Page 164 of Vicious Addictions

Matteo and Niccolò swing fists left and right, seeming to need to fight their way to their brother. No. Not their brother. My father.

“Marcello!!!” I hear Stella shout, far too close for my liking.

I turn toward her voice and see my sister picking up the only weapons permitted in these woods for our traditional ceremony. She swings the knife through the air toward Marcello, grips the gun tightly in her other hand, and then bolts head-first toward the chaos.

“Stella!” I shout, rushing after her, only to freeze when I see that Marcello and Stella are the only people standing between the Donato brothers and my father, but they stop them in their tracks. While Marcello’s blade is at Matteo’s neck, Stella’s gun is aimed at Niccolò’s forehead.

Everyone stills, drinking in the terrifying image. My father, however, keeps his cool and walks back to a kneeling Don Carlo.

“It seems our children find themselves in a standoff, though mine have the obvious upper hand. This could go but two ways, Don Carlo. Either you leave here with one less son or three.”

Don Carlo’s shoulders visibly shake before he finds the strength to pick himself up from the floor, turn around, and face his sons.

“Heel, boys. In his mercy,Vincenzohas spared us our lives, if not the shame your brother’s greed brought to our house. I will not lose one more son because he didn’t know his place. Pull back and step away.”

Niccolò is the first to obey his father’s command, albeit reluctantly. However, Matteo isn’t as obedient. Instead, he leans into Marcello’s blade, trickles of blood running down his throat.

“I said heel, goddamn it!” Don Carlo shouts at his errant son, using his boss voice for the first time today.

Matteo’s nostrils flare in contempt, seething at Marcello and then at his own father when he’s forced to step back.

Don Carlo exhales loudly from his nose and then directs his attention to the man who put this whole show in motion.

“Thank you,Vincenzo, for making me realize I’ve given my sons far too much leeway,” Don Carlo says, his tone measured. “I vow to keep them on a tighter leash from now on. Rest assured, your family has nothing more to fear from mine.”

He then extends his hand for my father to shake.

My father obliges, though everyone present knows the truth—the Donatos are now persona non grata. And it will take nothing short of a miracle to erase their shame or the memory of their betrayal.

If Carlo Junior thought theCosa Nostrahad it bad before, his brothers are about to learn just how much worse it can get.

The past hour’s events linger heavily in my mind as I walk alone through the woods, heading back to Big Sal’s mansion. What was meant to be Marcello’s initiation—his formal welcome into the Outfit fold—turned into an execution.

If I had known what was coming, I would have braced myself for it. More importantly, I would have kept Stella the hell away from it as far as possible.

My fingers tighten around the chess piece in my pocket as my pace slows down even further since I’m in no rush to go home. There’s nothing awaiting me there that I yearn for.

In the chaos that followed the Donatos’ removal from our property, I hadn’t even noticed Mina and the twins slipping away. Unlike me, it seems that Minaisin a great hurry to return home.

Fuck.

I can’t believe she leaves tomorrow. This time,she’sthe one who is going to step on a plane and leave me to my misery.

After the ceremony, I thought I could maybe steal her away and plead my case… perhaps even persuade her to stay a few more days.

How was I to know that everything would go to hell and I’d lose my shot?

Hmm.

I could always try my luck and pop over at her penthouse.

Yeah, that’s not happening. Not after the last time’s impromptu visit. Remus and Rolo would rather kill me dead where I stood than let my foot through the door.

The fuck! Am I supposed to live without her now?

For five years, I truly believed I could do it—live a perfectly ordinary life without love being a factor. That it was possible, even preferable. But in just ten days, I learned the truth—a life without her isn’t a life at all, just an existence, hollow and incomplete.

Lost in my own thoughts, I barely register the sound of footsteps crunching on the fallen leaves. When I turn around to see who’s been following me, my heart leaps into my throat at the sight of Mina.

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