Page 312 of Sinfully Savage Mafia

She sensed the clash of wills deep inside of me.

When I pick up my laptop and stab Matteo’s number into the keyboard, my gut twists because it’s a sign that war will always rage on.

And I’ll never be the victor.

When his face flashes on the screen, a pang assaults my chest. His eyes spit fire, his lips twisted into a grimace. “Roman, where the hell have you been?” he seethes. “I’ve been trying to call you for fucking hours!” But before I can speak, he holds up a hand. “No, you know what? I don’t really give a shit. But do you know what I give a shit about?”

I rub the back of my neck. I’m sure there is a mile-long list, but I’ll just humor him for now. “Right at this second? Um, breakfast?”

“You’re a real fucking comedian, aren’t you?” he shouts. “So let’s try to find the joke in this one, Roman. You, getting taken for four fucking kilos of blow by fucking Frankie Amante! You, killing Salvatore Giaconne! Andyou, kidnapping Amante’s sister! What is wrong with you? Is your head completely up your ass right now? Do you have any idea what you’ve done? And do you know what’s worse? I spoke to you yesterday and you told me everything was fucking fine!Fine!You lied to me!”

“I didn’t lie. At the exact time we spoke, everything was fine.” I rub the back of my neck like that alone will relieve the growing stress knot at the base of my skull.

“You asshole!” he roars, and I swear I can see smoke coming out of his ears. “How the hell did you let this happen? All you had to do was keep an eye on things! What exactly were you doing at the club when they boosted that blow? Or maybe the better question is,whowere you doing?” He slams his hand on the desk. “Frankie fucking Amante! I knew that slimeball bastard would be back to screw with us at some point! I can’t believe you missed it!”

“Jesus Christ, do you always make the right decisions? Huh? Because I seem to remember one not too long ago where you put yourself and Heaven in the line of fire because of a bad fucking call!” My teeth grind together as I glare at my brother’s face on the laptop screen.

“Don’t talk to me like that!” he thunders, his face beet red. “I’m your fucking boss and you’d better remember that! I gave you that job and I can yank it away just as fast! Goddammit, Roman! Amante fucking robbed you blind! Do you know how that makes our family look? How we’ll look to the syndicate?” Matteo slams his hand on the side of his desk. “I trusted you to keep things under control and you let that asshole ravage our business!”

“But I’m handling it, dammit! That’s why I have Marchella. I needed a bargaining chip so he wouldn’t bolt from the city before getting our drugs back!”

Matteo takes a second to breathe, and it’s a good thing because I feel like his head is damn close to spinning off his shoulders,Exorcist-style.

“Roman,” he says in a calmer voice. Not calm, calmer. “You really messed things up this time.”

My shoulders sag as Matteo continues his verbal lashing, and I’m very happy he’s on the other side of the country right now and not standing in front of me.

But once the immediate shock wears off and Matteo’s tirade reverberates between my ears along with my thoughts, it dawns on me that someone ratted me out. He’d never get this kind of detailed information through the grapevine.

Someone told him what went down.

Someone who knows exactly what happened and who was involved.

Ray.

Motherfucker!

So much for him being my trusted sidekick.

“Well, I’m sure glad Ray alerted you about that one,” I scoff sarcastically.

“At least someone believes in leveling with the boss.” He sighs. “Roman, this is a bad fucking situation. You have no idea what Amante is planning or who he’s planning it with. He came after us after all this time, now that his father is in jail…why? To save face, to make a quick buck, to get revenge since he’s in a black hole and we’re sitting on top of the food chain? All of the above? And you know what? It doesn’t even matter. What matters is that he exposed a weakness. In you. And he’s gonna come back to tear at it some more. He’s always been a selfish prick and right now, I don’t think he gives a damn about his sister. I think he’s out for himself and he’s got nothing to lose.”

“Look, Matty. I know I didn’t do things the way you would have, but I’ve got Amante’s balls in a vise right now. I’m gonna handle it. He’s gonna make us whole again. I will make sure he pays us for that blow.”

“He’s not gonna give you anything, Roman. No matter what he told you when you beat his ass. You let yourself get tangled up in the Amante net, and now there’s an army out for blood…and money.”

“What are you talking about?Whoare you talking about? What goddamn army?”

Matteo lets out a deep sigh. “Frankie’s dad got thrown in the clink for killing a couple of guys six months ago. You hear about that?”

“Yeah, I know. Left his family in shambles. So?”

“He’s not the one who committed the actual murders, Roman. He took the blame for someone else…his son.”

I furrow my brow. “What the hell are you talking about?”

Matteo’s lips stretch into a tight line. “Frankie, as usual, pissed off some people. Badass Russian crew from Brooklyn. The Volkov Bratva. He stole one of their cars…one that had a shipment of uncut blow hidden in the trunk. When one of their guys found him, he panicked and killed him. His father tried to stop him because he knew what Volkov would do to the rest of his family in retaliation. He was too late, but Frankie escaped and his dad still took the fall for it when the cops showed up. They claimed it was second-degree murder because it was self-defense, but it’s still a long fucking time to be put away for something you didn’t do.”

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