35. Max
MAX
I leaned against the wall outside Don Vero’s office, listening to him berate Leona for following Cas and me to the club for my twenty-first birthday.
It was stupid to think I could have a night off with no fears, no worries. A night for Cas and me to let loose before veritable hell broke loose—when all my plans to take down Don Vero came to fruition.
Justice for his treachery. Vengeance for my father.
I’d found my father’s journals just like he’d told me to, and the truth was written in their pages.
I’d seen the evidence against the Don. I’d triple-checked it.
He was trafficking women—which would have been reason enough to kill him, but then I found out the other Dons were in on it.
He was stealing drugs from our competitors—which would have been praised among the Family—but then I realized he was cutting the supply and endangering our customers.
And lastly, my father suspected the Don might have ties to the feds.
I wasn’t sure how, or why, yet—but that was the most dangerous piece of information of all.
If it came to light that he’d turned coat and started working with the government, the other Families would descend on us like lions on a gazelle. We’d be ripped to shreds.
So I’d been patient. I’d followed my father’s advice.
I’d spent the last six years building allies, making plans, and creating contingencies until I was old enough to remove the Don from power.
I’d stop what he was doing, and the proof would die with him.
That was the only way I could keep our entire Family from extinction.
The Don had to die. Not just for what he did for my father, but to safeguard all our futures.
To keep them separate from all this fucking mess, I’d pulled away from Cas and Leona, despite how much it pained me. I’d arranged a safe place for them to live, free from the Family, when all this was done.
They wouldn’t understand what it took to keep a Family like ours in power and safe. Neither of them was suited for it.
Cas was even more loyal to the Don than he’d been when we were teenagers, especially after the Don appointed him as Leona’s personal bodyguard.
And Leona? She was…still a child. Only seventeen, self-absorbed and spoiled like a teenager should be. She didn’t belong here; she deserved a life where she could live without fear of pain or death around every corner. I would give that to her, even if she hated me because of it.
Everything was ready for my coup. All I had to do was select the day.
My birthday with Cas was supposed to be my last night of freedom and brotherhood before my plans went into motion. But everything had gone massively wrong when Leona had shown up at the club.
Somehow, she’d been hammered. She’d evaded both of our attention until she’d popped up at our table, scaring the hell out of me, and demanding I dance with her.
Part of me wished we had. I should have listened to her requests to spend time with us. I should have danced with her, clutched her to my chest, and enjoyed the time we had left together before I sent her away with a new identity and a new life.
But she’d scared me, showing up there. We were being watched by the other Dons. I’d spotted the spies monitoring my every move. Tensions were growing between the Five Families, like they could sense my power pitted against Luciano’s.
Once I was done with him, I was coming for them next.
I hadn’t been concerned about the eyes on us at the club. Cas and I could handle ourselves. But adding Leona and alcohol to that mix was a recipe for disaster. My brain had won out, and I’d gotten all three of us out of there as soon as possible. We’d come straight back to the Vero estate.
God, it had been so fucking dangerous. What would have happened if someone else had found her before we did? My blood grew cold just thinking about it.
At least thinking about that helped distract me from the Don’s verbal lashing. Cas and I were waiting outside his office, privy to every humiliating word and accusation. Each one was another nail in the Don’s coffin. He had no right to highlight her errors when his were so much worse.
Her gentle sobs filtered through the door, growing louder when the Don changed the topic to her honor and the possibility of her marriage prospects.
I stiffened, rubbing a hand on my neck. Marriage . One day Leona would get married, and it wouldn’t be to me. I’d made my peace with that.
Cas looked completely guilt-stricken. He was two seconds away from collapsing to the ground in a self-immolating puddle.
I had to get them both out of here before the Don got worse. I could take the brunt of his anger. I’d been doing it for years.
Finally, the Don opened the door. A sobbing Leona rushed out.
My heart twisted at the makeup streaming down her face.
Yes, she had sneaked into that club, and that was a stupid decision.
But she was only seventeen. She had been cooped up in the house, under the Don’s orders, for months.
She had just wanted to have some fun. How could I blame her?
That was why I agreed to go out with Cas.
