“True.” It didn’t add up that someone wanted Hailey dead. Me or anyone else in the Mafia, sure. We had plenty of enemies—which we took care of. But I knew enough to listen to my gut. Even with the confirmation that it had been Guido taking shots at me, I couldn’t shake the sense that she was in danger.
Stefano hit the contact number for the Verretti boss then put the call on speaker, and we fell silent, waiting for it to connect. On the third ring, a deep baritone crackled through the line in greeting, to which Stefano responded, “Dante, we have a problem.” He held his phone in front of him. “You’re on speaker.”
“Who else is there?” Dante’s voice growled through the office.
Stefano listed off our names. “Guido is in Chicago, taking potshots at my family.”
Dante grunted. “When you sent him back the first time, I thought Leo would take care of him. What are you going to do?”
“I’d prefer to end him here.”
“It would start a war,” Dante said.
“One you would join in?” Stefano’s voice held a warning.
“No. I don't want to jeopardize the truce between my family and the Five Families. I vote to start a war. Eliminating the Amatos is one less problem for me to deal with.”
“Sounds fun.” Enzo smirked.
“Is Leo a problem?” Stefano asked.
“Leo is ambitious, but he’s smarter than his son,” Dante said.
“I’m placing a courtesy call to Leo. If he wants us to deliver his son, I’ll allow it. This once. But if Guido steps foot in Chicago again, all bets are off.”
“Let me know the outcome,” Dante said.
After disconnecting, Stefano called Leo, the boss of the Amato family. “Your son is in my city. You have two choices: plan his funeral or pick him up from the airport when I tell you and make sure he never sets foot here again.” He paused, listening. “I’ll be in touch with the details.” After another brief pause, he hung up. “He chose option two.”
I stood, not happy with the decision. Given the silence in the room, no one else was, either. The meeting was over. I opened the door and walked out. They could keep talking if they wanted, but I was done. My only thought was to get Hailey back to my place.
“Hey,” Nico called after me. “I met Hailey on my way in here.”
I knew that tone in my brother’s voice. I turned and bared my teeth at him. “She’s with me. Back the hell off.” Hailey had more in common with Nico, at least in a computer-geek kind of way. But she was mine, or she would be. I didn’t want Nico messing up what was developing between us.
“It’s like that, huh?” A slow grin spread across his face.
“You’re the last man standing, Nic,” Marco said with a chuckle.
Enzo pushed off the windowsill and headed my way. I didn’t like the glint in his eyes. “Let’s go meet this woman.”
Great.
Max smacked me on the shoulder as he moved past. I followed with Stefano and Marco trailing behind. I had a distinct feeling that we were embarking on one of the war games we used to play out back. If teams were forming in a Hailey inquisition, I needed to get her out of there. Once I caught up with Enzo, I shoved him into the wall, getting ahead and zeroing in on my brother, who’d just cleared the kitchen and pivoted toward the family room where the girls congregated.
“Nico,” I growled in warning as he sat on the couch between Hailey and Lil then went to put his arm around Hailey. The fucker. One year separated us, and I wasn’t having it. Long strides ate up the distance between us, and I curled my fingers around his shirt and pulled him up despite the twenty-odd pounds of muscle he had on me. I wasn’t going to point that out. “Back off.”
A slow smile curved Hailey’s lip. “So this is your brother? The banker?”
Nico shoved my hands off him before turning to face her. “And the better-looking one.”
I cracked him in the back of the head. Hailey raised an eyebrow, and a spike of something went through me, throwing me off-balance. I couldn’t have been jealous. We’d only known each other for a short while. Marco went to stand by Elena. His hand slipped beneath her hair, resting on the curve of her neck.
“You don’t have to live with this guy.” Nico aimed his thumb in my direction.
“Really?” Hailey pursed her lips, appearing to contemplate the move. “What are you offering me, protection? I’ve got that with your brother.”
Stefano held out his hand to Emiliana. She stood and leaned against his side. He wrapped an arm around her waist, watching Nico try to move in on Hailey with amusement. I was going to kill my brother.