The younger Donati is so enraged by my comment, he reaches for his piece, but that won’t fucking fly. My Glock is aimed directly at his forehead before he can lift his from its holster. He freezes like the pissant he is.
“I’ll scatter your brains all over this pristine room,” I snarl, noticing the glint of steel in Aiden’s hand, also. “Take your fucking seat, traitor.”
“Sit down, Sasha!” the old man snaps, heaving a chest-rattling sigh. “Carmello made his bed, and I’ve made peace with my decision.” Sasha’s jaw drops when he looks to the decrepit fucker as if he’s never seen him before, but Eli shakes his head. “We’ll discuss this further at home. Now is not the time.” His dark, deep-set eyes return to mine. “Back to the matter at hand. Harold and William didn’t kill Roger. They looked up to him like a god, so that leaves me to wonder if it was you, Mr. Simone, who’s already taken premature revenge.”
“I’d kill Roger Kent in a fucking minute if he were still alive, but he isn’t, so you’re barking up the wrong goddamn tree,” I say, my voice measured and even.
“Your word, then? That’s all I have?” Eli challenges, looking to the Seattle men. “How are we to back a man who may have already broken our guidelines? A man who readily admits he’d like to kill Roger?”
“I fucking killed him,” Aiden interrupts, and all eyes turn to him. “As he slept, I snuck into his house, woke him the fuck up, and stared into his eyes so he’d know it was me ending his pathetic fucking life. Then I slit his fucking throat and watched him die slowly, gagging for fucking air, and I enjoyed every fucking second of it.”
The Seattle men are looking on with stern expressions, and Eli’s hard to read through all the fucking wrinkles, but that goddamn Sasha’s nearly vibrating with the urge to open his stupid fucking mouth. Me? I’m impressed, though at the same time slightly disgruntled he’s taken the opportunity right out of my goddamn hands.
“See, grandfather?” Sasha says, standing. “This meeting was a sham from the start. Let’s get out of here before someone murders us, too.” He grips the handles of the old man’s wheelchair and starts backing him from the table.
Aiden’s up like a bolt of lightning, swiping Sasha’s feet from beneath him and shoving him back into his own chair. “Sit the fuck down and ask the right questions.”
Ernesto clears his throat and holds up his hands. “No need for this to get out of control. Let’s all calm down because I, for one, do have questions.” He holds Aiden’s gaze and waits for him to take his seat. “Thank you, Mr. Doyle,” he says with a nod. “I assume there’s a reason for your actions, and I speak for the Seattle organization when I say we’re interested in hearing it.”
“So this is what it’s come down to,” Eli says, looking to Ernesto. “He’s going to give his explanation, and we’re all expected to accept it as fact?”
“I don’t give a fuck whether you accept it or not. I don’t fucking answer to you,” Aiden barks, glaring at the old man. “Besides, you don’t have the manpower to do any-fucking-thing about it.” His neck muscles flex, but he shakes it away, turning his heated stare back to Ernesto. “I don’t give a fuck what any of you think, but I am willing to share with the class.”
Ernesto glances to his son, who gives him a slight nod. “I’m sorry, Mr. Donati,” he says, looking to Eli. “While I don’t approve of learning of a hit on a Boss a year after the fact, I’m also not interested in turning this meeting into a trial.”
“I second that shit,” I say, ready to hear what that fat fuck did that got him killed. “Besides, he’d be dying now anyway.”
“So sure of yourself,” Eli croaks, his eyes flicking from me to Ernesto. “I thought with you here, this meeting would be fair, but I can see now that I’ve been duped.”
“You’re definitely being duped,” I say, an evil chuckle bubbling from my lips as I flip through my stack of copies. “But it isn’t by us.” I select the sheet I want and slide it across the fucking table. “That’s proof of your organization’s entanglement with the child sex trafficking ring in Miami, and I’d be willing to bet my right arm the man responsible is sitting right beside you.”
“This is absurd!” Sasha shouts as he attempts to stand, but Aiden is faster and towering over him in a split fucking second, daring him to move another muscle. “Grandfather, please.” He changes tactics, clinging to the old man’s arm. “These men are trying to turn you against me to cover up their own crimes. You can’t seriously believe this.”
Eli ignores Sasha’s incessant begging as he reads through the information, and his face is grave as he neatly lays the sheet on the table, turning his deep-set eyes to his grandson. “We’ll discuss this matter at home. Now sit back and shut up!” He swivels his floppy jowls to me. “If this information proves true, Mr. Simone, I appreciate the heads up, but for now, I’d like to finish this meeting so I can get home and look into it personally.”
“I couldn’t agree more,” I say with a nod before cutting my eyes to Aiden. “I consider the reason for Roger’s death relevant, so the fucking floor is yours.”
“Roger teamed up with my uncle against our family because he wasn’t happy about my marriage to Bianca. He wasn’t pleased
