Walking into my brother’s office, I’m relieved to find him alone. The sound of the door closing behind me has Gio looking up from his desk. “We need to kill her,” I tell him.

“Who?”

“Our mother,” I say.

“Why? Has she contacted you?” he asks.

“No.” Why the fuck would she?

“Then why do we need to kill her, exactly?” Gio’s expression remains impartial. He’s not opposed to the idea. I’m sure he’s already thought of it himself. He’s also not just going to jump onboard with it either. He wants to hear me out. See if my logic aligns with his.

“I have a feeling her coming back from the dead is going to cause chaos. Something bad is going to happen,” I tell him. “That woman is the curse on this family.”

“Maybe. But is that reason enough to kill her? Especially since she hasn’t reached out to a single one of us yet?” Gio asks. “She’s known where we are our whole lives. She chose not to be around. Pops has been gone for years now, and still nothing. She’s not coming back, Marcel.”

“So, what? We just let her live out her life in that clubhouse, and we go about ours as if she doesn’t exist?”

“Exactly. Nothing changes,” Gio says. “Come on, I’ve got a son who wants to see his favourite uncle.”

“Wait… Say that again. After I hit record. Someone needs to put Vin in his place. He thinks he’s the favourite just ʼcause he’s younger.” I pull out my phone.

“Fuck off.” Gio walks past me. Laughing as he turns down the hall. And I follow him out of his office and into one of the living rooms his wife converted into a play area.

“Hey, I didn’t know you were here. You want a drink? Food?” El stands from where she was sitting and playing with Aurelio on the floor.

“No, I’m good. I just came to give this little man some lovin’ before I head out.” I bend down and pluck up my nephew.

“Well, I’m gonna get a drink. Be right back,” El says and walks out of the room.

“This is why,” I tell Gio, holding the toddler close to my chest.

“What?”

“This. Aurelio and Luciano are exactly why we should kill her. So she can’t infect them with her poison.”

“That’s never going to fucking happen,” Gio grunts. “I promise, if she so much as sniffs in our direction, I won’t hesitate to pull the trigger.”

Chapter Five