Page 10 of Vito

"He's dead," I say flatly.

The only sound over the line is her deep breathing. Then the line goes dead.

Chapter 4

Vito

Thewomanneveransweredwhen we tried to call her back. She never answered any of the other times later that day, either.

I gave Crispin, our family's tech whiz and hacker, the phone number to get a trace on it, but the phone was off or destroyed. The next day, when I tried the number again, I got the recording: "The number you have dialed is no longer in service."

I decided against telling Massimo and our father what Gus and I discovered about Ed because I didn't want to put them in a shitty position. If I told them, they'd either have to withhold the information from the other Chamber heads or tell them. And for some reason, I'm not ready for the others to have this info yet. So, not telling Massimo or my father will protect them if this backfires in my face.

Since that phone call, I can't get the woman's voice out of my head, and my cock stirs every time. It's the strangest thing that's ever happened to me; I've never reacted by only hearing a woman's voice.

And this woman had likely been romantically involved with Aiken at one point. Why else would she behis greatest regret?

The memory of the sound of her voice isn't the only thing that won't leave me. I consistently feel anger andjealousywhenever I consider that the voice belongs to a woman who was romantically involved with Aiken.

How the hell could I be jealous of a dead man because of a voice over the phone that said exactly nine words to me?

And how the fuck amIjealous?

I've never been jealous over a woman in my entire life.Ever.Not even as a teenager.

Exclusivity isn't a word in my vocabulary. Fucking a woman once is enough to get her out of my system; that'salwaysthe case, no matter how hot she is or how much I want her. One-and-done; I never have a desire for a second time, and I certainly don't get fucking jealous when she moves on to another after me.

And here I am, never having been with this woman—never havingmetorseenthe goddamn woman—and I'm jealous of a dead man's past love.

Needless to say, my mood has become snarly and caustic the past few days because of my ridiculous response. Add that I have no way of discovering anything further about Ed or tracking her down, and I feel like a volatile volcano ready to erupt.

The upside is that Gus and I had finally gotten into Aiken's office. After Gus tried every numeric code he knew Aiken used, we finally decided to try Ed's phone number, andvoilà. Before the Chamber heads could arrive, Gus and I searched Aiken's office but didn't find anything that gave us clues about who killed him and why.

Us searching Aiken's office just adds to the list of what we're keeping from the Chamber. We're withholding everything we know about Ed, including Aiken's instructions to Gus about what to do if anything happened to him. If Aiken hadn't goneto the Chamber with the potential threat against him, that could mean he couldn't discount one of them as the source of the threat.

Or he might have thought he was being paranoid and there wasn't any threat. At this point, it's anyone's guess.

However, if everything we're withholding from the Chamber all comes to light, we'd have targets on our backs, but Gus and I are going with our guts for now.

I push the worrying thoughts away and scan the graveyard where we're having the funeral service. My eyes land on Gus over Aiken's casket, waiting to be lowered into its final resting place. As per Aiken's wishes, we're gathered at the graveside instead of a church for the short service, and Gilly's will host the party portion.

My eyes shift to stare at the closed casket.

Death isn't rare in our way of life. However, each funeral I attend for the men and women who died for my family's empire always leaves a bitter taste in my mouth. While Aiken isn't a member of my family's empire, his tastes the same.

It stopped raining an hour ago, but the skies look like they'll open up again soon. A fat raindrop falls onto my cheek from the saturated tree I stand under. I wipe it off, watching Massimo and our father walk toward me. Gabe, Massimo's head bodyguard, and three other guards accompany them.

Massimo nods in greeting as they stop beside me under the tree.

"Vito,mio figlio,"Babborasps. He hugs me, then observes the crowd assembling around the graveside.

He looks paler than usual, which tells me today is a bad day for our father's health. I wonder how long we have until we're at another grave paying our respects.

Massimo's dark brown eyes catch mine. I can tell he has the same thought about our father.

Then he smooths back his dark, wavy hair, assessing my attire for the service—a light gray suit with a black shirt. He nods in approval with a small smirk because he knows I hate wearing a suit. Unlike me, he and Creed wear the tailored three-piece monkey suits daily; I prefer jeans, T-shirts, and my leather jacket. As our father's second-in-command and the soon-to-be Don, Massimo rarely gets his hands bloody—not that he doesn't enjoy it, but his strengths lay elsewhere. And when Massimo does get his hands dirty, it's gruesome, and his fancy, expensive clothes are destroyed.

Guess I'm the fiscally responsible brother.

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