Angel's Mafia (gxg) ✓

L | Heir of Shadows

"ARE YOU MY SON?" GIACOMO GENOVESE SPITS in Italian, delivering Cassian a backhand that leaves a red mark. "Are you stupid?"

Cassian's eyes are wounded, full of hurt. Giacomo cannot stand the sight of it, and he turns away sharply, striking the desk. The wood shakes. "You were so caught up in your own pride, you lost sight of what matters! Irresponsible! Foolish!"

He hits the wall. It dents.

Cassian tries not to let the shaking in his hands show. His father still has the power to make him tremble, and it scares him.

"What―what did I do wrong?" he asks softly.

Giacomo's eyes narrow to slits, his face contorting into rage. "You told the Falcone don that Cadenza is alive. Do you understand? Do you know what you've done?"

"They were just friends!"

"You idiot. You foolish, stupid boy. Is that what you believe? Is that what you think?" Never mind that a year ago, Giacomo had thought the same thing. Now, he slams his fist down on the desk. Everything on it rattles.

"What? What do you mean?"

"They were lovers!" Giacomo curses in Italian.

"I―I don't understand."

Giacomo moves close to his son, lifting Cassian's chin with two fingers. He looks straight into his eyes and says, "They're women who fucked each other."

Cassian doesn't even flinch at the vulgarity.

"You mean . . ." he says slowly.

"Yes," says his father. "Understand now. See what you've done."

"I didn't . . . I wasn't thinking . . ."

"Angel Falcone now knows Cadenza is alive, and do you know why the Reaper and I did not want that?"

Cassian shakes his head.

"Do you?" Giacomo seethes, gripping his son's chin harder.

"No, Papa," he says.

"Because Angel Falcone is her mother's goddamn daughter, and we can't have that on the loose!" He lets go of Cassian and storms to the window, looking out, his voice low and even and dangerous. "Now we have to kill her. Before, it was fine to keep her alive. She wasn't volatile, she wasn't threatening. But now that she knows about Cadenza, she will strike."

"Maybe she won't," Cassian says softly.

"We've done business with the Falcones for forty years," Giacomo says. "The women in that family are nothing less than wildfires waiting to burn. She will strike, and she will do it hard. Now is the time to get rid of her, before anything happens." Through the window of the second floor, they both see a black car pull into the house. It is the Reaper's car. In a tone that indicates he is speaking more to himself than to his son, Giacomo adds, "It was fine, leaving her alive, Gianni and I both agreed. Because she's the only blood Falcone left, we could pinpoint her and control her. We even have a tracker in her arm."

With a sigh that reveals his disappointment, Giacomo turns away from the window, his thick fingers making a dismissive motion.

"When she dies, it'll be a disaster trying to figure out who will be don next, and they will have the element of surprise, which is dangerous."

Cassian touches his cheek, feeling the heat of where his father struck.

With cold eyes, his father turns on him and says, "You will kill Angel Falcone. I am willing to bet she will be here tonight, at Cadenza's ceremony. This is your fault, and I am tasking you with getting rid of her."

"Does the Reaper know?"

"No. And we will tell him after we deal with this mess."

"But―"

"No. We handle this now."

With that, his father leaves the room and slams the door shut. Cassian buries his head in his hands. He doesn't know how he will manage to kill Angel Falcone and propose to Cadenza in one night.

>>>

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From the moon and back,
Sarai