Page 22 of His Vicious Vow
Taking a deep breath, I consider my options. “So I have to find him and kill him first.”
Tony laughs. “This time you’re in luck. I probably shouldn’t be surprised but I am that I know her. I’ll take care of her. The issue is, we need to find out who put out the hit. Do you have any idea who might want you dead? We can’t talk to Luca right now, he had a bad day. Waiting until tomorrow feels like a waste of time we don’t have.”
“Gaetano is my number two and the closest to me. He’s the logical one. But it’s not him. He could have killed me a dozen times already and basically, he’s my other best friend besides Luca. I also know him as good as I know myself, this isn’t him.” I go through all the exchanges I’ve had with my men over the last month. “Couldn’t it come from here? Someone who wants out of Chicago and willing to do whatever it took. You said Carlo wanted someone on the inside. What if someone here thought he’d be willing to replace me with them?”
Dominic and Tony share a look. Leaning back Dominic shakes his head. “We have to tell him.” He says to Tony.
“Carlo is going to lose his shit if we do.” Tony runs his hand through his hair. “Eddie, do me a favor and go down and get yourself a drink in the bar. I’ll text you to come up when we’re done.”
With a nod, he leaves.
“Carlo cares about the girls. Not like Pop cares about me.” Dominic nods at his father. “But he does care. He and Cassandra wanted to get married. They got permission from Moretti. Once they had it Cassandra was rundown by a car. While she was getting checked in the hospital, they found out she was pregnant. They did a quickie marriage out of state. Carlo thought it might be because he might have a new heir, so he sent her away until she had Celia. Figuring it was safe with a girl she came back to Chicago only to get pregnant again. Another threat was delivered to her in the hospital room, with her and the baby.”
No fucking way. “Are you saying it’s been more than twenty years and there’s still a threat out there to his daughters?”
Tony sighs. “There weren’t any more threats, for almost twenty years. When he couldn’t figure out who was behind the threats. Carlo believed the girls would be safer with a civilian. It’s why he talked shit on them. He didn’t want anyone in la familia thinking they were available for a marriage contract. Yeah, Carlo knew about Carina and the civilians she hooked up with. As long as one of them were prepared to marry her, he would have paid them for the marriage.”
I’m not surprised. There was no way Carina hid shit as well as she thought she did.
Dominic shakes his head. “They thought it was over until Celia’s graduation announcement went out a few months ago. Another threat came in hinting the guy wanted Celia. There was no denying Milos for Celia. Since she was going to someone who would protect her, Carlo was glad to approve the marriage. Then another threat came through for Carina now that Celia was taken. He told me he considered you for one of them since the threat came in for Celia, getting one or maybe in the end both of them out of Chicago.”
I fucking knew a marriage was happening, whether I wanted it or not.
“Then Milos showed up so that took care of Celia. Luca retiring was perfect timing. He wants you for Carina to protect her by taking her to Vegas. Among those in the know in the family he wants you to head Vegas. No one in the know would dare to go against him.” Dominic’s jaw is tight. Clearly he’s pissed at the idea anyone in the Outfit would go against Carlo. It didn’t matter if Dominic didn’t like Carlo, as our Don respect was owed to the position—not necessarily the person.
No wonder Carlo folded so quickly for the marriage contract. “Do you think it’s the same person after her and wanting me dead to take over Vegas? I’m not really surprised someone wants me dead for my spot.” I’m not, this is the life. “Or am I dealing with two stupid men?”
“I don’t buy they’re the same person. If someone wanted Carina or Celia it would be for getting closer to Carlo in power.” Tony’s frown deepens. “Until the day Luca was shot there was no hint he’d walk away from it. He was looking at land for him and Bella’s house.” His blue eyes flick to mine. “I don’t think the threat against Carina is real enough to be concerned about. I’m of the belief it’s more to Carlo setting things right in preparation…”
“Pop?” Dominic questions him.
Running a hand over his face, Tony sighs. “I promised him I wouldn’t tell anyone. But he had a heart attack last year. When Cassandra was diagnosed with breast cancer. He demanded she go to his doctor for a second opinion—he refused to believe her doctor. But they confirmed it instead of telling them it was a mistake the way Carlo believed they would. Carlo didn’t make it out of the building before he went down. He was in the hospital for a few days. Cassandra told everyone it was the flu.”
“Are you fucking kidding me? How the hell could he keep it from me?” Dominic is pissed. “I’m his underboss, this is something I need to know. Why the hell didn’t you tell me?”
“Cassandra begged me not to. Once he found out I knew, Carlo ordered me not to. I was visiting Joseph after his bypass. I came across Cassandra crying in the hallway. She broke down and told me everything. The stress of it all got to her. Carlo almost had another heart attack when he found out I knew. I told him to knock it off and tell me what I could do to help.” Tony shrugs. “He didn’t want anyone aware. The fear was he’d be pushed out in favor of you.”
Dominic is up pacing. “He’s seventy this year. I thought he’d last at least another decade. I get it’s scary but he can’t hide shit like this from me.”
“That’s not all.” Tony sighs when Dominic stops and looks to him. “The doctor recommended a double bypass—he’s seventy percent blocked in one artery and sixty in the other. He refused. Cassandra begged me to talk him into it. He wouldn’t listen. Said he wasn’t sticking around if there was no guarantee Cassandra wasn’t going to be here. When she got the all clear, he told her he didn’t want anyone finding out he was in poor health. But he told me that he’s just tired. Getting Celia and Carina married off is him settling his affairs as far as I can tell.”
“So he would rather destroy the self-esteem of his daughters instead of protecting them the way they deserved?” I can’t forget the hatred burning in Carina’s beautiful emerald eyes. It didn’t start as hatred, it started as pain until there was no coming back from the things he’s said and the way he hurt them.
“Protecting them would have meant walking away from this life. He didn’t see it as an option. Once I screwed up all chance of becoming underboss then Don the way everyone in the Outfit believed I would be, Carlo did everything he could to become Don.”
I’m not willing to give Carlo an out the way Tony is. “If it were you, you would have walked away to protect your children.” I don’t doubt it for a moment.
He nods. “I would have. I’m not defending him. We aren’t the same men. Carlo did the best he could within the confines of our world. I also don’t doubt he regrets it. Over the years Cassandra has grown to resent him for his choices. It’s why she was adamant it be you who married Carina. She believes you’ll take care of her the way you cared for your sister.”
“I think it’s best you go back to Vegas immediately. You’re better protected there. Pop will take care of the hitter here. We’ll be digging to figure out who wants you dead then we’ll take care of them.” Dominic is adamant.
I shake my head. “Carlo wants to announce our engagement at Milos and Celia’s engagement party on Saturday. My leaving tomorrow and returning the next day doesn’t make sense. I’m not happy about it but I’ll stay away from Carina for her safety then leave Saturday after the announcement.”
Dominic is back on the sofa. “Fine. I get it. It would send signals something is wrong but we need to plan. I’m going to need to know what the back up plans are if you don’t make it back to Vegas. Everything from who does what and if you think Gaetano would take over for you.”
It doesn’t matter this is the last thing I want to plan for. This is the life. No one is promised their next breath. It’s a plan I had to help Luca with when Dominic became underboss two years ago. Before everything was loose, a sketch of a plan. That wasn’t good enough for Dominic. He wanted names, phone numbers, and figures. If this wasn’t something I wanted to go over, then I might as well walk away now. Nothing was about what I wanted. It was about what was best for the family.
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