The Accardi Twins: A Mafia Romance Duet

Chapter 25

Chapter Twenty-Five

Joshua

“ W e asked Leo to attend today as he has vital intel that could shed light on the situation,” Ben says after we are all seated around the table at Commission Central.

“What exactly did Gia overhear?” Leo asks, and I repeat it for the room.

“Shit. That is not good.” Leo shakes his head, looking deep in thought.

“Tell us what you know,” Massimo says.

“The Barone were a group of made men from Jersey. They were a bit of a laughingstock in our circles. Disorganized and a chaotic mess. They lost control of their business, and they started taking on jobs to pay the bills. They became known as the hit men of the mafioso .” He levels a look at Caleb, Fiero, and Massimo. “Though none of them could hold a torch to you three.” All three men trained in Nepal, and Massimo was a contract killer for years, in secret, before he gave it up to take control of his famiglia and marry Donna Conti.

“Why don’t we know anything about them?” Caleb asks.

“Because we took them out,” Leo calmly explains. “Carlo Greco was the original Greco heir, and your mom was contracted to marry him. He was a monster.”

“The worst kind,” Massimo agrees. He has never defended his now-deceased older brother.

Leo grips the arms of his chair. “Carlo hired the Barone to kidnap your mother a few months before their wedding.” Anger flares in his eyes. “They would have succeeded if I wasn’t there to stop them.” He rubs at his shoulder. “I took a bullet to ensure they didn’t get their hands on her.”

“Why would he do that?” Caleb looks confused. “It doesn’t make sense.”

“Nothing ever did when it came to my brother.”

“It doesn’t matter now,” our stepdad says. “What matters is we wiped them from existence. Or so we thought.” He sighs, scrubbing a hand across his chin.

“Who was involved, and how did it go down?” Fiero inquires, fidgeting with the collar of his shirt.

“This was almost thirty years ago, and my memory’s a little rusty. I was only a soldato back then, and though Angelo often took Mateo and me into his confidence, we weren’t privy to all the facts.” Mateo was Don Angelo Mazzone’s eldest son. He was gunned down on the streets, in his prime, and that’s when Angelo yanked Bennett Carver from his normal life into this one. Ben had no clue he was Angelo’s bastard son or that his father was the most powerful mafioso in the entire US.

“From what I remember,” Leo continues, “it was Gino Accardi, Maximo Greco, and Angelo Mazzone who were mostly involved though all five families were there the day we annihilated the Barone in Jersey. A few might have escaped the bloodbath, but we thought we covered everything. Rizzo was only a kid then. Maybe ten?” He shrugs. “Anyway, we sent him, along with his sisters and his mother, to Italy, telling them not to come back.”

“I should have been informed,” Ben says, placing his palms flat on the table. “I could have kept tabs on them.”

“They fell through the cracks. Mateo died less than a year later, and we were all preoccupied.”

“We have to assume Rizzo came back from Italy and began rebuilding the Barone in secret,” Caleb says.

“How the fuck did we not get wind of it?” I ask, propping my elbows on the table. “Surely someone would have heard something.”

“It doesn’t make sense,” Cristian agrees.

“It does if the people who got wind of it decided to ally with the Barone and their partners.” Ben looks suitably worried.

“We have more than one rat.” Fiero verbalizes all our suspicion, articulating our worst fears.

“It’s safe to assume we have rats and informants in all of our families,” Massimo says.

A heavy silence descends over the room.

“They have been plotting this for years.” Ben raps his fingers on the table. “We’re not just talking about some drug war. We’re talking about the ultimate war.”

“They intend to take New York from us,” I surmise.

“Let them fucking try.” Caleb cracks his knuckles and grins. “They want a war. Let’s give them one.”

Everyone looks at his smiling face like he’s grown ten heads.

“What?” He throws his hands in the air. “Don’t pretend like you won’t relish gutting those motherfuckers.”

“Do I need to remind you we’re still completely in the dark?” Massimo says.

“Not completely,” I say. “Thanks to Gia, we now know about the Barone. We know Liam and his crew are allies and that there’s a big boss ruling everything.”

