Page 133 of Titan

“Hello, cousins. What can I do for you?” I asked as I stuffed my hands into my pockets.

“What can you do for me?” Dino barked, his face going an ugly shade of red. “You can start by explaining why the fuck you killed my wife.”

I waved a hand at my men. They scattered like the wind, going back to what they were meant to be doing, leaving me, Edric, and my cousins alone. They weren’t a threat to us. If they tried something in my headquarters, they wouldn’t walk out of here alive. I didn’t care if they were my cousin’s men. This wasmyhouse. No one fucked with me here unless they had a death wish.

I stepped closer to Dino.

“Did you not look at the evidence?”

“Of course I fucking did.”

“Then I would have thought the answer would be obvious. Well, that and your wife would have quite happily killed me if I hadn’t got to her first.” I shook my head. “A threat to me and my own can only be dealt with one way, regardless of who they are.”

It didn’t matter if Theia was the one who pulled the trigger. Edric and I were taking personal responsibility for what happened in my penthouse. She didn’t need to be wrapped up further in my mafia world, even if she was well aware of what went down in it. There was no telling what Dino would do if he ever found out my girl had killed his wife. I wasn’t going to take that chance. Pippa had got what was coming to her, anyway.

Dino opened his mouth. I put my hand up, silencing him.

“Did you know what she was doing?”

“If you’re asking if I knew about the sex ring? No, no, I fucking didn’t.” He clenched his fist at his side. “We don’t deal in people that way. It’s not what we stand for.”

“And the missing shipments?”

Dino looked away.

“No. I didn’t know about that either.”

I knew it took a lot for him to admit his wife had got one over on him.

“Then what do you want, Dino? The way I see it, I did you a favour by uncovering the truth, something neither you nor Gian seemed capable of doing. One of your own had to come to me for help after the two of you decided it was ‘under control.’ Were you just ignoring the problem and hoping it would go away? That’s what it looked like to them.”

Gian looked at Dino, who was frowning heavily.

“What do you mean, one of ours? Who the fuck told you?”

I wasn’t going to out Nino to them, that was his choice. He was staring at his father with no discernible emotion on his face.

“Do you think I’m going to betray their trust to two men who can’t find their way out of a fucking paper bag? If you were as competent as you clearly think you are, you would have found out who was stealing your goods long before now, but no, I had to intervene. And to think you turned your noses up at me running my father’s empire. You still want to tell me I’m incapable now? The way I see it, you two are the ones who are running your own empire into the ground.”

I glanced at Edric, who was having a hard time keeping a straight face. I was glad he was amused, since this situation was far from fucking funny to me. These idiots had no legs to stand on. Dino could be as angry as he liked at me, but he knew I was right.

No one said anything. Dino and Gian glared at me, clearly turning my words over in their heads. The silence was only broken by Nino crossing over to me and taking his place by my side. His father and uncle looked at him with joint surprised expressions on their faces.

“I was the one who told Gil about what was going on. I gave him the information ‘cause neither of you could get your acts together.”

“You did?” Gian said, staring at his son like he’d gone mad.

“Yeah, I did. I’m tired of you acting like my opinions and concerns don’t matter. You treat me like I’m a child.” He shook his head. “I’m done,Papá.” Then he turned to me. “Gil, would you accept me asfamiglia?”

I heard his father’s sound of outrage, but I ignored Gian and Dino. It had not occurred to me that my cousin would defect, but considering he’d come to me over his father and uncle’s decision to bury their heads in the sand, it shouldn’t have surprised me.

“You’re family, Nino. You have a place here if you want it.”

He gave me a sharp nod. As if I wasn’t going to let him join me. He had proven to be resourceful, and he knew when to ask for help.

“Set me wherever you like. I’m willing to learn.”

“Let me see your father and uncle out, then we’ll talk.”

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