Some have come with food trucks. Some with rented cars. Some on their bikes. Everyone perfectly disguised so that Matteo’s men don’t suspect anything.

But it’s not just my men who are careful not to show who they are. Matteo’s men have done the same, but now, as the time indicated on the note left for Chiara comes closer, they’re the only ones who are still at the restaurant.

I pull over in the parking lot. As I get out of the car, it’s my men’s time to act. They pull out their weaponsand come out of hiding. We all approach the restaurant, and I let them go first.

I wait outside, in the darkness, until I get the signal that all Matteo’s men have been neutralized.

I get my gun out and head inside. But as I make my way between the empty tables while my men gather our enemy in a corner, I furrow my brow.

It’s not Matteo sitting at one of the tables.

It’s Gennaro.

I slowly approach him, but he’s just sitting there and watching me. Unarmed.

“Ah, it’s you,” he says with a smile.

I lower my gun and take a seat across from him.

“Was this whole thing your game then?” he asks.

“What thing?” I should be asking him the same question. “Where’s Matteo?”

“Are the twins yours?”

“Yes, why?”

“Perfect.” He claps his hands. “Then we can talk about us working together again and merging our territories. And my retirement, of course.”

“I don’t understand.”

“What’s there not to understand? I found out what Matteo was doing. I heard about his little story to provoke you. Hell, I thought your wife would show up here and I would bring her to you, but it looks like youfigured out the truth on your own. I can’t say I’m surprised. You’ve always been smart.”

“So where is he?” If Gennaro talked to Matteo, then it’s possible Matteo agreed to step away from the whole thing, but there’s no way he’s going to agree to me getting everything.

“Don’t worry about him. He’s irrelevant.”

“And we’re back to those same questions I already asked you once. Why should I trust you? You ignored me for years, and Matteo is your son. Your real son. I have a family to protect now, and I don’t want to play your games.”

“That’s why I like you so much. You won. You did everything right, and, like I already told you, I knew you could make it all on your own and you proved yourself to be a true Gaviani.”

“Do you know who my real parents are?” I don’t know why he’s so quick to hand everything to me just like that.

Maybe there’s something I’m not seeing. He and Matteo might be playing a different kind of game. Maybe they want to use me for something, so they’re pretending to give me everything and then they intend to take it all. Maybe I’m related to someone powerful and don’t even know it. Or I’m overthinking everything.

But that’s Gennaro’s fault. His unexpectedmoves have taught me to try to think about all the possibilities, no matter how crazy they seem. Because it’s the only way to keep up with him or one-up him.

A smile coats Gennaro’s lips. “See? Again asking all the right questions.”

Dread fills my stomach. If he’s actually my real father... I don’t even want to think about it.

“Just fucking tell me,” I snap.

“It was that necklace you had with you. I knew right away who your mother was. She was a mafia princess.”

I gape at him. He’s known this all along, and he’s only telling me about it now? Fucking hell.

“She had to hide her pregnancy because she was supposed to marry someone else. She was very young too. Your father was some guard or someone irrelevant.”