Page 24 of I Would Die For You

“Abrashi is the name of the man Aldo’s crew has taken down in San Raffaele Cimena.”

I nod. It’s thecazzorunning the marijuana, hashish, and cocaine network that woman whistle-blew on.

“Abrashi and Daku are associates,” he continues. “And when your father was interrogating him, he found out what Daku had planned next.”

I don’t like the chill that’s coming over me. I know my godfather—my Don—is a scary man to be feared, and I’ve also seen him in action. But the cold rage radiating off of him feels like it can bite and burn harder than frost on warm, unprotected skin.

“That was early yesterday morning, Stefano. I didn’t hear from it until just now, when Aldo called me to check on the follow-up regarding this intel since no order had been issued yet.”

It’s clear he’s pissed off. “What did the intel say?”

His face grows even harder. “That Jasir Daku wants to put a hit out on Kaya Norton.”

Sounds stop computing when I hear her name. It seems to me the Don has also stopped talking, watching me parse through my shock.

“He wants to kill Kaya?” I finally blurt out when the question remains stuck so long in my throat, it starts to choke me.

The Don nods.

“Over my dead body!”

He nods again.

“What do you want to do?” I ask.

He quirks an eyebrow. “What do I wantyouto do, you mean…”

The penny drops, then, and all his words so far come together. My father is retiring…because my father failed to report this intel right away, and this in turn put Kaya’s life in danger. My father is the Don’s enforcer, his left-hand man, the one he trusts implicitly. But Gennaro Beccario has let his Don down—I’m repulsed to think he may even want Kaya dead, because, according to him, she’s standing in the way of this marriage he’s arranged for me with his good friend’s daughter; it doesn’t matter what I say. And in doing so, in putting his interests first, he’s lost the trust and good regard of Don Giacomo Rossi.

And in turn, I’m to step up into his shoes, as this was always meant to be my destiny someday, sometime. But the time has come.

My breath catches in my chest when I try to inhale. I’ve been on missions with the crews. I’ve shadowed my father on his jobs. However, I’ve never gotten my hands dirty. Not yet. The protection of a Don for his enforcer covers just the man in question. I’d need the title to also warrant this absolution.

I’m about to now.

But something else is at the forefront of my mind. My father having lost his Don’s trust, this can only mean…

“My mother,” I croak out.

“Rosa is my friend. Nothing was going to happen to her. Nothing will happen to Gennaro, either. But he’s started having chest pains on this mission, and he has to step down.”

I read between the lines. It’s only because of my mother and her close bond with the Don that my father is coming out of this betrayal with his life still intact. He’s also protecting her honor—and not my father’s—by putting this retirement on account of made-up health woes.

I’m assuming Aldo is also in on this. He’s proven his loyalty to Don Giacomo by coming up to him when my father was supposed to keep the Don apprised.

A shiver racks through me. This is it. My time has come. Becoming an enforcer is one of the highest honors aBorgatasoldier can be given, but it is also a title that comes with a death knell attached to it. By taking on the Don’s dirty business, it’s the enforcer who puts himself in the crosshairs, who takes all the risks. Many leave their lives in the line of duty.

Yet, this is also what I’ve been groomed for all my life. My upbringing, my training, even my studies have all been geared to make me Don Giacomo Rossi’s enforcer. He’s a new generation of dons, and as such, I’ve been encouraged to be a new type of enforcer, too.

The time has come to prove my mettle.

With a gulp, I nod. “I need to assemble my crew.”

“Good. Do it. How long should it take you?”

I shrug. “An hour. Two, tops.”

I have a few men I’ve recruited and primed for joining my team. They’re just a phone call away in municipalities all around Metropolitan Torino.

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