HALEY JENNER

hands.

“Leo said you’re freezing him out,” Vincent speaks again after a loaded beat.

I shake my head. My younger brother is too fucking sensitive. “Why is he talking to you about menial shit

Vincent sits quietly, and I take a second to appreciate the lack of expectation or pity on his face. But then, emotion isn’t high on my best friend’s list of distinguishing traits. He grew up similarly to me. Only where my father was the boss, his was an enforcer. A ruthless soldier who had more kills at the touch of his hands before his demise than any other. He created both his sons in his image—men thirsty for the need to kill, seek revenge, and avenge any wrongdoing against the family. He succeeded with Vincent, but the jury is still out on his weasel of a younger brother

Roberto is a fucking snake

pon that throne.”

My throat tightens, and I want to shoot him for having what I want. Carlo Ferrari died at the hands of the cartel. Payback

wheezes.

I take a deep breath, fighting everything within me to ask if she’s okay. “My sperm donor, Carlo Ferrari, is deceased. It’s a shame, really. He sounds like a stand-up guy. His assholery is only to be outdone by your scumbag ex-husband—if we can call him that, considering you were never officially divorced—Joseph Romano. He goes by the inventive nickname Big Joey. Mean man, do not approach

Their names are Dante and Luna. Luna is six years older than me, and Dante, four. You can’t be certain what poison their father, your ex-husband” —I clarify, for her, not

rlo had two sons with his late wife before you began your affair. So scandalous, Mother.” I wink. “Vincent is the older brother, Roberto is the younger. Roberto, in your opinion, is a psychopath and likely prone to violence. But if I can just add in, they’re in the fucking mob, Mom. Aren’t they

You received word from that bitch in the FBI you couldn’t shake that Giorgio Caruso, the don, died a few years back. His firstborn son, Lorenzo, took power. Lorenzo’s younger brother, Leonardo, is his second-in-

He’s your brother.”

“Half,” I correct. “Like Roberto, Dante, and Luna. Why are you convinced he’ll be my savior in a swarm of enemies?”

Joseph the moment I turned eighteen. He was thirty-five at the time