Page 86 of Luciano (Belles & Mobsters 1)

Dread pooled in my stomach. “Speak now.”

“Those two-” he searched for words. “They are going to get themselves killed.”

“What the fuck are you talking about?”

Massimo rushed to my com system and hooked it up. “Roberto has been deleting surveillance footage. It’s been him all along.” What the fuck was he talking about?

“Massimo, you are not making any sense,” I barked out.

He picked up the remote and turned around facing us. “It was Roberto that betrayed our location three years ago.” Acid burned in my veins, fury feeding it with rage. “Ever since Grace got back, he has been deleting snaps of surveillance. He’s been working with the Romano and King family.”

Cassio and I shared a glance.

“How do you know?” I inquired. Roberto has been working for me for thirteen years. “He had never betrayed us before. Why three years ago? Why now?”

“He’s Alphonso’s son,” he hissed. “His fucking son.”

“Are you sure?” Cassio and I asked at the same moment. He would pay. I’d make him pay.

“Yes, I’m sure.” Massimo pushed his hand through his hair, making it an even bigger mess. “Grace and Ella discovered Alphonso had a kid. They have been digging, trying to find leverage against Alphonso, but they didn’t have any clues. No gender, no woman in Alphonso’s past, nothing.”

“I thought he’s playing for the other team,” I commented.

“He does. His relationship with Ian Laszlo is a long one. He impregnated a woman through in vitro treatment. One of the kidnapped women. He wanted to make sure not to have a girl and was desperate for a descendant, his descendant, to the Romano line.”

“Are you sure it is Roberto?”

“Yes, I located the records,” he muttered. “Roberto’s mother was killed after she gave birth. But her mother, Roberto’s grandmother, lived to tell the tale.”

“Why do you say they will get themselves killed?” Cassio inquired. “Are they going after Roberto?”

“No, after Sophia Romano and Alphonso. Neither Grace nor Ella are killers,” he muttered frantically. “I have the surveillance that Roberto wiped out three years ago. When Grace’s stuff came back, the chip we installed on her was among her stuff. By sheer luck, I decided to check it out.”

“Play the footage.” The fury was Arctic cold in my veins.

Her uncle’s voice came through the speaker.

“I told you Luciano was bad news, Grace,” her uncle scolded her. “He was trying to use you to destroy the Romano legacy.”

Grace remained quiet. I wished we had a video surveillance of this, so I could see her face.

“Pull yourself together. I don’t want your face all puffy.”

“Yes.”Fuck, my heart hurt at hearing her voice. I did that to her.

“Don’t worry, Belle of the Season. We’ll annul your marriage. A few months and you’ll never remember him. What I have in store for you, you’ll have a better criminal in your bed. Romano belles are a highly sought after commodity.”

Silence.“Fuck. You. Uncle.”

A loud slap sounded through, followed by a low whimper that almost sounded like a wounded animal. That fucking bastard hit her. He was dead. I couldn’t wait to kill him.

“Don’t tell me you are crying for that piece of shit,” her uncle mocked in a taunting voice.

I didn’t deserve her. Grace should have gotten so much better than me, but she was my wife. It was time we made the responsible people pay. It was never my wife’s burden to bear. I learned that fucking lesson, now I just had to convince her to give us a chance. In the meantime, I’d burn down every single person that ever hurt her. I didn’t give a shit if I did it in open retaliation. Fucking bastards deserved it.

“No, Uncle. Can I go to my room?”

“Might as well. You will be useless today. Tomorrow, I expect you to look your best.”

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