Page 93 of Wicked Rivals

And I had a son to protect now.

I wouldn’t be satisfied with just Lordi’s corpse at my feet. I wanted them all. When the right time came.

Lordi went on again after slurping the last of his wine.

“No, you misunderstand me, boy. We've done the math and decided you’ve earned a place at the table. We want you to take your family’s seat with the Commission. You’ve more than proven your worth, even as your father’s son. But we won't hold that against you.”

More chuckles from the drinkers.

I scoffed without bothering to hide my contempt anymore.

“My grandfather was a founding member of this committee. He drafted the articles that now keep the families from waging war and shedding blood in the streets. Without the Vignalis, the Commission wouldn’t exist, and we wouldn’t be any better than the savages in Chicago.”

Lordi opened his mouth to say something.

I put up my hand to shut him down.

“I have more right to a seat than most of you, so don’t fucking insinuate that my family fell out of favor, Lordi. We were betrayed. My father had the right to lead the Commission, and you betrayed him. So why the hell would I want a seat at the table with men I can't trust?”

Lordi nodded as if he were considering my words. His six chins squished together, preventing his head from moving too far forward.

“I understand why you think someone betrayed your father, Stefano. Maybe you're right. But that’s for God to decide. The choice I made was based on how unfit your father became to lead the committee. Bad tempered. Shortsighted. All the signs of a weak man.

“You’ve clearly inherited your father’s rage, but unlike him, you’ve learned to manage it. You shape it into a finely honed blade as another tool in your arsenal, not letting it drive every move you make the way your father did.”

“You don’t fucking know me,” I snarled.

“I know you better than any other living person. I observe what happens when you're angry. I see what happens when you let it go. I know you control it with the strength of a man far older and with far more experience than you have.”

This man loved to hear his own voice. He kept going on.

“You know when to use that strength, boy, and when to show mercy. You know how to bide your time to make more strategic moves. A skill your father never quite grasped.”

He wasn't wrong.

My father certainly had his faults, his temper worst of all. I realized years ago that his temper and the rash decisions he’d made because of it caused more problems than they ever solved.

But just because I agreed with that one point didn’t mean I would overlook what Lordi had done to my family.

“What if I choose not to sit at the table?” I asked. “What happens then?”

“If you marry the Capaldo girl and take over her family without also taking a seat at the table, we’ll be forced to act. But I assure you, the last thing we want is a war.”

I gave myself a minute to consider the truth in his words and the hidden meaning between the lines. In this situation, and now that the wedding had been called off, the better move might be to acknowledge some middle ground.

“I agree,” I said. “War is necessary in some situations, but it’s also bad for business.”

Lordi’s mouth twisted like I’d just made his point for him.

“Your father never understood that.”

“That being said, and with all due respect, Don Lordi, I don't do business with anyone who has my family’s blood on their hands… with the man who killed my father.”

His nostrils flared. His cheeks and neck became blotchy red.

“Your father’s actions would have taken us all down.”

“And what about my brother? You had him executed without knowing how he would lead or if he would even bring any risk for the five.”

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