Page 20 of Empire of Seduction

I rinsed and patted my skin dry. Then I sent Val an all-caps message of my own.

DON’T YOU DARE

YOU’RE ON YOUR HONEYMOON FFS

My cell rang a second later.

“I don’t care,” my best friend said. “You must be freaking out. I should be there.”

“No, you should be with your husband. In Catanzaro. Enjoying your belated honeymoon. If you come back early, I’ll never speak to you again.”

“Mags, I can press pause on my three-month honeymoon. This is your family’s winery! I can’t believe Mikey lost it in a poker game.”

My chest hollowed out, the empty and aching feeling returning once again. “Yeah, well. Neither can I.”

“Like, this is a hundred times worse than when he disappeared after your parents died. Remember when we didn’t hear from him for two months?”

Remember? The terror of those eight weeks was burned into my brain. Without telling me, Mikey went to New Mexico to “find” himself—which meant doing a lot of Ayahuasca in the desert. My aunt was still living here, helping me with the winery, but I’d been worried sick. My brother could be an immature asshole sometimes.

“Still,” I told her. “You don’t need to worry. I’m handling it.”

There was a long pause. “What do you mean, you’re handling it?”

“It means I’m figuring out how to get rid of Vito.”

She sucked in a breath, then lowered her voice to a whisper. “Like . . . kill him?”

“No!” Then my horror receded and I considered it. “Unless . . . Do you think I could find someone who might be willing?—”

“Maggie! Jesus. Don’t even consider it. I’ve been inside a jail before and I don’t ever want to do it again.”

I went into my bedroom and pulled out my clothes to get dressed for the day. “Fine. I won’t murder him. But Iwillmake his life a living hell.”

“Listen, I know that’s tempting, but he’s a mob boss. You don’t want to poke that bear, trust me. These are not the kind of men we’re used to dealing with.”

“I’ll be fine. I’m not scared of Vito D’Agostino.”

“Maybe you should be. Did you know his brother is also a mob boss? In Italy. And his nickname is ‘the madman.’ I’ve met him and he’s scary as fuck.”

Shit, I didn’t know that. But it didn’t matter. “All I want is for Vito to return the winery to me and get his sexy ass back to Canada. I don’t think that’s too much to ask.”

I realized my mistake the instant my mouth stopped moving.

Dummy!Why had I said anything about Vito being?—

“Sexy?” she nearly shouted. “Okay, what aren’t you telling me?”

A lot, actually. I played dumb. “Have you seen him?”

“Uh, no. I mean, sort of. At a distance, but I mostly saw the side of his head.”

“He’s pretty hot, Val. Not that I care.”

“Sure, sure.” She paused. “Have you slept with him?”

Val knew me too well. And I hated lying to her. But my one-night stand with Vito was coming with me to the grave. It was bad enough that my brother knew. “No! First of all, he’s married. Second, he’s too old for me. And oh, in case anyone forgot—he stole the winery from us.”

“Okay, okay. Calm down. I just got a vibe, but it was clearly wrong. So, tell me what you’re planning. Maybe Luca could loan you?—”

---