Page 15 of Sin & Secrets

But something keeps nagging in the back of my mind.

“What would happen, do you think? If you broke up with him?”

Lose my job, probably. It’s the one good thing to come out of this mess, besides being able to reunite with Mia after almost two decade’s worth of a long-distance friendship.

Claudio’s face flashes through my mind—the expression he wore when he thought something might have happened between Rocco and me. He’d hurt me again, that was for sure.

But what if…

What if there was someone who could protect me from his wrath? Someone who seemed more than willing to put Claudio in his place. Someone with the power to do that and more.

Mia’s warning rings in my ears.

It’s a stupid, ridiculous idea. I’d likely be giving up one kind of prison for another.

But the thought lingers, and sleep continues to evade me.

And Claudio should definitely be home by now. I check my phone for the hundredth time. Nothing except the “goodnight” message I received from Mia an hour ago.

Six a.m. rolls around, then seven a.m. I sit up in anxious frustration. The sun will be rising soon, and there’s only one club that keeps its doors open twenty-four-seven for people like Claudio Lazzaro.

I check my wallet and count up Mia’s remaining cash as I make the call.

“One taxi toElectrix,please.”

5

ROCCO

“Claudio Lazzaro is in the private party room on the second floor,” Teo confirms over the phone.

It hadn’t taken Teo long to find him. In fact, I half suspected he might have been waiting for me to crack down on this asshole for a while.

“Any company with him?”

“You don’t want to know.”

I don’t miss the way Martino grimaces as he pulls us up to the security gate of the staff parking lot. “Are you sure you want to do this?” he mutters.

With a long, drawn-out sigh, I glance up at the monstrosity that is Brooklyn’sElectrix.

“Not really,” I answer honestly.

TheElectrixwas one of the only successful things to come out of my father’s reign as the Guild’s don. But only because its vast halls quickly became a playground for some of Brooklyn’s most notorious criminals.

He had no qualms about harboring some of the most vile cretins this city has ever endured. In fact, Giuliano Moretti catered to them specifically. Three floors drenched in the worstkind of sin, all dressed up as the most elite party location this side of the bridge.

If I had my way, I would have burned it down the second my father retired. But there are some parts of his legacy that even I can’t touch.

“I can always get some of the boys in to smoke him out,” Martino offers. “You don’t need to concern yourself with personally upholding our bylaws.”

“You know how much I love to make a statement.” We step out of the car at the same time. “And Lazzaro is just begging to be made an example of.”

“Still, this kind of thing is a little below your pay grade.”

If Martino wanted to be pedantic, he might also mention that our by-laws only concern the spouses of Guild members, not angelic little girlfriends. But neither he nor Teo have tried to point that out since I explained what I saw at theCandelabra.

“Well, shit,” Teo’s voice suddenly sounds out on speakerphone.

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