Page 95 of Revenge & Ruin

Eventually, Isabella puts her empty mug on the side. “We have to fix everything today, don’t we?”

“Sounds a bit impossible.”

“I enjoy a challenge,” she says lightly, but when she turns to face me, her expression is devoid of humor. “But where do we even start?”

I grimace back. “The beginning, I suppose.”

“So what, we need to cover almost a century of our family feuds? The Vitales and the Natalis have been at each other's throats for generations.”

“Okay, so when did that start mattering to you?”

She thinks about this for a moment. “Well, I suppose, when they stole the casino from my mother and killed her parents.”

“Tookthe casinoback,”I correct automatically.

“Teo.”

“Fine. Okay. For argument's sake, let's say both our families have equal claim on the Prince’s Hand casinos.”

“Sorry, did you just say plural? There was only one casino the last time your family stole it.”

“Tookitback,”I mutter. “And had my family remained its custodian, we would have twice as many locations as you do.”

“That’s unverifiable.”

“But is this really the point?” I say, already wanting to smash my head against the wall. “This is personal because my grandparents killed yours, correct?”

Isabella looks at me strangely. “You don’t care about the casinos, do you?”

“In case you haven’t noticed,belle, I’m the don of an entirely different Mafia now. Getting those casinos back would be great for my pride, but it’s just another thing to manage on top of everything else.”

“So let Leon manage them for you,” she says as if it’s the simplest thing in the world. “Blue sky thinking, okay? The Prince Hand and Guild start working together. Leon can keep running the casinos and even help open up locations in Brooklyn.”

“And what, the Guild could venture into Manhattan?” I want to laugh at her. “Why would either party go for something like that when war is already on the cards, and the winner takes all?”

“Because we have a common enemy,” Isabella insists. “The cartel took it personally when Leon attacked in their territory?—”

“Not their territory.”

Isabella rolls her eyes. “I know.And thenyouwent and killed a near dozen of them on an apparent whim. Do you really think they’re not going to retaliate? You said it yourself, Teo. We’re all Italian. It doesn’t matter to them.”

“So, in this wild theoretical future, we all hold hands, make up, and drive the cartel out of Brooklyn?”

“With the Prince’s Hand, you could drive them out of New York.”

We stare at each other as this sinks in.

It would take a lot more than holding hands for an alliance like that to work. Hell, even if I got down on one knee and married Isabella this afternoon, it wouldn’t be enough to convince the two warring sides to unite.

But…there’s something alluring about the thought of the united Italians ruling New York. A pipe dream, one that all factions of organized crime have at some point thought up. But a dream, nonetheless.

I let out a long sigh. “Maybe. Theoretically, it might be possible. But the discussion is entirely moot, isn’t it?”

Isabella gets an irritated crease on her forehead. “Well, maybe if you and my brother actually sat down and had a civilized conversation about it?—”

“I can’t.”

“Teo—”

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