son of mine away and make sure he actually makes it to school today. Dane.” She motioned for him.
“But, Mamma...”
“You should listen to your mother, kid.” Uncle Michele said.
“This is bullshit,” Dane grumbled as he stood. “I can handle whatever is going down.”
“That’s what they all say until a pile of shit lands at their feet.” Uncle Al scoffed. “Get out of here, kid. And stay the fuck out of trouble.”
Maria nudged Dane out of the kitchen, and a couple of seconds later, the front door opened and then shut.
“He’s going to send me to an early grave.”
“He’s a good kid, Al,” my father offered. “Young and eager. He’s hungry for it.”
“Too fucking hungry if you ask me.”
“He just wants to do right by you, by the Family.” My father’s hard gaze snapped to mine. “It’s not a bad thing.”
“It’s good to see you, Toni. Real good. Now what’s this all about?” My uncle sat back in his chair, glancing between me and my father.
“Ask Niccolò.”
“You want to do this now?” I asked him.
“Now is as good a time as any, Son.”
I ran a hand down my face. I hadn’t expected them to come here, let alone to have to trust them all with this. But they were my family.
The Family.
I was supposed to be able to trust each and every one of them with my life. But trusting them with my life, also meant trusting them with Arianne’s life.
“Niccolò...”
I stared at the men seated around the table. The men closest to me. My father, my cousins, and uncles. I couldn’t carry this burden alone, and yet, to share it with them...
“Niccolò,” my father rasped. “We are waiting.”
“We found something out, Tommy and me,” I said.
“Well, spit it out, Nic,” Uncle Vincenzo scarfed down another pastry, wiping his hands on a napkin.
“Mike Fascini is Elena Ricci’s grandson.”
Silence enveloped us. Thick and heavy with the sins of our past.
“What the fuck did you just say?” Vincenzo sat forward, his thick fingers curved around the table edge.
“You heard him, Vin,” my father said. “He speaks the truth.”
“Ricci? Minchia! It is not possible.”
“Elena Ricci?” Matteo balked. “As in the very reason we’re all in this mess in the first place?”
“I had hoped for a different outcome,” my father sighed, “but the reality is, Mike Fascini is in fact, Marchetti.”
“Bull. Shit,” Enzo spat, standing. No one batted an eye though, it was typical Enzo. When things went to shit, he started to pace the room like a caged tiger. “That fuck isn’t one of us.”
“Of course he’s not one of us,” Uncle Michele scoffed. “But if what Niccolò says is true, then it is far more complicated than any of us realized.”
“It’s true, I talked with his aunt.”
“His aunt? The fuck, Nicco?”
I glanced at my father and he nodded. “Me and Tommy drove out to Vermont. It’s where Elena fled to after Alfredo...” I didn’t need to say the words, we all knew the story. “She had Emilio’s child, a son. Michael. When he married, he took his wife’s name to become Michael Fascini.”
“That is some fucked up shit,” Enzo let out a low whistle.
“You knew about this?” Uncle Vincenzo glanced at my father.
“I had my suspicions.”
“Fuck,” he breathed, running a hand over his stubbled jaw.
“There’s more,” I said. “I think Mike Fascini was behind the hit on Arianne five years ago. I don’t have hard proof yet, but my gut tells me I’m right.”
“It makes sense,” my father agreed. “Take her out and pin it on us.”
My stomach sank while my uncles all nodded. Talking about the failed hit on Arianne was like being gutted with a jagged blade.
“But it failed,” Uncle Al said.
“It did.” It came out tight. “So now he’s working a different angle. Tommy thinks he’s positioning himself as a Trojan Horse.”
“It’s smart. Move in on Capizola’s empire first and then come after us.”
“He’s working alone?”
I gave Uncle Michele a curt nod. “We think so. There’s no evidence of him having anyone outside his personal security and his team at Fascini and Associates.”
Enzo loomed over us, his eyes narrowed to dangerous slits. “Let’s just take him out. He’s one man. End him and we end all this bullshit.”
A chill rippled through the air at his words. “Lorenzo,” my father let out a weary sigh. “We can’t just take him out. He’s one of the most influential men in the county.”
“I’m with my son, Toni. Mike Fascini is a thorn in the Family’s side. Taking him out makes sense.”