4. Roman
“ Y ou sure Hollis didn’t say anything about why we needed to come home?”
Benji sighs, long and exasperated. “If you ask one more time, I’m going to make you walk home.”
“You won’t, because then you’ll have to walk with me,” I say with a smirk.
Jude nudges my foot with his, drawing my attention to him. “Stop harassing him, Tesoro Mio; he’s just doing his job.”
Sighing, I sit back and cross my arms, knowing my lover is right, but the whole situation is just…odd. There was an urgency after Benji took Hollis’s call, but without more information, it’s hard to know what we’re walking in to.
I don’t like being in the dark like this, not when there’s an unexplainable thrum to the air. After all the shit that’s happened in the past, my nerves are shot, and the need to have things laid out in front of me, so I can prepare for whatever’s to come, makes me antsy.
Jude must sense this as he changes seats when the car stops for a light, pulling me close to him and pressing a kiss to my hair. “You’re going to give yourself an ulcer,” he says quietly.
“I’m fine,” I reply, just loud enough to be heard.
He snorts but lets me get away with it, for now.
Jude holds me the rest of the way to the main house, and though his touch is comforting, it only does so much to calm the sense of doom in me as I prepare for whatever news my father and Tennant are about to dish out.
Inside the house, the silence is deafening and the tension in the air is thick. In the middle of the day, it shouldn’t be like this, not with the amount of staff employed to keep the main house running.
The house guards are on high alert, and worry forms in the pit of my stomach. Jude reaches for my hand, but I brush him off, giving an apologetic look that he waves off as he begins to straighten out his clothes.
Taking his cue, I tug at my sleeves and smooth my hands down my shirt—my suit jacket met an unfortunate end during our training today—and lead the way to my father’s office. After a courtesy knock on the door, I walk in with Jude on my heels.
If I thought the tension in the house was thick, it’s nothing compared to the stifling aura of the office. Carter is leaning against the front of the desk, with his arms crossed over his chest and his face downturned to the floor. Given how hush hush everything has been since Hollis’s phone call, I expected it to be all hands on deck for this meeting, but even my father is absent from the room, and that, more than anything, makes my suspicions grow.
“What the hell is going on?”
Carter looks up, and the grief in his dark blue eyes is staggering. “I’m sorry, Figlio Mio…but your dad?—”
“No,” I interrupt. “Whatever the fuck you’re about to say, just no. It’s not true.”
Carter shakes his head and pushes off the desk, taking a step forward, but I counter and take one back. He stops and stares at me with eyes full of emotions that I don’t want to see or believe.
“He’s gone, Roman. Someone took him.” His voice wavers for a second before the pain and grief in his features changes, hardens, and the promise of retribution bleeds into his navy eyes. “Someone is playing games, trying to take what is ours. Trying to weaken us by taking him, but they don’t know who they’re messing with.”
“No,” I whisper, not wanting to believe a single word.
“Tennant is out there now, surveying the scene, and Hollis and Leandro are already at work. But Roman…”
“No!” I shout. “I… He can’t… I can’t…”
Jude tries to wrap an arm around me but I move away. My emotions are too volatile right now for touch, no matter how badly I want to fall apart.
Carter moves to stand in front of me, and I look up at my second father, seeing the pain, anger, and regret of what he’s about to ask of me shining in his gaze. “You’re his heir, Roman.”
I shake my head. “I’m not ready.”
“You don’t get a choice this time, Figlio Mio. I’m so sorry, but the Family needs you. Cristian needs you.”
The walls of the office are starting to close in as the pieces of my life fall apart around me. It wasn’t supposed to be like this.
Looking away from Carter, I meet Jude’s pale green gaze, and with just one look, he seems to understand, because he moves in close, pulling me tight against him. I don’t fight him this time, needing him to hold me up as my denial starts to turn to anger.
“What the fuck happened?” I ask.
Carter shakes his head. “I don’t know. As I said, Tennant is at the scene now, getting a lay of the land. Hopefully he returns with answers. I?—”
My phone ringing interrupts whatever he was about to say. Pulling the device from the pocket of my pants, I check the display. A whoosh of air escapes my lungs as tension has me straightening my spine, but I don't leave the comfort of Jude’s embrace.
Looking up from the display to my lover and father, I say, “It’s Emilio.”
They both stiffen.
“Answer it,” Carter orders.
I’m not sure I want to, but I accept the call anyway…
“Hey, Lio.” I try to inject as much cheer into my voice as possible. Especially since talking to him is normally fun, and leaves me smiling for days. The last thing we need right now is for anyone, even our allies, to know we’re at our weakest. “Now’s not the best time…”
“This will be quick. I need to ask you something, and it’s important.”
There’s an edge to my friend’s voice that’s not usually there, not even when he’s grumbling about how inane wedding planning is. There’s a pit in my stomach because the seriousness in Lio’s voice raises my hackles.
Quickly, I activate the recording program that Hollis installed on my phone. I never thought I’d need it, because Lio and I try to keep our conversations away from business, but given the way this day is going, something tells me this is important to document. “Sure, what’s up?”
