Page 32 of Prince of Malice

The grand table creates a vast divide between the families: Valentis on one side and the Rossis on the other. Everyone sits quietly as they maintain their attention on their meals; an awkward silence hangs heavily in the air.

I turn my head up from my plate, casting my gaze onto Dominic, who sits across from me and is paying me no attention. His cold demeanor has remained steady throughout the evening so far, and any attempts to grab his attention have been unsuccessful. The rest of his family have been just as aloof.

My father has remained silent thus far; if I don’t do something to break the silence, no one will.

“Sofia, you’re looking lovely today,” I compliment as I give her my best attempt at a smile.

Sofia looks at me, returning my awkwardgrin with one of her own. “Thank you, Luca. You’re looking lovely yourself. That’s a nice suit.”

I give her a nod of thanks and turn to look at Dominic. For the first time tonight, he catches my gaze. He looks me up and down, inspecting the suit for himself. Soon his eyes widen as he notices my shirt. The same shade of blue shirt that I wore last night while Dominic tore it from me and threw it to the floor like it was nothing.

At least Sofia is nice, I suppose.

I turn to my father, sitting in solemn silence as he ignores his opportunity to say something nice.

“Now that we’ve covered the formalities, can we get down to business?” Gianni Rossi asks.

“An excellent idea,” my father responds. Of course he only speaks when he gets to talk about business. “What did you have in mind?” His smile looks cold and uncomfortable.

“There’s been a lot of talk about the Greco family going around,” Gianni begins.

I dart my eyes to the side, making eye contact with my dad for only a second beforewe both return our attention to the conversation. As I look back to the Rossis across the table, I take notice of Dominic eyeing me up and down again.

He either noticed the non-verbal exchange or this is still about last night. In any case, I can’t dwell on it for now.

I clear my throat of the words I want to say to Dominic, however this only draws his attention to me even more. “What kind of talk?” “Well,” Gianni continues, “they’ve been pushing into our territories, and I’m sure they plan to do the same to you.”

You have no idea.

“I see.” My father allows Gianni to keep talking.

“I was just wondering if you had any plans to push back against them.” Gianni’s question was presumptuous, bold.

“Matter of fact, the Greco family have been doing some talking of their own. Isn’t that right, Luca?” His question throws me right under the bus. Is this his punishment?

The Rossis all turn to look at me.

“That’s right,” I say. “I spoke with a representative of theirs just last night.”

Dominic’s brows furrow, his face twisting ever so slightly at the information.

Gianni speaks up again. “What did they want?”

“To strike a deal,” my father reveals.

“What kind of deal?” Gianni probes further.

“They claim to want peace and say they have a lot to offer us,” Dad continues.

Gianni scoffs. “Sounds like they just want to cut themselves into our own arrangement.”

“Let’s not be rash, Gianni. We should still hear them out,” Sofia butts in. “The same way we did before, isn’t that right, Salvatore?”

“My thinking precisely,” he replies with a smirk.

The Rossis have no idea that the Grecos are pushing for us to sacrifice them. I need to say something. “I’m with Gianni on this. I think it’s best we remain suspicious. Don’t let them gain the upper hand.”

Dominic pushes into the conversation. “And what do you suggest we do?” His tone is harsh. He clearly hasn’t forgiven me forrunning off again, which is fine, but this isn’t the right time for antagonizing.

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