“Is Roman even alive anymore? Have you found his wife, his children?” I ask.
Gavino jerks his chin as his eyes flick from Mia to me, then over to Massimo. “This is why we don’t let women in the famiglia,” he grunts.
“And why is that?” Mia snaps.
Gavino’s lips twitch into a smile, it reaches his eyes and I have to admit, he looks downright gorgeous when his entire face smiles that way.
“Because you’re too smart.” He chuckles, taking me away from my thoughts of his looks.
“Where is Roman?” Gavino asks.
Erin’s eyes widen, she crosses her arms over her chest and shakes her head a couple of times. Clearly over this back and forth game, Gavino closes the distance between them. I catch the glint of something in his right hand and I watch as he reaches for the back of Erin’s head and wrenches it back.
I gasp when Gavino lifts his opposite hand up and there is a knife in it, a knife that he now has pressed against Erin’s neck. One wrong move and her skin will be opened, it will slice along her taut throat and she’ll bleed out in seconds.
“I’ll only ask one more time. Without any real valuable information, your life is just as invaluable to me.”
Erin growls but doesn’t pull away from him. She doesn’t even flinch. “Roman is dead. He killed himself when Massimo was released. Said he knew that he would be caught. It was inevitable, because while your men may slack, Massimo would not relent.”
“What the fuck is the point of all of this?” I snap.
Erin laughs, her body shaking slightly, her neck beginning to bleed from Gavino’s hold of the blade against her throat.
“Maybe the point is that she’s fucking insane?” Mia asks. “Or maybe, it was never about Roman and all of that is just to throw us off.”
Erin’s gaze flicks to a couple different faces around the room, then stops on Brando who has been extremely quiet for a long while. Arlo, Mia, and Massimo all three turn around to face Brando. He takes a stumbling step backward, Erin giggling in the background.
“Stay right the fuck where you are,” Massimo barks.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
MASSIMO
Without a second thought, without a moment of hesitation, I watch as Brando attempts to make his way toward the door, walking backward. Reaching into my shoulder holster, I take out my gun and point it directly at his forehead.
Arlo jumps to his feet, charging him. I watch as he disarms him without even taking a breath, throwing Brando’s gun on his desk, along with another one that was strapped to his ankle. Gavino lets out a grunt behind us.
“What the fuck?” I breathe. “What the actual fuck is happening here?”
I feel like I’m going fucking crazy. My head is spinning at the speed of everything happening around us, thankfully my arm is steady as fuck as I continue to keep my gun directly focused on Brando’s forehead.
“Tell them, Brando. Tell them how you found out I was the one stalking Massimo, then Pippa? Tell them how you snuck into the house late at night, how Roman gave you a taste of me. How you fucked me.
“Tell them how you knew where he was the entire time and never told Massimo or any of his men. Tell them how you’re the reason Massimo went away. How you called the feds, tipped them off to visit with Roman, how you encouraged the whole fucking thing. Tell them,” Erin urges on a laugh.
“You were playing the police department and me at the same time?” Massimo asks.
Brando grunts. “You really think I’m loyal to anyone? Roman offered me something that I couldn’t resist.”
“A whore?” I snort. “I could have given you one for every night of the week if you’d wanted.”
Brando shakes his head slowly. “Women aren’t as valuable as you think they are.”
“I don’t know, I seem to do well with them,” Gavino murmurs with a small chuckle.
Brando laughs, though it comes out kind of fucking evil sounding. My body jerks, my gun still steady as I continue to point it at his head, waiting for the moment that I can pull the trigger. I have never wanted to kill someone that I thought of as a friend more in my life than I do this motherfucker right now.
“Money,” I say. He jerks his chin. “Money and sex are what makes the world go round, so if it wasn’t about a woman, it was about money.”
“His insurance payout was out of this world. He was obsessed with stalking you, with getting evidence that would put you away for life. When I saw the pictures of that night, I knew it was him. He’d been on me for a few days.”
“Do I even want to know how you knew him?” I ask.
Brando shrugs a shoulder. “I knew his wife more than him. Pretty thing, had very bad taste in men.” He laughs.
“So, what, you figured you’d call in the feds on the extortion deal and that was that?”
“Extortion holds a far less prison term than murder. I figure I did you a fucking favor as a friend,” he snaps.
Gavino lets out a loud laugh. Brando’s body jerks back as if Gavino’s laugh could physically harm him. We all watch, waiting to see what is going to come next. Now that we know more of the actual fucking truth. Brando sold me out to the feds for cash and because he had a thing with Roman’s wife.
“A favor,” I mutter. “Thanks for the fucking favor.” Inhaling a sharp breath, I shift my gaze over my shoulder for a moment to get Gavino’s attention. “Can I be done with him?”
“Be done with it, except I want to ask one more question.”
Brando is physically shaking now, his body trembling in his spot. I would be scared too if I were
