“Dario, I wouldn’t have punished you. You did nothing wrong. Massimo is the one that killed your parents. Why would you get punished for that?” Adrik said.
“Sal was very adamant,” Darlo said quietly.
“Did Sal threaten you against coming to me, Dario?”
Dario’s eyes darted up to Adrik. He didn’t need to answer. The look on his face told us everything we needed to know. I heard Adrik curse quietly under his breath. I knew exactly how he felt in that moment.
“Dario, do you know anything about what Sal has been planning in the city?” Ivan asked. While Ivan usually sounded like he was low-key threatening you with his words, his voice was soft when he spoke to Dario, He sounded like he did when he would talk to me, especially when I was upset.
Dario was quiet for a moment. He looked like he was having an internal struggle. His leg started bouncing up and down. He chewed on his nails. I knew he was anxious, but I honestly didn’t know how to give him any comfort right now. I stood up and moved closer to him. I thought maybe the fact that I was the only woman in the room, it might help him to feel at ease. I moved to the front of Adrik’s desk, in front of Dario, but still so Adrik could see him. “We can protect you, Dario. We can give you a safe place. No one knows you’re here. Not even Sal. We know that Massimo hurt you. He’s a very bad man. Sal, too. They’re both bad men. We want to protect you from them,” I said. I felt like I was talking to a child, but by the looks of him, he couldn’t handle much more. His bouncing leg slowed. His gaze was fixed on a spot on the floor beside me, but I considered it progress that his eyes weren’t darting around the room. He slowly lifted his gaze to me, like he was seeing me for the first time since he came into the office. “I remember you. You were always at the restaurant. Sal and Armando were fighting over you when Ghost came back,” he said.
I tried to keep my own anger from rising to the surface at the thought of Sal and Armando thinking they had any kind of right or access to me. “The delusions of Sal and Armandu thinking they ever had any kind of chance with me aren’t important right now, Dario. Do you know anything about Sal’s plans? What he’s planning with Anthony and Lorenzo?” I asked. I glanced behind Dario at the guys. They were all tense at this new revelation.
Dario nodded his head. “Yeah, I know. Sal brags a lot. Almost as much as Massimo,” he said.
“Will you tell me what his plans are?” I asked, still trying to be as soft and quiet as I could. Dario looked at me once more. This time, he actually looked at me. He studied my face, my hair. For a few minutes, he just looked at me. I felt Adrik getting tense behind me. He was not a fan of other men looking at me, but I didn’t get the feeling that Dario was having any kind of Inappropriate thoughts. It felt like he was stuck in a memory as he looked at me. I discreetly motioned to Adrik to stay calm and to let it happen.
“You remind me of my daughter. She doesn’t have red hair, but she’s about your age. She’s beautiful like you though. At least she was the last time I saw her. You know, I’m glad she got away. I’m glad she’s not in this life. Sal was starting to look at her, too. You know he traffics girls, right? He blamed it on Anthony, but it was his idea. Lorenzo got him into it. Sal is a dirty old man. Anthony is just like him. Sal puts on a show In front of people, but he’s just as bad as Massimo. That’s how he knew about Massimo all these years. They recognize the evil in each other. Sal wants to take over the city. The only good thing about his plan is that he wants to get rid of Massimo. All the other bosses are helping him. You know that, right?” Dario asked. He was looking at me the whole time he was talking. I wanted to keep him talking as much as I could,
“Even Armando? He’s helping Sal?” I asked.
Sephie
“Yeah, they’ve been in business together for a few years now. Armando was trying to position himself as a leader for a while there too. I thought he and Sal were going to get into a war with each other, but then Ghost came back. It all kind of went to he II that night at the restaurant with Anthony. Nobody expected Ghost to react that way over you. Half of us lost a substantial amount of money that night because we thought the rumors of him being gay were true. We knew he was coming back to stop the tax increase. Anthony was supposed to make a scene so that didn’t happen. He just got carried away once Ghost yelled at him in front of everyone. Nobody expected the outcome and nobody expected him to banish Anthony. It made Sal mad. He started trying to turn the other bosses against Ghost immediately. It was that same night that he met with the other bosses after we all left the restaurant. He called us all to his house and convinced us all we could overthrow Ghost.”
