Page 135 of Broken Mafia Prince
I stop breathing. “W-what?”
“After that last attack by that idiot Cozzoli boy—may his soul rest in peace—the Montanaris still haven’t fully recovered. Enrico had to flee the country and cut ties with some very important allies just to stay under the radar,” Father announces, sounding as if he’s just won a billion dollars.
“You don’t know that this mole is telling the truth. This could all be a trap,” I argue.
He snorts. “It’s not. And anyway, you think I’d believe a word out of a Montanari’s lying mouth? I’ve had the information verified by my own men.”
Which means that he must have heard about this many days ago. “Why am I just hearing about this now? Something as important as this should have been addressed to me as soon as it was discovered.”
He cocks his head at me, eyes frosting over. “You answer to me. Not the other way round—or have you forgotten that?”
My jaw grinds together at the words. I don’t know why I allow myself to forget how much of an asshole my father is—an asshole with a one track mind. I’ve known for a while that the attack on Giulia’s family is in the works. What I failed to realize is that it’d be this big.
This is in no way an insult to the family, but I didn’t think they even had anything worth destroying, which makes me wonder how Enrico has managed to afford an entire shipment. If he’s sold Giulia to someone else, he won’t live to see sunrise; I don’t give a fuck if he’s her last living relative or not.
“It’s impossible for them to have so much product,” I point out. “Your mole has to be wrong.”
Father’s smile only widens. “Exactly.”
“Enrico has sold his soul in a losing game,” Emilio explains. “He’s financed everything he has against everything he plans to get. He’s tangled up with too many loan sharks, families, and politicians to make the shipment a possibility. If he loses it, it’llbe a huge blow for him, and I’m not sure he’ll survive it. I’m not sure any of the Montanaris will survive losing this.”
But—” I begin, but my father cuts me off.
“Which is exactly what we’ve wanted from the start, to destroy that entire bloodline.” He sits back in his chair. “The only problem I have is watching all that product go to the bottom of the sea. If there was a way for me to take it for myself instead, it could become a very nice addition to?—”
“We can’t sink the shipment,” I bark.
“And why the fuck not?” he spits. “This is an opportunity of a lifetime. Don’t be a fucking coward, boy. You and I know very well that this will be the most glorious single move to finally remove those bastards from the face of this earth.”
“That’s cold, even for you.” I shake my head. “Do you know what the partners and loan sharks will do to him when he explains that his shipment has suddenly sunk? He has a daughter and?—”
“I know exactly what Enrico has. I’ve spent my entire life studying that bastard. What he has is a daughter with two failed engagements, and men who are slowly losing faith in him,” he explains. “The iron is hot, and that’s why it’s best to strike. What did you expect, Raffaele, for us to wait for them to fully get back to their full capacity before we stage an attack?”
“That’s the fair thing to do.” I don’t even want to think of what will happen to Giulia if my father succeeds in ruining hers like this. It’s not just about losing product and trying to repay all the loans; it’s about disappointing investors, losing credibility and respect. If this happens, the Montanaris will truly be finished.
My father won’t even have to put a bullet through Enrico’s head. He will save my father the stress and do it all by himself. I can kiss goodbye to ever being with Giulia. Why would she want to be a part of the family that destroyed hers?
With this new information, I realize that running might just have to take a back seat. Staying in this city and fighting this is of more importance. But the question remains: How the hell am I going to stop this?
It’s the perfect plan, and there’s no way I’ll be able to successfully convince him to change his mind about it. It’s a double win: the destruction of the Montanaris and more power. The entire mafia world will be forced to respect us with our rivals gone, and they’ll also be nervous about how we dealt with our enemies.
A part of me wants to go along with my father’s plan. That same part that instinctively sees Giulia as the enemy. The other part of me wants to grab her right now and disappear from this city, go so far away that she’ll never realize what’s about to happen.
“Fair thing to do.” His mouth presses into a thin line. “We’re not cops. We don’t care about fairness or justice or any of that bullshit. Now, stop being a little sissy boy and tell me you’re going to join us to finally annihilate that family.”
“Not like this.”
“Yes, like this!” he snarls. “You’ve been an embarrassment to me every day of your life, and this is your chance to make something better of yourself. This is your chance to impress me and show that you are truly Edoardo Gagliardi’s son. What do you say, son? Are you really my flesh and blood, or has the weakness that lived inside your mother gotten to you, too?” He holds out his hand expectantly, blue eyes fixed on mine.
Once again in my life, the weight of duty seems to bear down on my shoulders, making me feel far too old. I stare at my father’s hand for a long moment, knowing that if I don’t take it, I automatically become a traitor to this family, and if I do, I loseher, the only spark of light in my dreary life.
“Take my hand, Raffaele.” His voice is steady, quiet—but it’s not a request. It’s a demand. His fingers twitch, waiting, expecting. “Family is all that matters.”
The silence stretches. My heart slams against my ribs.
If I don’t take it, I become a traitor.
If I do, I lose her.
