Chapter Thirty-Six
“Sometimes a hello means goodbye.” —King Campisi
Ivan
I shot her in the shoulder, sending her crashing to the floor, then took a picture and sent it off to Nixon. I quickly grabbed a towel and tossed it to her. “Put pressure on it, try not to pass out.”
“You could have warned me!”
“You could have flinched; I didn’t want to hit an artery.”
“Romantic.”
“Yes, that was what was going through my mind while pointing a gun at the girl I’ve both loved and hated for forever, gee how can I make this more romantic.”
She dropped the towel. “You love me?”
“Did you miss the hate part? I included that too.”
“You can’t have both.”
“I demand both. I demand everything.” I forced a smile and tried to stop shaking at seeing her hurt. “Now, put on some clothes and forgive me for shoving you into a nice waiting vehicle while we go have a family reunion.”
“Ah, I get to put on wine stained and bloody clothes, yay me.”
“It does add effect.” I smiled at her, proud of her for being brave, for not yelling at me, but also for trusting me even to the end.
She quickly pulled on her clothes despite her injury and followed me outside the cabin. One of the black Escalades was waiting, engine running.
Tank hopped out and opened the back door. “For the record, I still feel like this is a shit idea.”
“I concur,” another voice said from inside. “Leave it to you to deviate from the actual timeline for the plan.”
“I like ghost stories, shoot me… oh, wait.” I laughed and got in, then turned around and winked at Bella. “One more surprise before my impending death.”
Junior was sitting in the back with dark sunglasses on and a black Nike hat. “Hi cousin.”
The idiot actually waved.
Bella stumbled into the car and smacked him across the face, the sound was so loud I winced for him, only to have her do the same to me. “You assholes!”
“I missed you too.” Junior sighed. “What’s with her?”
“Told you she’d be pissed.”
Bella burst into loud sobs and threw her arms around his neck, despite her injury. “What the hell is wrong with you?”
“I can answer that.” I offered, earning a glare from Junior, who had tears in his eyes. “Or not.”
Tank got back into the front seat. “I’m off to the location, Nixon has troops mobilized, King has everything set on our end, you’re taking a gamble on this one, bringing him out like this.”
“I was bait, now he’s bait.” I hoped. “Besides, they’ll bring everyone, this isn’t just revenge anymore, this is winning.”
Junior held onto Bella. “I’m sorry. I’ll explain later.”
“Explain now.” She smacked him with her good hand, her other arm was bleeding again, I grabbed the towel she brought with her and pressed it to her shoulder while Junior talked.
“So there were attempted murders on me a dozen or so times. Random people, not part of any of our Families or anyone I knew. I started digging, found out some unsavory things, saw the money, tracked it to some offshore accounts, couldn’t figure things out without buying time, and I knew that they already had plans in place for more attempts on my life. I had no clue who to trust, who not to trust, and who was just waiting in the woodwork, but a new boss would throw everyone for a loop. There are rules, there’s the treaty, there’s trying to figure out someone’s weak spots with erratic behavior, add in a funeral, and a wedding, and family visiting, and well, say hello to buying time, plus they did set me up to look like the number one betrayer of the Five Families so that was fun.”
Bella frowned. “Then why is Ivan talking about his impending death?”
The car fell silent.
Tense.
“Bella…” I put my hand on her leg. “This Family needs Junior, it doesn’t need me, I’m going in as a distraction, as bait, so we can take down whoever this person is.”
She looked between us. “You guys are idiots! If your own men don’t kill you, then my dad will! This is the worst plan you could possibly think of.”
“Or the best.” I snapped. “They have a joint enemy that needs to be eliminated, it again buys us time. Junior’s going to join forces with Ash, King, and Maksim, while Santino puts men around the building. It’s not foolproof,” I explained. “But there’s a vendetta here, trust me when I say whoever this person is, they want Abandonato blood, and they want it yesterday.”
Bella sat back against the leather seat and put her hand over mine, pressing it against her wound. “Who would hate my Family that much?”
Junior whistled. “Any of the De Langes who got eliminated, I mean it could be anyone, even the Russians. Who knows? The point is, this was the one thing this person wanted more than anything. The Abandonato heads on shiny platters. Part of me even thinks they want it more than control of the De Lange line.”
“The question is,” I asked, “who would be that psychotic and stupid?”
I would find out the answer soon.
We pulled up to Chase’s old house.
He’d moved out of it with Luc, it was kept on Abandonato property as an Airbnb, though right now it was empty.
“I used to love this place.” Bella stared out the window. “But why here of all places?”
Junior looked down. “When I was pretending to be dead, I did recon. It was one of the only places the men with the DL tattoos would randomly rent. They always came in with multiple cars and always had one person with them—guarded. Granted, it’s a great location, incredible property, it could just be a coincidence. Either way, they’ll feel like they’re in their own native territory, not realizing we know all the secrets the property has to offer.”
I knew the secrets.
I knew the horror.
I looked down at my hands. “We should have burned it to the ground.”
“Chase wouldn’t let us.” Junior sighed.
“Why?”
“He said even ghosts need homes.” Junior confessed, as a chill ran down my spine.