Call Him Sick | 18+

? 22. The Devil's Heart

"Speaking of Mancini," I trailed off, my focused eyes studying the room around us. "Where the hell is he?"

David Mancini had played me once again, but I never would have guessed he would align with the Bruno family given their negative history. My deal with Mancini was under wraps, far from the public eye, and whatever game he was playing now, was born from the very dark we swore to honor.

A deal was clearly not being made today and despite the utter rage brewing in my body, I knew if I were to earn the upper hand, I would have to play smart.

"He couldn't make it," Leo said with a smug grin, casually lifting a glass from the table and taking a slow sip. "But he sends his best wishes."

I could hear Enzo's low rumble beside me, which earned him a look of disgust from Leo.

"You know," Leo continued, leaning back into the velvet couch, "I heard about what you did to the Contis at that nightclub." He chuckled darkly. "Elio Conti... one-eyed bastard was hardly worth my attention. But when I realized the Accardi family staged an attack against his men, my interest was earned."

My eyes narrowed. What the hell was this man on about? This was about the Conti family?

"So I called Elio," Leo said, his grin spreading further across his face, "and told him not to bother with retaliation, because Aiden Accardi... was my kill." His jaw tightened as his gaze fixed on me. "And here I am, intercepting a deal that would have made a rich man even richer."

If there was one thing I couldn't tolerate being fucked with, it was my money.

Leo leaned forward, eyes blazing with hatred. "Too bad I'm ready to put a bullet through your skull... just like your father did to mine. Funny how history has a way of repeating itself."

I let out a breath and raised a bored brow. "So straight to the theatrics, I see?"

Leo's nostrils flared clearly bothered by my indifference. "And to think, with all the enemies your father made, out of all the ways that motherfucker could've died... a car crash takes him? Pathetic."

His words set off Enzo, who leapt from the couch in a fury, only to be met with guns pointed at him from every corner of the room.

I slowly turned my gaze to Enzo, my patience wearing thin. "Sit the fuck down."

Leo hummed with amusement. "I'd listen to him if I were you. Wouldn't want to end up like dear old papá."

Enzo's ragged breaths echoed through the tense room, but he forced himself back onto the couch, his eyes burning holes into Leo. Enzo was always ready to defend our father's honor—something Leo's mockery only fueled.

But me? I couldn't care less what anyone thought of my father. I agreed with most of them anyways.

Honor was earned and papá never earned his.

"Now, here's how this is going to go," Leo started, his tone colder. "The Accardi family will fall in line and repay their debt to me."

I fought the urge to punch him in his smug face. "Debt? I don't owe you a damn thing."

Leo shrugged casually. "Capo Accardi can pay in cash... or with his life. Your choice."

Just as I opened my mouth to respond, gunfire erupted outside the room, echoing through the halls of the hotel. Leo's face snapped to attention, his expression instantly losing its smugness.

But I sat back coolly, relaxed even as gun fire grew louder and closer to the room. Some of Leo's men dropped like flies as the door busted open and bullets began to fly.