Fearless: Mob Boss Book Two (Volume 2) Read Online Free Page B

were, the other times were worse; the times when she seemed so far away he had to remind himself that she was in New York, just a couple of hours from the city. Then it seemed like she had had been a figment of his imagination, a fever dream he would spend the rest of his life trying to recapture.
    He noticed with surprise that night had fallen, and the beach had disappeared below the deck. He could hear the waves rushing toward the house, but he could no longer see them. He finally went inside to pour himself another drink.
    He left the massive glass doors open, the sheer curtains billowing in the almost-summer breeze rolling in off the water. He couldn’t afford to think about Angel now. He had bigger problems.
    He poured some vodka into his glass and walked back outside, leaning on the railing of the deck. He still couldn’t believe Carmine was dead. The older man had been an honorary uncle since Nico’s birth, had been a fixture at every birthday party, every graduation. He’d helped Nico through the murder of his parents, had urged Nico to plan his moves carefully when Nico had wanted to indiscriminately unleash his fury. Nico hadn’t always taken the older man’s advice, but knowing it was there had been a comfort. And while Luca was as loyal as they came, it was Carmine who had the years of experience with the Syndicate—most of them working under Nico’s father. In a business that bred suspicion, Carmine was one of very few people Nico trusted with his life.
    And he’d been gunned down like a dog, just like Nico’s parents.
    Nico didn’t understand it. His business had obviously been under attack for the past few months, but the disturbances had been minor—hijacked shipments, missing soldiers, suspicious activity on the servers that were locked down tighter than Fort Knox, guarded by hackers so skilled that Nico had recruited them from the FBI as part of his plans to modernize the centuries old business of organized crime.
    Carmine’s death was an execution. A message.
    But Carlo Rossi was dead, and as far as Nico knew, there wasn’t anyone loyal enough to him to seek revenge. Frank Morra had been Carmine’s Consigliere, but Frank was even older than Carmine. More importantly, Frank was soft, apathetic. It was hard to imagine him even running the business in Carlo’s absence, let alone planning a takedown of Nico, whose family had been the envy of the Syndicate until the mess with Angel and her father.
    So who then? Who had both the motivation and ambition to come after the Vitale family so aggressively?
    He thought about Dante. His former soldier had never worried him. He was a psychopath for sure; someone who’d had several run-ins with the law and more than one charge of violence against a woman. It was something Nico didn’t tolerate in his organization, although he’d tried to be patient right up until Dante had put his hands on Angel. Then it had been over. He’d ordered a beating severe enough to send a message and banished Dante from the family for good.
    He hadn’t been surprised when Dante turned up working for Carlo, but was Dante smart enough and ambitious enough to attempt a takedown of the Vitale family? Could he rally the resources to follow him into this kind of battle? And if not Dante, then who? This kind of move took manpower. It took airtight loyalty. Who in the Syndicate could pull together all of those pieces in the few months since Carlo’s death?
    Frustrated all over again, he ran a hand through his hair and finished his drink, relishing the warmth of it on its way down his throat. He hated being exiled to the island on Maine, especially with Angel’s ghost everywhere he looked. He had left only to give Luca and Vincent time to calm things down in New York, but he would be back soon enough. He would find out who had done this, and he would kill them.
    He was contemplating the merit of another drink when he heard the hum of a boat. He held still, trying to get a read on