Carlo’s tone is bored as he says, “Your men aren’t sure they want you leading them, Alessio. It pains me to be the one to tell you that. We’re family after all. I take no pleasure in making this move on you during your time of grief.”
Alessio spits blood onto Carlo’s shoe. “Liar. You’ve always wanted to take over from Father. Don’t pretend you give two shits about me. At least give me that much respect.”
Carlo looks down at his shoe and he bends down to wipe the blood from his shiny leather footwear with his handkerchief. When he straightens, he sighs. “You’re my blood. Of course this isn’t pleasant for me. I loved Uncle Joseph like my own father, but something has to be done. Your men need a real leader.”
“Fuck you, Carlo,” snaps Alessio.
I laugh gruffly and Carlo glances at me. “You find this amusing?”
“Not really.”
“Then why are you laughing?” Carlo arches one dark brow.
“Because both the Abella and Ferrari syndicates are toast if you two clowns are running the show.” I shake my head, ignoring Alessio’s disgruntled harrumph. “I’ve never seen such a disorganized bunch. Neither one of you are born leaders.”
Carlo scowls. “What would you know about leading? You do Valentino’s bidding.”
“I don’t need to be the one giving orders to know a true leader when I see one. I respect Valentino. I’d die for him without a second thought. That’s how it’s supposed to be. Valentino inspires loyalty. You’re never going to inspire devotion by backstabbing your own blood.”
“My men are already loyal to me,” snaps Carlo.
“But the Abella men aren’t. After this move, I doubt they’ll ever follow you. They’d more readily follow Alessio even though he’s young. He bit off more than he could chew by grabbing me, but his men will respect how loyal he is. You’re showing that you’ll do anything to get more power. That doesn’t inspire men to lay down their lives.”
Carlo takes a menacing step toward me. “You should watch how you talk to me.”
“Why? I’m a dead man no matter which one of you is in charge.” I glance at Alessio and find him watching me. His expression is odd, but I don’t have time to muse. I gesture to him. “Is Alessio young? Yeah, he is. You should have stood beside him during this difficult time. Instead, you’re betraying him. You should have honored your uncle’s wishes for Alessio to take his place. Instead, you’re greedy. That greed will get you killed.”
“No one will ever know about this, and I’m not interested in your opinion. You know nothing of what my uncle wanted. I’ve always been the backup plan should something happen to Alessio.” Carlo smile is cold. “My uncle trusted me to run his syndicate.”
“He never expected you to try and kill me,” rasps Alessio.
Carlo shakes his head as he eyes his younger cousin. “You act like I wanted this. It’s your impetuous behavior that has brought this on.”
“No, it’s your greed for power that has brought this on,” Alessio growls.
Carlo’s jaw clenches. “I’m done discussing this. Your plan was foolish. Reckless. Now this is where we are. The hard truth is you’re both going to die. The scene will be staged to show you murdered Dario, and then took your own life.”
“I’d never do that,” Alessio says angrily. “Anyone who knows me knows I’dnevertake my own life.”
“It doesn’t matter,” Carlo says gruffly. “Even if there are those who don’t believe you’d kill yourself, they’ll all just assume Valentino killed you. No one would fault him for murdering you, not after you killed his second.”
One of the young alphas comes over and says something quietly in Carlo’s ear. Carlo scowls and says, “Right now? Can’t you tell her I’m busy?”
The young alpha winces. “I tried, sir.”
“Well, try harder,” Carlo rumbles.
The young alpha looks like he’d love to crawl into a hole rather than push back against his boss, but he takes a breath and says “I’m so sorry, sir. Mrs. Ferrari insists you promised her you’d accompany her to the gala tonight. She really wouldn’t listen when I told her you were otherwise engaged.”
“I thought that stupid gala was next month,” Carlo snaps irritably.
“It appears not, sir.” The alpha grimaces.
“This is ridiculous. There will be other galas,” growls Carlo, giving us an impatient look. “I don’t have time for one of her tantrums right now.”
“I’m sorry, sir,” the young alpha repeats yet again. “Shall I tell her you’ll call her back later, and that you won’t be joining her?”
“No,” mutters Carlo, eyeing us. “I’ll never hear the fucking end of it if I blow her off tonight. Jesus, it’s like she’stryingto fuck things up for me.”