Page 7 of Angelo's Vengeance

Ilias took a sip of his drink, rolling the glass in his palm as he watched the baby with what looked like cautious amusement. "I’ll have Kostas dig in. If they’re solid, it could be useful. If not—" He shrugged, leaving the rest unsaid. We all knew what would happen if they weren’t useful.

"Speaking of problems that need to be handled," I said, setting my glass down with more force than necessary. "The fucking Scarpato family is sticking their nose where it doesn’t belong again. Construction sites in the Bronx. They’re trying to muscle in. I caught some of their guys snooping, trying to bribe my foremen. That makes it twice now."

Conall exhaled sharply, shaking his head. "They really that stupid?"

"Or that desperate," Ilias reflected. "Dino Scarpato isn’t the sharpest tool in the shed, but he’s vicious. If he’s testing you, he thinks he’s got a shot at getting some of that territory.”

"He doesn’t," I growled. "I already sent amessage. Two of his guys were escorted off-site and dumped back into his territory, missing a few appendages. But that was just a warning. If he keeps pushing, I’ll have to handle it more permanently."

Maxim watched me, his expression thoughtful. "You got eyes on him?"

"I do," I confirmed. "And I have a meeting with someone from the Cardoni family. It might be connected. They’ve been neutral until now, but if they consider backing Scarpato, I need to shut that down fast."

The Five Families in the New York area had been stable for years, but the upheaval caused by the Olivetos had recently made things shaky. The Scarpato and Cardoni mafia were scrambling for any scraps of territory like dogs over a bone. None of them liked that the four of us had united in an alliance that went beyond the traditional rules of organized crime. Now, we had a new player in the game coming in and grabbing up pieces of the board that the Olivetos had left. Claimed he was some long-lost cousin or some shit. Salvatore Renzetti. We hadn’t even met yet, but he was making a reputation.

The Commission kept things fluid, but wetended to specialize in specific areas. Conall ran our booze and gambling venues, Maxim ran our guns, and I laundered our money. We all dabbled in the drug trade, but we typically left that to the Yakuza and the cartels. Ilias, on the other hand, seemed to dabble in everything while running a conglomerate of shipping that we benefited from for our ventures. He had the broadest reach of all of us.

Ilias tapped his fingers against his glass, considering. "You want one of us there?"

I smirked. "I appreciate the offer, but I think I’ll go solo. It’s more of a conversation than a threat."

"And if it turns into a threat?" Maxim asked, his tone mild, but the meaning was clear.

I shrugged. “Then maybe you’ll lose that five pounds you gained in the last few months. You’ll get some exercise.”

“Fuck off.”

There was a brief silence, and we all discussed the implications of another family getting involved in our business. We had built a careful balance between us, but outside threats never stopped coming.

Then Conall shifted, his usual smirkbecoming sharper. “Since we’re discussing threats and deals… I heard an intriguing rumor.” He leaned forward, focusing directly on Ilias and me. “There’s been some chatter about the blood oath. Some other organizations are curious if you two will honor your bargains—or if your brides are up for the taking."

“What?” I ground out.

The air in the room shifted. The casual camaraderie dissipated, replaced by a tension ready to ignite into something explosive. Ilias’s hands clenched into fists, his knuckles turning white.

Conall didn’t flinch, but I saw the tension in his shoulders. "You heard me. People are sniffing around. Makes sense. We are successful. That means alliances. People are starting to wonder if you and Ilias will follow through—or if it is open season. There are other matches to be made with our families.” He cleared his throat awkwardly. “Nico Balestra even asked. Maybe he’s thinking he can gather enough support to build his own mafia, although I’m not sure that will fly with Renzetti muscling in.”

“The blood oath isn’t something thatothers can intrude upon,” Maxim scoffed. “Amateurs. It’s already been decided that Angelo will be tied to the Anthakos, and Ilias to the Volkovs. Someone else can’t change an oath. It was decided decades ago.”

“Well, I suppose people are realizing that the sister’s name wasn’t specified exactly,” Conall mentioned so casually that I didn’t even catch on at first.

Ilias had two sisters, Theodosia and Polina, but Polina had never been considered as a match for one of us. Theo would have scratched our eyes out for mentioning her. The Anthakos siblings were fiercely protective of their youngest for reasons the rest of us never really talked about. Polina had always been sheltered from the mafia life, to the point that I rarely remembered that Ilias even had another sister.

"That greedy bastard," I muttered. "He thinks he can talk about Theo like she’s some unclaimed asset?"

I wasn’t sure why I felt so angry. Theo had made it clear how she felt about me. She wasn’t a fan. At one point in her life, she couldn’t get enough of me, but that was when hero worship was still a factor.

Now that she was a fully formed human, she’d realized I wasn’t that great of a guy. Nobody could say Theodosia Anthakos wasn’t smart. Hell, a few years ago, she helped my sister cover up a murder. They kept it secret for years. Frankie told us that Theo was the mastermind behind hiding the whole thing, so I had no doubt in my mind that she was clever enough to see I was a losing bet, which was why she put an ocean between us.

Of course, she was still harboring a significant grudge. After that night, she had never been the same with me. I had crushed her teenage dream under my heel with a ruthlessness that even my mother would have approved of. The irony, of course, was that she was signed, sealed, and delivered to be one of our wives. I hadn’t been about to tell her that, especially when she was fifteen and wearing pajamas with orange crocodiles. She didn’t know that I still felt bad about it, the way her eyes had sparkled with tears. At the time, I had wanted her to stop mooning after me. It made me feel weird—the age difference, and the intimate knowledge I had of the situation. I felt guilty and ashamed. There had also been an anger in me, both on mybehalf and hers… that she was already sold off.

Conall shrugged. "I don’t think he was saying it to me personally. More like putting feelers out, seeing if there’s any room to maneuver."

Ilias let out a slow, controlled breath, but his fury was evident. “Nico Balestra is a corpse walking if he even thinks about touching either one of my sisters.”

I slammed my glass on the table hard enough to make the liquid slosh over the rim. “Let me be very fucking clear right now—Theodosia isn’t ‘up for grabs.’ If anyone wants to test that, I’ll put a bullet in their goddamn skull myself."

"Then maybe lock that down,” Conall suggested, not unkindly. "Before someone gets stupid."

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