He takes in all of us, giving me a double-take due to my lack of Drew Carson wig and contacts, I’m sure, before meeting Cannon’s gaze.
“Fill me in. I might have been out of the game for a while, but whatever the hell is going on, I can help.”
40
Cannon
Beside me, Memphis clutches my hand, and I can only imagine the battle raging within her. Just like it’s raging in me.
The only choice we can make is clear.
I won’t let a woman die to save my own ass—especially someone who isn’t and has never been involved in the game. She may be a piece of work and a terrible mother, but she’s not to blame when it comes to this. I’m not that kind of man, and I never will be.
The Rossettis will kill her ... of that I have no doubt. They had no problem timing their drive-by to hit the whole family standing on the sidewalk, instead of waiting until it was just the men. They won’t hesitate to put a bullet between Cynthia Lockwood’s eyes to prove a point.
As for me? They’ll kill me too. After they torture me. Or try to, at least.
An outsider might think it’s strange that they didn’t ask to trade for Dom, but it doesn’t to me. He’s in the hospital, recovering from a heart attack, which the Rossettis would already know through their network of informants. There’s a reason I left his security with him 24/7. Because I don’t trust the Rossettis won’t try to off him in his bed.
Dom is an injured animal to them. Not a risk. Enzo’s also laid up, which means the most potent threat to their organization isme.
I see their logic, even though I think it’s flawed. I’m not going to be a gangster, despite what Dom expects of me if I were to take over the family. I’m a businessman, and a hell of a good one. I could easily revamp the family businesses and create more profit from legal activities than Dom does from illegal ones. He’s just never given me the opportunity to prove it. And if I turn myself over to the Rossettis, I may never get a chance.
No. I’m not dying today.I’m not going to be another casualty of this bitter feud, which now is finally making sense.
I know Dom killed Gianni Rossetti because Rossetti came to him and accused him of torturing and murdering his wife and tried to kill him for it, even though he’d entered the meeting under the premise of coming in peace. Dom shot Rossetti in self-defense because the man was out of his mind with grief, something that Dom’s security should have picked up on before letting the man in the room. Gianni Rossetti had to have already packed off Memphis to Lockwood at that point, because that’s the only way he would have taken the risk and truly have nothing to lose. To Dom, I have to imagine it felt a whole lot more like Rossetti committing suicide by rival rather than a murder.
I wasn’t there—hell, I was just a kid—but the story spread far and wide, making it clear that the Rossettis and the Cassos couldn’t stand one another. And that existed as truth until recently when we started trying to make inroads for peace for the betterment of both families’ businesses.
Until GTR Rossetti fucked it all up.
Now we’re back to being mortal enemies, and I have to figure out how to survive this day. Because I’m not leaving Memphis. Not when she needs me more than ever, especially because I know that she’s Alessandra. You can’t look at that picture of Regina Rossetti and not see the resemblance that could only mean Memphis is her daughter.
I don’t need a DNA test to believe it. My gut has already spoken.
While my brain is rolling through all of this, I tell Cav what we know. He didn’t start working for Dom until I was already gone on my mission to become Creighton’s best friend in school. We may not have known each other in this capacity, but Cav did his time working for our father, just like I did. We all put in our time for Dom. And that’s about to come to an end.
I hadn’t decided to take over the family until this moment, but it’s the only choice I can make. I’m done with the bloodbaths and killing.
It ends today.
“What about me?” Memphis says as Cav and Benny discuss options, and I listen.
My passiveness evaporates as soon as her question hangs between us. “What do you mean, what about you?”
“What if you tell them who you think I might be and trade me for Cynthia? It might work. You can’t say it wouldn’t.”
Even as the words leave her mouth, I can see the fear in her gorgeous eyes. She may have war-time experience and been embedded with the troops to bring hard-hitting truths to the masses, but this is different, and she knows it.
“Fuck no. That’s not happening. No fucking way are you going anywhere near them. They will never know who you are.” My tone is final.
“Actually, that ain’t a bad idea,” Benny says, and I’ve never felt the urge to punch him in the face like I do right now.
“No. Fucking. Way.” I glare at him, telling him toshut the fuck upwith my expression.
“That’s what your old man would do,” he adds.
“I don’t give a fuck. I’m not Dom, and I never will be.”