Page 37 of Vicious Heir

“What should we say?”

“Terrorism, just like the news thinks.”

“But that’s not true.”

“It is for now. Start spreading the word.”

Luca nods and turns away. I watch him walk out, feeling the weight of the family on my shoulders.

Every single important person in Philadelphia was at that wedding. Half of them are going to hate me and my organization for putting them in danger, and the other half are going to be too afraid to care either way. I’m going to lose business because of this mess.

And that’s exactly what Gray Wolf wanted.

I’m furious by the time my top Capos begin arriving. Frank Molinari is first, a grizzled, older veteran of a dozen street fights, with gray hair and a craggy face. He shows up with Vittorio Esposito, only thirty-five, my youngest Capo and the first man I promoted to the position. He’s a ruthless killer and one of the most feared men in the city. Marco Calabrese comes in after, mid-fifties; he manages the family’s money laundering activities.

They’re still wearing their tuxedos.

We gather in my office. The men sit at a large table, pour drinks, light cigars, and start bullshitting each other. There’s a deep nervous energy in the room. Bianca shows up a few minutes later and lets me know that Lucy is safe and curled up in my bed. That’s one less thing I have to worry about.

“You all know why you’re here.” I stare at the men around me. “You all saw that shitshow back there.”

“One hell of a wedding, Adriano,” Frank says, showing crooked, gold-capped teeth. “Ended with a bang.”

Marco rolls his eyes. “Terrible joke.”

“It’s late, and I’ve been drinking.” Frank shrugs, leaning back. “But the question is, what do we do about what happened back there?”

“The response should be simple,” Vittorio says, sounding cold and controlled. “Find who is responsible and kill them.”

“Might spook the society folk,” Marco says, considering. He frowns at me, head tilted. “And the next question is, do you even know who is responsible?”

I let that question linger for a moment before answering. “I can’t say for sure, but Demir Yilmaz made it clear that he didn’t wantme to marry Lucy. I have a feeling the car bomb was Gray Wolf’s work.”

All three men stare at me. They know what it means if Gray Wolf is behind the bombing.

War, and an ugly one.

“What could they have to gain?” Marco asks, looking around the room. “It wasn’t like any of our people were hurt.”

“Optics,” Bianca says. She looks at me. “You couldn’t protect your own wedding.”

My jaw flexes. Anger surges through me. “I didn’t think I had to keep a fuckingcarfrom exploding in the goddamn lobby.”

“Nobody here blames you. We were all there.” She holds out a hand in a calming gesture. “But that’s what people are going to say.”

“She’s right,” Vittorio agrees. “Those fucking lemmings are going to scatter to the wind.”

“Gonna be a hit to business,” Frank says, looking grim now. “Real big fucking hit.”

“We have connections with many prominent families in the city. If they start abandoning organizations affiliated with the Famiglia because they fear Gray Wolf—” Marco cocks his head, squinting into the middle distance, looking like he’s doing a hard math problem. “The fallout will be considerable.”

I start pacing again. My heart’s a steady march, but my chest is ablaze with anger. I knew Demir was crazy, but I had no clue the lengths he’d go to sabotage this marriage.

All because he thinks he has a claim tomywife.

“Luca’s doing damage control, but we all need to get on the phone and start making calls. I’ll reach out to as many people as I can to see how bad this is.” I nod over at Marco. “You take the lead on this one.”

“Understood, Adriano.” He nods slightly and stands. “I’ll get on it right now.”

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