Chapter 26
Irun my hand over the leather steering wheel, playing out different scenarios. Vincent is coming. There is no changing the fact that I will have to face him sooner rather than later. I can’t help but feel like no matter what option I choose, the outcome won’t be one I can live with.
Gia. I need to hear her voice. I need something else to focus my thoughts on if I’m going to be trapped, sitting in this car waiting for Amelia, hiding from the inevitable. My thumb swipes the screen, and a moment later, Gia is in my ear.
“Marco? Are you okay?” she asks, every word heavy with worry.
I lean back against the headrest and close my eyes, imagining her. “Yeah, I’m fine.” Now that I hear your voice. “I wanted to call and check on you. What are you doing?”
“Thank God, I got a little worried when I saw it was you. I hate feeling so on edge.” She exhales into the phone.
“I know. It will be over soon,” I assure her, despite not knowing our ending.
“I stopped at the bank and emptied the safety deposit box, and I’m back home now. I’ve packed everything except my passport, which I’m grabbing out of my home safe right now,” she says, breathless with a rustle of movement on her end.
“Good.” I nod to myself, though she can’t see it.
“What about you?”
“I threw a bag together, and the plan is still to talk to Amelia at three thirty, so I guess all I can do for now is wait.”
“Okay... that’s good, I guess.” A pause. “What about Vincent? Have you heard anything from him?”
“No, and honestly, that’s probably the part that makes me the most nervous. Amelia did tell me his plane touches down at two, so maybe once he lands, he’ll call.” I try to keep my voice even and controlled so as not to worry her further.
“Two,” she repeats. “Wait, does that mean you’ll have to see him before you get a chance to talk to Amelia?”
“Not if I can help it,” I reply. “I plan to do everything in my power to avoid him.”
“Marco, what if Vincent—” Gia starts, and the fear in her voice has me desperate to put her at ease.
“Don’t worry about Vincent, okay? I’m lying low until after I meet with Amelia. I got this, alright?” I attempt to reassure her.
“Should I be worried?” she asks. “I mean, you don’t think he’ll come here, do you?”
“I don’t see why he would. At this point, my guess is Vincent is going to want to talk to either Dante or me once he lands.”
Gia sighs, causing a crackling sound over the line. “Nico called and told me Dante is missing.”
“Yeah, I know, he called me too.”
“What if someone already found him?”
“I’m sure nobody has found him. He’s just being fucking Dante.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means he’s being a selfish asshole, and he’s making this all about him like he does everything else,” I snap, unable to temper my tone. Since Nico called and told me about Dante taking off half-cocked, I can’t stop thinking about how all this mess is because of him.
He sat across from me in Vincent’s office, and I warned him never to repeat the idea of me taking over as boss. I was crystal clear it would put all of our lives in danger, but he still did what he wanted and talked to Smitty. I would be lying if I said it hadn’t crossed my mind that maybe the solution to this would be to serve Dante up to Vincent on a silver platter. It’s not like he wouldn’t deserve it.
“He’s not that bad, stop. I really don’t think he meant for it to get out of control like it has,” Gia says, and the fact she is defending him only makes me angrier. I’m risking everything to keep her safe while Dante is the one who put us all in danger in the first place.
“Why the hell does everyone defend this guy?”
“He—”
I cut her off, not wanting to talk about Dante for another second. “No, I don’t want to debate what he meant to or didn’t mean to do. The fact of the matter is, he’s why we’re here right now. He can take care of himself.”
She’s silent for a moment. I hear her exhale, a soft sound of frustration. “And what if you’re wrong? What if Vincent already sent people to pick him up?”
I consider her words. She might be coming from a place of concern for Dante, but the truth is, if someone does have him, the implications have much scarier consequences. They could be torturing him for information. If he implicates Gia by telling someone she was the first one to voice the idea of me stepping into Vincent’s role, there will be no hesitation. Vincent will come for her.
“Fuck,” I growl, frustration gripping my gut.
“What?”
I need to know Gia is safe, but I also have to wait here for Amelia. “You’re at your place?”
“Yeah, why?”
“Okay, listen to me. I want you to get your stuff together as fast as you can and get out of there. You should use a taxi and make sure you find one that will let you pay cash, do you understand?” I ask.
“What? Why? Where am I supposed to go?” Gia asks, confused.
“I’m going to text you an address.” My fingers work quickly, sharing the information for my safe house nestled just outside the city. It’s a shithole, but I have it in case I ever need a place to lie low. In the life we lead, when your enemies are both criminals and the cops, you never know if you’ll need somewhere to hide. As much as I hate imagining her in such a rough place, at least I know she’ll be safe until I’m sure I can fix all of this.
“No, I’m not going.”
“What?”
“I don’t understand. Why do you want me to go there?” Gia asks, panic creeping in.
“Please, Gia.” My firm voice is laced with urgency. “You need to do this for me.”
“I’m not leaving until you explain what’s going on.”
“You’re right. I was an idiot not to think of it before. If there’s a chance someone has already found Dante, I can’t risk what he might tell them. If he implicates you in any way, fuck, I don’t want to think about it,” I answer honestly, knowing it’s the only way I will get her to comply. “That place I’m sending you is empty. Nobody knows about it. I keep it around in case I ever need a place.”
I sense her hesitation. Eventually, she murmurs, “Alright, I’ll go, but I want you to come with me.”
“You know I can’t do that.”
“If you think they would send people for Dante, I know you’re worried about them coming for you too.”
