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Vincenzo's POV
The warehouse on the harbor had been under Marinelli’s control for decades. Once upon a time, it had been used as a front for illegal poker games and clandestine drug dens.

Now, it was a storage facility on the harbor filled with construction equipment—and, for just a few hours once a month, weapons.

A unit of my men scoured the property for any sign of betrayal. They scanned the building and the surrounding warehouses, searching for the slightest hint that Toni Falcone was planning to push back against our arrangement.

Finding nothing, Lorenzo and I went in.

“I feel like a recruit again,” he said, checking the gun at his hip. “I haven’t been out on a run like this in years.”

“We’re just here tonight to make sure things go smoothly. Once I trust the Falcones are going to uphold their end of the deal, we’ll pull back and let the rank-and-file handle the transfer.”

Lorenzo snorted. “You say that like you’ll ever actually let yourself trust those slimy fucks. I’m going to be handling the weapons trafficking until I’m dead. Or until the Falcones are dead. Whichever comes first.”

“Let’s hope that doesn’t happen tonight,” I muttered out of the side of my mouth. “I’d hate to get blood on this shirt.”

We stepped through the door to see Toni’s men waiting in front of pallets of boxed firearms. I approved everything, then they got to work. Half an hour later, the Falcone soldiers were done repackaging the weapons shipments and had started taking their cut of the supplies.

“Look at this,” Lorenzo proclaimed, his voice echoing off the metal walls. “Who would’ve thought we’d all be here like one big, happy family?”

There were a few too many suspicious glances being tossed around for me to feel like we were a family. But this whole arrangement had gone a lot more smoothly than I thought it would.

No weapons had been fired and no one was dead. If the Falcone gunrunners were pissed about the deal I made with their boss, they didn’t show it. They toiled in grim silence.

“Cats and dogs,” Lorenzo continued. “Oil and water. Yet here we are, working together. I’m inspired. Someone put me on the cabinet of foreign affairs. I think I’m ready to create world peace.”

Everyone had been letting Lorenzo ramble for a few minutes uninterrupted, but suddenly, a voice cut through the nonsense. “You really love to hear yourself talk, don’t you?”

My gun was in my hand before I even turned around. Because I didn’t need to see who it was. I already knew.

I turned to face Dominic Falcone.

“I told your father to keep you far, far away from me.”

He was standing in the doorway, flanked on either side by guards who didn’t stand a chance in hell of saving him from me.

“My father is my don, but he isn’t my keeper. I can go where I like.” Dominic walked slowly into the warehouse, arms extended like he was a fucking circus ringmaster.

Lorenzo groaned. “Well, so much for peace on earth.”

The Falcone men had finished loading the weapons, but they were all standing around, watching their future leader question me. It wasn’t the end to the evening I had imagined.

But I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t excited about where this might end.

Dominic running his mouth and showing up where he didn’t belong… If that wasn’t a reason to put this bastard down, then what was?

“If you or your boss were going to kill me, you would have done it already. You know what I think it is?” He smiled. “I think Vincenzo’s little wifey asked for mercy for me.” Dominic wasn’t talking to Lorenzo or to me anymore. He was giving a speech to the gathered men. He was trying to rewrite history. “Rafaella plays the sweet and innocent part well, but no one bags men like the two of us without some ambition.”

“The fact that you think you and Vincenzo are in the same category is hilarious,” Lorenzo interjected. “The funniest thing you’ve said all night. But I suspect whatever you’re about to say is going to be even more asinine. Please. Keep going.”

Yes. Please. Every word out of his mouth was yet another reason to pull the trigger.

Dominic cleared his throat. “Let me be blunt then: your wife is a gold-digging bitch who jumps to gobble up whatever opportunity lines her pockets the best. When you drive your mafia into the ground, she’ll come crawling back to me.” He lifted his chin, looking down his crooked nose at me. “She’ll beg for me to forgive her, and I will—for one night. But when I’m done fucking her senseless, I’ll snap her neck and throw her away like the trash she—”

The guard to Dominic’s right went down with one shot to the shoulder.

Dominic ducked down, arms over his head, while Lorenzo took down the man to his left. The guards were only wounded, not dead, but they didn’t rush back to their feet to sacrifice themselves in front of Dominic. Neither did any of the other Falcone soldiers lining the room.

I had a feeling they’d thank me once he was dead.

Dominic was still cowering when I grabbed him by the front of his shirt and threw him back against the wall. His head bounced off the metal, the vibration shuddering up the wall.

“How is this for ‘face-to-face’?” I growled. “Am I close enough for you, Dominic?”

His eyes were wide, searching the room for anyone willing to step forward and help him. He came up empty.

I slid into his line of sight and shook my head. “You wouldn’t have come here without all this backup. You thought they were going to rush in to save you. You thought you were safe.”

“My father will start a w-war over this,” he stammered. “You’ll lose more than it’s worth.”

“More than what is worth?” I asked. “More than you’re worth? Definitely. You aren’t worth the breath I’m spending explaining myself. But if you mean that I’ll lose more than killing you is worth… Well, I have to disagree. Because killing you is going to be fucking priceless.”

I pressed my gun to his temple. He flinched away. Tears welled in his eyes and sweat beaded on his forehead. He was shaking from head to toe like the spineless coward he was and always had been.

“Tell me you’re sorry, Dominic.”

He looked up at me quickly, a spark of hope in his eyes. “I’m sorry, Vincenzo. I shouldn’t have come. I’m—”

I shook my head. “No. Tell me you’re sorry for what you did to Raella. Apologize for everything you did to her.”

He hesitated for only a second before the press of my muzzle to his skin reminded him what was at stake.

“I’m sorry I forced her into marriage. I’m sorry I kidnapped her and held her hostage. I’m sorry I kept her from you. I’m sorry I—I’m sorry for everything. I… I don’t know what else to say.”

“That’s enough. That’s more than enough.” I let go of his shirt and he sagged against the wall in obvious relief. “I’ll tell Raella those were your last words.”

I let that sit for half a second. Just long enough for Dominic to understand what was happening.

Then I shot the motherfucker in the head.