Page 63 of Vicious Addictions

The only real friend I had made since moving here.

Between school and learning how to be amade man, there wasn’t much time to meet new people, much less spark a physical relationship with someone.

That’s bullshit, and you know it.

Even when working, I had spent plenty of time in bars, clubs, and places where I could’ve found anyone to hook up with if I really wanted to. But I never did.

I told myself it was because I was too busy proving my worth, too focused on showing the world I had what it took to be my father’s heir to care about such things.

But deep down, in the hidden corners of my soul, I knew why I never let anyone else get close.

It was because of her… because of Mina.

She saw the loneliness breathing inside me and expelled it with her light.

First, by being my friend. Then, by becoming my fucking obsession.

Not that she knows it.

She has no idea that my eyes search for her in every room, every dark alley and street, every place I go to, as if the world feels incomplete without her. Or that my nights are filled with lucid dreams of her and that her sweet voice is the only one I want to hear before I fall asleep, yearning to be awakened by it in the morning.

Yes, I dream in chess moves.

And, like always, Mina is winning the game.

“Hey, are you with me or what?” Felix snaps his fingers in front of my face, yanking me from my turmoil and back to reality.

“Yeah, I’m here,” I grumble, cracking my neck from side to side.

“Doesn’t look like it.” He scowls, disappointed. “Get your shit together, Romano. We’ve got work to do,” he adds before getting out of the car.

I fall in line and follow him, slamming the door shut behind me a bit harder than I intended.

Felix is a good underboss and a phenomenal mentor—a solid man with integrity and honor. But fuck, does he rub me the wrong way.

Ever since Mina’s induction a year ago, I haven’t been able to look at him quite the same way. I watched as some of Crane’s older and more disgruntledcaposwhispered in his ear after Mina was initiated into the Firm. How he maintained an impassive expression stitched to his face while they pledged their support for him to lead the syndicate one day rather than its rightful heir. It infuriated me that he didn’t put those traitorouscaposin their place from the start. The fact that he took the time to listen to their doubts and grievances about the prospect of having a woman in charge grated on my last nerve. I never heard him agree with them, but I didn’t see him put a stop to such talk either.

I know Felix is ambitious. He’s never hid that from anyone, Crane included. But just how far is his ambition willing to go?

Will he submit to decades of tradition and bend the knee when the time comes, or will he attempt to usurp Mina’s birthright from under her? Steal what is rightfully hers just because of her gender?

It’s the not knowing that sets my teeth on edge and why I’m unable to trust him implicitly.

“Look alive, Romano. It’s showtime,” he calls out to me as a jittery tweaker lingers by the side of the road, looking like he’ll drop to the ground at any second if he doesn’t get another hit soon.

As we approach, his eyes dart every which way, making sure no one sees him talking to us.

“Hello, Archie. A little birdie told us that you had some information that might be of interest to us,” Felix states once we reach him.

“I do.” He wipes his snot-covered sleeve across his nose. “But it’s gonna cost ya, innit?”

Without missing a beat, Felix reaches into his coat pocket and pulls out a small wad of cash secured with a rubber band, along with a tiny square of aluminum foil.

Heroin. I fucking hate this shit.

My father made sure the Outfit kept their hands clean of dealing drugs.

The Firm, though? They don’t give a damn how they make their money as long as it keeps flowing in.

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