But of course, as soon as I let my guard down, things went wrong.
“Boys, thank you for bringing her home safely.” The Don exhaled while he pinched the bridge of his nose.
The more the walls closed in on him, the more he did that.
The Don turned to me. “Maximiliano, will you please come in?”
I kicked off the wall. With a jerk of my head, I told Cas to follow Leona. He immediately went after her. He’d take care of her, like he always did. I trusted him with her life.
The Don closed the door behind me, and I stood in front of his desk, hands clasped behind my back.
“What the fuck happened tonight?” he asked as he circled his desk and sat down.
“Exactly as I said earlier. Cas and I ran into Leona at the club while we were celebrating my birthday, and we brought her home immediately.”
“You expect me to believe that?” His voice was cold. Hard.
“Sir?” I stopped calling him Uncle years ago, and he flinched every time I called him sir, so I continued to do it.
“You expect me to believe the three of you, thicker than thieves, didn’t sneak out together? That you didn’t want to get her drunk, despite her young age?”
I frowned. “I would never put her at risk like that.”
He watched me, his eyes accusing. Then he sighed and leaned back in his chair. “I believe you, Max. But you understand why I am upset.”
I nodded tightly. “I understand her safety is the most important thing. ”
Silence stretched between us as he sat in his chair and stared.
Ever since my father’s death, he’d technically been without a second-in-command, and it was taking its toll on him.
He’d been up to his elbows in extra work, and it showed in the greys peppering his hair and the wrinkles at his eyes.
Not that I fucking cared about him at all.
Most of that work was work his multitude of sins required to keep running.
“Is that all, sir?” I asked, keeping my hands clasped behind my back. I had to get out of here. Just being around him now set me on edge.
He gestured to the chair in front of him, across his desk. “Sit, Max.”
I sat cautiously. “Sir?”
He sat forward and reached behind his back. When he pulled a gun, I tensed. Fuck . I’d walked in here unarmed. How the fuck could I have been so stupid? He placed the gun on the desk and pointed the barrel at me.
“You know, Max, I’ve been doing this for a very long time.”
I swallowed. The temperature in the room dropped multiple degrees. “Yes?”
“I’ve been Don since before you were born, and my father was Don before me.
I’ve never known a life that wasn’t this Family.
Over the years, I’ve become extremely adept at recognizing my enemies.
” He shrugged. “I’m not sure exactly what it is.
Sometimes it’s the look in their eyes. Sometimes it’s a tilt in the shoulders or a jerk of the fingers.
” He looked me dead in the eye. “Sometimes it’s when behavior abruptly changes with no other explanation. ”
My mouth went dry while my stomach sank to my feet. I kept my body still. “Are you worried about someone in the organization?”
“I am,” he responded.
Fuck . “Who, sir?”
He chuckled. “See, it was the sir that first clued me in. At first, I thought it was grief over losing your father. Obviously, that would have affected you. But when you saw me flinch at sir , and then you kept doing it …” He shook his head while he rested his elbows on the armrests and clasped his hands.
“That’s when I realized you must have found out the truth.
You’d lost all affection for me as your uncle, and there was only one scenario where that would be true. ”
My hands balled into fists on my knees. I couldn’t let him see. I couldn’t give anything away. Instead, I feigned ignorance. “What truth? I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
He rolled his eyes. “We can drop the pretenses, son. It’s time for an honest conversation between men.”
“Don’t call me son, ” I spat.
He pointed his finger at my chest. “That’s all the confirmation I need. I killed Massimo, and you learned the truth. You’ve worn your hate on your sleeve ever since. You’re so transparent, Max. You should work on that. Play things a little closer to the chest.”
Hearing the words out loud stole the breath from my chest. My fists shook, but I wasn’t sure if it was fury or fear. He was going to kill me now, before I ever made our Family right again.
He didn’t wait for me to answer. “Once I realized you knew, I started watching you. I know about all your petty attempts to turn favor away from my men and toward you. I know about allies across the city, in other Families as well. You’ve been planning a coup, Max.”
I kept my eyes on his hands and his gun, but by now there was no point in hiding it. He’d seen right through me from the very beginning.
“I won’t go down without a fight.”