Page 60 of Scandalous Kingpin
The corners of his lips tugged up.
“Ireland is its own island. Not exactly easy to smuggle into continental Europe without having access to a port here.” I shook my head. He must have anticipated it because he added, “This access would be for you, your family, and your brothers-in-law.”
My jaw clenched, wanting to refuse, but he knew exactly what he was doing when he threw in the cherry on top. He was offering me the ace card and using the Murphy brothers to seal the deal.
The problem was that shit would be fucked up the moment we pinned the death of Ivy’s father on Sofia Volkov. And something told me that was just the tip of the iceberg.
Money talked, and it was exactly that which made this song-and-dance game conclude: I might need this ace card one day.
We sailed the Tyrrhenian Sea into the Mediterranean, where my family descended on my yacht like a pack of hyenas. It took them all of five fucking days. Basilio and Dante even brought their wives and my papà along with his new wife who were entertaining Ivy at the moment. Or vice versa, who knew with those girls?
I sat behind the desk in my office on the yacht, my brother and cousins surrounding me. Silence held steady in the room with their dark, DiLustro eyes on me.
When I was a little boy, I wished my eyes were their color. That I held more resemblance to the DiLustro features, but not anymore. A truth that had everything to do with my wife, who accepted me just the way I was.
They had something to say, and I knew what it concerned, but still, I waited.
Basilio spoke first. “We should tell her.”
My muscles tightened, revolting against the idea of hurting my wife with the news that her athair was murdered by her best friend with the help of the DiLustro family.
Forcing myself not to react, I leaned back in my chair. “No.”
I wouldn’t risk losing her for her best friend’s stupidity. I’d finally found the woman meant for me, a woman who didn’t care about my past and my faults. She was mine, I wouldn’t risk losing her.
“Secrets have a tendency of surfacing,” Emory chimed in, watching me with those inquisitive eyes. She had always been able to see more than she should.
My gaze narrowed. “Speaking from experience?”
She looked away, obviously hiding her own secrets. “This isn’t about me. It’s about you doing right by your wife.”
“I know her better than you.” I sounded like a scolded child, but aggravation had lit a small fire in my chest. “I don’t tell you what to do with your love life, so don’t tell me what to do with mine.”
The fear of losing my wife raged inside me, hot and unrelenting. I was sure I could keep this secret from her. It’d be the only secret between us, but I was certain it’d spell our destruction. Sofia Volkov had committed many sins and offenses—what was the harm in one more?
Emory shook her head in disapproval. “Christian,” she started softly, resorting to my legal name, which she rarely used. “Please be reasonable. If you tell her now, she’ll probably hold it against Juliette, and maybe us, but she won’t hold it against you. If she learns you knew and didn’t tell her, she won’t forgive you.”
I had a better idea: Giving Ivy the satisfaction of killing Sofia and avenging her father’s death.
“Once Sofia is dead, we’ll be the only ones with the knowledge of who really killed Ivy’s father,” I reasoned. “And I trust that none of you will reveal it.”
“I agree,” Dante chimed in for the first time. “It’s a sound plan. Let’s just kill Sofia and move past this. She has to die anyhow.”
“Will your wife confess to Ivy?” I questioned, but I knew the answer already.
“No.”
“I’m guessing you never revealed what happened to Wynter. Right?” I asked my cousin. If he suddenly started blabbingSyndicate secrets, I would have to resort to some drastic measures.
“Wynter doesn’t know,” Basilio answered coldly.
“I cannotbelieveyou,” Emory hissed. “Ivy deserves to know. Keeping it from her is fucked up and you all know it.”
“Her brothers called,” Basilio mentioned casually, not acknowledging his sister, which usually meant he thought she was right.
“What did they want?”
“You should ask your wife because apparently she felt comfortable asking them to help you two kill Sofia.”
