sp; Let Toby kill Savino, then kill Toby. I’d have control over the Italians and Ethan would have the Irish…he’d already married Irish and, in doing so, caused a rift between himself and the Italian side of the family.
Do it, a voice in my mind whispered, rising from the deepest part of me. This is it. This how we can have it all. Take it from them.
I could see how I could do it. I could take it all.
The more I thought about it, the stronger that nagging feeling got, like I was missing something important. Glancing down at the folder again, I saw a picture of Ethan. He was at the same Christmas party, holding a glass to his lips, but his eyes were locked on something not in the frame. I lifted the picture of Savino and Toby and put it next to the one of Ethan.
“Ethan,” I whispered as I realized how simple it was for me to figure this all out. I was not an idiot, but I was no genius either…at least, not in the same way Ethan was. No one, not even his wife, knew him like I did. Wyatt and I were twins. But Ethan and I were closer in some ways. I knew what he was thinking just by observing the way he held his glass or sat in his chair.
People thought I blindly followed him when I was younger however, that wasn't the case. Like when he first became the Mani Di Forbice by killing a priest who’d planned to sell out my parents in order to save himself from being exposed as a child molester. Ethan had grabbed on to my arm and told me not to go to that priest for confession. When I looked at him, I saw the warning, the raging storm that was coming and I simply said okay. I’d spent almost all of my life watching him carefully which is why I knew in my heart that if I could figure this out, if I could see the big picture… Ethan had most definitely seen it months ago.
“These were hard to get…” I stated to Jackal and she nodded. “But not so hard my brother couldn’t find out if he wanted too?”
Again, she nodded.
Toby was betraying us…and Ethan knew.
This whole time, he knew.
“Thank you, Jackal,” I said to her, standing back on my feet as she stood up as well. “For reminding me I can’t count on anyone.”
She frowned at me as I reached into my jacket to pay her for the information she’d garnered. However, she put her hands up, shaking her head.
Rolling my eyes, I took out the monopoly money, making her frown, confused again. “I knew you’d try to reject it, so I had it wired directly into your account from a private account.”
She made a face and I grinned, turning from her and walking out of the exhibit, trying my best to bite down on the rage threatening to break free from my lips.
Kill him.
Kill them all.
The words repeated in my mind as I exited out of the building through the security entrance.
***
The sun was just coming up by the time I got home and into my bedroom.
Toby was sitting on the edge of my bed and yawning. He glanced over at me, a happy grin on his lips. “I missed you. Where did you go?”
I stared at him. I wanted to grab anything I could get my hands on and bash his face in. I wanted to strangle him with my sheets. And I couldn’t…not now.
“I went for a ride,” I said, taking off my leather jacket and throwing it on the couch along with my jeans before walking to my bed.
“What did you need to think about?” he asked as I lay down on the bed.
“You.”
At that, he turned back to me eyebrow raised, “Me?”
The secret to lying was the truth…telling people just sprinkle of the truth with fiction mixed in. “You hit me.”
His mouth dropped open, “You hit me first! Twice!”
I had to force myself to grin at that even though the very sight of him made me sick, “I didn’t say I didn’t deserve it. Nor did I say I was mad you did.”
“So what were you thinking about me—?”
“You should have done it a long time ago,” I told him seriously, “If you want to stand beside me, you can’t always take my shit. I was thinking how if you fought me in private then maybe you wouldn’t be so quick to try and speak for me in public or force my hand… It’s good you’re growing.”