Page 12 of The Don's Hidden Heir

Marcus is the second to stand. “Welcome home,fratello.”We shake hands. “I’m glad you’re back.”

“Grazie,”I tell him. I look at my Pattek Philippe watch, wanting to get out of here as quickly as I can. The house still reeks of blood and death. You’d think years of being in the mafia and spilling blood would drown the nightmare of having to clean up my parents’ dead bodies. But it never did. “Shall we get to dinner? I have someplace else I should be tonight.”

The three of us settle down at the dining table beforeMarcus starts to brief me on the progress of our new club.

“Did you hear about the shipment that went missing?” I ask him when he is done.

Marcus is the middle child, and as such, he’d been groomed to always come after me. Unlike me and Vincent, he is more practical and level-headed. My middle brother does not resort to violence unless it is absolutely needed, the reason why I put him in charge of managing our business.

He waits for the servers to finish before he answers. “I did.”

The three of us hold hands and say a prayer, like we used to do when our mother was alive. “I got a report from Dante. A mole named Oliver ratted us out to the cops.”

“I know.”

I cut into my steak. Medium-rare, just like I like it. “And you did nothing?”

Marcus shakes his head. “I wasn’t too sure.”

My cutlery clinks as it hits the ceramic plate. “The bratva are on our tail, Marcus. They’re closing in on us. You can’t afford to not be too sure.”

“We can’t afford to strike blindly, either.” He pushes his plate aside, but not in a way that makes it seem like he wants to attack me or something. “One mistake is all it will take for them to wipe us out. We only strike when we’re ready.”

I sip on some water from the glass in front of me. “It’s a tad too late for that. Dante already ferreted him out. Beat him bloody. Whoever the fucker works for must be more terrifying than I am.”

“Or he has their loyalty? The Russians are quite stubborn, you know? They’re loyal to a fault.”

I heaved a sigh, the anger from my encounter with Oliver earlier this afternoon starting to rise again. “Who do you think is responsible for this attack?”

“I’m not certain, but I have reason to suspect it’s David Peterson.”

Something in me twitches. “David Peterson,” I repeat.

David Peterson, best known in the mafia as Federico Romano, is our uncle. Or should I say, our father’s younger brother who somehow came to the conclusion he was cheated out of ruling the Cosa Nostra because he was the youngest son.

He’s a big politician who parades himself as a business investor. After our father’s death, he reigned hell trying to become the new Capo of the Cosa Nostra.

I’d come close to killing him. Very close. But I’d ended up sparing his life because Vincent didn’t want more bloodshed in the family, so I banished him instead. A decision I still regret.

Peter has always been a nuisance to the family, and with so much on my plate, I don’t need an idiotic uncle running around and spoiling my business. I glance at my younger brother across the table. He’s eating in peace, not caring to add anything to the discussion.

“Can we just have dinner?” he asks when he finally cares to speak. “I thought that’s what this was about. Us having dinner together for the first time in years.”

“Men don’t just have dinner and catchup.” Picking up my knife and fork, I stab at my steak. “We discuss business at dinner.”

“Money laundering, drug trafficking and whatever bullshit you guys do isn’t business,” he retorted. His tone is furious and unfriendly. He’s been this way at the mention of the mafia since our parents died. “That’s blood money.”

“Well, kid, that blood money pays for your expensive lifestyle.” I slice through my steak and bring a piece of it to my mouth. “You better be quiet, unless you want to learn how to work for your own money.”

Vincent opens his mouth for a comeback, but he doesn’t get a chance when Marcus speaks. “That’s enough, guys.” Marcus directs all of his attention to me. “What do we do now?”

“We protect our territory, and we also send a warning to Peter. Do you have any idea how I can bump into him?” It’s not like I can just invite him to dinner since I exiled him from the family.

He is more or less an outsider now, and if I must meet with him, I have to keep it classy.

Marcus thinks for a while. “There’s news he signed a contract worth millions of dollars with a baby care product company. Within the same twenty-four hours, he bought a share in one of the biggest airline and hotel companies in the country.”

I’m lost. “How does this benefit me?”

---