Page 92 of Sins of Bliss
I’m also battling with myself silently. The monster within is clawing his way out—the only thing I can think of aside from bringing Vinnie home safely is killing Joseph for what he’s putting my wife through.
I’m on the verge of snapping.
My cousin catches my eye from where he sits at my kitchen island, wiping the condensation off a bottle of water with his thumb. He hasn’t said much this entire time, and I briefly wonder how he’s feeling. What he’s thinking.
It’s no secret he’s struggling to accept my marriage to Vinnie because of who she is, but I know my cousin as well, and with the Lucchettis, family is family. Because of that, I can see the confliction on his features each time I look at him. And I understand it, truly I do.
Her father killed his father.
Separating years of hate won’t happen overnight, especially when Enzo and Joseph have had many altercations. The time Enzo and his friend showed up at my clinic after his friend was shot, enters into my mind, and I’m transported into the memory.
What happened?” I asked again, walking to my cabinet to grab supplies.
“Intel gone wrong,” Enzo said, his tone clipped.
“Intel on what?”
“Just a business situation,” he snapped, and I take note of his annoyance.
“Don’t be so casual about it, man,” Nathaniel interjected. “Fuckin’ Paladino assholes shot at us!”
My head snapped over to Enzo. “Paladino? Enzo, what are you doing starting a war with the Paladinos?”
“I’m not starting anything, cousin. I’m just gathering information. Seeing what they’re up to.”
“If Papà finds out?—”
“He won’t.”
“But he will, and when he does?—”
“He won’t find out, Sly. I have it handled.”
“They shot at you.”
“It’s fine, we were just spotted this time and?—”
“IT COULD BE YOU ON MY TABLE RIGHT NOW,” I screamed, losing all control, my sense of level-headedness completely gone. “Or worse, Lorenzo. You could be dead. And for what? Information?”
“I’m going to bring them down, Sly. If it's the last thing I do, the Paladinos will get what's coming to them. Maurizio will pay for what he did to my father.”
The memory swirls away, and realization dawns on me. Stepping forward, I stand beside Luciano.
“Lorenzo, do you recall the time your friend was shot after you went looking for information on the Paladinos?”
He looks at me, his eyes narrowing slightly as he recalls the memory himself. “Yeah.”
“Where were you when that happened?”
“At the Paladino’s warehouse down by the docks.”
Turning to Luciano, I bark, “Get your father on the phone.”
He glances at me, then pulls his phone from the pocket of his coat. Maurizio answers on the first ring, his voice radiating through the phone’s speaker. “Did you find her?”
“I should ask you that question, Father, you’re the one out there looking.”
“Call your contact at the NYPD, Maurizio,” I demand over Luciano. “I think I know where she is, and unless you want me to have the death of your son on my hands, I suggest you have them meet us there.”
