her lips stretching into a wide smile. “I would say that I believe you. Honestly, I thought it would take you longer to work out your feelings for Victoria, but I’m glad that you have.” She winks at Terry, who smiles in return.

“But this is precisely why we should proceed as planned,” Terry adds.

“It’s fine.” Kyle’s breathing is finally starting to regulate, and some color is returning to his cheeks. “I’ll do it. On one condition.”

We all wait for him to elaborate.

“You keep me updated every step of the way regarding Sienna. I want to know where she is. Who’s holding her. How we’re going to rescue her.”

“Done.” Terry nods. “There’s an old abandoned cargo airport outside of Lake Placid. My sources intercepted comms betweenIvan Petrov and a private aircraft flying into the country from Russia.”

“You think he’s holding Sienna there?”

His alliance—if that’s what it can be called—with Olivia, must’ve been going on in secret for way longer than any of the other families realized. I’m impressed. I never knew that Olivia Dragonetti was capable of guarding a secret, but this potentially makes her even more deadly.

“If she was in the city, I’d have heard about it,” Terry says.

“Okay, what are we waiting for?”

“A distraction.”

“The wedding reception.” That sinking feeling is back.

It all slots into place. Mom knew the party had to go ahead, but she wanted her sons to commit to it before we found out why. She wasn’t putting family before love; she was guiding us in the right direction. She knows us better than we know ourselves, and she wanted to be sure that we accepted our emotions before this went any further.

“Can’t we bring it forward?” Kyle asks. “I can’t wait until next week. What if… What if they’re torturing Sienna?”

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