Snapping Point||Book 1

24.

The day they brought the man to our family home to assess Joe and me—three days after our father's death—he was dressed in a three-piece suit and expensive-looking shoes. He appeared so respectable that you would hardly believe he was the same person now. When he introduced himself as our mother's youngest brother, a glimmer of hope got restored in me.

The thought of growing up in foster care and potentially moving from one home to another was the worst nightmare for a ten-year-old. But in reality, it was packing my bags and following Ivan that became my nightmare.

We departed England the following week, embarking on a new life in Palermo. Why we ended up in Bologna? Shame prevented me from admitting the truth, but it was because of the TIF. Truly.

As much as I detested Ivan's thirst for revenge, I couldn't deny that Amato, Morelli, and Rossi deserved to pay for their sins. However, what Ivan had become in pursuit of vengeance was no different from the men he sought to punish.

I refused to dwell on the Triad's atrocities for too long, lest I vomit all over my clothes. I had been led to believe that Romano was no different from his father Pietro—I had even witnessed pictures of him at their club on many occasions, drugging women's drinks and strutting around as if he were untouchable. But encountering him one-on-one and experiencing an unexpected display of decency made me resent our plan to target every member of the TIF.

Ivan's ring had been operating in the shadows for years, peddling drugs, guns, and women. It was a dirty business, but Ivan liked to think his organization, IP, was the lesser of two evils. After all, they didn't stoop to the level of the TIF, who were rumored to traffic children and cover up their own members' heinous crimes. Just thinking about it made my gut swirl.

Since moving to our new hideout, Ivan's whole team had been dealing with a string of harebrained schemes from the TIF. It was like they were trying to provoke a war. But Ivan was playing the long game. He wanted to take down the TIF once and for all, and he knew just the way to do it. He sent Joanna undercover to the TIF's inner sanctum, the Vault, to dig up some dirt. With any luck, she'd uncover something explosive – something that would expose the TIF's depravity to the world and bring them crashing down.

I'd wager my last dollar that Ivan still had faith in Joanna even after she'd claimed that her phone was destroyed under Romano's sole along with the incriminating evidence she'd uncovered. See, Joanna was a sly one, always managing to land on her feet. And this time was no different - she'd already sweet-talked one of her guards into hooking her up with a new phone. Ny sister had a way with men, could charm the devil himself into giving her what she wanted with just a bat of her eyelashes and a swivel of her hips. So, Ivan probably figured she had a secret plan stashed away, just waiting for the perfect moment to strike.

As for me, I just wanted Joanna out of harm's way, away from the enemy's lair. I thought Ivan should rethink his strategy, find a more sophisticated way to infiltrate. Let's face it, his previous attempts using women as pawns hadn't exactly been successful. Elsa, Romano's uncle's wife, and even I myself had all failed in our respective missions. It was time for Ivan to try a new approach, something more refined and artful, rather than relying on the same old tactics.

My name finally echoed through the hallway, prompting me to zip up my jacket all the way to my neck before answering Ivan's call. Showing less skin meant attracting less attention—a personal policy of mine. Even during the week I had impersonated Joanna at the bordello, the other women thought I was insane. But with Joanna being in high demand, I couldn't avoid my fate, leading me to stab a man to protect myself from being raped.

Joanna might have been in her element among the men at the bordello, but for me, being surrounded by those sleazy individuals was a nightmare come true. The thought of being touched by them made my skin crawl.