Page 7 of Merciless Oath

“Enzo, I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Uncle Joe cuts in. “Our crew up there is too small. They won’t be able to hold down a shipment of that size if someone tries to intercept it, and the chances of that?—”

“Are high, I know,” I stop him. “But we don’t have much of a choice right now. Jack can round up a crew from the city and head up there to run things while we figure this out.”

“On it,” Jack confirms, disappearing into the crisp winter air. I turn back to face the uncles, catching their silent displeasure at how I’ve chosen to handle this.

“Look,” I sigh, knowing I’m in for an uphill battle, as always, “it’s the pits of February. It’s either raining, or snowing, or both, every damn day. Even if we shell out for a bigger construction crew, we can’t have them working in those conditions. And until we fix this goddamn roof, we can’t be storing high-grade weapons in here either.”

Joe pulls his lips into a thin line and averts my gaze, refusing to acknowledge that I’m right. Rocco concedes, placing a warm hand on my shoulder.

“I know, son,” he says, trying to smooth things over. “We’re just worried we’ll lose another shipment. I’ll join Jack and his crew upstate. I think that’ll make everyone more comfortable.”

He glances pointedly at Joe, and we both nod, knowing that compromise is the only way to get things done these days. Raf’s uncles are both strong, competent leaders, but they generally don’t feel the same about me.

Even though I’ve worked my ass off to prove myself over the last few months, it’s taking them longer to accept me than the younger members of the family.

I get it—I'm an outsider who took over as head of the family when everyone expected Rafael to lead. But Rafael wanted a different kind of life for himself and found his uncles too stodgy and his cousins too young for the responsibility.

The three of us exit the warehouse, leaving the mess for the cousins to deal with.

I feel kind of sorry for them, having to clean up ash and debris in freezing conditions all day. While Rocco and Joe admire my new ride, I place an emergency order for a bunch of space heaters to keep my guys warm.

“…Rossi.”

The name catches my attention, and I glance at Rocco, wondering if I heard right.

“I heard they’ve been expanding the last few years.” Joe shakes his head. “Can’t be good for us.”

“Did you say Rossi?”

“That’s right,” Rocco confirms. “Family from the West Coast. Don’t know much about them, but I heard something about a big complex purchase on the pedestrian side of the waterfront.” He waves his arm in the direction of the city, pointing out the area. “You know them?”

“I worked for them briefly.” I hesitate, not wanting to reveal too much. “It didn’t end well.”

“Do you think they might be behind this? It was a clean job, too good for common street-level muscle, so it has to be someone big,” Joe says, gazing up at our burned-out warehouse. “Maybe we pay them a little visit, yeah?”

“I don’t think we should do anything rash,” I counter. “They’ve only just arrived in the city, and they’ve never had any ill will toward us, as far as I know.”

“I agree,” Rocco backs me up. “Nothing physical, but I think afriendlymeeting with the Rossis isn’t a bad idea… just so we can make sure he knows who calls the shots in this city.”

“I’ll set it up,” I confirm, my voice hard and gritty.

Lev fucking Rossi, the devil himself. The man who made sure I’d never get my happy ending. He took Valentina away from me—just like that—never to be seen again. Even after his death—if that's to be believed—his brother made sure I’d never catch so much as a glimpse of her.

She can’t possibly know I’m here, right? All these years, she never made contact either—and now, she’s moving into my city.

I ruminate on the implications of Valentina’s family buying property here as I speed home, jittery at the thought of running into her. I’ve hardly settled into my role as head of the Romanos. I thought I’d have more time—be more ready—by the time I faced her again.

Back in my penthouse, I fire off a haphazard text to my assistant to set up a meeting with the Rossis as soon as possible and collapse into bed.

It feels like only a few seconds have gone by when my alarm jolts me awake. After confirming my meeting is scheduled for noon, I do a few laps in the rooftop pool to settle my nerves.

In the shower, I rehearse how the conversation will go, preparing my talking points.I refuse to look like a fool in front of them again.

My nerves rattle and shake on the drive to The Burned Bean, a quiet little coffee shop with private meeting rooms downtown. I stride inside, feigning confidence and self-importance. This time, I’ll be the one setting ultimatums and flashing my power.

I expect to see Luigi—or even Lev himself, risen from the grave—but when I round the corner into the farthest meeting room, the sight of long ebony hair stops me in my tracks.

My mouth drops open as she turns her head and pins me with those bottomless blue eyes.

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