Reckless & Ruined (19 page)

A
lessa stayed pressed into the corner, watching the men pace back and forth in the living room. The Artino family ranted on and on about Riley showing up at the church and his demand of an apology. Dean spewed his vile words, waving a hand at Alessa and swearing her marks were by her own cause.

Alessa stayed quiet.

She had nothing to say.

Nothing she could say would matter.

Abriella, leaning against the far wall across from Alessa, caught her sister’s eye and frowned.

She could still smell the smoke.

She could still feel the heat.

“That bastard,” Theo choked out.

Joel didn’t move from an inch from his seat in the large recliner at the head of the room. “I’m so very sorry, Theo.”

No, he wasn’t.

Alessa’s mind screamed the truth: Joel did this.

Joel did it.

Joel.

Alessa wasn’t surprised that Theo had fallen into Joel’s trap. As it was, everyone suspected Riley’s involvement in a number of things. The shooting that killed Lea Rossi and Ben DeLuca. The attack on the Rossi business and the retaliation on Laurent’s crew.

Riley Conti had done nothing to confirm or deny his involvement in those things. People pointed to him, and he said nothing in response.

Why wouldn’t everyone think he had done this, too?

Fear was the perfect motivator.

Alessa wasn’t sure what to believe regarding everything else. Had Riley done the other shootings and killings? She didn’t know

But she knew Riley didn’t kill Dino.

Who would believe her?

“My brother …” Theo trailed off with a pained grunt, his teeth clenching. “My brother, Joel.”

“He’ll answer for this,” Joel promised calmly. “Riley will answer for this.”

“Did you hear what he said to Dino before the service?” Theo asked, his voice cracking on the final word. “That we would all know, Joel. We would all know which side my brother was on after today. He fucking told us right then!”

“I heard him,” Joel said.

“We all heard him,” Walter muttered.

“Why the fuck would Riley go after my brother, huh?” Theo asked, his frustration boiling over. He threw his hands high, facing Joel as his shoulders heaved with every breath. “Why Dino? There was no reason for that, none at all!”

Alessa knew the truth. Abriella knew the truth.

Joel, Walter, and Dean knew the fucking truth.

Theo didn’t.

Alessa’s heart broke for the man.

“Of course there was a reason,” Joel said quietly.

Theo scoffed. “Oh?”

“Yes. Riley clearly wanted to make some point. You knew your brother was leaning toward the Conti side of things, Theo.” Joel shrugged in the chair, looking his fingernails over as he added, “And I brought it up to you, too. Dino couldn’t be trusted entirely.”

“He was loyal to me,” Theo spat.

“You believe he was, and I’m almost positive Riley did, too. Somehow, the man is getting information.” Joel eyed the mostly silent men in the room, never once sparing his sisters any of his attention. “Perhaps Riley’s point was to show that even those who think they might have a leg in this game, those who are close to him, are not safe from his wrath if he decides to level it on them.”

Theo’s body trembled. “I want that man to pay.”

“As I said,” Joel murmured, “he will.”

No.

Alessa shook her head but forced her mouth to stay quiet.

No
.

Riley Conti didn’t do this.

She wanted to tell them—tell Theo—but who would believe her?

Alessa caught Abriella’s stare again. Even her sister looked worn and unsettled. If Abriella couldn’t manage to save face and keep strong, what did that say for Alessa? What did that say for their family and the Outfit?

Joel had finally gone too far.

You shouldn’t skip church on Sunday … I hear it’s going to be a blast.

Joel’s words. Not Riley’s.

Why had her brother done this?

“If this doesn’t show the Outfit that Riley Conti cares for no man and cannot be trusted, I don’t know what will,” Joel said quietly.

Joel played his game well, Alessa realized. His words said it all. He’d killed a man simply to drive Dino’s family closer to theirs by using their pain, grief, and fear. Joel ended someone’s life to further his own, not because that man deserved to die.

It was disgusting.

It left a terrible, smothering chill running through Alessa’s body.

A false sadness covered Joel’s expression. His frown looked real. Even his tired, watery gaze seemed true. Nothing was. Joel was a liar.

A filthy, untrue, turncoat liar. A dirty player in the Outfit’s games.

Because he couldn’t win otherwise.

Alessa wouldn’t let him win.

She’d make goddamn sure of that.

“We’ll get him, Theo,” Joel said.

Theo nodded. “We better.”

“We will, Theo. Mark my words.”

Alessa felt Adriano’s presence in the church before she even saw him. It was like comfort and home had just walked into the room to pick her up and take her with him.

Dressed in all black, Adriano walked down the aisle between the pews. The suit Adriano wore was appropriate for the funeral. His hands were clasped at his back and his head was bowed just enough to keep his eyes from Alessa’s view as he passed her by. Silent and resigned, Adriano barely graced anyone with his attention.

Alessa wanted him to look at her.

Just fucking
look
at her.

She’d tried to call him, needing to hear his voice and make sure he was okay. She wanted to tell him what she knew about Joel and the things he had done. Adriano needed to know that Joel was planning something on Riley.

But how could she tell him if he wouldn’t talk to her?

The funeral went on as planned, despite the bombing from the day before. The location for the service had changed to a smaller church, one Alessa’s grandfather used to attend when he was a younger man.

