Page 3 of Bound Vows
“The Russians you mentioned?”
“Same organization. Same scar.” I stand and brush imaginary dust from my dress. “Which means someone’s been planning this for a long time.”
Vincent pulls out his phone. “Max needs to know they’re targeting family members directly?—”
“They’re not just targeting us.” I gesture toward Lorenzo’s body, crumpled behind an overturned chair with a bullet hole in his chest. “They’re working with our allies. He brought Russians to kill you, but they weren’t expecting me to be here.”
“So, what was the plan?”
“Lorenzo kills you during dinner and claims self-defense when Max asks questions. Says you attacked first, maybe tried to force new territorial agreements.” I walk toward the kitchen, stepping carefully around pools of blood while searching for additional threats.
“But why would Colombo care about our alliance?” he asks, following me.
“They want Max to lose faith in our alliance, think partnering with the Russos brings nothing but trouble. United families are harder to pick off. Someone wants us weak and divided, and they convinced Lorenzo to turn on us for it.”
The kitchen is empty except for the staff cowering in the walk-in freezer. No additional assassins.
“Maya.” Vincent’s voice carries a rough tone that makes me turn. “We have company.”
Through the restaurant’s front windows, we see black SUVs pull up to the curb. Familiar vehicles, judging by the way they position themselves for rapid departure.
“Cavalry’s here.” I return to the dining room just as my brother kicks through the front door with enough force to rattle the windows.
Max Mastroni fills the doorway like an avenging angel. Behind him, four of our best soldiers fan out to secure the building.
My older brother has always been larger than life—six-foot-two of muscle and intimidation wrapped in custom Italian tailoring. He’s the head of our family now, the one who makes the final decisions and bears the weight of keeping us all alive in an increasingly dangerous world. Max inherited control when our father stepped back to oversee operations from Boston, and he’s proven more than capable of leading the Mastroni empire.
His marriage to Cara has softened some of his harder edges, but not the ones that matter. He still commands respect through strategic brilliance and the kind of controlled violence that makes grown men reconsider their life choices. When Max walks into a room, smart people pay attention.
Tonight, he looks particularly dangerous.
“Status,” Max demands as he sweeps his gaze over the carnage before settling on me.
“Three dead Russians working with Colombo. Vincent’s intact. I’m intact. Lorenzo Colombo is ventilated.” I kick the scarred man’s body for emphasis. “Must’ve gotten caught in the crossfire. Same organization that tried to kill me six months ago.”
The darkness that settles over Max’s face makes even me take a step back. “You’re positive?”
“Absolutely. This one wore his scar like a calling card.” I pull out my phone and snap photos of each body. “Someone convinced Lorenzo to turn on us.”
“Or they’ve got something on him that they used to force his hand.” Max approaches the scarred corpse and squats to get a better look. “Either way, this was a message.”
“What kind of message?” Vincent asks.
“The kind that says they’re done playing games.” Max straightens and then turns to the men he brought with him. “Clean this up. Grease the authorities. You know the drill.”
My brother has always been good at damage control, turning disasters into opportunities and spinning tragedies into strategic advantages. It’s one of the reasons our family has thrived under his leadership while other organizations crumble under pressure from law enforcement and rival factions.
The Mastroni name carries weight in this city, and Max has worked tirelessly to ensure that weight crushes our enemies and protects our allies. He understands that power without wisdom leads to extinction, and wisdom without power leads to irrelevance.
“And then?” I ask.
“Then we find out who’s behind this before anyone else ends up dead.”
I slide my blade back into its sheath, already thinking ahead to the research I’ll need to do tonight. Somewhere in the city, someone is planning our destruction, but they made one mistake tonight. They left a witness who recognizes their work.
That mistake is going to cost them everything.
Chapter 2
