Caterina
This is exactly where I’m supposed to be.
Exactly where I’m supposed to be.
“Saying it twice doesn’t make it any truer.”
That little voice in my head that sounds alarmingly like Connor Gallagher’s refuses to shut up, irritating the shit out of me.
I don’t regret walking out on him.
His proposition—kill Nino before my brother kills me—was absolutely ludicrous. As such, we had nothing more to discuss.
Over the past few days, I never got the sense that Nino wanted me dead. So, I’d say that not murdering him or anyone else was the wiser choice.
Believing Connor and I could engage in a healthy, committed relationship…not so much.
This probably all happened because I went and uttered the dreaded “b” word.
Boyfriend.
I blame that slip on pheromones and grief. A bad combination. No one realizes—me included—that grief takes a physical toll as well as an emotional one. I ended up consulting Google because I thought I was losing my mind.
How could I be so sad and simultaneously so obsessed with sleeping with Connor? It’s like my inhibitions took a flying leap off the Empire State Building.
My father’s funeral is days away, and I’ve had no real time to process his loss. Life goes on, though—with or without Connor—and it’s business as usual at the Ricci estate.
Today, I’m sitting in on a meeting with my brother, a handful of high-ranking capos, and Oleg Belinski.
This may not match my father’s vision for me, but it’s where I need to be. Like always, I’ll continue to support my family from the shadows.
That’s my job. My role. I’ll provide Nino with the tools he requires for success.
Most importantly, the leaders are used to seeing me here, playing my part. I’m grateful Nino’s continued to view my presence that way too.
My mind refocuses on the present in time to hear Nino debating the merits of attacking the Gallagher estate versus one of their nightclubs. Regardless of the target, he’s decided to move up the date.
Belinski chimes in by agreeing, with the added caveat that all the extra muscle will come from our enforcers.
Of course.
I clear my throat. “Nino, that’s… Let’s think about this.”
Nino’s head spins so fast in my direction, I’m surprised his neck doesn’t crack. He scratches the tattoo of the family crest over his ear, probably to remind me and everyone else in the room who’s boss.
When six pairs of eyes lock on me, I break out in a cold sweat. My silk blouse gets clingy around the collar. I wish I’d left my hair down to block the view because if I sweat through the material, I might die of embarrassment.
Normally, I’d stay silent and try to mitigate the damage later, but this is all too much. Clearly, the grief’s affecting Nino’s common sense. Just look at what it’s doing to me.
I suck in a breath and speak in a calm tone. “We can’t just march onto their property and start firing.”
Nino slaps the table. “They came into ours and killed Eduardo where he slept!”
I can’t argue with him here, but now that I’ve drawn everyone’s attention, I need to say something.
“I know how it seems, and I want to find out who killed Eduardo as badly as you do.” Breathe in, hold, and exhale.
“But someone turned off the cameras in Father’s room.
And there’s no evidence of…any Gallagher…
on the main floor the night of his murder. ”
Two capos nod along with my words.
Their support gives me enough courage to push on.
“I keep going over it in my head, and it’s not adding up.
” I meet the eyes of every man at the table, even Belinski.
“Why would Connor Gallagher kill him?” I can’t mention the negotiated alliance in front of the Russian, though every other man at the table knows what I mean.
“The man was already on this deathbed. Why launch an all-out war by murdering someone already halfway in the grave?”
“Except he wasn’t.” Nino glares at me. “He was getting better. He had the antidote.”
Everyone starts mumbling, because no one but Nino, Connor, and our father’s three doctors knew anything about that development.
Father swore us to secrecy until we learned the full effects.
“Yes, it’s true.” I glance around. “Eduardo was being administered an antitoxin after we discovered Domenico Verone poisoned him.” I smile at the memory of what could have been. “Everyone else still believed he was dying, but he was on the mend. Only a handful of people knew that.”
“Including Connor Gallagher!” Nino shoves a finger into his collar and pulls. Red spots splotch his neck.
Despite his obvious rage, I press on. “Connor Gallagher is the reason we discovered Father was poisoned in the first place. Without him torturing Verone for that information, we wouldn’t have found an antitoxin, and Father would’ve died from liver failure.”
The capos all gasp and whisper as they debate. No logical conclusion ends with Connor Gallagher torturing Verone to save Eduardo’s life, only to sneak into the estate a few days later and slit the man’s throat.
Nino pounds a fist on the table, silencing the room. “No one asked for your theories, Caterina. You’re not here to speak. You’re only in this room as a courtesy to our late father.” He straightens his tie, angling away from me. “Where were we, Oleg?”
