Page 37 of Renata Vitali (The Five Syndicates)
I could never hurt him enough to make his betrayal stop hurting. And it hurts, in every part of my body.
Veronica Roth, Insurgent
Five Years Later
“You don’t smile. It’s kind of creepy.” Cris sends a clown smile my way to make his point. Gone is his laid back, surfer vibe, replaced by a bespoke suit, sharp haircut, and fifty-thousand-dollar Cartier watch.
When I took over the De Luca syndicate, I didn’t just make him my advisor. I made him my under boss—my second-in-command—too. One of the best decisions I’ve ever made.
“Smiling is for children and clowns. Overrated.”
He slides a document to my desk and takes a seat in the leather chair across from me. “Your old man’s been checked into a nursing home. Kind of cruel, considering he’s, like, late forties, and everyone else is on their deathbed.”
“That’s the point. Does he have a roommate?”
“The worst.”
I figure this is worse than prison or death to Angelo. There’s nothing he hates more than the elderly, visits from happy grandchildren, and living without luxury.
Check, check, and check.
“And the other thing I asked for?”
Cris averts his eyes and takes in the office, like he isn’t in here all the damn time. “No.”
“No?”
“No, they haven’t found her. Th
e girl’s gone. Ghosted.” He hesitates, and I know I won’t like what he has to say. “Maybe you should stop trying to find her.”
“Or maybe I should try harder.”
When Ren left my room five years ago, I didn’t think she’d leave Devils Ridge entirely. She dropped off the grid, like only a Vitali could get away with. No matter how hard I’ve tried to find her since, I haven’t been able to.
“Some would construe this as creepy.”
He’s right, of course.
We both know it.
I have everything I’ve always said I wanted. Angelo has been dethroned. I’ve dumped him into a nursing home far before his time. I run the De Luca family, everyone is happy, and we’ve been thriving. The Benefactor has disappeared. No more cigars. No more messages. No more instructions.
Everything is good.
I should be happy.
But I’m not.
Because Ren’s not here to enjoy it with me.
“I just—”
“You’re my best friend, Damian. I’m the only person in the position to tell you this. Let her go. She left you. She left Devils Ridge. She left the mafia. She doesn’t want this life, and that’s her choice.”
“There’s more to it. There has to be.”
She wouldn’t have just left because I kept the fact that her dad hadn’t sent her here a secret. It was a breach of trust, yes, but it shouldn’t have been a relationship ender. Not for us.
