The Accardi Twins: A Mafia Romance Duet

Chapter 19

Chapter Nineteen

Joshua

“ I ’m coming with you,” I tell my brother three nights later when I can’t stand the voices in my head any longer.

“Okay.” Caleb scans my black top, cargo pants, boots, and the Smith & Wesson strapped to my hip.

“She was my assistant. I fucked up letting her into the company. She’s my problem to fix.” Ben’s specialist tech team found evidence Lavinia’s file was a complete fake. Whoever put her up to this is good. They left no clues. The intel online matched perfectly, and her fake IDs were flawless. The team had to dig deep to find the truth. She’s the sister of a two-bit gangster from New Jersey. We have no clue how to connect her to everything else, but it can’t be a coincidence.

The Commission discussed how to handle it, and we chose to let her stay, under constant surveillance, in the hope she might lead us to vital intel. The hunch paid off, and something is going down tonight in Atlantic City. The irony isn’t lost on us. A.C. was the birthplace of organized crime and the Italian American mafios o back in the day. Now, it’s known for its casinos and the legendary boardwalk.

“I said okay. You don’t have to convince me.” Caleb thrusts a bulletproof vest at me. “You want any other weapons?”

I shake my head. “I’m good.”

“Let’s hit the road then.”

We park several blocks from the construction site where the meeting is going down at midnight and make the rest of the way on foot. The development is at the northernmost point, a couple miles past the boardwalk, facing the water. This is an industrial part of town, and there are little signs of life. A perfect location if you’re up to no good.

Caleb and I lead our group of ten soldati toward the meeting point, sticking to the shadows along other buildings as we quietly advance forward. A bunch of dusty cars and mud-splattered trucks are parked out front. Scaffolding scales the front elevation of the high-rise building. Raised voices greet our ears, and we split into two groups after we enter the building at the lower level. One group goes up the stairs while Caleb and I take four men and move toward the sound of voices.

Heavy-duty plastic sheets sway softly in the light ocean breeze where they cover what will be windows. Caleb gestures with his hand, and the soldati crouch down under the window with their backs to the wall. My twin deposits the duffel bag with the rifles and extra ammunition on the ground beside a large pillar. We take up position on either side, and it offers us a good vantage point.

A small gap in the sheet allows us to see outside. Three portable lights shine brightly on a group of armed men as they form a circle around a short stocky man with long hair tied back in a ponytail and my assistant. All the men are wearing custom suits and expensive watches, and some have chest straps with rifles on their back. Others have guns holstered to their hips. Lavinia is dressed in yoga pants, sneakers, and a hoodie underneath a denim jacket, and she’s shifting from foot to foot as she wraps her arms around herself in a protective gesture.

Caleb and I exchange glances. These men are no two-bit gangsters.

What the fuck is going on?

“Should we call for backup?” I mouth to my twin.

“No time,” he mouths back.

“It’s not good enough, Liv,” the dude with the tail says.

“His office is like Fort Knox,” she says in a shrill voice. “And even when I got inside, everything is locked up. I’m guessing anything of importance is in the side room, and it’s got a retinal scanner on the door. I don’t know how you expect me to penetrate that.”

“I’ll give you something that can penetrate,” some douche says, cupping his cock through his pants, and a burst of laughter rings out.

“Enough,” the guy in charge snaps. “This is not a laughing matter.” He eyeballs every man surrounding him with a deathly look. “Do I need to remind you of what’s at stake? We’ve only come this far thanks to our allies. If we fail to deliver the intel, they become our enemies, and I’m sure I don’t need to tell you what a shit show that’d be.”

The air sobers, and there’s no more joking. The dick with the long hair returns his attention to Lavinia. She’s visibly trembling now.

“It’s not her fault,” a man on her left says. “I shouldn’t have involved her.”

I’m guessing he’s the brother though they look nothing alike.

“She’s involved now, and that means she’s accountable.” The man pulls a gun on her. “You have had ample time to do this, and you’re a shit informant.”

“I’ve given you information,” she shrieks. Panic is splayed across her face. “I gave you the cruise liner schedules, client listings, and contracts, and I shared his calendar with you.”

That little bitch. Thank fuck I only log legit work meetings on my business calendar. I hate that these assholes have a list of our client dealings, but I don’t think it’s any threat unless they plan to set up a competitor shipping or clothing business. They could pass it to our competitors, and it would hurt, but I don’t think that’s what they’re after. This feels more personal, but I don’t know why. Call it a sixth sense.

I agree with the guy’s assessment if that’s all the intel she supplied. The calendar would have given them jack shit except for my location at any given time. Those schedules are public knowledge too. Something we’ve always joked about because we’ve blatantly brought narcotics in right under the nose of the authority. But none of us are laughing now. We’ve already stopped using the cruise liners for the Cali runs, and an order was placed for another cargo ship recently.

“Bitch, that information was worth a whole ton of nothing.” He prods his gun under her chin, and she’s shaking all over.

I look at Caleb, wondering if we should step in now and stop this. If we rescue her, I’m pretty sure she’ll tell us everything she knows. Except I doubt she knows much. We need the guy in charge or one of his men. Then maybe we’ll get the intel we need. Excitement races through my veins at the prospect of a fight. I’ve been on edge for weeks, especially in the last few days, and beating the shit out of a few motherfuckers is just what the doctor ordered.

Caleb nods, reading my expression clearly. Or maybe it’s just we know one another inside and out. Either way, we’re on the same page, and I know he’s dying to get his hands bloody. The street stuff he handled recently didn’t even whet his appetite.

“You couldn’t even seduce him,” the long-haired dick says. “You’re a pathetic excuse of a woman.”

“No woman could seduce that cold prick!” she shouts. “He’s gay or bi or something, but he’s definitely not into women.”

The man backhands her with the gun. “He fucks women. You just didn’t do it for him.” He drags his eyes up and down her body in a derogatory fashion. “Can’t say I fucking blame him.” He presses the gun to her brow. “We don’t tolerate weak links. Weakness almost ruined us last time but not under my watch.”

“Dude, your sister just pissed herself!” some guy shouts, and every set of eyes lowers to the pool of urine spreading across the asphalt.

“Get ready,” Caleb mouths to our men as he slowly unzips the duffel and distributes rifles. I step back and press on my earpiece, whispering instructions to our second group.

“Please,” Lavinia pleads over a sob. “Please don’t kill me. I’ll try harder. I’ll get him to trust me. I’ll get you what you need.” Her voice elevates a few octaves with each sentence.

“Too late, bitch. You had your chance, and you blew it.” He pulls the trigger, and the light dies instantly in her eyes.

“You bastard!” the brother yells, raising his gun. “You said she wouldn’t be hurt! Fuck you!” He points his weapon in the man’s face, but he’s not watching his back, so he doesn’t see his buddy creep up behind him and put a bullet through the back of his skull. He falls forward on top of his sister.

“Anyone else have something to say?” the man asks, kicking Lavinia’s lifeless body as he steps over the dead siblings.

Caleb looks at me and smirks. I return his grin as we get into position behind the sheets.

“I do,” Caleb shouts as we push the sheets aside and jump out onto the debris-strewn ground. “Which one of you motherfuckers wants to die first?” We step out into their line of sight just as gunfire rains down on them from the level above.