Chapter 33
Chapter
Thirty-Three
ENZO
Icalled my brothers to the penthouse this morning to tell them everything I learned last night. I asked Rayne’s permission to share her story, and she quietly agreed. She is so fucking brave, and she has nothing to be ashamed of.
Now, they’re all here apart from Angelo. I gave him the pertinent details over the phone, and he cursed up a storm and threatened to turn in his clerical collar to come help us put Carmine in the ground. I managed to talk him out of the latter and told him I’d keep him updated.
Luca knows I killed someone last night, because he helped me clean up, but I didn’t want to talk about it then, and he, in his infinite wisdom, didn’t push me.
Now, he stares in disbelief while I tell them everything, like he’s struggling to believe the words coming out of my mouth, even though I know he does.
Rafael already believes me, so it’s Micah I watch, the man of cold, hard logic. More like our father than any of us.
“So, you’re telling us that Rayne never cheated on you.
That she was in fact, raped by Ethan Fiorelli, and he claims it was Papa and Carmine who put him up to it?
” he asks, not because he doesn’t believe me.
It’s his way of processing. He likes to summarize key points, like a businessman giving a sales presentation.
I glance at Rayne, watching her reaction at the callous way my brother just referred to what happened to her. He’s not callous, just incredulous. This is all so fucked up that it still makes my head spin. She’s still. Composed. My calm in any storm.
“But why would they do that?” Rafael asks. “Makes no fucking sense to me at all.”
I have my theory, but before I can share it, Micah finally speaks. “It’s obvious, Raf.”
“Is it?” our younger brother replies.
The right corner of Micah’s mouth twitches, one of his very few tells that he’s pissed off. “It was to ensure Enzo’s loyalty,” he says coolly, voicing the conclusion I’ve come to myself.
“But Enzo has always been loyal,” Rafael says defensively.
“Yes, but there was no one he was more loyal to than Rayne.” He glances at her and she meets his gaze with a fierce glare.
“Except when he believed them over me,” she says, defiant and sad at the same time.
Guilt washes over me. I hate that I let her down so badly.
But I would have believed her, wouldn’t I?
If she’d just given me the fucking chance to.
Except I didn’t give her a chance either, did I?
I’m furious with my father, and wish he was still here so I could confront him.
I look back on all those jibes, all those times he said she was like my mama.
The insinuations that she was too close to Tommy.
He was laying the groundwork, planting the seeds.
He was my father. I trusted him, and like a fucking fool I let those seeds grow into something toxic.
“I know that I never gave you the opportunity to explain, Rayne. I was blinded by my rage. But I swear to you, I would have believed you.”
She sighs, weary. “And when would I have told you the truth, Enzo? After you’d just beaten your best friend almost to death in front of me?
Or later when you told me you hated me and you would never believe anything I ever said again?
Or maybe round about the time you started calling me a lying, cheating whore? ”
“You’re right. I’m sorry.”
She looks totally floored by my apology, and although it wasn’t my intention, at least it slows her roll.
“No point in rehashing what happened six years ago.” Micah pushes back his chair and stands.
“If we’re to believe Rayne, not to mention Ethan’s dying confession, this was orchestrated by Carmine and our father.
It destroyed both Rayne and Tommy in one move.
Why else would they do that if not to break the bonds between them?
” Micah looks to me. “The kinds of bonds that could topple an empire, no?” The latter feels like an accusation, and it makes my skin bristle.
“I would never have challenged either of them for the throne, Micah.”
His eyes narrow. The air grows thick with tension.
“The thing is, you and Tommy together were already becoming unstoppable, Enzo. You were capo bastone, and Tommy was like your unofficial consigliere. Then you and Rayne were planning marriage and that whole tribe of kids you used to talk about. You were becoming too powerful, and our father recognized that in you long before Carmine did. The don knew that you were about to have everything you could ever need to become king. There’s a reason that’s what people call you. ”
“It’s because my name means king, Micah. That nickname was from when I was a kid.”
“That might have been how it started, but it’s not why it’s persisted. Papa was grooming you for the top from the minute you became a man. He wanted the Medicis to be in charge again, and you know he did.”
“That was years ago. He and Carmine were always rivals, but they put their differences aside. Papa was his ally,” I remind him. “And might I remind you, they cooked this shit up together. Why would he do that if he wanted me on top?”
“Maybe Pop was playing the long game.” Luca speaks for the first time and we all look at him. “Pop never stopped pushing Enzo to be more. And he was a shrewd man is all I’m saying.”
Micah nods, like something just clicked into place for him. “He knew his time to challenge the don had passed, but you were fucking ripe to take over, Enzo. So he gets the don on his side, bides his time, and then you pull off a coup.”
“That sounds all well and good, except he didn’t orchestrate a coup, did he?”
“Because he couldn’t,” Rayne says, and now all of our attention is directed at her.
