Page 44 of Fragile Union

“They’re tailing him?” I can’t keep the bite out of my tone. That’s a fucking shitty thing to do.

Dante sighs, he’s getting annoyed with my constant questioning. “Rome, seriously?” He sneers at me; I can’t help but stifle a smile. “Fucking ass,” he mutters having seen the amusement on my face. “Yes, they’re tailing him.”

He reaches into his pocket and pulls out an envelope and throws it to me. “Look, and then try and disagree that this is the best decision.”

Opening the envelope, pictures spill out, one in particular catches my eye instantly. My gut tightens as I realize the implications if this image ever becomes public.

“What the fuck?”

“Keep looking,” he instructs and I’m wondering what else could be worse than what I’ve just seen.

But then, I realize that there’s a whole fucking lot that is worse. When I put the pictures back into the envelope, I hand it back to Dante and hit the button to bring the partition down. This is a conversation between Dante and I, as much as Stefan has proven himself, I don’t trust him with the knowledge of what those pictures hold.

“He’s in bed with the fucking Russians?” I can’t keep the utter contempt from my voice. I’m fucking pissed. My brother in bed with the fucking Russians. God, there’s nothing fucking worse. Oh, wait… “What the fuck is he doing with drugs?”

Dante sighs. “Now do you understand why I set up the test?”

I would have forgone the test and put a bullet in the fucking bastard. God, our fucking brother. Did he really not have an idea what he was doing when he spoke about Holly’s work? Or was it a ploy to sneak under the radar and fuck us over?

“Who the fuck is the woman?” I ask, wondering who my brother’s sleeping with. The woman has the Russian insignia tattooed on her ribs.

Dante shakes his head. “I have no fucking idea, Makenna and Melissa are working on it as we speak. I’m keeping this close to the fucking chest. No one outside of the immediate family are to know about this.”

I lean my head back against the seat. “When the fuck did the Irish become immediate family?” Holly is my family. Not her fucking father and brother.

Dante grins. “You always hated sharing. Anyway, they wanted to help and having them look into it, means that if it’s as bad as the pictures seem, then we can deal with it first before it becomes public knowledge.”

“Yeah, and what if he’s in bed with the Russians? What then?” I demand to know. If he is, I’m going to kill him. I won’t even hesitate to slit his fucking throat. If he is working with them, that means he’s against us and that’s something neither Dante or I can allow to continue, nor can we let him live. If he has been betraying us, he’s the reason that Holly has been shot and why she’s got those Dimani assholes after her, for that alone, I’ll slit his throat.

I never thought that I’d put anyone or anything above thefamily,but that was until Holly. I’d fucking kill, maim, destroy anyone that stands to harm her. That includes my brothers. I’m okay with that, Holly, she’s so fucking pure, she’s worth it. I’d do whatever the fuck I had to ensure her safety and I’d have no regrets in doing so.

“If he’s betrayed us,” Dante begins, his voice vibrating with anger and menace. “There’s no place on earth he’d be able to hide.” He turns to me, this time he’s looking at me as a brother. Not the boss. “Whatever the fuck’s wrong with him has to do with Dad. He started changing after that day.”

I nod in agreement, I noticed that too. “It’s not as though he hasn’t killed anyone before. Hell, he’s killed more than his fair share.” Alessio, just as the rest of us, had been brought up to embrace death, to view it more as a friend than a foe.

I’ve fully embraced it, when my time comes, it comes but I’ll go down fucking swinging, taking out as many assholes as I can. I won’t go down like my dad did, killed by family. Fuck no. I learned that at a young age. Family is everything. Dante and Alessio are my family. This life and the men are my family.

Stefan pulls up out front of the restaurant owned by none other than fucking Carter. But as a Syndicate the fucker is trying to get into everyone’s good graces and is sucking up hard. He has a restaurant that’s in the middle of our territory and so far, he’s managed to be as neutral as can be, he’s not looked for an alliance with either us or the Russians that we know of.

Dante isn’t stupid and as soon as this meet was set up, our men set up around the restaurant ready in case anything pops off and the way I’m feeling today, I’ll be putting a bullet in Carter’s fucking head and then Dimitri’s.

“Show time.” Dante flashes me his shark’s grin. “These fuckers are going to end the hit on Holly, or I’ll end them.”

I smirk. “Here's hoping they don’t agree with you.” It’s been a while since I’ve let loose. Same for Dante. Since he married Makenna, he’s had to take a step back while Makenna finds her feet and our men recognize her as their boss. He doesn’t mind that he’s had to do that, he and Makenna are building a fucking empire, something that no one else can rival and they’re succeeding. The Irish are taking over the Midwest quicker than anticipated and knowing them and the way they work, they’ll soon take over the West in no time.

Three black escalades are parked at the end of the block. Anyone looking at them will think they belong to Carter, the fucker loves his escalades, every single one of his men drive them. But sitting in those Escalades are fifteen of our men, ready to jump out when they receive word. Altogether, we have about seventy men positioned in and around the restaurant.

Walking into the restaurant I see that it’s been cleared out, the only people that are here are Carter’s men and Dimitri’s men. Twenty altogether. Hell, Dante, Stefan, and I could take them alone. Carter’s gaze sweeps the men that are with us. Seven altogether along with Dante and I. We’d be fools not to bring any extra back up with us.

“Ah, Mr Bianchi,” Carter says in greeting to Dante. “Can I get you something to drink?”

Dante doesn’t acknowledge him and I want to smile. It’s the ultimate insult. Being on someone’s property and not greeting them. Mix in the fact that Carter is head of the Carter Syndicate it further adds fuel to the fire. His men all tense, but don’t say anything, obviously have been warned not to start shit. Knowing Carter, he’s probably hoping that we’ll go to war that way he can muscle in on our territory. Fucking ass.

Dante sits down across from Dimitri, our men spread out across the restaurant, every single one of them on edge. Dimitri smirks and I grit my teeth. This is Dante’s show. No matter how much this man pisses me off, I’m under Dante’s rule and I’ll do as he says.

“What can I do for you, Dante?” Dimitri asks, his words heavily accented.

“Well, that depends, Dimitri. Do you think working with the Dimani’s would give you the edge to overthrow me?”

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