Page 1 of Deception

PROLOGUE: ALESSANDRO

“You ready, Aless?” Domenico smacks my chest with the back of his hand.

“Says the guy whose palms are sweating,” I scratch my jaw, the stubble itching. The older guys say it makes me look tough, though.

“Shut the fuck up, Alessandro! You know I get nerves. I’m justexcited.”

Nerves. Yeah.

I just hide mine better.

It’s a cliché, the way we’re sitting in the car, waiting for our mark. Two kids, about to pass a test, become made men.

Papa will be proud. Mamma will be relieved I survived. Catalina will ask when she’s getting the diamond ring I promised her.

As soon as we’re initiated, I can start makingrealmoney.

It’s a massive load off that they’re on a boat somewhere in the Mediterranean right now. No one waiting for me back at the house or breathing down my neck.

Helicopter parents are the worst.

The only thing I gotta remember to do when this is done is take a shower and tuck the babies in. Adriano’s gonna be waiting up like he does. He’s a grumpy-ass old grandpa stuck in a ten-year-old’s body. The twins will be asleep, but I promised mamma I’d check on them every night.

Shivers shudder through me and I roll my shoulders.

I need to move. I’m ready. Been ready for a long time.

Yes, that’s pretty fucked up. Seventeen and primed for violence. That’s justthe life.

That’s what it means to be a Diamante.

“There they are. Right on time.”

“Should we wait, see if they leave an opening, or just go in guns blazing?” Domenico’s finicky, twitching in his seat.

“Your call, Dom, Uncle said you lead.” He’s two years older than me, so he’s supposed to be in charge. Even if our great-uncle Giancarlo thinks I’d be a better captain someday. I disagree. I’ve always deferred to Dom. He’s my best friend. He’s my cousin, but we’re brothers.

He’s brazen, doesn’t hold back like I do. Sometimes that means he doesn’t think things through. That’s why we work so well together.

Tonight, he’s deferring to me, though, something that rarely happens. “We can’t afford to mess this up. Thesepezzi di merdahave been smuggling girls through our fucking territory.”

“I agree.”

“Fuck it. You take the left side. Don’t let them make it to the truck.”

We’re sprinting through the dark, two shadows of death in the night.

My blood is on fire by the time I reach the side of the building. Two leather-jacketed weasel-looking fucks are guarding the door when it opens and their captain stumbles out, drunk, a lit cigarette hanging from his lip.

“Le’s get dis fucking delivery over with, eh?” He laughs, slapping one of his boys on the back.

It’s the kind of moment that sears itself into your brain. I’ll never forget it.

Dom is the blur of motion I see bolting toward them from the alley. He rails one of the guards across the head with rebar, splashing the wall with the guy's brains.

All at once they’re panicking, reaching for their guns.

My legs are kicking off and pushing me forward before I can think. Slow motion. Fast forward. Weird how your mind works when the adrenaline hits.

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