Read Online Empire (Eagle Elite Book 7) by Rachel van Dyken - Free Book Online Page A

deep breath and walked over to the window, keeping his back to me. Stupid move. I could kill him without hesitation.
    But maybe that was the point.
    He was trying to show he trusted me.
    By showing his back.
    I nodded silently. I respected that.
    So I lowered the gun to the table and crossed my arms. “I’m going to assume that when you say Val doesn’t know, what you’re really trying to get across is that she doesn’t know you know.”
    His shoulders tensed.
    “And you’ve been keeping it from her… how long?”
    He didn’t answer.
    “Dante.”
    “My whole life,” he whispered. “Gio, Sal, and Papi made a promise never to reveal anything to Val. It would destroy her, the truth. The promise included me… until things went wrong.”
    “You mean until you were sent away, and the families started their little war?”
    He nodded, still staring out the window. “They trained me. I swore I’d never tell Val but now…” His shoulders lifted and fell as he released a heavy sigh. “Now she’s going to find out.”
    “She won’t hate you.”
    “She will.”
    “Val seems like a forgiving person.”
    “Hah!” He turned and met my stare. “And you know her so well?”
    “I’m about to,” I muttered, sitting on the bed. “Look, for what it’s worth, there isn’t any part of this situation that makes me comfortable. My family is perfectly happy in Chicago. The Cappo runs things from there as well as Italy. We finally have peace because of what your father has done, because of the Empire he has built. I’m not here out of any selfish ambition. I’m here because I owe it to him to follow through with his plan, from the very beginning, so even if that means I have to eat shit — literally, I’ll do it. That’s how much I respected Luca. I would consider it the greatest compliment of my life if someone said I lived the way he did.”
    Dante tensed again. “If he was so great, why did he leave us?”
    Playing therapist wasn’t my strong suit.
    Why wasn’t Andi with me?
    She’d always known what to say.
    When to make a joke.
    When to be serious.
    When to offer wisdom.
    I had my gun.
    And scars on my body.
    That’s all I had.
    “This life,” I started slowly, struggling to choose the right words, “is not the one he wanted for you. Had he not died, we wouldn’t be having this conversation. But he did die. That leaves us with only one choice.”
    “I haven’t decided yet,” he whispered.
    “Neither have I.”
    He frowned. “What do you mean?”
    I smirked. “I haven’t decided if you’ve got the balls for the job yet, cupcake. It’s going to take a hell of a lot more than trying to sucker punch me in the face to prove your worth.”
    “Yeah well, I’m young, not stupid, I figured with your training the easiest way to shock you was to charge you like a bull.”
    “It probably would have worked if you hadn’t yelled before you ran at me.”
    Dante laughed softly and then a bit louder. “Yeah, I’ll work on that.”
    “Mafia rule number one.” I nodded. “Don’t let them know they’re dead until they see their own blood on their hands.”
    “Morbid.”
    “Life.”
    “I feel like I need to go to Disneyland after talking with you. Happiest place on earth, Sergio… I need happy if this my future.”
    “I can’t promise you’ll find it in the fold.”
    “Yeah. But one can hope, right?”
    No. Wrong.
    There was no happiness in death.
    There was only finality.
    And silence.
    “You drive?” I changed the subject.
    “Yeah, why?”
    “You’re taking me and Frank to the meeting.”
    “So now I’m your chauffer?”
    “Even made men have to start somewhere,” I called out as I made my way into the bathroom. “Oh, and touch any of my weapons, and I’m going to decapitate you before you can utter a sorry.”
    He held his hands up. “Got it.”
     

To show our simple skill, that is the true beginning of our end —A Midsummer Night’s Dream
     
    Valentina
     
    HE WAS RIGHT .
    I