“You are to take over now, Ruby Rose. There’s no getting around the fact, you know that, right?” My uncle ends in Italian. I knew this was coming, and in the back of my mind, I think I knew there was no way I could escape it. I don’t have the luxury of choices. I have the luxury of death, murder, crime, and the family I have around me.

“I understand, yes.”

“Good,” Uncle Tommy says, leaning back against the leather chair and resting his ankle on his knee. “You know there’s no escaping, baby girl, and we love you. We are your family. We do not claim Victor’s choices nor did we know what he was doing. We thought you were his child.”

My aunty sniffles, wiping her nose. “Your mama would kill him herself.”

“What do you need me to do?” I ask them all, looking around the room. “I think I have a few soldiers still on, but I will need to source one I can trust implicitly like I did Val—”

“—fucking Russian.”

I ignore his stab at my best friend.

Gio enters farther into the room, sitting on the armrest of my chair protectively. “We will get that handled. You need to bring your family back here and take back that throne before the vultures slither in.”

“We know you can do this, Ruby Rose. You are far better than Victor was. You gained respect on the streets, respect you worked to get just by being yourself.” Uncle Tommy stands, buttoning up his jacket. I gaze around the room at the rest of my uncles and aunties, the commissioner who nods in agreement.

He speaks. “This is agreed upon within the commission too, Lala.” They all share the same somber expression, but they’re right. I can take this. If anything, I want to just to slap it on Victor’s rotting corpse that I can.

“Okay. I will do that.” I watch as they all leave, except Gio, who is staying behind until we have men stationed back on the property. Walking toward the fireplace, I toss in a few pieces of wood and kindling, taking the matches off the mantle and striking up the flame before flicking it in.

“I need answers on Mama, Gio. It doesn’t make sense why someone would kill her. I know Victor was a monster, but he didn’t do this. I know it. Everyone knows it.”

He comes up behind me, holding a freshly poured glass of tequila. I smile up at him, taking a sip of the honey liquid of Don Julio.

“What about Skully? We don’t know much on him, so I have a few people working on tracking him down. No one can hide that well.”

Turning around, I take a seat on the mantel just as my phone vibrates between my boobs. “Shit.”

“Answer it. May as well rip off the Band-Aid now.”