Page 1 of Ruthless Oath

One

Marchello

The question isn’tif,it’swhen.

Because a ticking time bomb always explodes eventually.

I scanned the crowded showroom, keeping an internal inventory of the attendees. Almost every dangerous person I knew had arrived, and it was just a matter of time before one of them made a deadly move.

The Accetti family held an annual car auction at our New York City dealership every fall. My father started the tradition a decade ago, but this year the event didn’t sit well with me. Something was off.

The timer on the figurative explosive device in my head counted down faster. The worst thing was, I didn’t know where the bomb was—what circumstances might occur and who the key players would be.

How was I supposed to figure out which wire to cut to diffuse a situation that hadn’t revealed itself yet? But just because I didn’t know where the problem was didn’t mean there wasn’t one. That much was guaranteed.

With my father underground and a territory war brewing between the leading families, I should have canceled this event, but I was too arrogant for that.

This auction was always good for business. Over the next few days, sales would skyrocket on cars that would go for top dollar because the bidders who didn’t win would want a new ride. Their larger-than-life egos would send them here with the cash in their unclean hands.

Tick. Tick. Tick.

I gazed down from the landing at the showroom that housed the luxury cars waiting to be sold for a charitable cause. None of the men who were here pretending to be upstanding citizens could be trusted.

Normally, I only attended these things out of obligation, but this time, I had made it my mission to figure out who forced my father to flee…and why.

My brother, Milo, climbed the stairs to meet me. “Could you stop staring from your perch like an armed guard and go down there and mingle? That limited series Porsche is going to go for a fuck-ton of cash, and you need to facilitate the sale.”

“You think I care about the Porsche?” I swigged the rest of my vodka, letting the smooth liquid linger in my mouth before swallowing. “I have more important shit to deal with.”

“You’re not bringing the old man home tonight, and he would want this event to be successful.”

Milo was right about that. The proceeds from tonight’s auction benefited a charity our late mother was fond of. Our father made it his mission to contribute a sizable donation every year. I didn’t like taking a break from my current focus, though.

I gave my glass to the server responsible for such a task and returned my glare to my brother. “Fine. I’ll handle it.”

“We can’t let him down,” Milo said.

“Don’t you think I know that?” I focused on the entrance of the dealership. “But there’s more than one way to do that.”

Tick. Tick. Tick.

“There are representatives from each family here tonight,” Milo said. “This is our best chance of getting him back.”

“Hardly,” I quipped bitterly. “No one from the Gallanti family is here.”

My jaw tightened. That particular family had made quite a bit of noise since my father disappeared, causing some issues on the pier when we moved a large shipment.

“That’s not true,” Milo said.

I searched the room; he had to be wrong. I would never have overlooked Gian Gallanti. Still, if I was wrong, I didn’t want to be wrong twice, so I took another survey of all the people here to bid on cars tonight.

“Allarerepresented, Marchello.Gallanti’s ex-wife is over there, and I’m sure she brought his checkbook.” Milo pointed to the table with the high-end baskets of designer bags, expensive bracelets, and exotic weekend getaways being raffled off, then took another round of vodkas from the pretty server. “It cost him a fortune to get out of that marriage so he could trade her in for a newer model.”

I shifted my attention to the young woman accompanying Rosalie Gallanti. Her silky, dark hair flowed down her toned back, and her flawless makeup was painted on her olive complexion. With her short pink dress resting on her mid-thighs and a black fur wrap draping over her bare shoulders, she’d caught the attention of every guy here. Myself included. Though, when I’d seen her earlier, I hadn’t known who she was here with.,

“Who is Rosalie with?” I asked.

“Gian’s daughter, Lissia.”

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