Chapter Six #3
Left to Matteo alone, Bruno would have been killed outright.
Leonardo would have spared him—for Estella’s sake if nothing else—but this is the fate of everyone who betrays the family, and sentiment doesn’t change that.
I couldn’t bring myself to kill my own brother.
He was already bleeding from the gunshot wound Matteo had inflicted while rescuing Sofia.
I had the men work on him before exiling him from New York City.
The last memory I have of Bruno is of him fleeing, broken and bleeding.
Hell, I thought of tracking him down and keeping tabs on him for the sake of the mother who lost one of her sons, but doing so would be a betrayal of Matteo.
The guilt of having to answer for my brother, no matter how much he deserved it, is a weight I’ve never put down. I can’t erase the look of utter betrayal in his eyes when I was forced to exile him from the city with a promise to kill him if I ever saw him again.
I was his brother, but I was also Matteo’s sworn consigliere.
And now, Bruno and I are in the same city.
When I was in the gift shop buying a deck of cards, I caught a flash of my brother’s face in a crowd, but I convinced myself I was seeing things.
But when I went back downstairs after beating Gabriella at blackjack, I saw him, clear as day.
Standing with a group of bikers was the brother I was forced to cut ties with.
I didn’t want to risk Gabriella and Bruno spotting each other, not before I understood what he was doing here, so I need to leave her in the room again.
But now, I need to find him. There’s no telling how long he’ll be at the hotel or what he’ll do to Matteo’s sister if he finds out she’s in the same place as he is.
He must still hold onto some of the resentment.
I can’t afford to have him take out his hatred for Matteo on his little sister.
No, I have to find Bruno before he finds her.
“Are you going somewhere?” Gabriella asks from where she’s lying in the bed, her droopy eyes tracking my movements as I get dressed. “I thought you were going to take a nap with me.”
“I need to check something with the hotel, and then I’ll be back,” I tell her, buttoning my shirt.
“Do you want me to go with you?” she asks, starting to get up, but I walk to her and ease her back down.
“Tonight is a big night for you. I heard rumors about the exhibition selling out the tickets. You need rest before the show, princess.”
“You won’t be gone long, will you?”
“No,” I say, pressing my lips to her forehead. “I’ll be back before you wake up.”
I stay, watching her long after she’s fallen asleep before forcing myself to leave. Part of me wants to stay, but I need to find Bruno. It can’t be a fucking coincidence that he’s in the same casino on the same fucking weekend as Gabriella Rossi. Is he here to hurt her?
My mind is heavy with thoughts when I finally make it to the casino floor.
I don’t find him in the last spot I saw him, so I start with the restaurant.
I bump into someone on my way in, and only when they stop, do I realize it’s Gabriella’s professor.
He has a stony look on his face that I don’t bother analyzing as I offer him a quick hello, intent on moving on, but he stops me.
“Mr… Nico,” he says, pulling my attention to him. “Do you mind my asking where Gabriella is?”
“Resting,” I say, turning to scan the restaurant for Bruno, but the professor pulls me back.
“She must be nervous about the show tonight,” he says conversationally. “Gabriella is one of the most talented students I’ve ever had—and trust me, I’ve taught many of them.”
Part of me wants to brush past the professor and be on my way, but I can almost hear Gabriella’s voice in my head, pleading with me to play nice.
So I flash the man an impatient smile. “She is lucky to have a teacher like you,” I tell him.
“She told me that you encouraged her to enter the contest, and it’s thanks to you that more people get to see her art. ”
He smiles at my words and says something, but my attention is back on the restaurant and its occupants.
Bruno is not here. I need to look elsewhere.
I thank the professor and leave. My next stop is the bar.
I grab a seat when two men vacate, and when the purple-haired bartender finally makes his way to me, I order a beer, then slide him a picture of my brother.
“Never seen him,” the bartender says, but he’s lying. I saw it in his eyes when he glanced at the picture. The subtle shift, the instant recognition, before he closed it off. It was fast, but I caught it. His reaction only confirms my suspicions.
Bruno is here.
I consider pressing the bartender—I’m good at making people talk—but decide to wait and see what happens.
I watch the bartender step away, but not before tossing a suspicious look my way.
I sit at the bar, nursing my beer, and I’m only halfway through when a man grabs the seat next to mine.
He’s large, muscled, with brown hair and dark eyes that would terrify law-abiding citizens.
He has scruff on his jaw and tattoos up to his neck, but my eyes settle on the patch on his jacket—a chrome skull with a serpent winding through it, the Steel Sinners MC.
It makes no sense that the Sinners would be here when they own their own casino, Elysium, an exclusive, members–only establishment.
“Name’s Pope,” the biker says, nodding when the bartender slides a beer his way. “I’m the president of the Steel Sinners MC. You’ve been asking about Ghost.”
“No,” I say, taking out my phone and sliding it across the bar. “I’m looking for my brother. His name is Bruno. That’s him. Do you know where I can find him?”
Pope studies the picture for a long moment—one I personally took of Bruno on a trip we took years ago, before he changed. Before he lost the light in his eyes and the easy grin he used to charm women out of their clothes. “This is Ghost,” Pope finally says. “He never mentioned having a brother.”
Something in my chest twists painfully, and I fight the urge to reach up and rub the spot.
Fuck, it would have hurt less if the man had taken a gun and shot me through the heart.
For all his faults—and Bruno had plenty—I’ve always loved him.
It’s the only fucking reason I didn’t kill him when he deserved it.
I’m not sure he ever understood that. I’m not sure anyone understood what it cost me to make that call.
Without a word, I grab a napkin and a pen from the counter and scribble my name and number on it before sliding it to Pope.
“Give this to Brun…I mean, Ghost. Let him know I’m in town for one more night.
” Pope glances at the napkin for a while before picking it up and sliding it into his pocket.
He doesn’t assure me that he’ll pass the message to Bruno, so I let it go.
I consider leaving, but there’s one question that’s been bothering me since we arrived.
“Why are there so many Sinners hanging around the Bellagio when you have your own casino?”
Pope chugs the rest of his beer and stands.
“Major events this weekend—the Bellagio and a couple of other casinos contracted the Sinners for additional security. People go crazy when money and alcohol are involved, and this weekend, there will be a shit ton of both.” I nod, pushing back from the bar as well, when the bartender catches Pope’s eye and stops him.
The sheer panic I read on the man’s face is enough to freeze me in place. “Johnny, trouble?”
The purple-haired bartender nods. “Staff called. Problem in one of the rooms on the tenth floor, and…” his eyes flick to me for a moment. “Ghost is involved.”
Blood turns to ice in my veins. The tenth floor is where our room is—and fuck, Gabriella is up there all alone. I came down here to look for Bruno and left her alone and vulnerable to a man with a vendetta against her family.
Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!
I’m running before Pope can react. All I can think of is what I’ll do if Bruno hurts Gabriella. I won’t spare him if he lays a finger on her. It’ll kill me to have to choose between my brother and a Rossi again.