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“I’m willing to forgive our last poor dealing. You can pay for the product you ruined, and we can move on with our business without any further consequence.” I sigh. “Let’s put the past behind us, Nikita. There’s no sense in ending lives because of our arrogance and anger.”

Nikita steps toward me until he’s only a couple feet away. He takes in a deep breath, almost as if he’s smelling something pleasant, and he smiles as he lets it out.

“That’s the difference between you and me, Settimo. I’m willing to spare lives.” His smile turns into a sneer, and he looks like he wants to spit. He backs up several steps and puts his hands in his pockets. “I’ve decided we won’t be doing business any longer with your people. If you come on our turf, you will die. If you interfere with our profits, you will die.”

“What?” Anthony asks with disbelief. “You honestly think we can’t destroy you?” His face gets red and his jaw clenches. “Who the fuck do you think you are?”

Nikita frowns at Anthony, but I can tell underneath he’s amused. It dances in his eyes. “I’m disappointed in you, Anthony. Here I was thinking you had at least some amount of intelligence.”

“Fuck you!”

Lorenzo puts his hand out to stop Anthony when he takes a step toward Nikita.

I roll my neck and flex my fingers. The worst part of all this is that Nikita is deadly serious. He’d stand in a building engulfed in flames just to watch me burn.

Anthony seethes and Nikita has the balls to laugh at him.

I don’t react. I’ve reached a point of acceptance that nothing Nikita does could anger me any further. Nikita looks at me, and I raise my chin.

I stare him in the eyes when I speak. “If that’s the way it has to be, we’ll be ready. As far as I’m concerned, you have no turf. You make this move and Las Vegas will be ours.”

He shrugs. “I’ve run people out before, don’t you remember?”

Yes, I do. He slaughtered half the Irish mob before they knew they were in a war. It was one of his first moves when he took over, and it was successful. They left Las Vegas and have moved their business elsewhere. I’ll be surprised if Nikita’s seen the last of them, however.

“I do. And I think you should start learning from your mistakes. If you think that isn’t going to come back to haunt you, you’re naive.”

Nikita waves that off. “If you say so, Settimo.” He looks at Ivan and sighs. “There isonedeal I’m willing to make with you. Because, let’s face it, your resources are better than ours when it comes to drugs. We could do our best to find the same quality, but in the end, the smart move for us is to simply eliminate our competition.”

“Enough threats,” I growl. “What the hell do you want?”

Nikita smiles. “I want a twenty-five percent cut on the price. It’s outrageous. I’m ashamed my father would bend over so easily.”

My first instinct is no. Fuck you.

But Nikita is right when he says he’s more willing to spare lives. I’ve dedicated my entire life to the familia. My loyalty stands with my men. It isn’t my job to rule like an angry, selfish dictator. It’s my job to protect the familia and bring prosperity to us all. Sometimes that involves the ending of life. Sometimes it doesn’t.

But rolling over to accommodateNikita? I don’t know if I can do that. For one, I’m not weak. The familia will always be at the top of the Las Vegas food chain. Always. For two, it won’t stop with a negotiation of prices. Nikita willneverstop.

“And,” Nikita says when I don’t respond right away. “I will only deal with Leo Romano. Ever.” He glances at Anthony. “Anthony may accompany him as his right hand, but I will not deal with either of you.”

“Leo hm?” Lorenzo pipes up.

Nikita nods. “My father did his bargaining with Leo and Syrus. Obviously, Syrus is no longer an option, so Leo will have to do. My father trusted him. I haven’t decided how much faith I have in the man, but I have none in either of you.”

Silence ensues. We’re all thinking. I have a feeling Lorenzo and I are on the same page. I don’t trust Romano to handle my dealings. I don’t trust Romano at all.

“We can discuss that,” Anthony says, looking at me to back him up.

“No.” I pin my stare on Anthony a moment before meeting Nikita’s eyes. “If you do not respect the don, you do not respect the familia. We do not tolerate disrespect.”

Nikita shrugs and exchanges a look with Ivan. “Very well then.”

They both turn and begin walking away.

“Nikita,” I say to his back.

He pauses and turns his head.


Tags: Nicole Cypher Crime