Page 52 of Reckless Sinner

“So what are you doing here?”

The coffee maker beeped and I poured two mugs out. I left the third one empty by the machine—it would stay warm in the maker but if I poured it into the mug now it might be too cold for Delaney by the time she got out.

Marco tapped his fingers on the counter. “Dad wants you to kill Alan Weston, right?”

“Yeah, because being a lawyer for him isn’t good enough anymore.”

“Well being a lawyer is just one kind of way to be a fixer.”

“Thank you, Mr. Pedantic.”

Marco smirked at me, then accepted his coffee. “Look. I can take care of it for you. I can get in, deal with the whole thing, even make it elegant so it looks like you did it.”

“What, no slit throat all over the desk?” I drawled sarcastically.

Marco glared at me and I winced. “All right, that was rude, I’m sorry.”

Marco raised his coffee mug at me in a silent acceptance of my apology. “I know you don’t want to do this so I was thinking some kind of poison, maybe suffocation. Something bloodless. Then Dad thinks you’ve done your part, you owe him nothing, and all’s right side up again.”

“Except for the part where people will know it’s a mob hit,” Delaney said.

We both turned to look at her. She was wrapped in one of my bathrobes, her hair wet from the shower. I wanted to cross to her and take her into my arms, bask in her softness and warmth, but Delaney had a determined glint in her eye and was looking right at Marco, so I held back. Best to let her say her peace.

“I’m dating Dante Russo, my father is murdered and I’m… what, still with him? People aren’t stupid. They know how to put the pieces together. And your father will always think he has something over Dante. He can use that fact to control Dante—keep doing as I say or I’ll tell the world you killed your girlfriend’s father.” Delaney folded her arms and shook her head. “No. This wouldn’t solve anything.”

“Weston has to be dealt with.” Marco’s voice was firm, the voice of a Russo, a mob man. “He’s been causing too much trouble. He nearly got to me, he and his cronies nearly killed my girl—they set her up with nothing, barely any training, no real backup—and he was going to come after Dante, too. You love him, obviously, but he’s my brother and I love him too. You’re not the only damn person who cares. So unless you have another way to get thisparasiteoff our backs—”

“He may be a parasite,” Delaney said, her voice quiet but unyielding, “but he’s also my father. He hurtme. He abusedme. So I will decide how and what to do with him. Not you. And not Dante, as much as I love him. You have your family and your business. This is my family, and my business.”

I didn’t realize I was grinning until Marco turned to me with a raised eyebrow. “Really.”

“Really.” Fuck, I really loved this woman.

Marco snorted. “Can’t say we don’t all have a type. Vincent won’t be happy about this.”

“I know.” I took a deep breath. Something in me said that this… was the end. The final break. I didn’t know exactly what would happen next, but I knew that we were approaching an endpoint with my family. This was the moment of do or die. “Marco, whatever’s going to happen, I think it’s time I did what I should’ve done years ago.”

Marco stood up. “Whoa. No.”

“Listen—”

“You’re our brother. You’re family.”

“I’m also not myself,” I snapped. “Look at this place. This isn’t me. I don’t care about the law, I never did. I like winning and arguing and I like finding loopholes so I made it work but this was Dad’s choice for my life, not mine. And if we figure out something now—he’s just going to come back with something else. Another way to bring me back into the fold. This life won’t ever let me go. It never lets anyone go once you’re in it.”

Marco stared at me. He didn’t seem angry. Just… sad. “Dante, c’mon. Don’t do this to me. I just got the girl. I don’t want to lose my brother. It could be all of us, together.”

“It was never all of us,” I pointed out. “It was always me apart. I trust you and I trust Vincent. I know neither of you would force me into anything. But he will. Hewill, you know it.”

Marco swallowed and looked away, unable to deny that truth. “What will you do?”

“I’m not sure. But. You’ll tell Vincent it’s not about him, right? That I love him, and you?”

Marco nodded. He crossed to me, still not looking me in the eye, and pulled me into a tight hug. “You better disappear good,” he murmured into my ear. “Or he’ll find you.”

I hugged him back. It was the last time I knew I’d get to hug my brother for years. Possibly decades, depending on my father’s life span. Who knew what might happen. The night was still young enough and we had a ways to go before Delaney and I were free.

We pulled back and Marco looked me in the eye and clapped me on the back of the neck before glancing at Delaney. “Look after him,” he said.

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