My hands clenched into fists, and a voice I’d been doing everything in my power to silence every day since I was thirteen rumbled inside me. A reminder that nothing was ever really forgotten. Especially the dark scars carved into your body and soul by the people you trusted the most.
Wearing my emotionless mask, one I’d mastered so long ago, by the time no one dared calling me that fucking name anymore, I just stared back at him. What was he really doing here? Were we still in that charade where he pretended to believe me and defended his daughter’s honor? I doubted it. He came here to stir me up, but why?
“I prefer Coyote. I haven’t gone by that other name in years. Thirty to be exact. Appreciate if you keep it that way. And yes, by all means, I deserve it, so do what you have to do.”
“What I have to do is be honest with my wife and daughter because lies are poison. The worst thing anyone can do to their family is lie to them because then there will be no trust, vero?”
Was he threatening to tell Nicky he knew I was lying? Was he backing down on our deal? No. He wanted this marriage as much as I did. He wouldn’t have played along if he hadn’t. Was he just intimidating me, letting me know he was no fool, or something else entirely I was missing?
You gotta be careful when you play with the wolf, Coyote.
Enzio’s warning echoed in my ears. I had to play my cards right if I wanted to win. “I know I broke your trust once, but I promise it’ll never happen again.”
“And I should just take your word for it? Until yesterday, I’d have, but now…”
“I understand, and I’ll do anything to prove that you can trust me with your daughter.”
“Anything?”
“Just name it.”
Buttoning his suit jacket, he prowled toward me. “I’m not gonna ask for a cut on the west coast or even take back what I’d given the Lanzas last year. Money is good for paying for your mistakes but not good enough to repair broken trust.”
“Anything you want. Just tell me what it is.”
“I need a word, Dom. Your word.”
My word for what? “Certamente.”
“You didn’t even ask what I needed it for.”
I shrugged. “The Lanzas and the Bellomos have been friends for decades. We help each other and have each other’s backs. Anything you want me to promise, I’ll do it.”
“Questo è assolutamente vero. But the funny thing is, when we have to choose between our family and friends, family always comes first, and Nicole will be a Lanza, which makes her family, and I’m your friend.”
Okay, now I was confused. I thought this whole time he was making sure I wouldn’t hurt Nicky. Obviously, I was wrong. Why the fuck would I have to choose between him and my future wife?
“A beauty like hers can start wars, turn the most loyal men into traitors,” he continued.
“Che cazzo? How could she turn me into a traitor? What are you talking about?”
“I’m talking about the girl I took in as my own who happens to hate my guts.” He held my shoulders and looked me right in the eye. “I need to know that when she crawls into your bed and sucks your cock the way you teach her exactly how you like your cock to be sucked, and then she asks you to turn on me, because Nicole Baldi is going to try to turn you against me, you will not listen. I need to know that when the time comes, I can trust you, Dom.”
With a frown, I let this new piece of information sink in. It was no secret Nicky hated Tino, hated all made men, but what he was saying, how far she’d go because of that hate, was hard to believe.
Could he be exaggerating?
“Or I’d have to tell, at least, la mia famiglia, if not all le famiglie, the truth about what happened last night and this morning. And unlike you, I have the surveillance camera footage to prove there’s a lie or two here somewhere. Like I said, lies and families don’t go so well together. I really hate for this holy matrimony we’re all hoping for to be cancelled.”
Cazzo. “You still have cameras in Nicky’s apartment?”
“For security purposes, of course. She’s my daughter. Don’t ever forget that.”
It was good to know he wasn’t being a creep with Nicky like he was with his little wife before he made her his. Not that kind of creep anyway. He was still spying on Nicky, though. “And because you don’t trust her,of course.”
“Nicole has never been a threat or something I can’t handle. But things might change when she no longer belongs here. I want to make sure nothing of sorts happens…Berry.”
I jerked out of his hold with a snarl. The motherfucker wasn’t only infuriating me but also threatening to tell Nicky the story behind that fucking name on top of everything. “You don’t have to threaten me to gain my loyalty. Even if you don’t trust me anymore, you trust my capo. Enzio will never turn on you, and I’ll never turn on him.”