Massimo’s features soften. “I heard what happened last night. Is Gia okay?”

“What happened last night?” Cristian leans forward, eyeballing me with concern.

“Liam staked his claim very publicly in front of his men. He’s taken his gloves off, and he’s done playing nice.”

“Shit. How is she holding up?”

“She’s hanging in there. He commanded her to be at his place tonight to cook him dinner and stay the night. I think it’s time we pulled her out.” Gia will bust my balls if she finds out I went against her wishes, but I’ll take her vitriol over her being dead any day. “It’s too dangerous, and I’m not sure how much more useful Liam could be now we know he’s not the one in charge.”

“Liam could know a lot more,” Fiero says. “My money says he does.”

“So, let’s tell O’Hara we have the proof and haul the prick to the bunker. We’ll torture the intel out of him.” Caleb’s grin is now firmly planted on his face.

“We’ll show our hand,” Ben says.

“Our best option now is to pretend like we know nothing,” Massimo agrees. “Gia needs to stay on the assignment.”

“We’re risking her life,” I snap, digging my fingernails into my thigh. “I know she’s skilled and resourceful, but the stakes are too high now.”

“You need to separate your personal feelings for her,” Ben says not unkindly.

“If this has become a conflict, I can reassign Gia a new handler,” Massimo says.

“I’ll do it.” Cristian seems very keen to push me aside.

“That won’t be necessary.” I glare at my oldest friend. “I’m perfectly capable of doing my job and protecting Gia.”

Massimo stabs me with a look. “This is bigger than all of us, Joshua. We’re already at a disadvantage, and we can’t afford to fall further behind. If this is a problem, you need to tell us now. No one will fault you if you need to step aside. I know I’d feel compromised if it was the woman I love.”

My natural instinct is to deny I’m in love with her, but who the fuck am I kidding? I’m already halfway there, at least. So, I say nothing. I didn’t think it was possible, but Caleb’s grin is even wider. If he keeps this up, it’ll split his face in two. I level him with a cool look. “Shut up.”

“I didn’t say a word,” he teases, waggling his brows.

I return my focus to Massimo. “I’m a professional, and I’m fully invested in keeping Gia safe and finding these pricks who think they can stroll in and steal our turf from under us. If anything changes, I give you my word I’ll talk to you immediately.”

Massimo stares at me for a few tense beats. “Okay.”

“There’s something else Gia heard that’s concerning and requires discussion,” Ben says.

“What boy they were talking about.” Massimo rubs at a spot between his brows.

Tension bleeds into the air again. “Whoever it was, it seems like the attempt was foiled, and Liam warned him about taking matters into their own hands, so I don’t think they’ll try it again,” I say.

“That isn’t much consolation,” Massimo says.

“We know this is about us, so I think it’s safe to assume the ‘boy’ could be any number of our sons or close relatives.” Ben’s expression is grave, and he’s no doubt thinking of Rowan and Rhys.

“It could mean the twins or me,” Cristian says. “We’re still regarded as ‘boys’ by many of the older generation.”

“Let those motherfuckers try to take any of us out and see what happens,” Caleb snarls.

“We need to assign extra protection to our families,” I suggest. “At least until we know more.”

“Agreed,” Fiero says. “You should assign some to yourselves too.”

“No thanks,” Caleb says. “I can protect myself.”

“We’ll be more vigilant, and we won’t take unnecessary risks.” I drill my brother with a look he ignores.

“Don’t compromise your safety foolishly,” Ben says. “For now, I agree you take precautions until we have more intel. If it becomes clear you’re targets, then you will be accepting a security detail.”

Caleb grumbles under his breath but doesn’t fight it. We know what Uncle Ben means. He’ll rope Mom in. She’ll freak and want us surrounded by tons of bodyguards, and we’ll concede because neither of us can ever deny her anything.

“We can’t stretch our men too thin. We’ve already sent a team to Cali, and we might need every man available in the coming weeks if this turns into war.” Massimo combs a hand through his hair.

“Use your security firm,” Cristian says. “This is what those men are trained for. Hire them to protect our families.”