“All the bosses were there?” I asked. “You’re positive?”
“Everyone but Ghost. Everyone agreed. We got used to his absence. The bosses that wanted to raise taxes were irritated that he was going to try and stop them, so they readily agreed. Armando took the most convincing. He didn’t want to. He felt like there was another way. He didn’t completely agree that night, but he didn’t disagree either, if you know what I mean.” Dario’s eyes were still on me, like I was the only person in the room. The guys were all quiet. It almost felt like they were scared to move or speak. They didn’t want to break whatever spell he was under that was making him talk to me.
“What happened when Ghost banished Anthony?” I asked.
“That’s when the brawn operation went into motion. He needed chaos to get Anthony and Lorenzo back into the city. They made the plan for the assassination attempt at the ball, too. I assume that Armando tipped you off, since you’re all still here. Then we got word that you were in Italy, at Armando’s place. Sal tried to get all of you when he blew up Armando’s office. It was a warning to Armando, too. Sal knew he was trying to play both sides. Armando is a pu ssy, but he’s not completely stu pid. He has Sal’s goddaughter.”
“Giana is Sal’s goddaughter?” I asked.
“You know her?” Dario asked.
“I’ve met her, yes.”
“Sal was close to her grandfather. When she was born, they made Sal her godfather. Her father has made some poor business decisions, but Sal and Armando have been trying to help him get his fortune back. I heard Armando was sleeping with her, just to make Sal angry. She’s just insurance though. Armando has everyone fooled. Everyone thinks he’s the nice guy. Ask him where his first wife is and then tell me how nice he is,” he said. He crossed his arms across his chest, his gaze once again falling to the
Boor
“Oner Sal takes over the city, do you know what his plans are?” I asked. I was worried I was going to lose him, so I wanted to keep the conversation going, despite feeling like I needed a minute to process what he’d just told us
“He’ll get rid of the other bosses, I’m sure. He’s hungry for power. He was close to taking over the city when Vitaliy was still charge. That’s what made him divide the city up. That’s also what made him banish Lorenzo. It was punishment for Lorenzo, sure, but it was more to stick it to Sal for trying to overthrow him. Lorenzo and Sal were always really close. Vitally knew it would cause more damage to separate them than anything, so he banished Lorenzo to Sicily. For once, I agreed with Vitaliy I always hated Lorenin* angry with Vitally over that and then Ghost banished Anthony as well, so he’s doubly ma to me once more. “He’s angry with you now, You’re appvetly very ki II or kidnap. His goddaughter was supposed to get close to you to make it easier to grab you, but even that proved impossible. Armando is the one that tipped them off that day they tried to grab you, you know?”
“Sal isn’t the only one angry in this situation,” I said, somewhat under my breath. Dario still heard me. He chuckled. “I’ve never heard Sal so mad as I did when he found out you shot three of his guys that day. He managed to get one guy onto Armando’s security detail, but that guy disappeared. Nobody knows what happened to him.”
“I killed him too,” I said. My anger was now fully present, so holding my tongue was next to impossible for me.
Dario just looked at me, a sly smile on his face. “I would like to see the look on Sal’s face if he ever finds that out. You should be careful. He wanted to kill you before, but he’s angry enough now that he might try to sell you to highest bidder.”
“I would like to see him try,” I said. I stood up from the desk, not caring to keep this conversation going any further. I barely had a chance to take two steps away from Dario and Adrik was by my side.
“Take a breath, solnishko. You know we won’t let anything happen to you,” he said as he put both hands on my hips. He looked down at me, concerned, but I could also see the look in his eye that meant my eyes had gone dark. I closed my eyes for a moment, trying to regain control of myself.
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.