Lawless: Mob Boss Book Three by Michelle St. James Read Free Book Online

out onto the deck.
    They’d eaten a quiet breakfast, every topic of conversation either too weighty or too insignificant for the circumstances. Afterwards, Angel and David had dealt with the dishes while Nico went into his study to call Luca.
    “Out?” Angel twisted in the deck chair as he came around to sit next to her. “Out of where?”
    “Everywhere,” Nico said. “Someone from Rome took over Boston this morning, and all of Luca's permissions have been revoked from the New York servers.”
    “Is he okay?” Angel asked.
    “Luca can take care of himself,” Nico said. “He’ll see what he can find out and get back to us.”
    “Raneiro can do what he wants with the Boston territory,” Angel said, fighting a tide of anger. “But Rossi Development is a private company, and it belongs to David and me.”
    “Donati can have it, as far as I’m concerned,” David said, his eyes closed against the sun.
    “That’s easy for you to say. You didn’t spend the last four months working there.”
    He turned his head, shielding his eyes so he could see her. “Working to dismantle it you mean?”
    She hid her surprise. She hadn’t been sure how much David knew, how much he’d gathered from the business calls she took at the brownstone.
    “That’s beside the point,” she said. “He can’t just march in and take over a private company.”
    “I don’t think that’s happened,” Nico said. “It sounds like the takeover has been Syndicate business only. I’m sure Margaret will handle everything at the office in your absence.”
    Angel narrowed her eyes. “How do you know about Margaret?”
    She had hired Margaret Nolan as her CFO after dumping the corrupt men her father had on the payroll — her “uncle” Frank Morra among them. Margaret had an MBA from Harvard and was about as far removed from the Syndicate as someone could get. She was young, but she’d picked up the business quickly, and Angel had liked that she was a relative outsider. Nico was right; she would hold things together until Angel could figure out what to do about the business.
    A smiled played at his lips. “You don’t really think I just abandoned you, did you?”
    “Wait a minute…” She leaned forward in the chair. “Did you get Margaret to apply for the job?”
    “Now you’re being paranoid. I’m sure you’re more than capable of handling your father’s business. I just watched from afar to make sure you were okay.”
    She settled back into the chair. Protective was one thing. Meddling was another.
    “What does it mean?” Angel asked.
    “It means we’re locked out of Syndicate business,” he said. “Luca was our inside man.”
    “What about Marco and Elia?”
    “Luca told them to go dark, too. If Raneiro’s on to Luca, it’s only a matter of time before he connects the dots to Marco and Elia.”
    She was hit with a pang of guilt. Luca was like a brother to Nico. He would have done Nico’s bidding no matter what. But Marco and Elia had been protecting her, and now they were in danger, too.
    Nico reached for her hand. “This isn’t your fault. Everyone’s a grown up here. They knew what they were getting into.”
    “What do we do now?” she asked. “We can’t hide here forever.”
    “We have to get to Raneiro. Try to negotiate some kind of exit strategy.”
    “What kind of exit strategy?” David asked.
    “One that will allow you and your sister to live in peace,” Nico said.
    “Can’t we just say we’re out?” David asked. “Let them have the Boston territory?”
    Nico shook his head. “There’s only one way out of the Syndicate in a situation like this, and it’s not a resignation letter.”
    “So they’re going to kill us?” David said.
    Alarm rang through Angel’s body at the calm acceptance in his voice. It was the medication. Making him apathetic. Making him too tired to fight for his life. He just needed to get well. Then he’d want to live again.
    “They’re going to try,” Nico