Page 147 of Filthy Liar

It was almost unheard of within our families.

No wonder Stefano hadn’t done much to help, he’d been the one behind it.

“Fuck. He’s been backstabbing his men?” Knox asked and let out a low whistle, the rest of the conversation confirming it.

Beckett and Maddox went deathly still when Stefano brought up some kid that had been taken away from Kristoff years ago, my eyes sliding to Maddox’s.

They didn’t say his name, but from the expression on his face, it was definitely who they were referring to.

The van ahead of us slowed, and Knox let out a sigh. “We’re here. Everyone stick to the plan.”

“Wait,” I blurted out, all of them pausing and looking over at me. Dante had just entered the room on the camera, and I held my breath to see what he’d do.

He looked like shit, but he was walking free.

Had it all been an act?

Within seconds I knew he’d heard the conversation too because he helped Zavier up, and then Elio entered with a pissed off look on his face.

“This might change things,” I said carefully, knowing they wanted to take them all out, but if I could avoid a massacre, I’d prefer it.

“It changes nothing,” Beckett hissed, her gun tightly in her hand.

“It does. Stefano just blew up his loyalty card, his men won’t defend him now. There won’t be a war between the crews and the Ricci family if we just have Stefano taken out.”

“They all deserve to die,” Maddox grunted, checking that his gun was loaded and not looking at me.

“Your anger is with the Demons, not my family,” I said firmly, his eyes narrowing as I continued. “I know these men. They’re family men who are just following orders. We could walk in and take Stefano right now and they won’t do shit.”

“Those men?—”

“Are no different than you,” I barked, not caring about pissing them off. “If one of you fucked up and betrayed a bunch of people, would you prefer you all to go down for it?”

My phone rang, and I answered it quickly, knowing exactly who it would be.

“What a beautiful morning for justice,” Antonio practically purred, his keyboard clicking away in the background.

“I was starting to think you flipped on Dante,” I grunted. “What’s the play here?”

“I live streamed it to everyone. I don’t think you’ll have a problem walking straight in.”

“And if I do?”

“C’mon, man. Have some faith in me. Put one of those ear pieces in and I’ll guide you through. Dante’s holding Stefano, so you’re good,” he insisted, and Knox automatically started handing out the ear pieces so we could all hear.

We climbed out, parking the vans in a way that we could use them as a shield if things went south, but it was dead quiet as we approached the building.

“I’m not being led into this shit by a mafia tech bunny,” Slash grunted as he appeared beside me, making Antonio snort.

“Stay in the car then, big guy. Make sure someone cracks a window for you.”

“Ant,” I warned, not needing Slash to bulldoze his way in and start gunning people down.

“If it barks, it’s a dog,” he sighed dramatically, and Slash gave me a dirty look.

Yeah, they weren’t likely to be buddies any time soon.

I reached for the front door but it swung open, and Fabio appeared with a dark look in his eyes. Everyone raised their guns instantly, but he just held the door open wider and motioned for us to pass.

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