Page 55 of The Cost of Corruption

Almost.

Still, it took me a second to swallow down my pride and give him my own begrudging nod.

“Agreed,” I said. “But only about the plans dealing with the Costas. I’m not about to ask your permission to take Chastity to bed.”

I could tell from the night lines bracketing Gabriel’s mouth that this was the part of the conversation he’d been dreading the most. “As long as you keep whatever is going on between you two behind your bedroom door, I don’t have a problem.”

I cocked my chin to the side. “And if we don’t?”

“Come on, Matteo,” Gabriel said with a groan. “Don’t do this.”

“Don’t dowhat?” I asked honestly. “Since when do you care where anyone in this family fucks?”

All of us D’Angelo brothers were damn good at what we did, but none of us were saints.

Before Gabriel and Dorian had met and married their wives, the three of us had spent almost every night out, doing business with long-legged club girls on our laps, and finding dark corners to screw them in. Those days might’ve been long gone for them, but they certainly weren’t forgotten.

“Idon’t,” Gabriel said. “But Michael Costa sure as shit does.”

Just the sound of the man’s name disgusted me.

“I thought we just agreed we weren’t worried about him.”

“Not about going to war with his family,” Gabriel clarified. “But that doesn’t mean he won’t try something stupid himself if you push him too hard. Costa might not be the smartest man in Brooklyn, but he is proud. Especially when it comes to hisdaughter. And if he hears what you two got up to last night, he won’t take it well.”

True enough.

“You’re worried he’ll come after me,” I said.

I should have known that this kind of upset reaction from my twin came from a place of concern.

Gabriel shrugged. “I’m worried he’ll trysomething,” he said. “Whether it’s aimed at you, me, or the people we care about, I don’t know.”

I let out a long breath and nodded, understanding slowly coming over me.

“If he’s stupid enough to come after any D’Angelo, he won’t succeed,” I stated.

“And it will be the last thing the bastard ever does,” Gabriel said before pushing himself off the wall and heading down the stairs.

At least we agreed on that.

Chapter Fifteen

CHASTITY

Iwant you to stay because you can’t stand the thought of life without me.

Those words had repeated in my head on a loop for seven straight days.

Sometimes, it was just the beginning—I want you to stay…

That alone was enough to send my thoughts twisting and spiraling through a thousand different fantasies.

Sometimes, it would be daydreams of a fairytale wedding, complete with a multi-tiered cake and all my cousins lined up in pale pink bridesmaid dresses at the altar. Other times, it would be a honeymoon somewhere far away from all the trouble and drama in New York. Somewhere warm and sunny like Tahiti. Or somewhere rich and cultured like Rome.

But most of the time, I would simply picture what life would be like if it could continue like this.

It wasn’t hard to imagine.

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