Power (The Santini Assassins #1)

25. Willie Boy

25

WILLIE BOY

SIMONE

S imone spent the day at ALPHA HQ. She was being hailed a hero, but she didn’t feel like one. She was relieved the case had been solved, but deeply troubled about Dante’s Day of Destruction.

After spending the morning in a debriefing with Dakota, Providence, and Cooper, Slash whisked her into the conference room where the female Ops waited to officially welcome her to the team.

After Slash made the introductions to—Emerson, Danielle, Addison, Jacqueline, and Brit—they feasted on carry-out from a nearby restaurant. They wanted to hear every detail of the case, then they toasted her.

“We’re thrilled to be back here,” Slash said.

“I loved working from home,” Addison said, “but I missed my ALPHA team so much.”

“Especially my ALPHA girls,” Brit added. “I’m all about the girl power.”

An echo of agreement filled the room.

“Red, do you think you’ll be assigned lead for the Day of Destruction case?” Danielle asked.

Simone shrugged. “I think fresh eyes need to run with this one, but if leadership puts a team together, I’d love in on that.”

“We should suggest it,” Jacqueline added.

While the team cleaned up the conference room, Slash said, “You’re sharing an office with me.”

Simone smiled. “I love that.”

Slash slung an arm around her. “Makes me happy too.”

Once there, Simone pulled out her laptop, plugged it into the large display on her desk. “It’ll be great bouncing ideas off you.”

“Same,” Slash said. “It’s gonna take me a while to get used to seeing you. It’s good to have you back, Red.”

“It’s good to be back.”

Her phone buzzed with a text from Luciano.

How’s my love’s first day going?

Great. Are you at work?

All day. One more stop before I see my baby. Love you Simone.

Love you Luciano

Cooper had assigned her a heavy case load, so she spent the afternoon reading through the files.

At the end of the workday, Slash said, “I’ll see you for Thanksgiving and for Friendsgiving.”

Simone peered over at her. “Friendsgiving?”

“Saturday, everyone’s getting together at Jericho Road.”

“Luciano hasn’t invited me,” Simone said.

“With everything going on, he probably just forgot,” Slash said. “So, if he pops the question, what’s your answer?”

Simone grinned.

“That rocks.” Slash stood, slung her computer bag over her shoulder. “Let’s get outta here.”

“I’m gonna stay a little longer. Thanks for the warm welcome. See you tomorrow.”

Slash left, and Simone turned her attention back to her computer.

An hour later, she packed up her laptop, headed out. Since she hadn’t heard from Luciano, she drove to her house.

It felt fantastic to be home. She turned on lights, walked around surveying each room. While she hadn’t been gone long, it felt like forever.

Entering the kitchen, she eyed the box of mini cakes Fred had brought over. So much had happened since their fun evening. Her entire life had changed in ways she could never have imagined.

Loss, pain, destruction, death… and love.

“I miss you, Frederica. My life isn’t the same without you.” She couldn’t eat the cake, couldn’t throw it away either, so she placed the box in the freezer. “I got the monster who killed you. And I fell in love. I fell in love with Luciano. Crazy huh? Who would have imagined?”

In the silence that followed, she heard her front door click shut.

“Luciano, is that you?”

No answer.

Still wearing her shoulder holster, she withdrew her Glock, flipped off the kitchen light, and stood with her back against the wall. The creaking of the wooden floor had blood whooshing through her. Was she being burglarized? Was this a targeted hit?

Someone wearing a ski mask appeared in the doorway, a large gleaming kitchen knife in their outstretched hand.

“Drop it or I’ll blow your head off!” Simone shouted.

“AAAAIIIEEE!” The assailant startled, then dropped their weapon.

It’s a woman.

Simone grabbed her shirt, shoved her against the wall, then yanked off her mask.

Trish Benderson, the SSA Manager and Cary Newburg’s girlfriend, glared at her. “Because of you, my Cary is dead,” she hissed. “You should have walked away from this. It’s bigger—way bigger—than any of us. You pissed off a lot of people, you stupid, stupid woman.”

Simone shoved her to the ground, pointed her Glock at her. “Don’t you fucking move. If you think I’m messing around, I pumped three bullets into Jerod De Clerq.”

“Who?”

“Dante. Dante is dead. And I’ll fucking kill you too.”

“Oh, fuck me,” Trish grumbled.

With her gun pointed at Trish, Simone called 911.

The police arrived, placed Trish in the back seat of a cruiser, then returned to talk to Simone. She showed them her badge, gave her statement, and told them Benderson was part of a corrupt crime ring.

An hour later, Simone was alone again, but she was gutted, furious, and fully anticipating a cyclone of continued fallout. In truth, Jerod’s death and Peter’s arrest were only beginning. The Bomb Maker might be dead, but his work was just revving up. The looming date—May thirty-first—was a deadline of overwhelming magnitude.

No way was she staying there by herself. Word had gotten out that she was the agent who’d eliminated Dante. Now, there was a bounty on her head. She climbed into her SUV, glanced up at her home once more time, and drove away.

Luciano was right. She wasn’t running scared. She was ensuring she stayed alive. When she arrived at Luciano’s, the guard waved her in, and she parked at the fountain.

At least, here, I’m protected.

LUCIANO

Luciano pulled up to Willie Boy’s restaurant in Alexandria, drove around back. The hatred he’d been carrying around finally had a target. Never once did he suspect his own cousin was behind the deaths of his family.

