The Plan

"Sei pazzo?" Luca exclaimed.

"Dimmi Adonis! Are you crazy? Uhn? A war? Your coronation is just a few days away, but you want to start a war? You must be crazy."

"Keep your voice down!" Adonis hissed.

"Keep my voice down. Are you even hearing yourself?"

Adonis looked away.

This was exactly why he wanted to keep it to himself.

"Your grandfather mustn't hear about this!" Luca concluded. "Forget it, Adonis. Don't start anything." He paused. "You haven't started anything, right?"

Adonis remained muted.

"Mio Dio Adonis. Tell me you haven't done anything stupid and I don't mean literally."

All Luca got in return was silence. He stared at Adonis, a disappointed and frustrated look on his face at his nonchalance. Adonis was sprawled out comfortably on the sofa, his arms folded to his chest as he avoided Luca's gaze like he hadn't just dropped a bombshell.

This was bad. Very bad.

Breaking the treaty could threaten Adonis's position in the family. He might not get a chance to be Capo anymore. The people already believed he was too hard-headed and irrational. Adonis was unforgiving, stuck in his ways, manipulative, possessive and proud. He had no care for anyone or anything in the world and would do anything to get what he wanted.

Although in their line of work, it was a bonus but in times like this, it made him difficult to deal with.

How were they going to break the news to his grandfather?

Luca drew in a shaky breath.

There was nothing he could do. The deed had been done. All they could do was patch things up and be responsible for the damages.

"Tell me everything from the beginning," He spoke after he'd calmed down a bit.

"You're giving me orders now?"

"Cut your domineering bullsh*t, Adonis. Now is not the time. Who did you kill? Antonio? Carlo?"

"I never said I killed anyone."

Luca glanced at him warily. "Oh really?"

"At least not yet, anyway."

"But you said you were going to war with them. I assumed you broke the treaty."

Adonis sat upright.

"I said I was going to war with them; I haven't started yet. I just sent them a warning. Also, I didn't break the treaty. They did."

"They did? How?"

Adonis glanced at the door to the dining room as he lowered his voice.

"They killed my soon-to-be father-in-law."

Luca tilted his head, confusion written all over his face. He tried to connect the dots.

The treaty says both families would put the past behind them until one of them initiated an attack on either family. If Adonis says his father-in-law was killed, then...

"Your fiancé's father?"

"Bingo!"

Luca squinted his eyes at him.

"...but you knew about it. You admitted that much when we were in the dining room. I know you had the guys watching her Adonis. You could've saved him if you wanted to."

"That's the thing. I never wanted to save him."

"You wanted your father-in-law gone?"

Adonis glanced at the door once again. Cara was taking her time.

Was she really considering pulling out?

"Remember how you said I had another reason for choosing her? You were right. The background check you ran on her was worth it."

Luca's eyebrow rose in question and he continued.

"I saw her at the front of the club's staff room when I went down last night. I believe she was in the middle of a breakup with her fiancé, a guy she called Timothy, but that was the problem. You see, the background check showed his name as Kane Roberts."

"How does that fit into all of this?"

"He recognized me at first sight, and I could detect a practically almost non-existent Italian accent from him but I noticed that she knew nothing of it." Adonis nodded in the direction of the dining room.

Luca stroked his chin in deep thought. "He could've had a name change."

"No. He's the guy in the footage. He tainted my drink." Adonis confirmed.

"You mean he's working for the Grecos?"

"No. He works with the Grecos. Freddy reported he was at Cara's home with the brothers just a few hours ago."

"How come she never knew?"

"I thought so, too, until I noticed the connection ran deep. He frequents the gambling den her dead father used to visit, and the den belongs to the Grecos."

Luca blinked. He knew where this was going already, and if what he was thinking was true, then Cara had been thoroughly deceived. He fixed his eyes on Adonis.

"Let me guess, the Grecos were once involved with her father."

Adonis smirked; his friend was back!

"And he didn't even know about it!"

Luca frowned. "What do you mean?"

"He's not her biological father."

****

Italian Vocabulary

Sei pazzo? means Are you crazy?

Mio Dio means My God.

Dimmi means Tell me.