Page 74 of Crimson Fate
“Wouldn’t you?” I cut him off. “Because when faced with the evidence, Christopher didn’t hesitate to name you, Anthony. You reached out to Carmine and Lorenzo DeLuca to bring drugs into our city, and you lied to them and told them you had my blessing.”
“Vincent, you’re mistaken.” He tries to salvage what’s left of his credibility, but his voice lacks the conviction it once had.
“Am I?” I challenge, rising from my seat slowly, every eye following me. “Because I took the liberty of confirming Christopher’s story with Carmine himself. He was quite... forthcoming once he understood the gravity of the situation.”
The blood drains from Anthony’s face. His mouth opens and closes, but no sound comes out. He looks around, searching for an ally, but finds none. The captains watch in stunned silence.
“There’s no more hiding behind lies and manipulation,” I say.
His denial is swallowed by the truth.
Anthony’s hands clench into fists at his sides. “Fine.” He spits the word like acid on his tongue. “So I was the one who brought the drugs in. But you, Vincent... you were never meant to sit at the head of this table. You know it, I know it, and Edward knew it.”
Before I can speak, a soft sob pierces the heavy atmosphere. “Please...” Gia’s voice quakes, each word weaving a thread of desperation. “He’s still my father. Please, have mercy on him.”
Her touch is light, but it might as well be chains pulling at my resolve. She was reared in the world, and she understands as much as any of us at this table what this betrayal means for her father.
“Don’t you dare beg for me!” Anthony shouts.
“Do you even understand what you’ve done? I’m trying to help you,” she shouts back.
“That’s enough,” I state in a firm tone. “Family is everything, but betrayal... it poisons the well we all drink from.”
“I don’t recognize your authority over me, boy,” Anthony’s voice booms. We all eye him silently, watching as the threads pull away one by one. “Go ahead, tell them about Eva,” he spits, his eyes locking onto mine, a twisted grin slashing across his face. “Tell them about your precious Spanish tart.”
My blood runs cold, and for a moment, nothing else exists—only the threat hanging in the air, venomous and vile. Eva’s name resonates like a gunshot, echoing through my skull.
“Careful, Anthony,” I warn, my voice steely calm despite the storm raging inside. “Your words are digging graves. And I’m not the one who’ll be lying in them.”
He laughs, hollow and mocking. “What will you do? Kill me? You might end up regretting that because if something happens to me, good luck ever finding Eva.”
“Daddy? What did you do?” Gia cries.
The moment fractures, shards of restraint splintering under the weight of Anthony’s taunt. My veneer of control shatters with a guttural roar that rips from my throat. I launch across the table, the polished surface no barrier to the fury that fuels me. My hands find Anthony’s silk tie, tightening like a noose.
“Vincent! No!” Gia’s plea is a distant echo, drowned out by the rush of blood in my ears.
“Get him off!” someone shouts, a frantic command lost in the chaos.
I’m vaguely aware of strong arms wrapping around my torso, pulling me back, but it’s like they’re trying to restrain a force of nature. Anthony’s face, once smug and sneering, now twists with fear. He gasps for air, clawing at my grip on him.
I pound my fists into his flesh, blood spraying against my face with each hit. I know if I’m not restrained, I will beat this man until every bone in my fists is broken and nothing is left of him but an oozing heap of skin and blood no longer recognizable as human.
“Vincent!” The captains’ voices meld into one stern order, their collective strength finally prying me away.
I stumble back, chest heaving, eyes still locked on Anthony. My knuckles throb from where they connected with flesh and bone.
“Anthony,” I rasp, my voice a deadly calm that belies the havoc within. “Where. Is. Eva?”
He attempts to regain his composure as he eyes me warily. “You want her? Fine.” His gaze flicks to Gia, then back to me. “Let us go. Me and Gia. Then... I’ll give you back your Spanish lover.”
The room holds its breath, waiting. Every muscle in my body tenses, ready to strike, to deny him anything but retribution. But Eva’s face swims before my eyes, her smile, her fear, the thought of her in his clutches.
“Fine.” I spit out the word like it’s laced with venom. “Leave. But if you harm one hair on her head, your death won’t be as quick as it was for Christopher because I will kill you myself, and I will make you hurt so bad you will beg for your end.”
“Vincent...” Gia says. “I don’t understand. I thought you loved me.”
I know it is better for her if she hates me. It will make it easier for her to accept what I will eventually have to do to her father. “Go! I thought I could love you until I realized the man you came from. There is never a world in which I could ever trust you.”