“That’s a great idea and the perfect solution,” Massimo agrees, raising his eyes at Caleb. “Any objections?”

Caleb shakes his head. “My concerns were regarding official mafioso business. Protecting our families won’t expose them to too much, and it’s the logical decision.”

Leo stands. “I’ll get that set up right away. Unless you need me for anything else?” His gaze bounces between Ben and Massimo.

“You’re excused, Leo. Thanks for your help,” Massimo says.

“Let me know if I can do anything else.” He nods at Ben, Caleb, and me before exiting the room.

“Gia suggested we try and trap the rats in a lie.” I explain her plan.

“It’s smart,” Caleb says.

“It can’t hurt to try. Let’s do it,” Massimo agrees. “I’ll devise a different lie for each famiglia and pass it over to you by the end of the day. Feed it into your ranks, and let’s see what comes of it.”

“What about the plant in Colombia?” Cristian asks. “Do we have an update from our men on the ground?”

“The plant is clean. No rats or spies,” Massimo says.

“I think they were planning or are planning to hit the plant,” Fiero adds.

“We need to assign more men to protect it,” I volunteer.

“We’re already on it,” Fiero confirms, slouching in his chair a little. “Juan Pablo is recruiting a hundred local men. Most are ex-military thanks to his contacts. If they go after it, we’re confident we can hold our own.”

“What about Vegas?” Ben asks.

“Anais hasn’t offered up anything yet, but I’ll be seeing her in two weeks at Christmas, and hopefully she’ll have something for me then.”

“Has she agreed to spy?” Cristian asks, looking a little wary.

Caleb bobs his head. “She was champing at the bit after I told her about that whore carrying her husband’s baby.”

“I’m not sure I trust Anais.” Cristian reiterates a sentiment he’s expressed many times over the years. “Be careful, Caleb. There has always been something a little off about her.”

“I know how to handle her. Your warning is redundant.”

“I didn’t get a sense of anything being out of place in Vegas when I was there,” Cristian adds, rubbing his hands down his face. “But my gut is telling me Cruz is all tangled up in this. I wouldn’t rule out Anais being aware and having her own agenda. She might know what he’s planning, and you’re her backup plan. I’d smother my dick in latex if I was you.”

“I’ve had the snip.” Caleb puts it out there like it’s no biggie.

“What? When?” This is news to me.

“A year ago.”

“That’s quite a drastic move for someone so young,” Ben says.

“I don’t want kids.”

“What if your future wife does?”

“I don’t want a wife either.”

Fiero bursts out laughing. “You sure you’re not my son?” he teases.

“Don’t tell me you’ve had a vasectomy too?” Cristian asks looking genuinely shell-shocked. I’m guessing Caleb told no one.

“Nah, but it’s not a bad idea.”

“You’re missing out,” Ben says.

“It’s always reversible if he ever changes his mind,” I say over a shrug.

“Well, that was a fun way to end our meeting.” Massimo grins, and at least it’s helped to ease some of the tension. “Stick close and watch your backs. We’ll meet biweekly from now on until we’ve got to the bottom of this and ended the threat. I’ll have my assistant reach out to yours and add the dates to your calendars.”

I groan at the reminder that Ben sent Sorella’s younger sister to my office as my new temp PA until Ruthie returns from maternity leave. The decision has been made to recruit temporary staff for our businesses solely from our community going forward so no outsiders can get close to us. I’m grateful he found someone for me fast, but couldn’t it have been someone without the last name Caprese? I have a feeling Sorella is going to become a problem.

After the meeting breaks up, I ask to speak with Cristian alone.

“What’s up?” he asks as we stand at the window in the conference room looking down on the city and the park below.

“That’s what I’d like to know.”

His brow creases. “I’m not following.”

“I asked you this before, but you blew me off. I want the truth this time. What happened between you and Gia because I know something did.”

He turns to face me. “I don’t kiss and tell, man. You know that.”

“She’s important to me.”

“We all see that, and I’m really happy for you, Joshua. She’s perfect for you, and you don’t need to worry about the past. It wasn’t serious, but you should still ask her. It’s her place to tell you, not mine.”