Page 61 of Veil of Vengeance

It’s down-pouring when I spot Romiro standing near the car with an umbrella and his long trench coat, his blond hair sticking to his forehead. My driver hurries toward me with two umbrellas, one in his hand and the other he’s using. I mutter a thank you when he hands me the other umbrella.

“Where’s Matteo?” I ask Romiro as he makes his way around the car. The rain is so loud that I can barely hear myself speak.

“He stayed with Lucio in his apartment,” he tells me once we slide into the car. Some raindrops fall on the brown leather seats, and I press the button to lift the divider between us and the driver.

“How did Lucio get shot? Why the fuck did no one stop him from racing in the Czech’s territory?” I ask. Romiro rolls his shoulders, his face twisting in contempt.

“We were at the OX, but Lucio decided to head out to race with some guys. They’d been racing in Damian's territory. Lucio’s car was shot at the most and he’s lucky that he’d managed to get away with just a bullet through his shoulder.”

I run my hand down my face. Someone is fucking with us and it’s someone on the inside.

“They need to fucking stop breaching their territory,” I say, and Romiro nods in agreement.

“I mean, we’ve warned Lucio about this before, but he just doesn’t listen.” He shrugs. I button up my suit jacket as the car comes to a halt.

“The family’s moving back to New York in two weeks. It’s time we’re back to our city,” I inform Romiro before stepping out of the car. It’s game time, New York.??

* * *

Romiroand I are sitting in my penthouse, shuffling through the paperwork for the Diamond. The only light illuminating the room is from the lamp on the table in front of us. After we’d checked on Lucio and Matteo and decided to have them return to New Hampshire, we decided to stay until we'd sorted some shit out.

“I want another meeting with that asshole Stefano,” I say, not looking up.

“What for?” he asks. My eyes briefly flicker to Romiro’s face before going back to the papers.

“The contract puts us at a disadvantage. I don’t understand how our team hasn’t caught that. They’ve had three weeks to look over the damn thing.”

“And I’m guessing you were able to spot them?” he probes. I bite the inside of my cheek, debating whether to tell him it was Valentina who pointed it out.

“No, Valentina did.” I look up to see a smug little smile on his face.

“No fucking way.” Romiro leans forward, getting in my space.

“What is it, fuckface?” I ask.

“It’s interesting that just because you guys are fucking, you feel comfortable enough to have her look at important business documents.”

“You’re a little asshole. Go back to reading through the damn papers.” I’m halfway through a sentence, when my phone pings. “Rom, check who’s messaging me.” I jerk my chin to my phone on the table as I continue to read through the reports for the last two months.

“Dominico’s awake and he’s apparently going insane trying to leave the hospital.”

Romiro and I stare at each other before throwing the papers on the table and grabbing our jackets and our phones, heading toward my elevator.

“Call the doctor and inform him to try to hold Dom in there for as long as possible,” I tell him. He nods and pulls out his phone. We reach the parking garage and take our cars. “I want him awake, so make sure they don’t try to sedate him.”

Romiro nods, sliding into his car. We take the backstreets of Brooklyn to avoid most of the traffic.

There are nurses standing, gossiping outside of Dom’s private room, and Rom and I can hear him from down the hall. I fling the door open and step in.

“Get the fuck out of my way, or I’ll blow your goddamn puny brain out of its skull.” Dom’s throwing shit at the doctor, who’s trying to dodge it. I don’t think Dominico has ever been this unhinged; he’s always stayed calm and collected.

“Dom. Calm down,” I bark. His wild eyes come to me, looking darker than normal.

His eyes narrow as he growls, “Where’s my wife? I tried calling her and got no fucking answer. That shitneverhappens.” I can feel Romiro and the doctor stare at me, waiting.

“Everyone out. Romiro, make sure no one is in the hallway,” I order. He nods before dragging the doctor out with him and barking at everyone to leave. Dominico and I stare at each other for a beat, his good hand clenching at his side while the other is in a full arm cast.

“She’s dead.” I don’t sugarcoat my words, and Dom knows it, but his jaw locks and his eyes narrow, disbelief shining through.

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