Total pages in book: 72
Estimated words: 70269 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 351(@200wpm)___ 281(@250wpm)___ 234(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 70269 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 351(@200wpm)___ 281(@250wpm)___ 234(@300wpm)
“I would never make a deal with him. We’re so much stronger,” Vito said.
Devil shook his head. “Benito’s crazy. He isn’t likely to use the logic, is he?”
“Yeah. You’re crazy, and you rarely use logic,” Angelo said.
“See. That’s what I mean.”
Vito looked like he wanted to murder them. “Zeke is not going to be involved.”
“But you think we should try the second plan?”
“Yes, but we’re not using Zeke or anyone else as bait.”
I glanced at the time. I needed to leave, but I didn’t want to. Vito was struggling to restrain himself, and I had no idea what kind of insanity he might agree to.
“I’m sorry to leave early, but I have to get to the arena to do my pre-game workout.”
“Of course,” Dom said. “I’ll have one of my men drive you.”
I glanced at Vito. “I’ll take you if you need me to.”
I couldn’t ask him to leave. He needed to be here making plans, so I lied. “I’ll be fine.”
I reached out my hand and he squeezed it.
“We’ll take care of him,” Val assured me.
“Thanks.”
Vito huffed. “I can take care of myself. Zeke, I’ll call you when we’re done here.”
“And tell me everything you have planned?”
He frowned. “I’ll tell you everything you need to know.”
“Which won’t be a tenth of what you’re planning.”
“See,” Liam said. “It’s not just me who gets irritated at being left out.”
“Don’t even think about calling Peter on this one,” Lucien said.
Liam just smiled. “We’ll see.”
“And if everyone’s going to be busy, then I suppose I should go to the game tonight. I could bring Peter with me.”
“We’re not leaving the arena unguarded.”
“Obviously,” Pops said. “We’ll figure out the details.”
“My main goal is to get rid of Benito and make sure Zeke is safe from any further harassment. Whatever it takes to do that needs to be part of the plan.”
Pops laid a hand on my arm. “We’ll discuss the scope, but those are our goals as well.”
Vito surprised me by rising from his chair and pulling me into his arms. “Be careful. We’ve got plenty of men watching you, but you watch your back too.”
“I will.”
27
VITO
Ihated watching Zeke walk out the door. I wanted to be the one to drive him to practice. I wanted to be the one by his side all day. I couldn’t believe he would even suggest using himself at bait. His number one goal was to be a star in the NHL. He couldn’t put that at risk. We were here to do that for him.
That meant I had to stay and work on the plan so I could be the one to choke the life out of Benito. He’d hurt my man. I wanted him to pay for that; I wanted him to hurt. If I could kill him and bring him back to life so I could kill him again, I would do it.
“What’s that smile for?” Val asked.
“Just thinking about how nice it will be to watch the life drain out of Benito’s eyes.”
Devil grinned. “Nothing like a little bit of bloodlust.”
Lucien was clearly done with us. “We need to be serious here.”
“Why can’t we have fun while we take out our enemies?” Angelo asked.
“Can you please act like adults? Dom, what do you think is the best way to proceed?”
My father considered the question for a moment, then said, “I agree that the second option is stronger. It will also be difficult to pull off. Perhaps more difficult than getting his allies together at his home.”
“We need a way to make sure he’ll bring everyone with him.”
“Or we can track down stragglers later. I mean, that could be fun,” Angelo said.
Lucien gave him a cold glare. “We’re not in this for fun. We’re getting rid of an enemy.”
Devil snorted. “No reason that can’t be fun.”
Lucien looked at Val. “Why don’t you bring us up to speed on the major players here.”
My brother explained what he’d learned about Benito’s allies here in Boston. I helped everyone devise a plan, and when we were done, Lucien sent a message to Benito, one that would bring him right into our trap, as long as he was foolish enough to think we wanted to negotiate with him. But I believed Devil was right. Benito was crazy and full of himself. He thought everyone feared him. And if we didn’t fall for it, we would chase him down wherever he was and do this the messy way.
What I kept to myself was that I wasn’t going to leave things entirely to chance. We were supposed to meet up and go together to the location where we’d requested Benito’s presence. I was going to track him down first, and if he didn’t look inclined to fall into our trap, I was going to give him a little push. This shit needed to end tonight.