“Carmine hasn’t survived as the don for the past forty years by being stupid. What if he knew all about your father’s intentions and somehow blackmailed him to keep him in line?”
Christ! My head is hurting with it all. “So basically, they were trying to fuck each other over while they were also fucking us over?” I ask her.
She shrugs. “It sure seems like.”
“I just don’t understand how they could do that to us. It’s so fucking messed up. Who even thinks of shit like that?”
Micah stands and places a reassuring hand on my shoulder.
“Someone who is scared of what you might have become. You had your loyal best friend. Four younger brothers who would follow you into any battle. And a strong woman at your side, in your bed, whispering in your ear. The only woman you would kill for without batting an eyelid. And that big brother, is what would have made you unconquerable.”
Rafael screws his eyes closed, like he’s as confused as I am. “So what the fuck does all this mean?” he snaps.
“It means that Carmine Falcone is a lying snake, and I’ve been loyal to him for six years for nothing,” I snarl, thinking of the promise I made him after Rayne left.
The deal we brokered. My unwavering loyalty for her safety.
Twisted piece of shit let me make that promise knowing she was innocent and that he was the reason I pushed her away.
“The real question is, what do we do about it?” Luca says.
I run a hand over my jaw, thinking. “Carmine is still feeding me the line that he’s going to hang Vinny’s murder on the Russians.
But we know from Ivan that he doesn’t intend to take any responsibility.
And if we believe him, Carmine is going to use it to pin the blame on me and form an alliance with the pakhan. ”
“Makes sense to get you out of the way if he was grooming Vinny for the top.”
I nod. “Pity I put a bit of a dent in those plans, huh?”
Rafael smirks at my remark. We all hated Vinny.
Micah stands and starts pacing the room. “And an alliance with the Russians potentially makes him even more powerful. Especially if he can get the other families on board.”
“So, again, what the hell do we do about it?” Rafael asks.
It’s Rayne who speaks, her voice cutting through my racing thoughts with the precision of a surgeon’s blade. “You do what you should have done six years ago. Take out Carmine. Put an end to his greed and corruption and let someone who is actually fit for the role become the new don.”
“And who might that be?” I ask, mentally running through the heads of the six remaining families.
I feel all of their eyes on me and realize what they’re thinking. “No. I don’t want this. I never have,” I insist.
“Which is probably why you’re the best man for the job,” Micah says.
“The Russos and the Benedettis will always back you, and the other families respect you, Enzo, even if they don’t like you.
If they learned the truth about the Bertellis I’m sure even the Carusos would condemn Carmine too, no matter their past allegiances. You are the only man for the job.”
I shake my head. “The Mancinis will make a play for the top. Nero and Marco have been making noises about a change of hierarchy since their father died.”
Micah nods, agreeing with my assessment. “They will, but only the Bianchis will back their challenge. You’ll have the approval of the remaining four families.”
“We can all agree that Carmine needs to be dealt with, but as for what happens after…we’ll see.
” I turn my attention to Rayne and wonder if we should just let Nero Mancini go unchallenged to become the next don.
Then maybe I could leave this all behind and follow her to San Francisco and do nothing but make love and watch her take photographs.
“You’ll need to stay here until this is all dealt with.
Once Carmine realizes I killed Ethan and that I know what really happened, it won’t be safe for you. ”
She arches an eyebrow. “And you think it will be safe here? In the eye of the storm?”
“Yes, because I would raze this entire city to the goddamn ground to protect you. And it’s much safer than being on your own.”
She tips her head to the side, her curious hazel eyes raking over my face. “If I stay here then I get to be a part of this. That’s not up for negotiation.”
“The fuck it’s not, Rayne. It’s way too dangerous.”
“Yes, it is, but I’m not sitting around doing nothing, Enzo,” she insists.
“This isn’t a fucking game. You could get hurt.” And then how would I ever be able to breathe again?
She slams her hands onto the table. “You think I don’t know that? And hurt? Are you serious? There is nothing that anyone could do to me that would hurt more than what happened six years ago. Nothing.”
Is she talking about what Ethan did, or what I did? Maybe both.
“Woman has a point,” Rafael adds unhelpfully.
She flashes him a smile, the kind that makes me jealous as fuck, despite how we reconnected on a much deeper level last night.
Micah’s eyes meet mine. “Carmine fucked Rayne over just as much as you, brother. She has every right to be as involved in taking him down as she wants to be.”
I turn to Luca, hoping he might at least offer me a little backup. “Sorry, bro. I agree.”
She folds her arms over her chest, fluttering her eyelashes and giving me a smug smile. “You can look at me like that all you want, Rayne. It’s not happening.”
When the eyelash batting doesn’t work, she sashays over to me, hips swaying like a pendulum, and then snakes her arms around my neck. “Yes, it is.”
Fuck!