If Hugo hadn’t died after raising me into the person I was today, I’d ask him for advice. He’d know exactly what to do. But he wasn’t here, and his son, Brent—my second-in-command—was out there fighting the Ezzatis’ men.

I glanced at the screen. Desmond had just lost another son, but as I watched the blood pool underneath him, I had to look away. Taking a deep breath, I tried not to let my mind go back to that cabin where my family had been brutally murdered. It had taken me months until I could stand to see blood again, but Hugo had insisted that I should get strong for this moment, so why did this feel as if I was epically failing at everything?

“I’m going for your wife and the rest of your children next,” I said, but all Desmond did was lift his chin and stare at me. He probably didn’t even care about his second wife. She’d been given to him by another mafia family to strengthen their relations, and she’d borne him four children.

The sons my men had just killed were from Desmond’s first marriage. His first wife had died under strange circumstances, so I had a feeling he’d killed her himself. So what could I do that would make this man feel something? If I couldn’t get him to suffer, then at least I should get him to die angry and feeling his defeat. Maybe I was killing off his family too fast.

“You might as well kill me now,” Desmond said. “I’m getting tired of all this.”

“Oh, is that so?” I tilted my head at him. “You’re going to watch every single second of this, whether you like it or not.” I started for the door.

“Arianna,” he said, and I stopped and looked at him. “This business isn’t suited for a woman. You’ll see that soon if you haven’t already. You would’ve been better off if I’d taken you in and showed you your place. You would’ve been happy.”

My phone buzzed just as I was about to go back and smash Desmond’s face in. I pressed the answer button.

“We’re closing in on the rest of the Ezzatis,” one of my men said. “We cut off their way to the panic room, so there’s nowhere they can go. The house is surrounded.”

“Good. Wait for me.” I ended the call. “I think things are going to get a lot more interesting for you, but I’ll come and ask for your opinion later,” I said to Desmond, then strode out of the room. My guards were outside, and one of them was monitoring the feed coming from the camera that was in the room I’d just left.