White Knight (Dirty Mafia Duet, #2)(33)

“Because you’d hate to have to kill me.”

“Got it in one.” He narrows his gaze at me and makes a strange request. “Can you move that contact for a second? I want to see the real color of your eyes.”

I don’t know why I humor him, but I put my middle finger on the contact and slide it sideways for a second and then let it go back into place, blinking a few times until it’s sitting comfortably again.

“Fucking hell. I ain’t seen eyes that color in over twenty-five years. And only on one woman ever.”

My heartbeat pounds in my ears, and my limbs feel heavy, like my body knows something is coming, even though I have no clue what he’s going to say. “On what woman?”

The bartender returns and slides our drinks across the bar to us.

Benny wraps his tanned and age-spotted paw around his whiskey glass before meeting my gaze once more. “A dead one.”





21





Cannon





“When are you going to throw your hat in the ring and give Enzo some real competition for when Dom steps down?”

It’s the fucking question of the night, apparently. First from Junior Gallo as he jumped in my way when I was going after Creighton, and then from Paulie Salerno, who found me in the bathroom while I was taking a piss.

All I want to do is get back to Memphis, make sure she’s doing okay, and then force Creighton to finally have the come-to-Jesus talk that we’ve been due to have for a long fucking time.

But of course, it doesn’t matter what I want.

I’m sick and tired of this shit. Maybe I should take over the family, for the sole purpose of getting everyone to finally give a damn about what I want.

Since I came back into the fold to manage the Upper Ten, I’ve been in this limbo stage where I’m not in but I’m also not out, because I’m in charge of the biggest legit Casso cash cow.

Still, no one knows how to treat me, and they revert to treating me like the bastard kid Dom won’t acknowledge publicly, which makes me fair game for prying questions. I’m done with it.

“I’m my own man, Paulie. I’ll do whatever the fuck I want when the time comes.”

Paulie jerks a paper towel out of the dispenser and leers at me. “You ain’t your own man. You never have been. You’ve always answered to the king and you always will—unless you take control.” There’s no way he’s saying any of this without a motive.

I march to the wooden stalls and slap open both doors to make sure there’s no one else in the bathroom to overhear our conversation, but even seeing that we’re in the clear, I won’t say much. There’s a chance Andre has the bathrooms bugged. A damn good chance, actually.

I cross my arms over my chest and face Paulie head-on. “What’s your angle? You and Junior talk about this shit before you got here? Both of you are hard up for an answer. Why aren’t either of you trying to take control if you want Enzo out so bad?”

As Paulie’s jaw shifts from side to side, I’m reminded that he’s been a capo for a couple of years, but for some reason, Dom favors Enzo over him. Paulie’s also not used to having someone talk to him like this, unless that someone is Dom.

“Dom wants his blood to take over.”

I stare at him, blinking rapidly as I try to put the pieces together.

No fucking way.

“You’re telling me Enzo is Dom’s bastard too?”

Paulie’s paranoia has his eyes darting to the door, as if he’s afraid what I just said will summon the devil himself.

“Not Dom’s. I think we all agree he spread his seed far enough as it is.”

My patience is running thin. “Then what the fuck are you saying about blood? Enzo isn’t fucking related.”

Paulie moves closer and fidgets with another wipe of his thumb across his nose. “Enzo says he is. Says he’s got a DNA test proving he’s Dom’s nephew.”

What in the actual fuck? “When did he get the test, and how the hell did I not know this?”

“Why the fuck do you think Enzo got made?” Paulie says, his words underlined by his personal frustration. “And if I recall, you weren’t exactly in the loop with Dom’s decisions back then. Or now.”

“You’ve gotta be fucking kidding me. That’s why that fucking idiot is Dom’s number two? Because of a DNA test that Enzo’s probably smart enough to pay off someone to fake?” I shake my head and consider what he’s telling me. “Dom had one sister. She was a fucking nun until she died. How the hell did Enzo get Dom to buy that she had a kid?”

Paulie’s dark eyebrows, threaded with hints of silver, rise to his hairline. “Apparently, she joined the convent because she got in the family way, and no one knew about it because she gave up the baby for adoption. Enzo claims he’s that baby.”

“Fucking hell. This changes everything.”

Paulie nods slowly. “Sure as fuck does, which is why we need to know that you’re our man. Because there’s no chance in hell Cav and Creighton will walk away from their lives to run the organization. No one would follow a woman, so Eden’s out. That leaves you and Enzo. And I think we all know who we’d rather have at the top of the food chain.” Paulie sucks in a big breath and releases it just as slowly. “Enzo would get us all killed. Even you see that.”