Page 28 of Death Of A Sinner

“Giovanni wasn’t always the way he was. When I first met him, the man was… charming, nice, caring,” she explains.

That makes me laugh out loud. “Giovanni was anything but caring.”

“He was. And then… he wasn’t,” Mary says.

“I’ll be back.” Vin gets up from the table.

Cammi goes to stand. “I’ll come with you.”

“No, stay.” Vin kisses the top of her head and whispers something into her ear before slipping out the glass doors.

“If he gets to walk away, so do I,” Esther says. “Be right back.”

“Wait! You can’t just roam around.” Mary grabs her daughter’s arm.

“Let her go,” Gio directs. “She can go wherever she wants.”

“There are guards everywhere,” Mary tells him.

Gio smirks. “I’m aware.”

“They don’t know her.”

“They’ve been briefed,” Gio fires back.

Talk about a dinner party from hell.

“Come on, Mary. I’m sure you remember how this all works. No one in this house is going to do anything to go against the boss. We’re mafia, not animals,” I remind her.

“You do know that you’re all a bunch of assholes, right?” Esther looks at the four of us left at the table. “I don’t know how much you’re paying these women to be your wives, 'cause they actually seem normal, nice… But you guys?Assholes,” she says before walking out the same doors Vin just exited.

“She’s got quite the mouth on her. She get that from you?” I ask Tommy.

“She’s… adjusting,” he says.

“Yeah. Guess it’s not every day you find out your mother had a whole other family before you.” I lift a shoulder, picking up my glass of whiskey.

“Well, I like her,” Daisy says. “Anyone who calls you four out for being assholes has my vote.”

“What about Vin?” I ask her. “She didn’t call him out.”

“Vin’s not an asshole,” Daisy tells me.

“Babe, seriously? I’m not an asshole,” Gabe says to his wife.

Zoe mutters something in Russian, and I look over at her. “Care to tell the group?”

“She said we’re all assholes, but also the best brothers she could ask for,” Gabe answers for her.

“Actually, I said:Even though you’re assholes, I wouldn’t want any of you to change.” Zoe smiles. She’s usually the quiet one.

“You have all grown into wonderful men,” Mary whispers.

“No thanks to you.” I lift my glass to her.

“I know,” she tells me.

“You keep looking at my husband like you’re just waiting for him to get up and hurt you,” Ellie says. “Gio would never hurt a woman.”

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