CHAPTER 36
Dario twisted toward the sound of Massimo’s gunfire, taking his eyes off Kate and Carlo. Massimo groaned and slumped forward, then Enrico Lucchesi rushed up the stairs toward him. Dario retreated through the doorway, straight into Kate, who hurtled into him.
She nearly knocked him off his feet, but he grabbed onto the doorway with one hand and shoved her hard with his gun hand, sending her back into the room. He saw murder in Enrico’s eyes. His only hope was to put Kate between them.
He spun and wrapped an arm around her chest, pulling her back against him, her arms pinned to her sides. Perhaps he could talk his way through this. Perhaps he’d survive, as long as he had the woman. And as long as Enrico didn’t see him as a threat.
Enrico stalked toward Dario and Kate, holding his gun straight out in front of him, the muzzle leveled at Dario’s head. “Let go of her. Now.”
Dario shook his head and retreated farther inside the room. Enrico followed. His eyes flicked to Carlo, who was standing by the bed, close to the nightstand.
“Come away from there,” Enrico said to him. “Into the center of the room.”
“Shall I put my hands on my head?” Carlo said, his voice a lazy taunt.
Enrico risked a long glance at him. “Do it.”
Carlo moved to comply. When Enrico returned his attention to Dario, he heard a noise coming from his left and turned back to see Carlo yank the nightstand drawer open. Reaching inside, Carlo tore out a gun taped underneath the top. Raising the gun, he pointed it at Enrico, who shifted his position so he was midway between Dario and Carlo. Ruggero came up on Enrico’s right through the open door and trained his Beretta on Dario.
Enrico quickly shifted his full focus to Carlo. He barely met Kate’s eyes—he couldn’t chance being distracted by her. All he could risk was a glance that told him she was bleeding, but seemed largely unhurt. He had to trust that Ruggero could keep her safe.
Carlo smiled when Enrico met his eyes. “So here we are at last.”
Enrico held his gaze. “It didn’t have to be this way.”
“This was... inevitable. Despite what my darling Toni wanted. You have never stopped wanting to kill me. Just as I have never stopped wanting to kill you.”
“You murdered my family.”
“And you and yours threatened everything I hold dear.”
Enrico snorted. “A few percentage points was not going to make you weak.”
“Obeying your family’s pressure to go back to the old ways was going to do just that. I couldn’t give in on the money and the drugs.” He gestured with his gun up and down the length of Enrico’s body. “Look where your precious principles have left you. Your cosca is too weak to challenge mine. It is only a matter of time before I own the entire lake and all of Milan. Soon, all of the north.”
A hot coal of anger burned in Enrico’s chest, but he tamped it down. He couldn’t afford to lose control. “How petty you are. You want vengeance over money. I want mine for the wrongs done to my blood.”
Carlo’s composure wavered; his face darkened. “What about Toni! You spat all over her grave.” He took a deep breath. “I should never have agreed to the marriage. You and Rinaldo lied to me and hid your bastard from me.”
“I’m not proud of that.”
“You lie. It’s what you do best.”
“What else could I do? You would have hunted all of us down like animals.”
Carlo laughed. “Rinaldo finally paid his price.”
The coal in Enrico’s chest flamed hotter. He wanted to roar out his rage at Carlo, wanted to rip him limb from limb. But Kate was there; he couldn’t act the savage in front of her, however much he wanted to.
Carlo cocked his head to the side. “Nothing to say? You were so full of yourself the last time we met. Did you use up your entire store of wit?” He waited for a reply; when none came, he continued. “I was quite disappointed I couldn’t eliminate your bastard son as well. My men have been unable to locate him. Apparently he is somewhere remote and out of communication. An assignment, we were told. So, so lucky,” Carlo said, shaking his head slowly. “So imagine my pleasure when I discovered that eliminating this troublesome... puttana here”—he gestured to Kate—“also eliminates your heir. Imagine how I felt.” Enrico’s stomach roiled, but still he said nothing, not trusting himself to speak. He concentrated on breathing, in and out.
Carlo smiled. “I felt happy. Finally at peace. Toni’s honor would be avenged. And you would suffer to the end of your days, however short they would be.”
Enrico found his voice at last. “You are talking about killing two innocents. Do you think Toni would feel honored by that?”
Carlo’s brows shot up. “Innocent, our dear Kate? She murdered her own husband.”
“He earned it,” Kate spat. When she struggled against Dario’s hold, he pressed his gun to her temple.
“Be quiet,” he warned her.
Enrico’s voice, cold and low, cut through the room. “If anyone here has a right to vendetta, it is me. You killed my mother and my brothers. You tortured and murdered my father.” Enrico’s voice shook when he continued. “You took pleasure in it.” Enrico heard Kate’s gasp at his words, but he couldn’t look at her, couldn’t risk her sympathy making him break down.
