Page 160 of Broken Mafia Prince
The words echo in my mind as the door behind me slams shut, the sound oddly resembling a bomb detonating, ripping apart the last of our family ties.
53
RAFFAELE
The light breeze whips lightly at my hair, pushing it into my face. I drag a hand through the dark strands, pushing it back. It’s cold, but I can barely feel it. All of me feels numb and disconnected from reality.
For so long, I’ve battled with making a decision, terrified that each one is the wrong one. It feels relieving to finally make up my mind, and I wonder why it took me so long. What the fuck was I thinking debating between the woman I loved, my happy future with her, and a life of blood, death, and terror?
The me that had any lingering loyalty left for my family is dead and buried, and I hope it never fucking resurfaces.
Where was this goddamn family when my mother was ridiculed in her own home? When she died and nobody mourned her? What about the burial that only the house staff and I attended?
No.
I’ve given all I can, and I won’t give another inch for this family. If I stay here, my father will turn me into my worst nightmare: him. And I can’t let that happen.
I pull the Gagliardi family ring off my finger and hold it up to the fading light of the day, inspecting the engraved family seal. Once upon a time, I was so proud to get my own ring, so eager to wear it and feel like a man. I scoff.
A second later, the ring flies out of my fingers, somersaulting in the air once, twice, then dropping down into the inky depths of the lake. I don’t watch it disappear, my focus on the group of men laughing at their own jokes while offloading crates from a truck.
A part of me will miss this life: the bustle and the danger, the strategizing, the money, the thrill. Anyone who’s lived long enough in it will miss it.
My fingers clench into fists at my side, and I turn away. I freeze when I see the figure standing several feet away from me, leaning up against a wall and looking like he doesn’t have a care in the world. Sticking my hands in my pockets, I march toward him.
“How did you know I’d be here?” I ask as soon as I’m close.
Matteo raises a brow, his lips quirking into a smirk. “It wasn’t difficult to guess. You’re becoming predictable these days. I could probably set a clock by your routine.”
“Will you ever stop stalking me, Matteo?”
“Only when you stop making it so easy,” he says with a shrug.
I scoff. “What do you want?”
“Just here to make sure you don’t suddenly decide that jumping off is the better option.”
“I wasn’t going to.”
There’s a pause and then: “What are you going to do? You know you have to make a choice, right?”
First Tommaso, and now him. “So I keep hearing.”
“Well?” he prompts.
“I’ve sacrificed too much for this family,” I tell him. “I’m done with that.”
My best friend watches me for a long moment. I don’t know what expression he’s searching for, but he must find it because moments later, he lets out a throaty chuckle.
“I had a feeling it’d come to this.” He shakes his head, a smile playing on his mouth. “You know this isn’t going to be easy, right? Your father won’t sit back and let you destroy all his plans. He’s waited his whole life for this moment.”
“I think a part of me has waited my whole life to finally give him the middle finger,” I admit.
I try to read Matteo’s expression, but whatever he’s thinking is carefully hidden behind an impenetrable wall. He’s always had my back, always quick to jump in when I needed help over the years. Matteo is a good man, a loyal friend, but I won’t hold it against him if he doesn’t join me in going up against my father.
I can’t ask him to join me in what may just turn out to be a suicide mission. Edoardo might be a bastard of epic proportions, but he’s also shrewd. Not to mention that he has Emilio and the entire Gagliardi family at his side. The only thing I have on my side is the love I feel for Giulia and my desire to keep her safe.
“You don’t have to be a part of this,” I tell him. “This is my fight and?—”
