Page 57 of Prince of Malice

Antonio can’t help but scoff. “I gave you the option to be in on this deal from the very start,” he begins. “I wanted to give you the chance to do the right thing, but you spat in my face and left me with no choice.”

“Your plan wouldn’t have changed, even if I had some part in it.”

“Well, I guess you’ll never know now,” he taunts. “You’re just far too defensive, close-minded, and indecisive. Do you really think that you could ever become a leader with those qualities?”

Hanging my head again, I conceal my face from Antonio’s view, not able to even look him in the eye. My voice spills out my defeat. “What would be the point?”

Antonio shakes his head at me. “That’syour problem. You have no motivation! No initiative!”

I still avoid his gaze, staring down at the harsh concrete floor beneath me. “Does your son have motivation? Does he have initiative?” I ask him.

“Of course he does! He is a far better fit for a leader than you could ever be!” He is so proud of his son for everything he has done that Antonio gloats about all of Angelo’s accomplishments as if they are his own.

“So if I was like him,” I begin, “then my father would respect me enough to trust me with the family business?” My tone is even more pathetic than it was before. I know that I look so weak to him.

“Exactly,” he lectures. “But instead, you choose to sit back, let everything happen around you, and choose a Rossi of all people over your entire family.”

“So if your son’s the perfect example, then how come he hasn’t gotten the recognition for it?” I ask.

“What?” Antonio exclaims. “He gets plenty of recognition for what he’s done.”

Even after being severely beaten and tied down to this chair as I struggle to fight off mydrowsiness, I can tell that even he doesn’t believe what he’s saying. He stammers through the sentence. His voice shakes with uncertainty, and his pitch falters, putting his insecurity on full display.

If this is a man who is worthy of being the leader of one of Montcove’s most powerful crime families, then I am glad that I am far from it.

“You know what, I can’t blame you,” I tell him.

“Blame me for what?” he challenges.

He’s getting defensive. Good.

“You’ve managed to get all the credit and reap all of the rewards all while your son’s doing all of the work,” I say to him, my tone almost making it sound like a compliment. “If ability actually mattered, wouldn’t he be running the Grecos and not you?”

Antonio’s face scrunches up tight, his blood starting to boil beneath his skin and turning his face red. “You have no idea what I do for this family, all the work I put in, everything I’ve sacrificed!” He grabs me by the collar and gets up in my face.

“Yeah, you must have had to sacrifice your pride to sit back and watch your son doeverything you couldn’t do.” I laugh. “What a great leader you must be.”

He grunts loudly, no longer able to put words to his frustration. Throttling me with one hand, he backhands me across the face with the other. “You shut your mouth, you little runt,” he screams.

Interrupting Antonio’s screams with his own, Angelo bursts through the door to the room.

“What are you doing here?” Antonio yells, taking his attention away from me and preparing to take it all out on his son.

Angelo’s face is red with anger, his body language all out of order from his usual composure, and spittle is already flying from his mouth. “When are you going to stop telling me what to do?”

“When you stop being my son, so listen to me when I am talking to you!”

I can’t believe it. It’s all worked so well. Everything fell perfectly into place, and the Greco men are at each other’s throats already.

Back when I was lying defeated on the floor of the restaurant’s dining room, the Grecos forced me to watch as Dominic wasassaulted until he collapsed beside me. I thought he had given up on everything, that he had given up on me, when he cut me off as I tried to explain my plan.

He didn’t want to hear it, but I’m glad he didn’t. His plan worked so much better.

“I have done everything for you!” Angelo howls. “If it wasn’t for me, you would still be making deals in back alleys with lowlifes.”

“I made you everything you are!” Antonio berates his son.

“Bullshit!”

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