Somehow, Adriano must have gotten the change of venue for the service if he showed up. He showed up alone, interestingly enough. Alessa didn’t miss the fact that Riley and none of his men had accompanied Adriano to the service.

Adriano came alone. He came unprotected.

He didn’t look the least bit frightened as he stepped up to Joel with a sympathetic frown and offered his hand, quiet apologies for their loss, and nothing more.

It was brazen.

Bold.

Crazy.

Completely insane.

And guessing by the look on Joel’s face—the unaltered rage churned with shock—this was just another game to the families.

Dean stood beside Alessa, keeping her firmly in place. She couldn’t skip out or try to catch Adriano as he left. Dean wasn’t likely to leave her side.

Abriella’s hand found Alessa’s. Without a word, her sister squeezed.

Someone was there.

People were watching.

This is how you win in a war. Play dirty.

Adriano passed by Peter and Sara who stood at the casket, offering them the same he did Joel. Abriella and Alessa stood in the front pew, directly across from Terrance’s casket. Briefly, Adriano paused at the casket, murmuring his goodbye to an Outfit boss.

When Adriano spun on his heel, turning his back to the casket, his gaze caught Alessa’s. She searched his eyes, needing to find something there staring back. Something familiar. Something comforting and loving.

Anything
.

Alessa found nothing.

Adriano looked cold.

It burned her, searing through her heart and soul with a devastating intent.

Abriella squeezed Alessa’s hand again.

Just another game.

Adriano had to play his, too.

Christ.

Alessa hoped that’s what it was.

Abriella slipped inside Alessa’s bedroom silently. “Hey.”

Alessa didn’t look up from her phone. She was waiting for a call or text, but nothing came. Nothing except useless platitudes and apologies from college friends and distant relatives about the death of Terrance. Certainly not the phone call or message Alessa wanted, at least not from the right person.

Adriano
.

Alessa sighed, shoving her phone down to the blankets. “Hey.”

Abriella waved at the door. “The house is still packed full.”

Great
.

“Still?” Alessa asked.

“Very,” Abriella confirmed. “And it’ll probably keep going most of the night. Joel is already drunk, but I’m not sure if that’s because he’s an idiot, or because he’s pissed off about Adriano showing up at the funeral after the bomb.”

Alessa tried not to be annoyed, but she really just wanted to go home to her apartment, away from the prying eyes of the guests and mourners. As was custom for a family after a funeral, the Trentinis arranged a dinner and quiet party for guests to celebrate Terrance’s life. Quiet being the key word.

Apparently no one got that message.

It wasn’t uncommon for the parties to get loud, even if it was brought on by a funeral. Given the bombing a day before, and Adriano’s show today, a great deal of the Outfit’s families had shown up alongside friends and relatives.

Alessa just couldn’t stand it anymore. She had needed to get away, and the very first chance she could, slipped upstairs to her old room.

Well …

New room.

By the end of the week, she supposed she would be living in this space again.

It felt like the old her—a younger, more naive Alessa.

“Adriano won’t answer my calls,” Alessa said.

Abriella frowned. “Give him a couple of days. Maybe he’s just out of it right now. Eve is in the hospital, too.”

Yeah, Alessa heard. Evelina had taken a few bumps and cuts from flying debris. The front and side windows of the car she had been in when the bomb went off had exploded. The Conti driver had been badly burned.

“I want him to know,” Alessa said. “I need him to know that I know who did this.”

“This is going to backfire,” Abriella muttered.

Alessa glared at her sister. “I don’t care. Adriano probably thinks I blame his family for this. I need him to know that I don’t.”

“No, I meant Joel.”

“What?”

“Joel,” Abriella said again. “He’s trying to turn people against Riley. I think it’s going to backfire.”

“How so?”

“Fear is a great motivator, Alessa. The stronger man always wins.”

“But all these people are here, Ella.”

Abriella shrugged. “Middle men. Unimportant men. Go back downstairs and take a look around, Alessa. The right men, the ones Joel should have, didn’t follow the family back to the dinner.”

“Laurent is here,” Alessa said.

“Tommas isn’t,” Abriella replied just as fast. “And everybody knows he makes the important calls for the Rossi side.”

“Theo is here for the DeLucas. Walter, too.”

“Theo is grieving. He’s lost a great deal of people. His uncle, his brother, and in a way, his sister is married off to a family who isn’t showing a lot of support to the Trentini cause. But a lot of the DeLuca crew is keeping their distance from Joel. It’s the same thing as the Rossi crew.

“Walter, on the other hand, is using this tragedy to climb higher,” Abriella said, looking entirely unbothered by the fact they were stuck in a mess. “He thinks Joel will take him there. As far as Riley goes, he has the biggest crew. The Conti side of the Outfit has always dominated the streets because he’s the front boss with a closer hand to the men. Riley had a great deal of support and if his crew starts moving in on the others, they’ll bow down because they don’t have a choice.”

Alessa chewed on her lower lip. A mess wasn’t good enough to describe the shit show surrounding them. Everything Abriella said simply told Alessa that the fighting would continue until someone got what they wanted. A higher seat. The better title.

Where in the hell did that leave her?

Where did that leave Adriano?

All over again, Alessa was left with the distinct feeling that she and Adriano just couldn’t be. Something was always going to stand in their way. Someone would always be waiting, ready to step in and stop them.