Chapter 17 Chapter 17
Vito's Perspective
I storm into my uncle's office, and the rage burns so hot inside me that I can barely see straight. Sebastian just came into the gym, totally calm, like nothing happened, and brought me the file on Alessandro that I had demanded. Nicolai's new husband. The bastard. And of course, also on his right-hand man, Antonio. That smug asshole who marched in here yesterday like he owned the place and threw Nic the suit that his master wanted him to wear. But what really set me off weren't the files. It was Sebastian's damn injuries. The bruises, the split lip, the ribs he was protecting like he hoped I wouldn't notice. And how he's still acting like everything's fine. I rip open the office door without knocking. "What the hell happened yesterday that Sebastian looks today like he got in a fight with a fucking bulldozer?" Rafaele barely lifts his gaze from his papers, like my entrance is just a breeze. This man could sit next to a burning house and not even furrow his brow. "Close the door, Vito." His voice is calm. Too calm. I slam the door shut and take a few steps into the room. "Tell me." He sets down his pen, slowly folds his hands on the table, and finally looks at me. "Nicolai bolted from the party yesterday. Sebastian was always his right-hand man, the only one who's that close to him and still alive, like you were years ago!" Rafaele doesn't lower his gaze; he never does. "Sebastian didn't answer questions. If the De Lucas think we're holding something back—" "We're not holding ANYTHING back!" I growl. "Nicolai is with them, not us! If they can't keep him in line, that's not our problem!" "You're forgetting yourself," my uncle cuts in, suddenly sharp. "Alessandro is family now." I freeze. For a second, maybe two. "He's NOT my family." I step closer to the table, leaning on it with both hands. "HE sics his dogs on OUR people. And you're talking about family?" Rafaele says nothing, and that only makes me angrier. "Listen to me good," I hiss. "If Antonio or any of those De Luca pissants sets foot in our territory again and touches one of OURS, I'll make legs out of their arms. And then Alessandro gets the remains in a fucking gift box." Rafaele's jaw twitches barely visibly. For him, that's about like a normal person flipping a table. "Vito," he says quietly, way too quietly for what he's really telling me. "You will stand down." I glare at him, seething with rage. "Stand down? From who? Them?" I push off the table, take two steps back just to look at him better. "Uncle, they touched SEBASTIAN. Our Sebastian. One of US. And you want me to stand down?" "It was a misunderstanding." "A misunderstanding?" My voice nearly cracks. "They broke his ribs because they're too stupid to understand that Nicolai would never drag Sebastian into something that would put him in danger like this! That's not a misunderstanding; that's a threat." "Vito…" "NO!" I point at the door like Alessandro himself is standing there. "That bastard marries my cousin and now thinks he can let his dogs sniff around everywhere? And THEN they throw punches when the answers don't suit them?!" Rafaele stands up like a damn judge. "Nicolai is over there," he says, and before he can continue, I cut him off. "Yeah, because you pimped him out to that prick, Uncle! I don't get it—you always banked on him, your son, your great heir, the one even you'd hesitate to face if he were your enemy! You were always convinced he'd find his way back, and now you're throwing him to the dogs because Selena was dumb enough to fuck up again, putting herself and Nicolai in danger and getting herself killed! Just so you know, it was NOT Nicolai's fault—he did everything to protect her, EVERYTHING! And you didn't even ask about his injuries!" Rafaele's eyes narrow, his gaze slices through me like a scalpel, but for the first time, I see something flash in them like a crack. A hairline one that's barely visible, but it's there. "Watch how you talk to me," he hisses. "I'm talking EXACTLY how it needs to be!" I roar back. "You want the truth? HERE IT IS! Selena died because she thought Nicolai could save her, ALONE! Because she knew YOU'd let him run into the knife if it suited politically better!" Rafaele slams his flat hand on the table; the smack echoes through the whole office. "I did NOT let my son run into the knife!" "YES, YOU DID!" I point right in his face, no fear, no respect, nothing. "You sold him out! And now you're sitting here defending the ones who break OUR PEOPLE'S ribs!" A muscle twitches at his temple. "Sebastian got involved—" "Bullshit!" I bellow. "He was attacked BECAUSE HE'S A PETROVICH! BECAUSE HE'S LOYAL! BECAUSE HE WOULDN'T ABANDON NICOLAI! He kept his mouth shut and took the beating you should've taken, because YOU'RE the one who played dirty!" Rafaele takes one deep breath, so deep it feels like he's pulling in the whole room to spit it back out. "Vito. You're crossing a line." "Which one? The one where I'm forbidden to defend the family? Or the one where YOU don't even try anymore?" Before I know it, my uncle's out of his chair, and his fist lands in my face with a force that sends me straight to the floor. I feel the blood running from my nose, the stabbing pain of my throbbing nose, and the tears in my eyes that I quickly blink away. While my uncle slowly comes around his desk toward me, rolling up his sleeves in a calm that bodes nothing good, and continues speaking. "You know nothing about what I have to do." "Then explain it to me!" I break the silence, rip it open like an open wound. "Tell me why you cut off your own son! Why you sacrificed the only person who wanted to SAVE HER! Tell me why you let the De Lucas beat US, interrogate US, treat US like dirt!" The fury blazes in his eyes like fire. "Because we're too weak since Nicolai turned his back on me!" He looks at me, and it's no longer the cold mafioso glare; it's a man who knows his house of cards has been burning for a while. The look of the man who would do anything for his son. "I can't wage war, Vito," he says hoarsely. "Not with what's left to us. Not against the De Lucas." I snort coldly. "Then I'LL wage it." "NO!" Rafaele grabs my forearm. "If you do that… they'll kill Nicolai. Viktor would've done it five years ago if I hadn't agreed to the deal!"