Page 136 of Vicious Addictions

“All in due time,” my father forewarns, smiling at Dimitri as if his life already belongs to him, to toy and play with it as he sees fit. “Dominic, Marcello, take our new friend upstairs and inform Dr. Goldberg his services are required.”

They spring to attention and grab the hostage, but before they have time to haul his limp, bloody body out of the office, Mina stops them and grabs hold of my father’s arm.

“I promised him a quick death,” she says, knowing exactly what my father has in mind.

He will make sure that good old Dr. Goldberg does everything in his power to save Dimitri’s life, only to torture him for days on end until he gives him what he wants. And even after he’s given a name, he still has weeks of more grueling torture to look forward to as punishment for all the crimes he committed under my father’s watch.

Hell itself will look like a cakewalk compared to what my father has planned for him.

Marcello takes after him in that regard.

“Vincent, I promised to give him a swift death once he upheld his side of the bargain. He’s given you a name. What more do you want?” Mina asks, searching my father’s eyes for the rational and honorable boss she had heard so much about.

However, that’s not who she’s talking to right now. No. She’s talking to a different beast, and everyone in the room knows it.

Even though my father is head of the Romano empire now, it wasn’t always supposed to be that way. His cousin, Pietro, was the one who was originally destined to wear the crown. And in his diligence, my father’s late uncle, Salvatore Romano—Pietro’s father—groomed Vincent to become Pietro’sconsigliere.

This is all public knowledge.

What isn’t common knowledge is that deep down, my father has all the traits to follow inhisfather’s footsteps—to be the Outfit’s most lethal enforcer.

“Vincent, did you hear me? I gave the man my word.”

“I made no such promises,” he retorts coldly, giving Mina a vacant stare that promises her the same fate if she continues to stand in his way.

The second the Crane twins read the malicious intent in my father’s eyes, they raise their guns to his head, coaxing Marcello and Dominic to raise theirs to the twins in return.

You could hear a pin drop in the room. Just the audacity of anyone pulling a gun on my father is a death sentence.

All I can focus on is Mina and how close she is to this Mexican standoff.

One stray bullet, and she’s gone.

I don’t think.

I just react.

Ready to kill anyone who dares put her in harm’s way, even if that someone is either my family or hers. But before I take a step, my father calls me without so much as turning around, his cold, inhuman stare fixed on Mina.

“Stay exactly where you are, Jude.”

Mina’s gaze shifts from my father to me.

It’s only then that I realize that both of my hands are gripping two guns, their barrels pointed at Marcello and Dominic’s heads. When she sees a flicker of hesitancy on my part, she frowns. She then diverts her attention back to my father and says, “Usually, I wouldn’t care if Bratva scum like Dimitri lives or dies. But I made him a promise, and Cranes don’t go back on their word. I will not compromise my family’s values in favor of yours.”

Vincent continues to stare at her, a hint of admiration and respect glimmering in his hazel eyes.

“I’ll give him a merciful death.After.You have my word.”

This time, it’s Mina’s turn to hesitate.

I can tell she’d rather put a bullet in Dimitri’s head herself than let him endure whatever awaits under Vincent’s supervision. But something holds her back, a reminder that this isn’t her call. It’s the Outfit’s decision, and if she dares defy my father’s orders, she and her beloved cousins are as good as dead. Everyone knows my father has killed for less.

When she finally gives him a clipped nod in defeat and takes a step back, her cousins lower their guns, as do Marcello and Dominic. My father waits silently for them to carry the now unconscious Dimitri out of the room before he addresses his men.

“I want everyone in this room to put out feelers in their territories. If theCosa Nostrais really in bed with the Bratva, I want to know why. Until then, gentlemen, meeting adjourned.”

And with that, he leaves the room, probably to follow Dominic and Marcello upstairs to wait for Dr. Goldberg’s arrival.

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