I Chose the Don's Brother After Rebirth のすべてのチャプター: チャプター 11 - チャプター 17

What I hadn't expected was that Victor's wedding and mine would be on the same day.Vitale insisted on booking the best ballroom in the city.By rights, Victor was the older brother and the next Don. We should have stepped aside for him and Lillian.Knowing Victor, he'd never give up something Lillian wanted.This time I was wrong.Victor didn't push. He let us have the ballroom.On the day of the wedding, he had a gift sent over.The same twenty-three-carat pink diamond. The one he'd paid six million for.My father walked me down the aisle. He was about to hand me to Vitale.His expression was a little heavy, and he sighed."They're both Medici sons. But Victor is the one who'll inherit.""I hear he sat through his own reception with a face like stone. He drank silently right after the opening dance. Didn't look like a happy groom.""What is it with you two? How did it end up like this?"I smiled and didn't answer.He'd finally gotten what he wanted, Lillian for his bride. Why wouldn'

We'd just gotten back to New York when the consigliere called us in for an emergency.The old Don had convened a Family council.The Colombian cartels wanted a deal. They were offering to put the Medici Family in charge of distribution in New York.The old Don spoke in his low rumble. "Before I decide, I want to hear opinions.""Yes, of course, what's there to think about?"Lillian cut him off mid-sentence. Her eyes were bright with greed."Everyone knows drugs are the most profitable business. Only an idiot wouldn't get a piece."The old Don made a low, displeased sound and turned to me. "And you? What's your view?""I'm against it. High profit means risk we can't control."I shook my head. "The Medici Family has stood for thirty years, relying on political connections for protection.""What we do is gambling. That's something senators can tolerate. Gambling is a vice, not a crime.""But drugs are different." I let my voice harden. "Not one political figure on our payroll will look th

A few days later, Vitale was ready to leave for Las Vegas, and I was going with him.He had business there, and this time I was going to throw everything I had behind him.The night before we left, the old Don had a small dinner at the estate, just for us.Halfway through, the consigliere came in fast."Don. Victor and Lillian are asking to see you."The Don's smile dropped. He waved a hand, disgusted. "I said no. Apply the rules.""Victor," the consigliere hesitated, "he's insisting."The Don laughed, low and cold. "Fine. Let them in."Victor came in with Lillian behind him. He walked straight to his father and spoke without preamble."Father. Lillian just didn't know the rules. There's no need to cut off her finger."By now the whole Family knew.Lillian had gone behind the Don's back and opened her own conversation with the Colombians about distribution.Openly defying the Don was supposed to mean a bullet.Considering she was Victor's wife, an exception was made to cut off her left

The news that broke was a shock.The old Don was dead, and Victor had stepped up as the new Don.Vitale and I were on our way back for the funeral when a second shock came.Victor had been ambushed and shot.By the Schillers.Lillian Schiller's Schillers.There was no time for the funeral. We went straight to the hospital.Victor was in the ICU with tubes everywhere, and he hadn't woken up.The doctor said the machines were the only reason he was still alive. He probably wouldn't come back.I held Vitale's hand tight and turned to the consigliere. "The Schillers did this?"He nodded. "Lillian gave them the Don's movements. She put it together with her own family. It was a setup."His voice was bitter. "She got out, and she's holed up on Schiller ground now."I made the call right there. "Tell everyone. Pick the safehouses. Get the mattresses ready."The consigliere stared at me in astonishment.That meant rounding up every man we had, finding secure houses, setting up mattresses on the