30. Leo
Chapter thirty
Leo
I t was a trap.
A fucking trap.
A high-pitched ringing sounds in my ears as I come to, groaning as pain lances my side beneath my ribs. I blink back the fog taking over me and press my hand on my temple where the throbbing is most intense. Blood dribbles down my wrist.
“Fuck,” I breathe.
“Leo!”
I turn to my side and see Alex storming over, fury consuming his features. He crouches in front of me, looking me over. “Is anything serious?” he asks, noting the blood coming from the top of my head.
I shake my head, instantly regretting the quick movement. “Just some bruised ribs.” I push myself to a standing position, unzipping my leather jacket. “Mauro and Vin?”
“They pulled you out of the debris, made sure you had a pulse, and now they’re doing a head count on our men as we speak.” He pushes his glasses up the bridge of his nose. “They’re both banged up pretty badly but refuse to acknowledge it, just like what you’re doing.”
I look around at the extensive damage. The club we were just standing in is completely gone, almost as if it was never here in the first place.
“What the fuck happened?”
“Explosion,” Alex answers. “Apparently, this place was rigged to go off with us inside. Or it would seem that was the plan. But I was down the street with Antonio, Mateo, and Lorenzo, escorting the women off the property, and you guys had just stepped outside of the building when the bombs went off. The steel walls on the exterior must have protected you to an extent. When I realized what happened, I hacked the security cameras in the area, so whoever is watching them to survey the damage will see a continual loop of thirty seconds after the explosion.” He runs his fingers through his hair, and I notice a slight tremble in his hand. “This was a trap.”
“Yeah. I gathered that.” I squeeze the back of my neck, feeling on the verge of eruption. My wrath is only growing every second that I’m standing here miles away from my wife. “I need to get home right the fuck now. Scarlett’s in danger.” I reach for my phone in my pocket, which, miraculously, is still intact. I press Eli’s name, anxiety building in my stomach as the phone rings. “Pick up the fucking phone!” Fear takes over when it goes to his voicemail. I try again and again, getting the same fucking result.
Alex types into his phone, and two cars immediately pull up beside us. “I’ll grab Mauro and Vin and meet you at the plane.”
Ten minutes later, grinding my back molars, I step inside the plane, knowing one thing for certain. Le Diable knew we were coming here tonight, which means he’s one of us. One of our most trusted men, as no one else was privy to tonight’s plans.
Mauro and Vin are hot on my trail, looking worse for wear but with fierce determination in their eyes. Alex enters behind us with his phone pressed to his ear; frustration is evident in his demeanor. Our men, at least the ones who made it out alive, enter the cabin, taking their seats in the back.
Vin speaks with the pilot, doing everything he can to keep his composure. Mauro grabs the decanter filled with brown liquor and takes a large swig. And I feel like I’m about to combust at the seams; mania, unlike anything I’ve ever felt, filters through my veins.
I sit on the leather couch by the window with my phone in an iron grip, quickly press one in my emergency contacts, and hold it against my ear. “Pick up. Pick up. Come on, Firefly, please pick up.” But after a few rings, it goes to Scarlett’s voicemail. “Fuck!”
With a tremble in my fingers, I dial Eli for the hundredth time.
Pick up. Pick up. Pick up .
“Boss.” Eli picks up on the second ring, sending a river of relief over me. I turn on speaker mode and place the phone between me and my brothers on the table. Loud music and several rowdy voices are heard in the background, indicating they’re already at the party. “We keep losing cell service. It might be the rain, but—”
“It was a trap,” I spit out. “Le Diable wanted us away from the Alarie Estate tonight to kill us. I need you to get Scarlett, Madeleine, and Alina out of there right the fuck now.”
Static comes through the receiver. “What?” Eli asks, his voice muffled. “Fuck, the lights just went out.”
“He’s there,” I breathe, my heart pounding erratically.
My brothers and I share a look. We’re too fucking late.
“Get the girls the fuck out of there!” I roar.
“Leo, you’re…cutting…in…out.”
The line goes dead.
“ Cazzo !” I reach for the phone, pressing Eli’s name, but instead of Eli picking up, I get a robotic woman’s voice that says, “I’m sorry. Your call cannot be completed as dialed.”
“He’s cut the cell service,” Alex tells us, still holding his phone to his ear, before turning his head and speaking into the receiver. He paces the aisle, running a hand through his hair. “And you’re sure?” He looks up to the ceiling of the plane, clenching his jaw. “Great, thank you.” He snaps his phone shut and whips it toward the back of the aircraft. His hands grip the back of his neck as he faces away from us, breathing harshly.
“What the fuck is going on, Alex?” I rush out.
The plane begins moving swiftly down the runway, and I look out the window, seeing the tarmac disappear behind us.
Alex takes a deep breath. “On the way here, I ran a second round of background checks for everyone on the property. Only this time, there was one more than last time.”
“Why would that be?” Vin asks. “We haven’t brought anyone new on.”
“Dolion,” Alex breathes harshly, spinning to face us. “He wasn’t here when my team ran the first batch because he was supposedly in Greece, tending to his dying mother.”
“Supposedly?” I ask.
Alex removes his glasses and rubs one of the lenses between his shirt. “I received the background checks while you two were still inside, but when I saw Dolion’s, well, something didn’t feel right, so I’ve been doing some digging and just received the confirmation I needed from the Greek government.”
“The Greek government?” Vin questions.
