“Yes. Lucifer wasn’t an easy man to live with, let alone have as a father.” Dominic’s grim face showed that this wasn’t the first time he had begged for his and his brothers’ lives.
“Are you trying to gain my sympathy? The Lucianos have been shown mercy once already by not having their name wiped out. Your father was left alive to continue the name, and he has betrayed the Caruso family, not once but twice.”
Dominic shook his head. “We aren’t in a war. Wars have two sides.”
“You telling me the Lucianos won’t avenge Lucifer and his men?”
Dominic gave a sarcastic, almost demonic, laugh. “Avenge them? You did us a favor.”
Lucca stared down at his Zippo. “If you wanted your father dead, why didn’t you take him out yourselves?”
“Lucifer knew I hated him. I wanted him dead, but not at the cost of one of my brothers’ lives. He was careful to always keep one of the twins next to someone he trusted, someone who wouldn’t hesitate to put a bullet in their head.”
“He didn’t trust you?” Lucca looked into Dominic’s eyes to see if he was lying.
“No, Lucifer didn’t trust any of his sons. He used the Luciano name to butcher and destroy anyone who was in his way, even at the expense of his own family. You weren’t the only one killing the Lucianos off. No one was safe from him. He wasn’t the best choice to lead our family. What few of us are left only want peace and to rebuild our name.”
Vinny moved from the side of Dante’s desk to stand in front, the consigliere taking over the conversation. “And which Luciano has been chosen to lead?”
Dominic’s gaze didn’t waver. “Me.”
Vinny and Dante shared a long glance, but it was Vinny who said, “You may carry the name, but will they accept you?”
“They already have.” Dominic stared back at the two older men arrogantly. “They’ll follow me; I’ll make sure of it.”
“How do you propose to alleviate Dante’s anger?” Vinny asked.
“The Lucianos will give up another fourth of our profits until you see fit to go back to the original contract agreed upon.”
Vinny didn’t turn to Dante to see if he agreed. He knew, as well as Lucca did, that the ridiculous offer wouldn’t deter his father’s anger.
“Half.” Vinny increased Dominic’s offer to one that would hurt.
Dominic sharply nodded his head, his quick response showing he had expected his low ball offer to be refused.
Vinny hadn’t become Dante’s consigliere by being an idiot. His sharp gaze watched Dominic’s expression as he dropped the next bombshell. “The Luciano men need help rebuilding their bloodlines. The Italian blood running through your blood is weak and diluted,” Vinny spat out, his voice hitting the three like a whip with the insult. “A woman from the Luciano family who is at a marriageable consent will be chosen to wed one of the Carusos.”
Lucca evilly grinned as he rolled his Zippo through his fingers. The show he had expected from Vinny was much more pleasing than he had originally thought.
Dominic clearly hadn’t planned on that, and Angel and Matthias weren’t able to hide their own horrified expressions.
“Which one of the women do you want? Which Caruso would she be expected to marry?” Dominic grated out.
Vinny shrugged. “Both will be up for Dante and I to decide. Whoever we choose from the Carusos will be able to see that the Luciano will live up to the contract this time. Trust will be earned, one child at a time, as the Caruso’s blood mingles with the Luciano’s. Maybe by the time we have four or five Carusos born, Dante will feel more forgiving. A child can heal a lot of wounds.”
Dominic wasn’t as quick to agree to the second term when he nodded his head. “Are we done?”
“Not quite.” Vinny smiled. What they had thought was hard before wasn’t going to compare to this. “Until Dante can find it in his heart to find forgiveness, one of the twins will be our insurance. If any part of the contract isn’t enforced, one of your brothers will pay the price.”
It just keeps getting better.
The twins looked at each other. Neither brother wanted the other chosen.
Angel stepped forward. “I’ll stay.”
Matthias moved to stand beside Dominic. “No, I will.”
Both of them were trying to protect the other. Lucca guessed it wasn’t the first time.
He studied the men. Opening his mouth, a name was coming to his lips, when Vinny spoke before he could.
“Angel.”
Lucca took out one of his cigarettes from his pack. It was a no-brainer for Vinny to choose Angel. None of the Lucianos would ever be considered classy, but the twins looked like thugs. The number of tattoos and overblown muscles were more suited to the riffraff found in the dark alleyways of the old city of their heritage. The identical twins were mirror images. From what Lucca knew, everyone in the Lucianos joked that the only way to tell them apart was to stare at the images of their tattoos. The twins shared the same exact tattoos, even going so far as placing them in the same exact part of their bodies. The difference was, Angel’s tattoos were the mirror image of Matthias’. Lucca understood what Vinny didn’t. Angel was the twisted image of Matthias.
Lucca debated challenging Vinny’s choice. Instead, he decided to keep quiet. He wasn’t fooled by the attempts of the Lucianos to save their lives. They reminded him of a rabid dog that was just waiting for the right time to attack, ripping off the hand that fed them.
Dominic shook his head. “Matthias would be the better choice. I wouldn’t do anything that would jeopardize either of my brothers’ lives.”
That Lucca believed.
Vinny raised his hand, stopping Dominic. “Angel is the younger one. The Lucianos have taken a protective attitude toward him.”
Lucca lit his cigarette to keep from laughing.
Angel was lazy. He let everyone do his dirty work for him. Matthias would break bones if the gang bangers and drug dealers didn’t pay for their protection. If breaking bones didn’t work, that was when Angel would be sent in. When he was finished, the protection was paid for with interest.
Lucca had a better chance of controlling Angel than his own family did. He didn’t want Angel to do anything to break the fragile peace that was being given to them.
Lucca remained silent, feeling a flash of respect for Dominic. The new boss of the Lucianos wanted a true peace for the first time in decades.
Lucca met Dominic’s gaze. “I supervise the men. I’ll find the perfect place for him.”
Everyone in the room could see them size each other up as Lucca silently told him he wasn’t fooled by Angel.
It was a strange thing but, for once, Lucca actually wanted peace between the two families. After his mother had been killed, he hadn’t given two shits if they were in a war. He had begged for it to exact revenge. Chloe had changed that, however. He wanted peace to keep her safe.
It had taken years to fully understand the enormous responsibility his father held.
Dominic turned back to Vinny. “So, we good?”
“Dante?”
His father’s expression was torn.