Page 34 of Bound to Him

“Papà, leave this to me.”

“Al!”

“You,” Al Jr. walked with a finger pointed at Tony, “shouldn’t even be alive.”

Tony’s fists balled up, and his eyes bulged. He stepped forward, but Enzo stuck a hand out, reminding him to keep calm and let the situation play out. Sometimes, the best move was to let a man talk his own way into his grave. Besides, we couldn’t have a brawl here. With all three dons in the room, it would be considered blasphemy.

“And you,” he turned and pointed at Antonio, who still sat at the table. I quickly moved in front of him.

“You talk to me, cunt-face,” I said, even more pissed that he’d disrespect my don like that.

“No problem! My beef is with the whole of the Moretti family, anyway. When was it agreed that you mother fuckers would side with the Romanos?”

Mine and Tony’s eyes narrowed at him.

“We all know they’re killers! Yet here you are, choosing fucking wedding cakes, while my brother is—”

Tony suddenly lurched forward, grabbing Al’s shirt at the collar and lifting him onto his toes. “You fucking assho—”

“Ey!” I shouted, putting a hand on Tony’s chest. The three dons behind us stood up, shit was getting real. Antonio walked forward and looked between them.

“It’s time to stop pussyfooting around here, boys.” He turned around and looked at Alfonso. “The treaty between us and the Romanos has absolutely nothing to do with the Rossis. We are still on good terms, it changes nothing!”

Still fuming and staring into each other's eyes as if they were having some silent conversation, Tony dropped Al Jr. back onto his feet.

“It changes everything, I’m afraid,” Alfonso said, calmly picking up his coat.

“Excuse me?” Antonio asked.

“I wasn’t going to bring it up now, but it's already been said.” He eyed his son, then looked back at Antonio. “You’re over here acting like the King of the fucking crop, but it ain’t like that.”

Antonio’s brows lifted, his fists clenching.

“If you aren’t careful, boy, the Romanos won’t even be enough to back you up.”

With that, he walked out. Al Jr. took a second to look Tony and me in the eyes, chuckling as he walked away. The room was silent for a few seconds, until Enzo piped up, asking, “The fuck was that about?”

Antonio was struggling to control his anger. Usually, he was as cool as a fucking sea cucumber, but Alfonso just called himboy. It was a direct insult, like a slap to his face.

“He’s threatening to wage war against the Morettis.”

“Because of the treaty?”

“Because we didn’t include them in the treaty.”

16

Olivia

“Hey sis,” Viola appeared in the garden where I was seated on the bench, looking down at my phone.

“Oh, hey.” I smiled at her, suddenly nervous about what she wanted from me today. Every time she looked my way, I wondered if she knew what I’d been up to with Huxley. While I didn’t feel entirely guilty about it, I was still worried about it coming out.

She plonked herself down next to me. “I love coming out here.”

“Right? This was the best decision. A garden where none of the men are allowed.”

“Except maybe Tony… in dire situations…” She looked at me, and we laughed.

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