Dante stirred beside me, shoving up his jacket sleeve to check the time. He had a thing about people respecting his time. That much he’d made clear with Ava repeatedly over the past few months of her working for us.
She was home with Nico, hanging out at his place until we returned. Someone had to stay with her. We didn’t trust our enemies not to steal her from us.
Stefan leaned closer to speak in my ear. “The Vitales are late.”
Five minutes to be exact.
“I got a bad feeling, Lo.”
I shrugged against the bench and lowered my voice. “They could’ve gotten stuck in traffic.”
Dante balled his hand into a fist on the table, gritting his teeth. The mood in the room shifted to dangerous territory within minutes. By not showing, the Vitales were intentionally disrespecting us.
I downed another glass of scotch while Stefan played a game on his phone. He was so easily distracted and got bored quickly.
“I’m done waiting,” Dad said, his voice deep and dripping with anger. “No more negotiations.”
The front door swung open, slamming into the wall. A group of men in suits stormed into the dining room, bandanas covering most of their faces.
I attempted to get up but couldn’t move with Paulie at the end, trapping us in the booth.
“What the fuck?”
Quicker than the rest of us, Dante reached for the gun holstered to his chest. I grabbed mine, and so did Stefan. A bullet hit Dante in the chest before he could fire the weapon.
“Paulie, move!” Dad shouted.
His advisor held his ground, not even bothering to arm himself. So my brothers and I shot at the men. One bullet hit Dad in the shoulder, another one in the chest.
I flipped up the table with Stefan’s help and used it to shield ourselves. But it was wood, and with our attackers shooting at close range, it was impossible not to get hit. A bullet went straight through the table and hit my arm. A searing pain spread through my body.
Stefan took one in the left arm.
He winced, breathing harder.
“Fuck,” he hissed.
Dante fired a round before he ran out of ammo. I held my gun above the table, even though it hurt like fucking hell to raise my arm, and pulled the trigger until I emptied the chamber. Bullets sailed past Dante’s head and burrowed into the leather booth.
To my right, Dad clutched his chest. Dante put his hand on his shoulder. He was breathing harder than usual, blood staining his white dress shirt. His head fell back against the booth, his eyelids fluttering.
I felt his pain, which was almost unbearable. Two shots hit me, one in the arm, another in my chest.
Dante blinked rapidly, his bloody fingers spreading over the wound. His blood dripped onto the bench.
Paulie wasn’t in the booth with us, but I heard his voice from a distance. “I told you they would fall for it.”
Using every bit of my strength, I forced my eyes to stay open. I lifted my head to look through one of the bullet holes in the table.
“Thanks for helping us out.” Johnny Zabatino slapped Paulie’s back, pulling him into a friendly embrace. “Welcome to the family, Amato. You won’t regret this.”
They left a minute later, taking their goons with them.
My twin closed his eyes, and I shook him.
“Stef, wake up.”
Nothing.
I repeated the same process with Dante.
Nada.
Right before I passed out from the pain rocking through my body, another group of men entered the restaurant.
“What the fuck happened here?”
Vincenzo Vitale strolled into the room and stopped in front of the table.
Carlo stood beside him, staring at my father in disbelief.
“Who took them out?”
“Johnny Z,” I croaked.
Vincenzo and Carlo shoved the table out of the way.
“What did he say?” Joey said to his younger brother, who had given me the scar on my cheek.
The Mafia boss removed his cell phone from his pocket and dialed for help. He told the operator we needed assistance and shoved the phone into his pocket.
“Johnny Z,” I repeated.
And then, I lost consciousness.