“I have connections.” Alex rubs his temple.
“Spit it out,” I demand. “I’m losing my patience here.”
“Dolion’s mother was murdered two years ago. Her body was found in the woods in her hometown of Greece. They never found who did it. But the point is…she’s been dead for years.”
It’s like I’m in a fucking horror movie as all the pieces click together.
“So where the fuck was Dolion when he told us he was tending to his—” Vin’s words trail off as he comes to the same realization. “Fuck.” He sits up in his seat, leaning forward. “Dolion is Le Diable. He’s who…” A muscle ticks in his jaw. “He’s who fucking kidnapped Scarlett.”
The blood beneath my skin boils with rage.
Black dots line my vision as I zone out, processing everything.
“Dolion.” My fingers curl around my armrests, squeezing the leather. Closing my eyes, I picture all of the ways I’m going to kill him. All of the ways I’m going to make him pay for what he did to my wife.
Everything hits me all at once, and when I stand, ignoring the pain spearing down my side, my hand reaches out for the nearest glass cup. I slam it to the floor with so much anger, sending shards of glass flying everywhere.
“He wanted us away from the estate because he’s on our fucking property! He has free rein to do whatever the fuck he wants! And I left him with exactly what he wants!” My chest heaves with each breath I take. My vision darkens. My head sways. I reach for the chair beside me, grasping the back of it. “I left him my wife on a silver platter,” I get out in a hushed tone, my body shaking with an overwhelming amount of fury. “My wife!” My voice thunders in the cabin.
“He’s one man,” Vin surmises in a calm tone. He leans forward, resting his forearms on his knees. “We have an advantage over him because I assume he thinks we’re dead. But as soon as we get to the estate, we’ll take care of him.”
“But he’s not alone.” I shake my head, pulling on the ends of my hair. “Igor kept saying, ‘they.’ He was talking about more than one person.” I look up at Vin. “Dolion has to be working with someone, but who?”
A chime sounds from Alex’s phone, and he retrieves it from the back of the plane. He runs his fingers through his hair and then looks between the three of us. “Things just got a lot more complicated.” He slides his phone on the table, angling the screen so we can all see the footage.
We watch as Dolion strolls up to the guards on duty at the entrance, making small talk, and then shoots the four of them dead. He places his phone to his ear, and only seconds later, a line of at least twenty vehicles arrives. They drive inside the estate, and the moment the last car makes its way through, the feed cuts out.
Vin presses a button and speaks into the intercom beside him. “How much longer until we’re back?”
“Fifty minutes, sir,” the pilot answers.
“Get us there faster, or this will be the last plane you ever fly. Have I made myself clear?”
“Y-yes, sir.”
I rub a hand over my face. “This wasn’t just some kidnapping plot but a full-blown ambush to kill us and then take over the Alarie Estate! And we just gave it to them!”
Vin looks outside the window beside him, thoughts raging through his mind. He faces me when he says, “No, we haven’t.” He reaches for his phone in his pocket, brings it before him, and momentarily hesitates before hitting a contact I can’t see. Placing his phone back on the table, we wait as it rings.
Who? I mouth as a familiar cold voice picks up on the other end.
“Well, if it isn’t my least favorite cousin.” Marco Marchetti’s icy voice is not one I’d ever forget. He’s as ruthless as they come. All of his siblings are. They make us look tame in comparison.
Vin rolls his eyes. “Cousin, it’s been too long.”
“Some might say not long enough."
“Now, now. Is that any way to speak to your family?”
Marco sighs. “What do you want, Vincenzo? I have a busy day ahead of me filled with torturing poor little souls.”
Vin placates our cousin with a chuckle before his smile disappears, his expression turning cold.
I shake my head, but he stops me by raising his hand.
Vin stares up at the ceiling, making the sign of the cross, and utters four words that one should never say to a Marchetti. “I need a favor.”
After Vin hangs up, we sit silently until he finally speaks. “It was the only way.” Vin stares out his window, deep in thought. “I won’t let our family or our home be destroyed.”
A chime from Alex’s phone has us all on alert as we wait for the next bit of information from Alex’s team. Alex’s eyes widen as he examines the screen, his head tilting to the side in confusion.
Vin twists the ring on his finger. “I don’t think I can take one more fucking surprise, Alessandro.”
Alex lets out a breath. “Then you’re definitely not going to like this.” He pushes his phone on the table before us. “When I went through the back rooms tonight, it took me a little longer than planned because I saw a computer just sitting there. No one was nearby, so I installed a bug to transfer everything over to my team.” He rolls his lips, deep in thought. “This is security footage of the front entrance of Blue Velvet Fantasies about two hours before we got there. And…” He pauses. “It’s Dolion getting into a car with…” He shakes his head and presses play, placing the phone before us.
Five seconds into the video, Vin, Mauro, and I rear back in shock.
“But he’s dead!” Vin exclaims. “We fucking buried him.”
Alex shrugs. “We buried someone.”
Mauro grunts in agreement.
“The two of them have been working together this whole fucking time right under our noses!” Vin slams his hand into the side of the plane. His neck turns bright red as veins bulge from beneath his skin. “He’s the fucking so-called ghost who owns Blue Velvet Fantasies ?”
I hit pause on the video, zooming in on this fucker’s face. A storm of rage unleashes inside me, one that no one would be able to tame. “That fucking son of a bitch is going to wish he stayed dead.”