“But—”
“That’s all.” I hit end. My screen immediately turned into the picture I’d kept of Mo. The one and only picture I’d snuck when she wasn’t looking which, when I thought about it, wasn’t the most romantic thing in the world.
But it was all I had.
One picture.
One night.
The end.
Funny, because she’d told me as much—but I hadn’t believed her. I’d never experienced that type of attraction to another person. An attraction that’s so strong that you end up doing stupid things.
Like planning for the future.
Mafia rule number one? Don’t plan, it’s rare to experience a happy ending.
Ten million. The number may as well have been written on my forehead. Damn, they were going to have to do better than that.
I had two choices.
Let the chips fall.
Or maneuver each chip for my own purpose—for the family, for Mo, for blood.
The problem? I wouldn’t come out looking like the hero, but the villain. In fact, I was pretty sure that if I took that step… if I stopped hiding in the shadows, I’d end up shot.
Dead.
Buried.
I looked back down at my phone, my heart hammering in my chest. If I did nothing, she was as good as dead, they all were. It would only be a matter of time before things came to a head. Maybe not this month, maybe not next month—hell, it could be a year before things progressed.
But again, the ending was always the same.
“Mo,” I whispered touching the screen with my fingers, caressing the glass because the last time I touched her face, she’d pulled away, taking my heart with her.
The only time she’d given in to me—given in to us, was because she was angry at him.
I was her best defense then.
I was her best defense now.
“Damn it. “I closed my eyes and allowed myself a brief moment to imagine what freedom would be like. I could run away, knowing that each step I took was stained with the blood of my family.
Of the girl I’ve loved since I was five.
So, with shaking hands, I lifted the phone, dialed Nixon’s number and said the words I never thought I’d utter again.
“What?” Nixon barked into the phone. “Everything good on your end?”
“I’m in.”
“Sergio…”
“I’ll lock up everything tonight, meet you at the house, stay as long as you need… time to retire the ghost, brother.”
Nixon cursed, the phone went silent for a minute. “You do this, you make yourself a target. You’ve been in hiding for a reason, Sergio.”
“Let me worry about it.” My stomach clenched. “I’m back, get ready, a shit storm’s coming and I’m pretty sure the wind’s blowing straight from Sicily.”
“Right.” Nixon sighed. “I’ll be waiting at the house.”
“Okay.” I pressed end, slowly dropping my phone to the counter. It rang, once, twice, three times.
I answered on the fourth, not bothering to say hello.
A voice rasped in my ear, “I will come for you. I promised I would if you ever showed your face again.”
“Fine.” I barked as dread filled my stomach. Damn I worked way too hard to protect a family who hated me so much. “What’s the worst that could happen, Pops? I get shot?” No sooner had the words left my mouth, then the mirror in front of me shattered falling to the ground in slices of discarded glass. A second gunshot rang out, ripping the leather from the couch.
I sighed, bored with his games already. And funny, they’d just begun. “Tell Don that his shot is off by a half inch, I’m still standing. Oh, and next time you shoot at me, at least hit something worth shooting. I hate wasting ammo. So should you, considering I have all the family money and you have, what? Five dollars to your name? Then again, that’s what happens when you make a deal with the feds. Tell Ma hi. Oh, and Pops?”
My father cursed wildly on the other end. “Do not call me that!”
“Good to hear from you.” I grinned and ended the conversation. Yeah, I’d made my choice, it was probably the wrong one, but hell, at least it would be entertaining.
The house was silent as I locked up, setting the security cameras so I could monitor what went on in my absence. I grabbed the keys to my BMW coupe and felt nothing.
No remorse.
No fear.
But perhaps… I looked down at my phone, a bit of regret.
Regret because she wasn’t mine to protect. But I was going to do it anyway. Regret because I was going to make her life hell by trying to prove to her that I could be good for her.
After all, she didn’t even realize that Tex was already a dead man, regardless of whether the planned worked or not.
He would always be a Campisi.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Expectations are always greater than we realize.
Tex
SUNLIGHT STREAMED THROUGH the curtains, damn near frying me to death and not making my headache any better. Cursing, I rolled to my side, trying to figure out where the pounding was coming from and who I had to shoot to make it stop. I officially had a hangover from hell. As I rubbed my eyes, I glanced at the night stand. A glass of water was waiting along with two painkillers.
Mo wasn’t in the bed with me anymore. Not that I blamed her. Lying next to her was torture anyway. Feeling the curves of her body. Even when I was too drunk to do anything about it? Sheer hell. Swear, I almost grabbed my gun and ended myself right then and there. But Mo had given me such a loving look, and though I pretended to pass out. She’d touched my face.