Page 3 of Rosetti Family New York
“I'll convince him I’m the one he should sell,” I say. “Not you.”
Juliet lets out a choked, desperate laugh. “That’s not a solution.”
“It’s the only one we have. I can handle the Rosettis. You can’t.”
She shakes her head. “You don’t know that.”
“Yes, I do.” She trembles, more fragile than she’s ever looked, and I know what I have to do. “I’ll find a way out of it, but you have to let me protect you.”
She bites her lip, still uncertain. “Promise?”
“Promise.”
I tuck her close, my heart thudding in my chest. A house as large as this, and nowhere to hide. But hiding won’t save us. If I wait, we lose. If I act, there’s a chance. And I won’t let them decide for me.
2
Leonardo
Dom once told me Il Lusso was too beautiful for people like us. He was wrong. It’s too ugly. This room has invisible rot in the walls and under the floors, beneath the polished gold fixtures and the tuxedoed waiters offering cocaine instead of hors d'oeuvres. I don’t hear the jazz or the clinking of glasses or the sound of hollow men shaking hands on hollow deals. All I hear is my own blood. Too loud. Too fast. The usual.
Someone lets out a braying laugh across the room, a stick-thin woman wraps herself around a man, and the world here keeps spinning without me. I lean back against a marble pillar and try to keep the scowl off my face.
I take a deep breath, scratch my fingers through my hair. This isn't where I belong. The fights I get into don't happen on deep leather couches with tumblers of scotch. I'm the wild card. The hothead. Always two drinks in or one punch out. I’ve tried to pretend like Dom, but I can’t do it. Won’t do it.
Speaking of Dom, I spot my brother’s sharp eyes cutting through the crowd, scanning for me. His shoulders are too wide for the place, or maybe it’s just his ego, but people make way. Hemoves with the cool precision of a man who’s been running this joint forever. Long enough to make himself rich off the scum. Dom locks onto me and heads my way, brushing off someone who looks important.
“Thought I’d find you brooding over here,” he says, stopping in front of me.
I shrug. “And you thought right. Your point?”
Dom smirks. “You look miserable, Leo.”
I scoff. “I look bored. I’d rather be starting shit somewhere else.”
“Be patient.” Dom crosses his arms, and the fabric of his suit barely creases. “You’re already getting twitchy. Haven’t been here an hour, have you?”
“Ten minutes. I don’t know how you do this every night. I’d rather punch myself in the head.” I crack my knuckles to make my point, the sound sharp like gunfire in all this dull white noise. Dom doesn’t flinch.
“I do what needs to be done, that’s how. Dad has some big moves lined up.” Dom lifts his chin and stares me down, his eyes full of that calm intensity that’s way scarier than shouting. The kind of seriousness that makes most people nervous as hell. Me, I’m just waiting for him to spill the next part of the plan and explain why he dragged me to meet with him. I don’t have to wait long.
“You’re not going to like it, Leo,” he finally says, cutting his gaze deeper. He knows I'm about to lose my cool, just like always. “But you better get on board.”
I snort, rubbing at the back of my neck. “Let me guess. Daddy’s moving coke through the elementary schools now?” I know the jab has landed when Dom’s mouth tightens. I’ve hit a nerve.
“Funny. We’re getting close to something, and this one’s important.”
“Okay,” I say. “Important how?”
Dom is quiet for a beat too long, and I see him weighing exactly how to tell me. How to get me to swallow whatever bitter pill Sal’s cooked up. He shifts his weight from one leg to the other, like he’s bracing for impact, or maybe like he’s getting ready to tell me I’m adopted. “This deal with Richard Price—”
“The gem guy?”
“The gem guy,” Dom confirms. “We’re ready to move on it.”
“Are we now?” I arch an eyebrow.
“We are.” Dom's eyes bore into me like he’s trying to plant the idea in my skull. “We want you to lead it, Leo. It’s a simple business deal. You marry the daughter, and we’re all happy families. He gets our distribution network, we get his rocks.”
