Page 45 of Broken Mafia Prince
Today, I’m not holding back.
I’m not just furious.
I’m fucking livid. And I know it’s all his fault.
He shrugs, glancing back at his ledger like this is just another normal day. “That family is made up of psychopaths. I’m not surprised they tried to harm you.”
I cross my arms over my chest, staring down at the back of his head, the shock in me outweighing everything else. “Are you kidding me? I almost got shot, and this is all you have to say?!”
“We’ll have an appropriate response to their attack as soon as I?—”
I can’t stand it. I snatch the ledger right out of his hands and grab the steel lighter from his desk, holding it up like it might finally get his attention. “Are you going to speak to me like an adult, or do I need to start acting insane before you take me seriously?”
His lips tighten into a thin, almost mechanical line, and he looks between me and the ledger in my hand. I can see him weighing something in his mind. He knows I’m not joking, that I’m not going to let this go without a fight. Finally, his eyes lock onto mine, cold as marble, but now with a flicker of recognition—of respect, maybe?
“Okay, I’m listening.”
I don’t hesitate. “I was targeted under Edoardo Gagliardi’s orders,” I spit. “I’m not part of whatever vendetta you’ve been carrying on, and I sure as hell don’t want to be a pawn in your war.”
His face hardens, as if he’s turned to stone, before returning to normal. “Stop being dramatic, Giulia. You’re stronger than you think. I know you can handle any situation. That’s why I paid for all those strength and survival training sessions over the years—you’re practically better trained than a soldier.”
“Oh, so you made a good investment, then. Moving forward with your schemes, knowing that I’ll be just fine. So, how much longer is this going to go on, Papa? When will it end?”
“Not until every last one of them is six feet under.”
I freeze. “What?”
He rises to his feet, his hands buried deep in his pockets, his gaze unblinking. “I’m this close to destroying everyone who took my family from me. And I won’t stop until I’ve wiped them all out. There’s new evidence about the Echelon Syndicate and?—”
“TheEchelon Syndicate?” I cry out, my voice breaking with disbelief. “Papa, they’re way too powerful for you to go after them. It’s a suicide mission.”
The Echelon Syndicate isn’t just another criminal group. It’s a union of the most ruthless crime families across the globe, a shadow empire that has terrorized governments and businesses alike. They’re untouchable. Even the world’s strongest powers feared them. So, what in god’s name was my father thinking, trying to go after a group like that?
“Papa, please,” I whisper. “You’re going to destroy everything.”
He blinks at me, his eyes cold, distant, a far cry from the man I once loved. I search his face for any sign of the father I knew, but all I see is a hollow shell of a man, consumed by his need for vengeance. I wonder if he’ll even know how to live once he’s destroyed everything in his path. If he makes it out alive, that is.
And god, I don’t even know ifI’llmake it out of this alive.
When he finally looks at me again, a small, distressed cry slips from my throat. “Destroy everything? What’s left?”
I stand there, feeling the weight of those words. I realize, with a sickening clarity, that I’ll never reach him. I’ll never convince him to stop. The people he’s fighting for would have wanted him to move on, to live. I remember how Mama screamed at me to run when she knew it was too late for her. Her last wish for me was to survive, to live. She would have wanted him to survive, too.
“What about me?” I croak, my voice barely above a whisper. “What if your vendetta drags me down with the men you’re so desperate to bury?”
“I told you you’d be fine, Giulia,” he mutters, not even looking up.
I scoff bitterly. Fine? I wasn’t fine years ago when I was dragged out of the girls’ bathroom at school by masked men and nearly burned alive in the gym. I got away unscathed, but not all the students were as lucky. My father’s revenge doesn’t just put him at risk—it threatens to take everyone else down with him.
“Papa—”
He cuts me off with a dismissive wave. “If you’re so worried about your safety, there’s no one you’d be safer with than Luca.”
My face twists in disgust. My father always finds a way to bring him into every conversation, and I’m fed up with it. Luca Cozzoli and I have been dating for two years, but every time I’m around him, I feel like I’m suffocating.
I don’t even know why I’m still with that obnoxious asshole. Fine, we are betrothed to each other, but he’s a cocky, arrogant loudmouth—and every moment spent with him makes me wish I could take a fork to my eye… or his, honestly, I don’t care.
I know what he’s after. He’s been sweet-talking me and playing the gentleman, all in hopes that one day, I’ll give in and put out. Well, he can wait until his hair turns gray. I’m never letting that man touch me.
