Page 4 of Sinner's Vows

We scale the few stairs, and Bruno takes a hesitant step forward, his tail giving an uncertain twitch. The dog is almost blind, but there’s nothing wrong with his ears or nose. He homes in on me with a soft whine and ignores Matteo. It’s as if something in me reminds him of the Don. It’s my face, but from where Bruno stands, it’s probably my gait, or my scent. The way he almost shuns Matteo as we reach the door is comical.

“Biased little fucker,” Matteo grunts as he walks inside the house, ignoring the dog as much as Bruno ignores him.

I can’t help but lean down and give the dog a fond rub behind the ears.

“Hey, Bruno,” I coo. “You’re going to growl on cue for me today?” Bruno leans into my leg, and something in me sags. Fuck it. Poor beast had a rough start to life, and that he’s come this far is somewhat a miracle. Now, he’s nuzzling my jacket pocket, and I chuckle. “Still good for some things, hey?”

I straighten, give the dog a last encouraging pat, and pull the Don’s ring out of my jacket pocket where Bruno smelled the old man’s scent. I hold it out to Matteo.

“What is it?” he asks.

“You must wear it.”

He takes the Don’s insignia ring and studies it in the light from the foyer’s chandelier. “Fuck it, Dominic, I don’t care for this shit. You know that.”

“Put it on, Matteo. Make them kiss your hand and drop their blood on the ring as they make the vow that comes with it.”

“You’re for real?” He stares at me, eyes wide. “Never took you for one to stick to creepy fucking traditions like this. Never mind opening myself up to get Hep A and B?—”

Is my brother for real?He doesn’t want the title and seat—I get it—but he’s saddled with it. The sooner he gets that into his head and makes peace, the better for all of us. Thesaferfor all of us.

“We’re only signaling that the Don might be dead, but withIl Consiglio, it’s business as usual. If any dust kicked up in the past week, this would make it settle.”

Matteo heaves a resigned sigh and shoves the ring on his pinky finger where it looks dull next to his wedding band which he put back on as soon as we got in the car and left the funeral.

“You know, all I want to do is go home and fuck my wife.”

Jesus Christ. He’s also pussy-whipped to the point of being delusional. It’s kind of funny to see him this besotted with Tasha Armstrong, the last woman any of us should have gotten involved with. I’m happy for him, and I can’t say I didn’t see this thing with Tasha coming from a mile. The very first day, he left his mark on her skin, and by the time they flew to Sicily, I knew he was fucked. Lucky bastard.

“You can fuck your wife to your heart’s content once we’re done here. Two weeks ago, you kicked the hornet’s nest in Europe when you eliminated Randazzo. We can’t let that chaos spill into our lives here.”

“I hear you.”

Matteo meets my gaze, and a silent promise travels between us. We have each other’s backs, no matter what.

With Don Scalera and Don Randazzo dead, a new era is unfolding. From what we’ve seen on the dark net, shit’s still flying round and hitting the fan. When I went over there more than a month ago to secure Matteo’s security detail while in Sicily and Cannes, I didn’t foresee anything spinning out of control like this. There’s more to his resistance to doing this initiation than merely stepping into Don Scalera’s shoes. Matteo was the last person to see the Don alive, and well, beyond Tasha and the need to fuck his wife, my brother has been weirdly distracted lately.

Cars are coming up the driveway, and I signal to our bodyguards to do crowd control.

“Party’s starting, Matty. Best get ready for a line-up. The capos are right behind us, and they can’t wait to kiss your ass.”

“Fuck’s sake,” he grunts as he pulls off his wedding band and makes it disappear into his jacket’s pocket again. With resignation, he turns towards the wide corridor and makes his way to the Don’s office.

I don’t blame him. I’ll never be the idiot to get hitched because that’s just courting trouble, but if I did, I wouldn’t soil my wedding band with the capos’ blood, either, even if it were just a droplet. We might all be sinners, but crime doesn’t belong within the confines of sacred wedding vows.

It’s almost midnight by the time we’re done.

I hold out a printout of the five members ofIl Consigliowho haven’t bothered to show face and swear the oath ofomertàto my brother yet. This isn’t something you do over a Zoom call, and if you know what’s good for you, you prioritize this in-person meeting.

“I’ll give these fuckers two weeks.” I toss the paper to his desk. “We’ll make examples of those who don’t show up.”

You never know what slackers do in their spare time. I’d love to find out.

Matteo leans back in his seat and rubs down his face. “Fine. Deal with them as you see fit and do it here.”

“Here? In the basement? Your place is easier.”

Not only does Matteo have his own special room for interrogations, but he also has an elevator directly to the promession site to deal with bodies.

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