By Fate I Conquer (Sins of the Fathers #4)(28)

He sagged forward again but this time adrenaline wouldn’t bring him back. Stepping back, I slid the knife out. With a splash, part of his bowels dropped to the floor.

When I turned, Maximus was staring at me as if he’d never seen me before. “We were supposed to question him.”

“We did. We’ll catch another one.”

I went over to the sink and washed my hands and knife, then changed my shirt. My pants were black. Nobody would notice blood on them. “Stop staring,” I growled when Maximus still hadn’t moved. “Call someone to clean up this mess.”

“The mess you caused because you went berserk on behalf of a Falcone’s honor?”

I left him standing in the cell and headed out, toward my car, a black Mercedes G-Class. When I turned on the engine, Maximus slipped in, plopping down on the passenger seat. “Cleaning crew is on the way.”

I nodded and pulled away from the warehouse.

“Amo.”

I sent him a warning look. Unfortunately, we’d been friends for too long for it to have the effect it had on everyone else.

“You don’t have to tell me,” he muttered with a shrug. “I’m just going to assume the worst. That you fucked one of the most off-limit girls in the goddamn country and war will be upon us very soon.”

I rammed my fist down on the steering wheel, hitting the honk by accident and making the car in front of me swerve. “Do not talk of her like that.”

Maximus raised one dark brow. I glanced back to the street and shook my head. My chest was burning with emotions that I didn’t want and had never felt.

“Wouldn’t that be perfect for your family? You could be Capo of the Camorra.” Maximus’ father Growl was Remo’s half-brother, older than the Camorra Capo, but illegitimate and thus never considered as Capo.

Maximus’ expression twisted. “My father never wanted that position and neither do I. I’m happy with my place.”

“I didn’t sleep with her. I haven’t even kissed her,” I murmured.

“But you want to.”

“I’ve never wanted anything more in my life,” I admitted, needing to get it out, no matter how ridiculous it sounded. And it wasn’t even the whole truth. What I wanted from Greta was far more than physical. I wanted her in every regard. I was a condemned fucker. How could a single moment in time shift everything so drastically? One fleeting glance at the girl in the tutu…what if I’d just walked by instead to stop? My life would be so much easier right now, but I couldn’t regret spotting her.

Maximus leaned his head against the seat, staring up at the ceiling, blowing out a long breath. “I don’t have to tell you that there’s no way in hell you can have her.”

“Is that so?” I asked in a low voice.

Maximus turned his head, looking honestly concerned. “You can have almost any girl, why pick the one you can’t?”

I hadn’t picked her. I had lain eyes on her and had been a goner. Fuck, if I knew how that was possible.

“Your father won’t cancel the wedding to Cressida four weeks before it’s supposed to happen. He’s the most respected and feared Capo there’s ever been and you are on your way to become just as feared and respected, but trust me when I say that it would cause too much uproar in the Famiglia if your family did this. The Traditionalists won’t turn the other cheek this time. The thing with Marcella, the bloody sheets, the biker, her induction that was already a very hard slap.”

Maximus as a soldier heard the voices of discord that stayed silent when I or Dad were close. I trusted his judgment.

I nodded. I knew he was right. But I didn’t care. I didn’t want to listen to reason.

“Not to mention that there’s absolutely zero chance that Remo Falcone will give his daughter to you.”

Nevio would neither. He’d kill me before he’d let me have her.

“I could kidnap her like Remo did with his wife.”

I didn’t sound as joking as I thought I would, and I realized part of me would consider doing it. I parked the car in front of the Sphere. Maximus and I often came her after torture sessions to dance away the remaining adrenaline and pick up a girl or two.

When I turned off the engine, I noticed Maximus watching me. I arched a brow.

“The Falcones will burn down New York and every city on the way.”

I chuckled darkly. It would serve Remo right. Fear of his reaction was not why I would never kidnap Greta. She, she was the reason.

“I need to get rid of Cressida somehow.”

I hopped out of the car and Maximus followed me. “And then what?”

I shrugged. Once Cressida wasn’t a problem anymore, I’d figure out what to do about the Falcones. We walked past the long line waiting to be allowed in, and with a wave at the two bouncers stepped into the club. The crowd parted as they always did when I and Maximus appeared somewhere. The admiring and lusting looks of the girls I’d always basked in pearled right off me.

We settled in a VIP booth and ordered a bottle of Clase Azul Tequila. Maximus and I clinked glasses before we downed our first shot.

Then I lounged back against the leather cushions.

“How are you going to do it?”

“Not kill her, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

Maximus looked indifferent. “She won’t vanish into thin air.”