“They’re not going to find me, okay? I promise. I’ll be careful. I’m going to tell Nico to meet you there. He’ll watch over you until things are sorted out.”
“I can take care of myself.”
I chuckle, knowing how true her statement is. Gia has proven she is the last person in the world who needs protection. “You’re right. How about I send Nico there so you can watch over him?”
“How about you’re full of shit, and you think I need some man to keep me safe?” she snaps. One thing that enamored me with Gia in the first place was her strength. I knew back when I drove for her family that summer she had a fighter’s spirit, but at that moment, I wished she would let me protect her.
“I know you can take care of yourself,” I reply, my jaw clenching with frustration. “But will you please let me send Nico there for my peace of mind?”
“Fine,” she huffs. “But only because if Nico is with me, I know he’s not where Vincent can get his hands on him.”
“Thank you.” I breathe a sigh of relief. I don’t care how Gia rationalizes having protection with her; I just need to know she isn’t alone.
“Do you want me to head there now?” she asks.
“Yes,” I confirm. “As soon as we hang up, I want you on your way. I’ll call Nico.”
“What about Dante?”
“What do you mean? What about him?” I ask, surprised by her question.
“Well, what if they don’t have him? Shouldn’t we try to find him before one of Vincent’s guys does?”
My muscles tense at her words. At this point, I’m probably the last person Gia should want looking for Dante because I don’t know what I would do if I got my hands on him.
“Don’t worry about Dante right now. You need to head to the safe house and wait for Nico.”
Silence lingers on the other end of the line. The idea crosses my mind of driving straight to her house, throwing her over my shoulder, and dragging her to that safe house myself.
“Gia?”
She clears her throat. “Marco, I want you to promise me you’re not thinking of doing something terrible.”
“What? What are you talking about?”
“Promise me you’re not considering offering Dante up to Vincent.” Her plea slices through the air, sharp and clear. While the thought had played out in my head, I hadn’t committed myself to the idea. However, if I thought there were no other options to keep Gia safe, I wouldn’t hesitate to do so.
“Marco, please.” Her voice softens, a velvet touch against the hard edge of desperation.
“Gia, we can talk about this once I know you’re safe, okay?” I attempt to soften my tone as well, but I fail.
“No, I’ll go, but only after you promise.”
I exhale, my body slumping forward in the driver’s seat as I realize I am about to remove one of the few bargaining chips I might have. “I promise,” I say, the words rough as gravel. My throat tightens around the vow, my soul shackled to it. I swore I would never lie to her, and I hope that, more than anything, I can keep that promise to her.
“Thank you,” she breathes out, a whisper of relief that barely masks her fear. “I’ll leave now. Be careful. I love you.”
My chest flutters in response to her words. “I love you too,” I say, then end the call.
Without hesitation, I dial Nico’s number. After a few rings, he picks up, his voice low and serious. “Have you had any luck with Dante?” I ask.
“Not yet,” he replies. “I’m driving around to places where I know he likes to hang out, but nobody has seen him.”
I know how deeply Nico cares for the guy, so no matter how pissed I may be about the situation Dante has placed us all in, I do feel some empathy for Nico. “I’m sure he’ll be okay.” I attempt to reassure him, though even I can hear the lack of conviction in my words. The fact that he hasn’t been able to locate Dante and he isn’t answering his phone only feeds my fears that perhaps he has already been captured.
“Do you need something?” Nico’s voice now has a sharp edge to it.
I swallow hard, my heart pounding as I hope he will abandon his search for his friend and do as I ask. “Yeah, I do actually. Look, I know you’re trying to find Dante, and I appreciate how worried you are about him, but I need your help.”
“What is it?”
“Vincent is going to land at two, and I can’t shake this worry that he will try to use Gia to get to me. I don’t want her anywhere near this.”
“I mean, I get it. What do you need from me?” His sharpness is replaced with the soldier’s voice.
“I’m going to text you an address. It’s a safe house I have outside the city. Gia is already on her way. I want you to meet her there. I need you to keep her safe.”
“Done,” he replies, his drive to take care of Gia outweighing his need to search for Dante.
“Hey, it’s important not to tell anyone where you’re going. Got it?”
“Of course.”
“I mean it, Nico. Not even Dante,” I add.
“What?”
“I get that you’re worried about him, but you and I both know our guys and probably some of Amelia’s will be looking for him. We can’t risk him leading them to her.” I know he can’t argue with my logic.
“Understood,” Nico responds after a moment of silence. His fierce protectiveness matches my own, and right now, that’s exactly what I want for Gia, despite her determination that she doesn’t need protecting.
I end the call and text Nico the address. For the first time since the chaos began, I have a sense of clarity. Gia is on her way to safety, soon to be watched over by Nico’s unwavering gaze.
The promise I made to Gia replays in my head. I said I wouldn’t throw Dante to the wolves, but does that mean I need to save him? Guilt claws at my insides, threatening to consume me whole.
I stare at my phone before I finally type out a text that every muscle in me is resisting doing.
Me: I got word that Vincent is landing at two. Would be best if you stayed out of sight for a while.
I hit send on the message to Dante. The heads-up is more than he deserves.
My grip on the phone loosens. I have no doubt Nico will guard Gia with his life. My fingers brush over the gun holstered at my side. I feel exposed sitting in my car but have few options at this point. I haven’t felt this helpless since the night Nico almost died on Anthony’s boat. And so, I sit and wait.