Oh wait. It is.
Roman shakes his head. “The dealer’s gone quiet,” he says, speaking to his father like he wasn’t attempting to slaughter him only a few nights ago. “We don’t know any more than you do.”
Giovanni’s hand comes slamming down so hard on the table that I feel the vibration traveling right through me, shaking the stray cutlery. “THAT’S NOT GOOD ENOUGH,” he roars. “This asshole is undercutting me, stealing my customers right out from under my nose. It’s bad for business. I NEED A FUCKING NAME.”
I clench my jaw, forcing myself not to laugh in his goddamn face as the conversation I’d had with Levi in the club comes rushing back. The suppliers and dealers undercutting him are his own sons and I am so here for it. Hell, they’re not just undercutting him, they’re stealing his product as well. I don’t know much about mafia business deals, but as far as screwing someone over goes, this one pretty much takes the cake.
Levi groans and leans back in his chair. “How do you expect us to get you a name when we’re locked up? Give us some room to move and I’m sure we’ll have a name for you by the end of the week. Hell, we might even take the motherfucker out for you.”
Giovanni stares down his son, rage burning in his eyes, but he knows he’s right. The boys have no hope of catching a guy if they’re stuck in their castle. Not that there’s anybody to actually catch, but something tells me that the boys have ways around their father.
“Fine,” Giovanni finally says, making the men around him glance our way in concern. “You get free rein until the week is out and if you can’t complete your mission before then, you will suffer the consequences.”
“In that case,” Roman says standing, his sharp stare slicing toward his father as a terrifying darkness sweeps through his eyes. “We better get going. We wouldn’t want to miss our deadline.”
Without another word, Levi and Marcus stand on either side of me, Marcus twisting his fingers around my elbow and pulling me up with him. Roman turns and stalks out of the room as the three of us follow along, dead silence in the room behind me.
I can’t help but glance back, looking over the nervous faces of the guests who remain behind. “Are you sure?” I hear one man question Giovanni. “The last time your sons had free rein over the city …”
“There will be no repeats of last time,” Giovanni snaps, his voice bouncing off the walls behind us as his gaze falls back on mine. “They know the consequences for stepping out of line. They wouldn’t dare risk that again.”
Marcus grips me tighter, practically dragging me out of the dining hall as he takes long strides to keep up with Roman. Not a word passes between us until we’ve flown down the impressive grand entrance and are pulling the doors of the SUV closed behind us.
The engine roars to life, and as Roman hits the gas, his hard stare meets mine through the rearview mirror. “What the hell did Ariana want?”
My brow arches. “That’s not what’s important,” I rush out. “What the hell happened last time you assholes had free rein over the city? And why didn’t you interrogate your father about your mom?”
“It wasn’t the right time to ask about her, not during a business meeting. We need to be able to corner him first, and nothing happened last time we had free rein,” Marcus explains. “It was just a simple misunderstanding. It’s in the past. What did Ariana want?”
“Why is it important?” I question, glancing across at Levi. “She wanted me to get her off but I told her to get fucked.” I let out a groan and glance back at Roman. “Why the hell didn’t you tell me that she was your high school girlfriend? What the hell is going on here? Daddy Dearest takes your girlfriend and then kills Felicity. Am I next?”
“Of course you’re fucking next,” he spits, tearing through the front gates, barely patient enough to wait for them to open the whole way. “Why do you think I’ve been so adamant that my brothers keep their dirty hands off you? He is going to use you against us. It’s only a matter of time.”
“But you’re not going to let that happen, right?” I demand, glancing between them. “You were just a kid when he took Ariana from you. You can’t let him take me like that.”
Roman clenches his jaw as an uncomfortable silence fills the car and I realize that if it came down to it, they’d let me go. To them, the only thing that matters is sticking to their plans to overthrow the whole DeAngelis family. If Giovanni happens to get to me first, then that’s my own bad luck.