Page 72 of Mafia Princess

I didn’t like the feelings settling in my gut while I listened to Antonio trying to let me see the bigger picture. In fact, the clearer the picture got, the more my insides twisted into painful knots of nerves.

Antonio leaned forward with his elbows on his knees. “My guess is he’s planning on using Karina to get to my father.”

“How?”

Antonio glanced at Dante, and they gave each other knowing looks before he turned back to me. “To bring the ultimate shame upon our family, upon my father, it only makes sense that Enzio plans on taking Karina.”

I looked at them questioningly. “What do you mean,takeKarina?”

Dante stood, the sleeves of his dress shirt rolled up to his elbows. “What Antonio is trying to say is we’re guessing Enzio plans on forcing Karina to marry him. That way, he strips every ounce of respect and pride from our father. If news spread that Karina married the enemy, the shame it will put on our family will destroy our reputation and credibility.”

“Who says he’s not planning on killing her? Wouldn’t that be the bolder move to make?” The words burned like acid in my throat.

Dante shook his head. “He won’t kill her. If he does, it would give us enough reason to declare a full-out war. It would give us the right to kill each and every last one of them without losing the support of our allies.”

I stared at him blankly. “I have no idea what the fuck you just said.”

“Listen.” Antonio pulled his palm down his face. “To you, we are nothing more than criminals who go around doing what we want. But we have rules. We don’t go around killing members of other Italian families just because we don’t like their faces.”

I shrugged. “Why the fuck not?”

“We aren’t savages, Detective. If we kill our own people just because wewantedto, that would be a disgrace to our heritage. And like my brother said, respect and pride are most important to us.”

Slowly, I started to make sense of it all. “So, Enzio won’t kill her.”

Antonio leaned back in his seat. “Not unless he wants to open the gates of hell and give us all the reason in the world to wipe out their entire family.”

“Like an eye for an eye thing?”

“Exactly. But if Enzio forces Karina to marry him, forces her to say she loves him, it would make our family seem weak, and we can’t do shit about it because to others it wouldn’t seem like the Mancusos did anything wrong.”

“It would mean checkmate,” I muttered as Enzio’s motivations became clearer. “Karina is one pawn he needs to ensure your father has no more moves left. He would lose the respect of others.”

I looked at Dante, who nodded before turning to Antonio. “What do we do, brother?”

Antonio got up from the couch. “We have to tell him.”

“No fucking way, Antonio.” Dante began to pace. “We’re not telling Dad. He won’t understand, and besides, we can’t do that to Karina.”

“What do you suggest we do, then? You know our sister, man. She won’t ever let Enzio go public with that tape.”

“Whoa, whoa,” I interrupted, holding up my hands, forcing my stubborn ass into the conversation. “What are you saying? You actually think she will go through with this?” I stared at Antonio in disbelief.

“Obviously, you haven’t known our sister that long.”

I shrugged. “Granted, this thing between us hasn’t been going on for that long.”

Suddenly, both brothers had their eyes on mine, and it felt like all the oxygen got sucked out of the room within a nanosecond.

“So, there is a thing between you and our little sister.” Clearly, Antonio wasn’t asking.

Under normal circumstances, I’d probably try to deny it, knowing I risked getting my balls cut off. But these weren’t normal circumstances, and I cared more about Karina than keeping my balls attached to my body. Yeah, pussy-whipped did not even begin to cover it.

“Listen, man,” I started, not backing down an inch, “I know you have your rules and whatnot, but yeah, there is something between me and Karina, and I don’t care if you approve or not. It’s happening. And nothing, and I mean nothing, will stop me from finding her. Not you or your goddamn rules.”

Both brothers stared at me, not saying a word. For the first time in my career, my detective instincts failed me, because I had no fucking clue what to expect from them next.

I glanced at Antonio. “And like your brother said earlier, let’s find Karina first, then we can kill each other, okay?”

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