19. Rocco

19

ROCCO

" T his had better be good." Striding into the office, my grandfather sat behind his desk with his phone in hand and a deep scowl plastered across his face. When he glanced up at me, he raised one hand to silence me and then returned to his call.

I shot Dino a for fuck's sake glance and then sought out my own phone to send a quick text to Jian. He remained back in Baxton, watching over Mae while I had traveled to the city in order to attend Vito's demand for a meeting. Returning to the city was always the goal, but my mother was, as of yet, unable to leave the house, and I wasn't fully coming back here until she was ready.

This was merely a stop off.

"Yes, thank you." Vito ended the call and turned to me, clasping his hands on the desk. "Rocco. It is about time you joined us."

"I won't be staying," I replied. "I'm only here because you refused to tell me what you found over the phone. "

Vito's office was on the top floor of this building, and the beauty of New York stretched out like a concrete ocean from the windows that lined one wall. Squinting in the late afternoon sun, I paced toward the window and loosened my tie.

"Straight to business, then," Vito remarked, and his tone was sour.

I glanced over my shoulder. "Do you want to do familial pleasantries? Ask about each other's day and find out what I ate for lunch?"

"It wouldn't kill you," Vito remarked.

"No, but it did kill my father, or did you forget why we went to war in the first place?" I snapped.

"Do not forget that your father was my son ," Vito barked loudly at me, slamming one wrinkled fist on the desk. "You are not the only one in pain."

"Then why all the fucking secrecy?" I snarled, stalking toward the desk. "You wanted me back in the city so badly that you've been withholding information. Did you forget that I'm in charge? It's my name and my life on the line to protect every single family we care for while you're up here playing information broker."

Vito slapped a blue plastic file down onto the desk and shoved it toward me.

"One of the men you apprehended from the funeral was involved in an incident with us a few years ago." Vito spoke through gritted teeth, and for the most part, I enjoyed the power I had over him. I was still furious he had even thought about taking over as Don, as if it wasn't my blood right.

"What incident?"

"Dino's assassination," Vito said.

"My what now?" Dino stepped up to the desk and peered over my shoulder as I flipped through the file .

"Who gave the order?" I snapped.

"We're still looking into that," Vito replied.

I clenched my jaw so hard that pain shot up to my temple.

"A few years ago, through that period of unrest when people were trying to get to you, Rocco, and Dino was a target because he was doing just too good a job at keeping you alive," Vito explained.

"You don't need to remind me," Dino remarked, his chin resting lightly on my shoulder. "But what does it have to do with anything?"

"It would seem that the men who tried to kill you and injured Jian in the process weren't all taken care of like the Russian Pakhan assured us during peace talks. One of them survived. He was the first Jian killed, but we matched his prints."

"So…" I skimmed the report detailing the night I nearly lost my best friend and bodyguard. No one had expected Dino to be a target, but it was genius, really. Without him, I would have certainly died a quick death. "The Russians lied to us, and as a result, one of them wanted revenge because we're still alive?"

"Perhaps," Vito mused. "His intentions are unimportant. What is more concerning is whose orders he was working under because even back then, the Pakhan claimed they acted without cause or instruction."

"So either the Russians have trouble keeping their men in line," Dino mused, "or someone is giving out instructions behind the Pakhan's back."

"Or it is the Pakhan himself," Vito said quietly.

We were gaining more and more pieces of a puzzle that, without the picture, was becoming impossible to solve. As I mulled it over, my eyes drifted further down the report.

"If you think about it," Dino continued, "I don't think it is the Pakhan . None of these incidents work in his favor. I mean look at him right now. The Russians are struggling to stay afloat under our assaults. He looks weak and useless, and he won't be granted any mercy."

"A power play from someone else?" I suggested quietly. "Someone else is using us to shift Russian power?"

Suddenly, my heart stopped. On the incident report, underneath civilian casualties, was a name.

A name I knew.

"Why?" I said slowly, lifting my gaze to Vito. "Why is Keiran Murphy's name on here?"

"What?!" Dino snatched the file from my hands, his eyes wide, and he began to read aloud. " Only one civilian casualty was a result of the shooting. Keiran Murphy was shot by the accused when attempting to get into his car. No affiliation to any Family, Keiran was handled by the authorities ."

"What?" My heart plummeted down to my gut. "Since when do the authorities handle any civilian casualties? We handle everything in house and make sure their families are taken care of, but?—"

I cut myself off. Keiran was Mae's father, and she definitely wasn't being taken care of by this family. If she was, I would have seen her name the moment I took over.

"Your father chose to cover Dino's assassination attempt with a carjacking," Vito replied stiffly, clasping his hands together. "I hardly see why that's relevant."

"It's pretty fucking relevant," I snapped, taking the file back from Dino. "Why are Rachel and Mae not getting the same care we've given to every other civilian family we've affected?"

"Her dad died because of… me?" Dino murmured behind me.

"Because it was the best course of action at the time," Vito said, his eyes narrowed. "The assassination attempt was public and loud. It would have been difficult to pay off the authorities like normal, and with one dead Russian and a dead civilian it was easier, and simple, to let the state take over."

"So, what, you just left him there for the police and packaged this up as a carjacking because it was cheaper ?" I yelled, the anger rising like a suffocating wave. "When have we ever given a shit about that?"

"Money was not as plentiful back then as it is now, and given the unfortunate ties to Keiran and his family, your father made his decision."

"Ties? What ties?"

Vito didn't reply. Instead, he fixed me with the terse look I often got from my father, which made me feel small and stupid, like I was incapable of controlling my own life or making the right decisions.

It was the same look he gave me the night he told me my dreams of becoming a mechanic were dead in the water because peace was over, and I had to step up and take responsibility in the family.

"Mae." Her name slipped from me, hoarse and rough.

"Your father felt that your infatuation with that girl was a risk to the family security at a time of war." Vito nodded slowly. "And anything that returned you to her orbit would risk your becoming distracted and incompetent. Much like you are now, chasing around that town after her rather than being here and leading this family."

Rage surged up like a vicious monster and I slammed my hand down onto the desk.

"I am leading this family!" I yelled. "I am the only one fighting to keep us afloat, fighting to find the truth, fighting to comfort my mother and reassure all those who come under us. I am the only one doing everything for everyone else! And you would deny me a touch of respite, of love?"

Vito stood so forcefully that his chair clattered backward, and a red fog clouded my thoughts. This was kept from me, and her family was denied compensation because my father couldn't trust me to care for her and my family?

They kept me from her? Dino's hand clutched at my elbow, and it became the only thing holding my rage at bay.

" Family is more important than some old crush," Vito snapped. "You need to grow up, Rocco. Your father knew that then, and I know it now. You, Rocco, would do well to remember that your responsibilities lie here, at the heart of the Adamis, and not in some forgotten town!"