And on the page after that…
In Luca's handwriting was another note. It wasn't long like Andi's. Then again, he was easily a man of few words, used his fists and gun to talk.
Find my daughter. Protect her. Marry her. I know your secrets, and now she will too. If you're reading this, I'm long gone. Carry on my legacy for me. You must know Frank and I have talked. If Dante does not want to take over the Alfero family, it will fall to you.
You are who I choose. Who Frank chooses. You will lead the Alferos if Dante does not. And you'll do a damn good job, son.
~Luca
Dumbfounded, I stared at the letter, reading it over and over again. No wonder Phoenix had wanted me to read the damn folder! And Frank. I stood. My chair slid backward and collided into the wall with a crash.
I swallowed as the walls of my throat threatened to close in.
"I knocked," Phoenix said from the door. "Funny I was just about to ask you if you'd read the folder."
I pointed at it. "You knew?"
"Shit, Sergio, you even need to ask?" Phoenix folded his arms. "I know everything. Luca made sure of that the minute I took over the family. I just didn't believe it at first, nor did I want to, all things considering. But…" He shrugged. "…she changed you."
"She changed all of us," I whispered.
"Yeah." Phoenix nodded. "She did."
"So…" I scratched the back of my head. "…it seems I'm going to New York."
Phoenix grinned. "I already booked your flight."
EPILOGUE
Sergio
"WHAT DOES IT MEAN?" THE WAITRESS inclined her head at my right forearm. "Your tattoo?"
I leaned back in the booth, my hand tapping against the ceramic mug. The smell of greasy food filled the air. A bell dinged as Frank made his way toward me from the door.
"The tally mark?" I asked politely.
She nodded her head. Damn, the girl just screamed innocence.
I had to fight to keep myself from scaring her. "It's for a friend." I said in a gruff voice then shrugged. "My best friend."
"Lucky girl." Her smile was warm.
"She died," I said slowly, "and I promised her I'd never forget — I told her I only marked things that were desperately important to me. And ink is forever, you know."
"Is that why you put the inscription underneath it?" She pointed.
I looked down. Until we both shall live had been scrawled in cursive beneath a black tally mark with a rose drawn around it.
"Yeah," I croaked. "That's why."
"Again…" The waitress shrugged. "…lucky girl."
"No," I corrected, "I'm the lucky one."
Frank cleared his throat.
"Well, I'll just…" The waitress blushed and scurried away.
"So…" Frank folded his hands onto the table and leaned forward. "…I take it you've read your folder."
"We leave tomorrow," I said quietly.
"New York." Frank sighed. "Never thought I'd return to that godforsaken place. It's where we started, you know, but Chicago had been new, clean, unaffected by the crime families. We moved in, and everything changed."
"You think they know we're coming?"
Frank snorted. "Oh, they'll expect it. Our cousins have been protecting that boy and girl for the past ten years."
"Are these cousins… friendly?"
"Hell, no." Frank grinned. "But a little gunfire never hurt anyone."
"I thought your family was the least violent of the five," I muttered.
"Funny." Frank checked his watch. "I'd always believed them to be the most violent."
"Fantastic."
"Aw, where's your sense of adventure?"
The list burned a hole in my pocket. Somewhere on it was written: Go to a Broadway show in New York and sing along even if it sounds horrible.
"Oh, I've got it." I chuckled and patted my pocket. "Right here."
"Good to know." Frank grinned. "Shall we?"
I followed him out, my mind focused in on one thing.
Keeping my promise to Andi.
And fulfilling my destiny.
Funny how they ended up being the same damn thing.
The End.
To find out what happens next, go snatch Empire, releasing May 31st.
Because every mafia man deserves a happy ending....
Empire
I have lost everything.
My purpose.
My love.
My soul.
Death knocks on my door, I want to answer, but every time I reach for the handle--the promise I made her, brings me back.
So I breathe.
I live.
I hate.
And I allow the anger to boil beneath the surface of a perfectly indifferent facade.
I am broken, I dont want to be fixed.
One last trip to New York, one last chance to redeem a lost part of the mafia family. The Empire is crumbling and it's my job to fix it, my job to mend the pieces that were scattered over thirty years ago.
The only issue is, the only way to fix, is to do something I swore I'd never do again.
An arranged marriage.
Only this time.
I won't fall.
Or so help me God, I'll kill her myself.
My name is Sergio Abandanoto, you think you know my pain, my suffering, my anger, my hate--you have no idea.
I am the mafia.
I am the darkness.
Blood in. No out.
EMPIRE
Eagle Elite Book 7