great deal of sacrifices and I don’t think you’re capable of it.”
“Why don’t you let me worry about everything else and you focus on keeping her safe and being a doctor?” he said.
After leaving Timothy’s home, he went back, shut the trunk, and climbed behind the wheel. Running away from his problems would be so much easier. He’d find a way for him and Elenore to be together. Fake identities, never staying in one place too long. He’d make it work, but with the problem of constantly looking over his shoulder. He refused to live by that rule. He wasn’t a coward. There was no way he’d run away.
Fuck that. He’d fight every single chance he got. The first fight was only a matter of time.
Driving toward the location Antonio mentioned, he found him waiting outside of one of his father’s many warehouses. It was one of the few places that didn’t have cameras or detectors to alert people of a break-in. With his father, he had a lot of people all over the place.
Antonio stood, gun in his hand.
“Fuck,” Raphael said.
He climbed out of his car, unhooking his own gun, sliding off the safety, and approaching. He stayed a couple of feet away.
“You want to kill me?”
“I want to know what it is that’s going on, Raphael,” he said. “Your father claims to have proof you’re planning on turning rat. I’ve got a lot of shit in my past and now, I can’t afford for Ellie to even be aware of some of the shit I’ve done.”
“My father claimed I’d gone rat?”
“Yes. He showed me pictures of your talking to a cop, a Fed.”
“You’ve got that all wrong.”
Antonio reached into his pocket, pulling out a photo and throwing it to the ground. “You call this all wrong? I kept my word and didn’t say anything to your father about the slave girl, but if you’re a rat, I’m taking you the fuck out.”
“I’m not a rat. I can’t even see the fucking picture to know who you’re talking about!” He yelled each word. He held the gun at his friend. “I don’t want to kill you.”
“You won’t kill me, Raphael. You may be Giavanni’s son but we both know I’m the better hit between the two of us.”
“You’re right. You kill. It’s what you’ve been trained to do and I accept that. I know I’m not better than you, but I know I’m better than my father. He’s poison, Antonio. I have no intention of turning a rat. You want to know my real plan? It’s to overthrow his power. To take his place, not because I want to but because he’s ruining everything he touches. The drugs, the women, all of it, he kills capos who question him. It’s only a matter of time before he gets us all killed. Maybe even Ellie.” He knew it was a low blow bringing in his woman, but he had to make Antonio see reason.
Even though Ellie was the one to make Antonio lose his mind, at least it made him think clearly. Completely fucked up, but he had to get through to him.
“I don’t want to kill you.”
“As if you could.”
“When I take my father’s place, I will hand you over every single piece of incriminating evidence he has.”
“What?”
“You think my father doesn’t have an entire vault of blackmail shit? Believe me, he does. You’re not family, Antonio. You’re a commodity and you’ve got a mouth so that puts you very firmly in the danger column. You’re only ever any use to him when he controls you. You take away his control, he has nothing.”
“You’re talking bullshit.”
“I’m not. I can access everything, just give me a chance.”
“Tell me who the fuck that man is in the picture. Tell me that isn’t a Fed.”
Raphael stepped toward the picture. “I’m not going to shoot you so don’t fucking do the same.”
Antonio lowered his gun, as did Raphael. He reached down, grabbed the picture, and opened it up. “Fuck!”
“Who is it?”
“It’s Timothy,” he said. “He’s a fucking doctor genius who likes to hurt people the justice system failed. He’s not a damn Fed.” He dropped the picture and called Timothy. There was no answer.
“How do I know you’re telling me the truth?” Antonio asked.
“You don’t, but that’s the man I took Elenore to. The slave girl you keep calling her. He’s on my side. He doesn’t report to my father. He works for me and I pay him in criminals. I’m not ratting