Page 109 of My Mafia Queen

I call Jen when I’m in the car, sipping coffee.

I let her know everything is fine, and she and Tina won’t be bothered for a while.

Shortly after, I press my brow into my forearm, my arm propped against the steering wheel.

Soon, all of this will end.

The stress of living with my father will finally come to an end. I just need to wait a little longer.

With that thought in mind, I turn on the car engine and steer the car away.

I have a long road ahead of me.

22

DAMASO

Las Vegas

I pushthe doors to my office open, and half a dozen men follow me in.

“Where’s Louie?” I ask.

Silence comes from them. I turn around and take them in. No one bats a lash.

No one knows about Louie, either.

I don’t expect Vito or Gianni to know where he is. They’ve been with me.

Vito asks one of his men if he’s seen Louie.

He hasn’t.

“Someone find him,” I say, walking around my desk and sliding into my seat.

“So,” I start. “No one’s leaving my quarters for absolutely no reason other than maybe losing a family member and attending a funeral.”

I move my gaze around the room, studying their faces.

“Trouble lies ahead of us. If I fall, you’re all dead. Don’t count on moving on and continuing to do what you’re doing under a different boss. This is not a movie.”

I look to Gianni and Vito.

“Anyone suspected of being a rat goes down. You don’t need my approval for that. I can’t afford to keep people around who are against me. To sum it up. We are vulnerable. Not because we’re weak but because‘our’strategy is to maintain peace at any cost. It’s a flawed strategy, and the longer we maintain the so-called peace at any cost, the uglier the fallout. Our enemies know our weaknesses, and they’re planning their attacks. It’s not a matter of if, it’s a matter of when they’re coming after us. I, personally, would like to weaken them, but it’s not up to me. As things stand right now, we are vulnerable. If this‘strategy’proves to be wrong, we’ll be paying with your lives.”

I pause, pushing back my fury.

I’ve waited the entire flight to get here and have this talk with my men. I was so consumed with anger after leaving my uncle’s place that I couldn’t speak.

Who does that? Acting out of a place of fear and ignoring the signs of an impending disaster?

And why would they entertain these people who’ve used all the resources that they have to plot our demise?

I don’t understand.

Boris and Vadim are only two examples. They’ve created problems out of nothing.

And Carmina Leto just happened to be caught in the crossfire.

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