Page 61 of His Prize

“You sly little fucker,” I said, giggling.

He grinned. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

26

Israel

“What in thehell is the meaning of this?”

I cringed at the sound of my father’s yelling as I helped Bonnie into the car.

“Israel! You stop it right there!”

Bonnie looked up at me. “Do I need to punch him, too?”

I chuckled. “Give me five minutes. I’ll have it settled.” Then, I closed her door and turned to my very angry father.

“Why is your brother being marched out in handcuffs?” he roared.

I leaned coolly against the car, blocking Bonnie’s view of the altercation. “Obsession, for starters. Though, I’m pretty sure there’s a murder charge or two in there as well. You know how Gio is.”

Dad pointed in my face. “What did you do? What thefuckdid you do, Israel?”

I shrugged. “I did what had to be done for the sake of the family.”

“You doing something for the sake of this family meant putting your brother in prison? Have I taught you nothing!?”

I shook my head. “No, Dad. Not your definition of family.Mine. Me and Bonnie.”

He growled. “That manipulative little bitch will never be family.”

I grinned. “And my manipulative little brother you enjoy taking advantage of so much will never inherit the family business. I mean, not now, at least.”

He closed the distance between us. “Those officers have nothing on him. They’ve got nothing, you hear me? I’ll pay off whoever it takes to get him out of there, and when I do? I’ll put a bullet in your head for the treason you’ve committed against this family.”

“If you don’t watch your tongue, I might just merge this family with the Moretti’s and be done with it.”

He paused. “You wouldn’t dare.”

I pushed off the car. “There’s no one to take over the family now. And no matter how hard you try, I’ll always try harder. You pursue Gio? I’ll pursue you. To the ends of the earth if I have to. I’ll make sure the charges stick because I can guarantee you the evidence those police have will go without question in a court of law. You have no more moves, Dad. No one else to manipulate.”

His nostrils flared with anger. “I will not allow you to scar this family just because you want to marry the enemy.”

“The enemy of my enemy is my friend, father. But that doesn’t matter because I love this woman. She’s going to be my wife whether you want her to be or not, and as for this whole ‘family business’ thing? I suggest you start drawing up official announcements saying that you’ve handed over the entire enterprise to your eldest son.”

“And if I don’t?”

My eyes held his. “Then, I don’t believe there will be a place in the family for someone like yourself.”

He scoffed. “You’d disown the man who gave you life out of spite?”

“No. But I would disown the man who’s tried, and tried, and tried again to kill me, the woman I love, and forever ruin my reputation by working alongside what you considered to be a rival family in order to take both Bonnie and me down. You want to talk about disloyalty? You tried to have your son killed. You want to talk about disloyalty? You worked alongside the one man you claimed to hate more than anything else in this world just to make sure things turned out in your favor. Sometimes, Dad, you need to know when to quit.”

“I—you—this is—I just—”

I turned my back to him. “Save it for a court. Because if you keep this up, that’s exactly where you’ll be.”

“You’ll never get away with this, Israel!”

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