Page 100 of Where the Wicked Reign

I shoved my hands into the pockets of my leather jacket, hiding them as I clenched them tightly, trying to swallow down Angelo’s demented demands. Not to mention the fact that Santino was nodding along and even smiling sadistically as his daughter’s despicable fate was laid out.

My father caught my eye, and I saw he didn’t like it. He had his faults now, but he’d loved my mother and always showed her the respect and care that she’d deserved. He’d loved her so deeply that losing her had fucked him up. Hence this mess that we were in now with these insane decisions he was making.

“We had an agreement, Marco,” Santino pushed when my father didn’t speak to it and instead stood glaring at him.

Tensions ramped up and Santino’s guards brushed their holstered weapons.

My father drew in a breath, then told Santino, “The wedding—day and night—will occur as you wish, but beyond that is Nico’s purview as her husband. There will be no further interference there.”

“Agreed,” Santino spoke, reaching for my father’s hand.

They shook firmly, then a phone started ringing, and I looked to see Angelo pulling his out and answering, striding away from us.

I listened in carefully while appearing as though I was focusing on Santino, Leo, and my father starting to talk about how this meeting was about to lay out.

“No mercy. Those fuckers stole from us and murdered our own. Make it fucking hurt, then take their miserable lives. Boss wants footage. Yeah, good. Move in.”

He hung up and caught Santino’s eye, then the latter held up his hand to us and went to him. “You have those pieces of shit?”

Angelo nodded. “My soldiers are moving in now. I’m also getting you some footage so you can take your pleasure. Some comfort after losing our goods.”

A strange look passed between them and it looked like Angelo was going to reach out to him, but he blinked, then stepped back instead and cleared his throat. “We’ll get our vengeance.”

“Good. Monitor the situation during the summit.”

“Of course.”

Leo suddenly stepped into my path as I was pretending to stare into space toward him and my father. I blinked and looked out at him.

“Dreaming about all the sick and twisted things you’re gonna do to your new bride?”

Before I could dignify that with an answer, my father was there, clamping his hand down on Leo’s shoulder. “Leave him be. It’s distasteful enough as it is without harping on it.”

“The wedding night shit that those fuckers want?” Leo asked, keeping a lookout at Santino and Angelo in the distance who’d now moved further away as they strategized for this meeting.

“What else?” my father responded.

“I thought you might have been referring to Nico settling down. As much as he hid it so fucking well in front of them, he’s clearly not down for it.”

“He’s doing his duty.” My father eyed me as he came up on his younger brother’s side. “Get that girl pregnant as soon as possible if you want her to survive this. The Leones might not care for women the way we do, but they do draw the line at children. She’ll be safe if she’s carrying your child.”

“Is this really where we’re at?” I said. “Choosing the Leones over the Benzinos knowing this is how they treat their own blood in Caterina? His own daughter, Father?”

“It’s worse than you know where that’s concerned,” my father admitted to me.

“What do you mean?”

“You think I don’t know what that call they were discussing is all about?”

“And that is?” I asked, playing it clueless.

He shook his head. “It doesn’t matter. Regardless, this is where we’re at. Sometimes you need to make deals with despicable devils.”

“We were already allied with them anyway,” Leo pointed out. “Just cutting out the Benzinos now.”

“The stabilizing influence that prevented these sorts of sick and twisted things from happening,” I said. There had been lines before. Now there clearly weren’t any.

Honor was long fucking gone.

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