Page 17 of Sinner's Bond

My father hands me a drink.

“To Tony Boncaldo,” I say as I raise my glass.

“Fuck,” Damien says.

“Is that for real?” Raine looks at me for confirmation.

I take a sip of my drink before I set it on the rail of the deck.

“Yes, Tony was killed in the shootout.”

“How’s Enzo?” Raine asks, concern deepening.

“How should he be?” I say flatly, not expecting an answer. Tony was Enzo’s younger brother.

“Fior and Elio?” Damien asks.

"Fior is safe. Still in custody.” Fior is our second cousin. “Elio was captured by the attackers,” I continue. Elio is our first cousin. “No word from him. But we’re looking.”

My father shakes his head and sips his drink. Dario is frowning. I don’t know if it’s the age difference between us, but I’ve always had a hard time reading his emotions. He’s my youngest sibling. Twelve years younger than me. He wasn’t even one when our mother died.

Raine and Damien, however, will make their feelings known whether you want them to or not.

Maybe I’m more like Dario than either of them. We probably get it from our father.

“Fucking tragedy,” Raine shakes her head.

“It’s a fucking attack,” Damien says. “You think it was the Russians? Think they were trying to break their guys out? Or get revenge on us for… getting caught?”

I can tell Damien is being careful not to blame me. But he’s got a point. If the Russians figured out that we only sent half the money and fewer of our guys to the deal, they’d have the right to be suspicious.

“No,” my father says. “The Russians are silent right now.”

“The Irish?” Dario finally contributes. “They’ve got plenty of reasons to want to attack both us and the Russians.”

Raine shakes her head. “They’d be insane to attack us in broad daylight. It’s got to be someone who’s trying to get information out of one of our guys or one of the Bratva.”

We sit in silence for a bit. I know we’re all wondering who was behind it. Not finding any reasonable answers.

“Whoever did it,” Damien finally says, “they’re either insane or extremely stupid. Attacking someone in broad daylight is stupid. Attacking two mafia families, and police, in broad daylight downtown outside the courthouse… there’s a reason it’s unheard of until now.”

Silence falls again as we all sit there, trying to figure out what happened and how to respond. Damien leans back with his hands behind his head and searches the sky. Raine crosses her arms and looks out across the valley. My father stares down at his drink while he swirls it, as if there’s an answer hidden in the amber liquid. After a minute, Dario turns to look back at me.

“What do we do next?” he asks.

“We’ll find out who did it,” I say. “One way or another. And we’ll get Elio back.”

I set my empty glass on the small table next to my father’s chair.

“I’m going back to the courthouse. See if I can get any details.”

“Good luck,” Raine says, her arms still folded.

“Thanks,” I say.

Damien nods.

My father stands and shakes my hand goodbye without saying anything. Dario just watches as I leave.

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