A slight smile curved Carlo’s lips. “How could I not? Rinaldo earned his death long ago. He tried to make me look like a fool.”
“And so this is my punishment, for making you the fool in front of La Provincia?”
Carlo’s eyes went dead, his face still. “That is not what happened.”
“Is that so? I heard laughter. Laughter at you.”
So fast he almost didn’t see it, Carlo’s arm came up, the gun aimed directly at Enrico’s chest. Kate screamed and Enrico fired. Carlo fell to the floor, blood pouring from his right shoulder, the gun falling from his hand.
Enrico stepped toward Carlo, coming to stand over him. “You killed everyone I loved. You pushed me into a life I never wanted for myself or my children.” Enrico’s throat tightened, his voice thickening. “You have taken everything from me, Carlo, but that stops today.”
He smiled up at Enrico. “But it does not end here. You will owe my son a father.”
“I think it a fair exchange for his hand.”
Carlo’s eyes widened. Enrico smiled. “He never told you that, did he? Yes, my father wanted to take the whole hand, to make you pay for what you did to my mother, to my brothers. But I stopped him.” He glanced at Dario, then looked back at Carlo. “Dario is not the weak man you think he is. He never was. He knows when to fight, and he knows when to stop. It is a pity you never learned the difference.”
Carlo looked at Dario; something Enrico didn’t understand passed between them in that look. Then Carlo’s eyes turned back to Enrico, and he smiled up at him and laughed, wincing with pain when his shoulder moved. “You are so blind, in so many ways, Lucchesi. You do not even know where you are weak. The day will soon arrive when you are overrun. A fine day it will be.”
Enrico raised his gun. “I have owed you this bullet for twenty-eight years. It is well past time you received it.” He squeezed the trigger, saw Carlo jerk once, then watched dark blood well out of a hole in his forehead.
It was finished, over at last. Something coiled tight inside Enrico let go. His eyes welled with tears, his throat closed up. Papà should have lived to see this day. If only he’d acted sooner….
Wiping his eyes on his sleeve, Enrico turned to Dario, who was still holding the gun to Kate’s temple. He took a steadying breath. “Am I right about you, Dario? Will you return the mercy I showed you?”
Dario looked down at his father, his face contorted with a mix of emotions. Then he nodded and released Kate, putting up his gun. “It ends here,” he said, his voice choked. He took a breath, then looked hard at Enrico. “But a price must be paid.”
“Name it.”
“Two million euros, plus your holdings in Rome.”
Enrico blinked, staggered at what Dario was asking for. He countered. “Two million euros, plus the meatpacking business in Milan.”
“I was not aware this would be a negotiation. I have named my blood price.”
Enrico held his gaze. “And I have just made you the head of the Andretti cosca.” He paused before his next words, treading gently. “Something we both know Carlo never intended.”
Dario’s mouth twisted. “Two million euros, half of what you hold in Milan, and half of the lake.”
Enrico almost laughed. Dario was a cocky bastard. “You are outgunned, and it would be very much to my advantage to eliminate you. Must I?”
Dario shrugged, a glint coming into his eyes. “I had to try. I am my father’s son after all.” He chuckled, staring into the middle distance. “I never thought I would say that.” Then he looked back at Enrico. “Two million euros, the meatpacking business, and the Turro district.”
“Done.” This would cost him dearly, and it would weaken the cosca. But if it brought peace, the price was worth it. He held out his hand. “Are we friends now?”
Dario took his hand, holding his gaze. “We are not friends. But neither are we enemies.”
Enrico felt the missing finger in Dario’s grip. “I shall have to settle for that.”
With a nod, Dario let go of Enrico’s hand. “My debt to you has been repaid.”
Enrico watched him leave the room. Then he turned his eyes to Kate, free to look at her at last. She was only half dressed, blood clotted on her cheek, her hair wild about her face. A wicked cut spilled blood down her forearm. She started to tremble when he looked at her, then she ran into his arms. He pulled her close, squeezing her tight. Tears streamed down her face. “I love you, I love you, Rico,” she said, choking out the words.
He looked at Ruggero over her shoulder, signaling him to leave. Once Ruggero was gone, Enrico let his own tears fall, for Kate, for his father, for Paolo. He pulled back from her, taking her face in his hands. She’d forgiven him. He hadn’t dared hope for it. “I was so afraid I’d never see you again.”
She stretched up on her toes to kiss him. “I knew you’d come for me.”
“You did?”
Kate squinted up at him. She swayed in his arms, and he tightened them around her. “I’m not going to last much longer,” she said, then she was dead weight in his arms. She’d collapsed.