Page 57 of Memento Mori
I tried to sit up, but he tightened his hold on me. I didn’t like that he sounded like something terrible was going to happen to him.
“I love you too, my love.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
YOU WILL DIE TODAY
Antonio
“You know she’s gonna chop your balls off, don’t you?” Alessandro asked.
His voice was full of humor. I could tell he wanted to laugh, but he also knew what I was about to do. I was on the verge of launching an attack on the Grasso compound. It wasn’t a laughing matter.
I let out a groan as I wiped my hand across my face. “I know she’s gonna be pissed, but I couldn’t put her in danger, Alessandro. She can’t be a part of what I’m about to do.”
“It’s Aaliyah, Tony. Grasso should be the one that’s scared. She’s fucking terrifying when she wants to be.”
That was the truth. She was the female version of Abasi Sefu when she needed to be, but I couldn’t in good conscience bring her with me. I couldn’t knowingly put her in danger because I wanted her by my side.
“This is different.”
It was a war. This wasn’t killing someone in my study. I wanted to keep her far away from it. Far away from it so she wouldn’t be taken away from me or worse.
“How far out?” I asked Luca who was driving.
We were coming in heavy. Locked and loaded. I had over fifty Rizzo soldiers with me, Abasi, and some of his men. I knew this fight wasn’t going to be easy, but it needed to be done. Grasso had killed the Rizzo Don and tried to kill Aaliyah. It was time to make a statement with his death.
“Ten minutes out,” Luca responded.
“We’re almost there, Alessandro. If this goes to hell, you know what to do.”
“Are you thinking about dying or something?”
The humor vanished from his voice. He knew what this life was like. And being at the top, someone was always looking to take me out. I’d come to terms that any day could be my last. So did everyone around me.
“Nobody’s promised tomorrow, little brother. Make sure you end this with Agent Grasso’s head on a stake and she’s taken care of if something happens. She rules if anything goes down.”
“You know that’s not going to go over well and that ain’t how shit works.”
“And I don’t give a fuck. She can run this Family better than anyone. She has the respect of our men. Nobody else does. These are my wishes.”
“We’re here, Don,” Luca said.
I responded to Luca with a nod. “I got to go, bro. Everything you need is in my safe.”
I ended the call. There was no reason to say goodbye to him. He understood the life we lived. And goodbyes wouldn’t make this any easier. It was hard enough slipping out of bed without waking Aaliyah. All I wanted to do was pull her into my arms and tell her how much I loved her just in case this was the last time. But I couldn’t. This needed to be taken care of with no distractions.
The sound of my phone ringing made me groan, knowing it could only be one person. I checked the caller id. I could not answer it, but if I didn’t could I live with myself?
I let out a sigh before responding. “Bella?”
“You better not be doing what the hell I think you’re doing!”
“My love...”
“Don’t you pull that shit with me Antonio! How could you leave me behind?”
“I had no choice.”
