“I did,” I said carefully.
“We have a common enemy, Luca, and that’s the Outfit. I think we have a lot to talk about.”
I didn’t like his tone but agreed to a meeting in three days, then hung up.
“He’s not dead,” Matteo muttered. “Our wives will be ecstatic to see him again.”
“He is Enforcer of the Camorra, Matteo.”
“So you won’t tell Aria?”
I considered my options. If I didn’t tell Aria that her brother came to New York, she’d be heartbroken, but him being Remo’s man, she would be heartbroken seeing him too. “How could we miss this?” I muttered.
“We have enough to do with the fucking Outfit, the Bratva and those fucking MCs. It’s not like we had spare time to worry about the fucking Camorra. They never breached our territory or gave us trouble.”
I nodded, but still. If Remo had managed to keep Fabiano’s existence a secret for so long, that meant his men were loyal to the bone and that he had iron control of his city. I knew Nino Falcone was his second in command, and they had been the ones I’d heard about, but they worked quietly.
“What do you think is his true motivation for the visit?” Matteo asked eventually.
I wasn’t sure. Remo was unpredictable. His appearance in New York six years ago had proven that. “We will find out.”Aria was practically bouncing with nerves beside me. Growl shook his head, grimacing. His eyes sought mine. Aria still thought she’d be united with the brother she remembered, but he wouldn’t be that boy. Growl, Matteo and I knew it. Growl had been the Camorra’s Enforcer for years and from what he’d told us, Fabiano must have changed into someone without mercy to become Remo’s Enforcer.
I tensed when the door opened and a tall, muscled man with short blond hair and blue eyes stepped in. The last time I’d seen him, he’d had trouble hiding his emotions. He’d gotten past that. His cold scrutiny tightened my muscles. Growl touched his gun, hatred written all across his face when Fabiano’s eyes settled on him.
Aria rushed forward and I wasn’t quick enough to stop her.
Fabiano narrowed his eyes and tensed when she threw her arms around him. I drew my gun, aiming it straight at his head, and so did Growl and Matteo.
His hand curled around Aria’s neck as she clung to him, and he smirked. I should have killed him seven years ago when he still was a boy. He held her neck in a way that would allow him to break it easily. Aria peered up, and finally realization set in. This wasn’t her brother anymore.
“No need for drawn weapons,” Fabiano drawled in a self-assured tone. “I haven’t traveled all the way here to hurt my sister.”
He lowered his hand, and I stepped forward and pulled Aria away from him.
“My God,” she whispered. “What happened to you?”
“You, Gianna, and Liliana happened.”
Aria was close to tears beside me. “I don’t understand.”
“After Liliana ran off as well, Father decided that something must be wrong with all of us. That perhaps Mother’s blood running through our veins was the problem. He thought I was another mistake in the making. He tried to beat it out of me. Maybe he thought if I bled often enough, I’d be rid of any trace of that weakness. The moment his whore of a second wife gave birth to a boy, he decided I was no longer of use. He ordered one of his men to kill me. The man took pity on me and drove me to some shithole in Kansas City so the Bratva could kill me instead. I had twenty dollars and a knife. And I put that knife to good use.”
I tightened my hold on Aria because she made a move as if to go closer to him. “We didn’t want to hurt you. We just wanted to save Liliana from a horrible marriage. We didn’t think you’d need saving. You were a boy. You were on your way to becoming a soldier for the Outfit. We would have saved you if you’d asked.”
“I saved myself.”
“You could still … leave Las Vegas,” Aria said carefully.
I shot her a look. Was she blind to the truth? Fabiano was a loyal man, but his loyalties lay with Remo Falcone. I wondered how he’d done it. How had Remo, that twisted teenager from many years ago, gained so many loyal followers? How had he managed to unite all the Underbosses of the West? The Camorra was as strong as they had been in the past, and it was a fucking problem.
Fabiano laughed. “Are you suggesting I’ll leave the Camorra and join the Famiglia?”
“It’s an option.”
No, it wasn’t. And I wouldn’t have taken him in, not anymore.
Fabiano challenged me with his eyes. “Is she Capo or you? I came here to talk to the man leading the show, but now I think it might be a woman after all.”