I shrink down in my chair.
“Us women are meant to be seen, not heard.”
My father worked so hard to get me a seat at the table. Did I have a voice? Not quite yet, but he was working on that too. He wanted more for me than this.
He left me the family…
The cut on Nino’s lip cracks open from all the snarling, and a bead of blood pops to the surface that he licks away.
“The Irish Kings did this.” He points at his bruises. “And I don’t need video footage to prove it, because my eyes are attached to my face, and I saw it! It’s on the video in my mind.” His eyes briefly bug out in my direction.
Can’t argue with that logic.
I sit quietly for the rest of the meeting as he and Belinski discuss and plot payback.
By the end of the talk, though, all four capos make eye contact with me, letting me know they believe my words ring with some kind of truth.
That it makes no sense for a Gallagher to save Eduardo Ricci’s life just to sneak into his home and kill him two days later… on the heels of an impending alliance.
Two plus two does not equal five.
I knew these men could add things up.
We’re all rats in Nino’s lab. That’s becoming clear. This experiment with the Russians won’t succeed. No one’s going to survive this study in human nature. Only one organization will remain, and it won’t be us.
Even if everything else with Connor was a mistake, I’ve learned important truths about myself.
I can’t let my brother destroy the family my father entrusted entirely to me.
I won’t.
I’m so sweaty, I feel like I’ve run through a sprinkler. But the perspiration’s not all from fear. I’m energized and exhilarated from calling my brother out.
Without a vote or a single word passed directly between me and the men at this table, I know the majority have started to question him. Publicly disagreeing with my brother is the only way to promote change.
Who knows, maybe Nino will cool down when he replays this in his head and starts to think more rationally.
I don’t necessarily believe that, but I need to hold on to some hope.
After the meeting, I return to my room. I’m in my closet searching for a new blouse when the door bangs open.
“Cat!”
I throw a t-shirt on and walk out.
Nino looms in my doorway, steaming. “What the hell were you thinking?”
Breathe. Stay calm. Reason with him. He’s your little brother.
“I didn’t mean to embarrass you.” I reach out before thinking better of it. Physical contact will only flare his temper like it did in the kitchen when I wanted to treat his eye. “I wish we’d discussed this first—”
He slams the door shut. “I don’t answer to you.”
“Yes, I know, but we can’t go off half-cocked, with guns blazing, just because of your bruised ego.”
“Our father is dead!” Nino closes the distance between us to yell in my face.
People who claim vodka doesn’t have a scent are wrong. Vodka’s rancid. I don’t like this new angry, half-drunk brother who’s insistent on playing nice with the Russians at the cost of everything else.
He terrifies me.
Connor’s warning rolls behind my eyes on ticker tape, and for the first time in my life, I experience genuine fear from being alone with Nino. “How about we talk about this once you’ve cooled down?”
“We don’t have anything to discuss.” His voice hisses out from between his teeth. “You’re not my boss or my mommy. You’re not anyone, Caterina. You’d better watch yourself.”
My gut urges me to step back, but all that does is make me feel smaller, especially since I removed my heels. “Look, Nino, Connor Gallagher didn’t save our father’s life just to turn around and kill him. You know that makes no sense. You know it.”
Some of the color drains from his face, and hope blooms in my chest. Is he listening?
I inch forward to touch his arm. “Don’t you want to find the real killer? Isn’t the truth what matters mo—”
Nino backhands me. The slap echoes in the quiet room as I cry out and stumble to the floor.
My cheek throbs, and my eyes sting, but the pain is the least of my worries.
Nino has never struck me before. Never even threatened to.
Reality sinks in. My baby brother hit me.
I scurry away to huddle beside my desk like a wounded dog, keeping my eyes trained on him. Tears stream down my face while I cradle my cheek.
My SIG 9mm is back in the middle drawer. I returned the gun after Connor scolded me at The Marq for carrying the weapon next to my cell phone and lip gloss. I’m not sure if I can grab it quickly enough.
A sick sensation spins my stomach as Nino looms over me.
He’s my brother. He’s grieving. He’d never…
Kill or be killed.
I wince. This can’t be my life.
The gun is too far away, but I don’t want to die. “Nino, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have spoken up in the—”
He disappears before I finish speaking, the door slamming behind him.
Just as well. I didn’t mean the apology anyway.
I sag against my desk for a few moments before scurrying over to lock the door. That won’t stop him if he returns, but it should at least buy me a little time.
With shaking hands, I open the drawer and put the SIG back in my purse. I need to change. To get out of this house.
But where do I go?
Besides my driver, the only man who’s never betrayed me is dead.