Page 63 of Unbroken (Russo Mafia)

“Who? I don’t understand?”

“Seth or Colin, as you know him.”

She brings her hands to her mouth, her breathing picking up. “Oh. My. God. Lucca, what are we going to do?”

That’s where it gets tricky. It’s mafia against a gang. It’s bigger than we thought this was going to escalade too. Seth has welcomed me into this now, by dragging Charlie and now telling me he killed Bianca, tried to kidnap my daughter. He’s fucking dead to me. His gang is going to lose its leader once and for all.

“I’m going to go to war for you.” I give her the most truthful answer I can think of. How many guys will start a war for the woman they want?

“Lucca, you can’t. What if something happens to you? Then what? What am I going to do without you?” she questions me. I press my lips to hers. She pulls back and glares at me. “If you think that’ll shut me up, you're mistaken Mr. Russo.”

I can only smirk at her. “A little sassy, aren’t we, Miss. Holmes.”

“I’m serious. We need to talk this out. You can’t go around starting wars because someone threatens me.”

I tip my head back. This conversation isn’t going anywhere. She’ll never understand how it works. We fight for our territories. When anyone is closing in on what’s ours, we fight for it. No matter the outcome. Eventually, she’ll have to realize this is the way it works in the mafia. Especially the Russo family.

Blood in blood out.

Taking work off again is not ideal.

I can’t argue with Lucca, he won’t even listen to me. He keeps fixing me with the fucking look. You know the one. That says ‘I’m in charge, do what I say’ look. It drives me up the wall how he suddenly determines my life. It’s only been a couple of hours since I’ve shown him the letter and the house is in complete chaos. All the guys are here. Anna is scrabbling to prepare breakfast but refuses to accept any help. I feel useless sitting around watching everything go down. Ada is still sleeping; Lucca is keeping her home until he resolves this shit.

After everyone has eaten, that’s when the tension builds. Lucca stands at the end of the kitchen table with a folder, his forehead creased. I can tell whatever he has to say won’t be very good.

“I’ve heard from Doc. The DNA is back.” He waves the folder in his hand. “It’s not good, guys. I’ve should’ve known. It was right under our fucking noises this entire time.” He slams the folder onto the table. Lowering his head.

“How bad boss?” Antonio asked.

Lucca shoves the folder towards him. Tony flips it open, reading it, then freezes.

“Cazzo! State scherzando.This isn’t true.”

“Wish I was joking, it’s true.”

“What the fuck is true? Share with the rest of us.” Rett demands.

Rett, Nico and I are staring at Antonio waiting for him to say something. It has to be bad if both him and Lucca haven't even dropped this bomb yet. It has to be someone they know. The question is who. I haven’t gotten close enough to the organization to see everyone involved. But going off the look on Lucca’s face it's someone close to him.

Antonio clears his throat. “It’s um… Vincent.”

Fuck.I’ve never met the man, but he was still a client of mine. He was also Lucca’s ex father-in-law. Ada’s grandfather.

“Oh, shit, man. I’m sorry, Lucca,” Nico said sympathetically. “We’ll find out who did this to him. He didn’t deserve to go out like this.”

Rett gets up, giving Lucca a tight hug. He whispers something into his ear before pulling back. Patting him on the back he sits again. Lucca surveys the table taking in everyone before his dark eyes land on me. Sadness washes over his face. He twists his ring on his ring finger a sign that his anxiety is creeping in. I reach for his hand reassuring him, that I’m here for him.

“I also figured out who is behind all of this. Charlie received another note yesterday when she was at work. It’s from Seth.”

“That son of a bitch is dead,” Rett threw out.

“We plan now. I have a few men out doing recon as we speak. We need to learn his moves before we go all in. We do this thing right. I’m not losing any men because I didn’t do this right. Thatfigadies from my hand and my hand only. Everyone else you can have.” Lucca is in his moment as a capo right now, telling everyone what to expect and what he expects. I’ve never seen him like this before.

Fists hit the table in unison. Growing louder with each passing second. All in agreement with what was said. The support that surrounds him is unbelievable. I’ve never seen anything like it before. He never has to worry about being alone. He’ll always have his support team with him.

“All right, that’s enough. We need to head to the office and get to work. I’ve ordered new guards for the house. Charlie, do not leave this place unless I say so and only with someone I say so.”

I go to say something, but he holds his hand up. “Seriously Charlie, I mean it. If it isn’t one of us. It’s a no. Don’t even ask.” His voice was stern, with no room for arguing.

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