“Have you, or more specifically, has Hollis, heard anything about attacks on a Family or other organization?”
My heart leaps into my throat, and frantically, I put the call on speaker, almost dropping the phone as my hands begin to shake. I’m barely able to steady my fingers enough to one handedly sign, “Get Hollis in here.”
Jude pulls out his phone to do as ordered, while I turn my focus back to the conversation at hand.
“Hol would be the best one to ask, since he’s kept a bead on all that. I know there’s been a smattering of chatter here and there, but nothing concrete enough to act on. Our name has been thrown around a lot, but that’s to be expected with what we’ve started pushing.
“The Martelli name has also been mentioned, but as I said, Hollis is the most informed on all this. I can give you his number, or go get him, if you want. Is everything okay?”
There’s a long moment of silence and I look between Carter and Jude, anxious for my other lover to get here and assure me that what Lio’s implying isn’t true…
Because if it is… If what I think happened happened… It won’t be good for any of us.
The pause in conversation doesn’t scare me—I’m sure they’re trying to parse out the truth in my words, wondering how much they should trust me. I would be doing the same in their position.
“Why don’t you go get him. I think we need to have a more in-depth talk.” Lio’s statement ends on a frustrated sigh that has the hairs on my arms standing up.
“That doesn’t sound good, but sure, give me a moment, I have to cancel an appointment,” I lie. I mute the phone and look at Carter. “What do you think?” I ask.
“It seems,” he says slowly, “That we’re not the only ones being targeted.”
“Could be a ruse,” Jude points out.
“True,” Carter muses.
I wish Tennant were here. He’s so much better at this type of shit than I am. Luckily, Hollis walks through the door and some of my tension eases.
“What’s going on?” he asks, heading straight for me.
“Shit. Lio’s on the phone, asking about the most recent chatter concerning attacks on mafia organizations. He hasn’t explicitly said, but we think something happened over there, too. Either that or they’re the ones who have Dad and are trying to save face with us now.”
Hollis considers my words and nods once, squeezing my shoulder. “We’ll get to the bottom of it, Amore.” He releases me and heads to the corner where he has a computer set up. It only takes a few moments before he says, “Okay, I’m ready, let’s see what he has to say.”
Letting out a stuttering breath, I move closer to Hollis’s set up and unmute the phone. “Lio? Sorry about that. I have Hollis here now, so he can answer your questions.”
“Emilio, not how I expected to speak with you again,” Hollis says. “But I hear you want to know about the chatter regarding your Family?”
There’s a moment of hesitation and, at first, I think he’s going to hedge his words again, before he says, “Yeah. We need to know anything, and I mean anything, that’s been said or even hinted at.”
Hollis doesn’t miss a beat, though the dark look crossing his face says his thoughts are in line with ours. “Not much, I’m afraid. You know I’ve kept an ear out, and I’ve discreetly had people looking into it as well. There’s always someone grumbling and wishing they could do something about organizations like ours, but… for the past few months, there’s been one voice that's slightly louder than the others. I can’t tell you who they are though, they’re annoyingly more advanced and discreet than most of the others. I’ve been watching, as I do with all potential threats. Whether this one is viable, or not, remains to be seen.” Hollis pauses the conversation for a moment, his fingers flying over his keyboard. “Any particular reason you’re asking? If there’s a concern or problem the Martellis are having, I’m happy to look into it for you.”
“Send the information to our people,” Lio says. “So they can make their own assessment.”
Hollis laughs, low and borderline cruel. “I don’t mean to be insulting to a friend and ally, but I’m better than them. There’s a reason you’re calling and not having your people do the dirty work for you. While they might service you well on a day-to-day basis, you need someone more sophisticated for this job.”
Biting my lip, I have to look away from Hollis so I don’t laugh. Across the room, I see Carter translating for Jude, while also shaking his head at my lover’s bluntness.
“If you haven’t pinned this possible threat down yet, then maybe you’re not as good as you think,” Lio responds.
I snap my gaze back over to Hollis, to find him leaning back in his chair, a small Tennant-like smile on his face. “I’ve tracked down every single person who’s ever tried to hide from us—even if it took some time. If you want to leave your Family’s fate in the hands of the lessers that you have on payroll, feel free, but know that the next time you call, I’m charging for a consult.” He reaches out for the phone to hang up.
“No, wait!” Lio says, a little more life in his tone this time as panic begins to bleed through.
“I’m listening, but my patience has run thin,” Hollis says icily. “Ally or not, friend of Roman or not, I won’t tolerate such blatant disrespect.”
“I trust Roman, and at the moment, our circle of trust is smaller than normal. That’s the only reason I’m telling you this.”
“What’s wrong, Lio?” I ask, my heart in my throat at the graveness in his voice.
He lets out a heavy breath. “Someone took Il Padrone.”
You could hear a pin drop in the office, it’s so quiet as we absorb his words. Finally, Carter comes closer so he can be heard more easily over the phone. “I suggest you gather that circle of trust, Emilio. It seems we have a lot to discuss, since they got Cristian, too.”