Teddy parked beside him. In silence, the men got out. Luciano keyed their way in through the back fire door. They entered Willy Boy’s private salon to find it dark. Teddy flipped on the lights. No one was there.

“He’s always here,” Teddy said. “Do you think someone tipped him off?”

“Who?” Luciano said. “Dante is dead. No one else knew.”

They exited, walked through the restaurant. It was empty. No patrons, no wait staff.

“What the hell is going on?” Teddy asked.

“He’s on the run,” Luciano said.

“Maybe someone offed him,” Teddy said.

“And his entire staff?”

Just then, the front door opened and Tara the hostess entered, then startled. “Oooh, you surprised me.”

“Where’s Willie Boy?” Luciano asked.

“A few days ago, he told us he’d gotten a job in Las Vegas and went to live with his aunt. Anyway, he took off, leaving me in charge. I would have called you, Mr. Santini, but I didn’t have your number.”

“Where is everyone?” Teddy asked.

“The staff freaked out when they saw Willie Boy,” Tara explained. “He’d been roughed up good. Two black eyes. His nose looked broken. He might have lost a tooth too.”

“Don’t forget about his arm—” Teddy blurted.

“Right,” Tara replied. “His arm was broken. Oh, and his pinky. Anyway, everyone freaked and bolted. I just came in to get my things. I got a new job and wanted to clean out my locker.” She handed Luciano the key. “Do you mind?”

“Go ahead,” Luciano said.

Tara made her way toward the back.

“We’ve got ourselves a rabbit,” Luciano said.

“You gonna chase him?” Teddy asked.

“Hell, no. He’ll run out of money or get into trouble and come crawling back.”

“Is the restaurant in your name?” Teddy asked.

“The family owns it,” Luciano replied. “Do you want to run it?”

“Hell, yeah.”

“You got time? You’re already spread pretty thin.”

“This is our family’s restaurant, and it’s gone to shit,” Teddy said. “I would update the hell out of it. If I can’t turn it around, we’ll sell it.”

Luciano extended his hand and Teddy shook it.

Tara returned carrying a small box. “Do you want to make sure I’m not taking anything?”

“Teddy runs the restaurant now,” Luciano replied.

“I trust you,” Teddy said. “You wanna work here when I reopen?”

Tara beamed. “Sure.” She gave Teddy her phone number and left.

“You trust her?” Luciano asked. “You hardly know her.”

“What’s she gonna steal?” Teddy asked. “The place is a dump.” He eyed the restaurant. “I’ll see if Greystone wants to manage it.”

Luciano stilled. “You can’t be serious.”

Teddy grinned sheepishly. “He’s been in touch with me.”

“What for?”

“He’s our brother.”

“Not my brother.”

“Leaving town doesn’t end a relationship,” Teddy pushed back.

“He walked out and we never saw him again. That’s not what family does. What do you know about him?”

“I know he’s family.”

“Willie Boy was family.”

“I’m giving him the benefit of the doubt.”

“Not me. Guilty until proven innocent.”

“Let’s get outta here.” Teddy locked up and they left.

A streak of frustration had Luciano growling. Willie Boy had gotten away with killing his family, then he skipped town when it was time to man up.

Did someone tell Willie Boy I was coming for him?

Luciano drove home in a sea of frustration, but when he saw Simone’s SUV parked at the fountain, the anger slipped away. He found her sitting at the kitchen table, her plate empty, her glass of iced tea half full.

She went to him, and he whisked her into his arms. “I’m sorry you’re here alone.”

He kissed her, relishing the way their lips came together, the way she caressed the back of his neck. When the kiss ended, he paused to appreciate the look of love streaming from her eyes.

Killing Willie Boy wouldn’t have changed a thing.

Let him run. His demons will catch up to him. They always do.

“I hear we’re spending Friendsgiving together,” she said.

“Absolutely.” He furrowed his brow. “Did I forgot to tell you?”

She nodded.

“How does Thanksgiving with the Santinis and Friendsgiving with the ALPHA family sound?”

“Perfetto,” she replied before holding him close.

“Qualcuno sta imparando l'italiano. Someone is learning Italian.”

She sat with him while he ate dinner and told him about her day.

His anger jumped to the forefront when he learned about Trish Benderson, but she deescalated him.

“Luciano. I’m fine.”

“Baby, we should have a security detail on you?—”

“Luciano, I was armed, I’m wearing my Kevlar, and I took her down.”

“My kick-ass woman,” he said.

“What happened with Willie Boy?”

“He left town or he could be hiding in plain sight. He abandoned the restaurant.”

Her eyes grew large. “So, he’s alive.”

“For now.”

“Are you going to chase him?”

“No. I’m going to celebrate the holidays with my love, then we’re going to stop the destruction Dante set into motion.”

She lifted her glass and clinked his. “Sounds like a plan.”

“I would love it if you moved in here.”

She smiled. “I would love that too.”

“Step one,” he said.

“What’s step two?”

“A proposal,” he replied.

“Then what?”

“A big, over-the-top wedding on the coast of Italy.”

She grinned. “I like the way you think, Mr. Santini.”

“I like you , Ms. Redding. I like all of you.”

“We’ve come a long way since our sketchy beginning.”

“When you were following me around with a pair of binos.” He pulled her onto his lap, kissed her. “Thank you for bringing joy into my life and peace to my heart.”

She placed her hand on her chest. “How romantic.”

“Always,” he said and kissed her.

“Always,” she replied and kissed him back.