Under His Embrace (The Constella Family #4)
1. Franco
1
FRANCO
G oing back to A&J’s Deli wasn’t how I wanted to spend my morning, but I couldn’t get out of the duty to follow up with this latest incident.
I was there most of the day before, when I walked through the shot-up deli with Tony, the capo who reported to me in this district of the Constella territory. He was convinced this shooting was just one more attack from the Giovanni Family, but I knew better than to assume anything could be that cut and dry. Regardless of the fact that Stefan Giovanni had teamed up with Reaper at the Devil’s Brothers MC. Those collaborators wanted to end us. It was no secret they wanted to see us to ruin, to death. Every struggle for power among syndicated crime Families included a goal of completely eradicating their rivals.
“I don’t know why you wouldn’t think Stefan was behind this,” Liam Gray said as he walked through the clutter and mess the Constella soldiers were still cleaning up. A select few had gone through to take pictures and collect evidence before cleanup could begin. We operated as our own system of law, and while the process of treating this like a crime scene was similar to what the NYPD did, we were faster and kept everything in-house.
Because whoever decided to shoot up this deli owned by Dante Constella would also answer to our form of “policing”.
They wouldn’t get away with it—whether it was the Giovannis, the Devil’s Brothers, or someone else. Dante hadn’t risen to power and maintained it without making many enemies over the years. Whoever shot A&J’s Deli up, killing all but one employee, would be caught and justice would prevail. Our brand of justice. The Constella way.
“Okay,” I told the former military man who’d become our best shot. And someone more like a friend than an employee, a friend I hadn’t realized I needed. “Tell me, new guy,” I mocked, “why do you think this would be the work of Stefan Giovanni?”
“Because we’ve been hearing rumors about his trying to attack again,” Liam replied. He didn’t take his critical scrutiny off the deli shop space as he spoke, always on . “At that wedding we attended, you confirmed that rumors were running rife that Stefan was plotting something and planning to try to attack us.”
I almost smiled at how easily Liam said us . He’d fit right in, but he wasn’t only a new recruit and specialized soldier. He was also marrying into the family by proposing to Eva.
“I agree. I recall those rumors, but they might just be that—rumors, perhaps intended to throw us off.”
Liam crossed his arms, surveying the damage of the cover business that wouldn’t be in operation anytime soon. Probably never again. The building would be better off demolished and rebuilt as something new with all the bloodshed and destruction.
“All right. Let’s say this isn’t the work of the Giovannis. If they were spreading rumors to throw us off and confuse us, who would’ve done this?” Liam raised his brows expectantly.
“Not the MC,” I replied. Blindly shooting up a place was more the bikers’ style, but they would make sure we knew that they’d done it. The Devil’s Brothers would want all the glory. They’d gloat in attacking the Constellas and would want to rub it in our faces. So far, they hadn’t said a damn thing.
Between the two, we dealt with a lot of strife. Stefan and Reaper were the two leaders who should come to mind, but I wasn’t certain that was what we were dealing with here. “Stefan has been in hiding since he tried to kidnap Nina and Tessa,” I told Liam. That had happened right before Liam came into our fold. “And Reaper’s dealing with your killing his connection to the governor,” I reminded him. Liam had taken out their connection for immunity from the law just twenty-four hours ago, and Reaper was insanely pissed off.
“You don’t think Reaper could’ve ordered this attack in retaliation to our killing Oscar Morelli?” he asked.
I shook my head. It was another simple assumption, but it didn’t add up.
“No, man.” Tony approached, slipping his phone into his pocket. He was here to help supervise, but as he was still recovering from an illness, I was in charge. “The surveillance feed shows them coming in here and firing ten minutes prior to when you took your shot at the governor’s assistant.”
“It can’t be payback for that kill,” I told Liam.
“Then who are you thinking?” he asked.
I shrugged, not wanting this to spread too far. I had my guesses and ideas, but until I had proof or clues, I didn’t want to start any gossip.
“I just sent you the tracking info you requested,” Tony said on his way out to speak with more soldiers out front. “The surveillance feeds tracked the car the employee took, confirming they jumped into the A&J van.”
I wasn’t surprised. The deli was shot up and their “company” van was missing. I’d asked for the confirmation that the sole survivor—and witness—took that van. And it seemed that I was correct in that guess.
I narrowed my eyes. “But you still can’t find any employee records?”
The capo shook his head and coughed, still getting over a nasty round of pneumonia from the winter season. “No. I think it’s gotta be a new hire because the paperwork hasn't been filed anywhere yet.”
“Eh. That’s not saying much, though.” A&J’s Deli was a cover business. In the basement level, drugs were packaged for distribution. Since it was such a small shop, the legitimate business end ran with a similar under-the-table mentality. Records weren’t diligently kept here. Our bookkeepers were thorough, but even from their end, they couldn’t tell us who was being paid as the deli’s new employee.
A very recent hire. What a shitty way to start a job.
“The cameras picked up on the employee running out the back, though.” Tony coughed again. “And other cameras followed and tracked the car they jumped into to flee.”
Liam furrowed his brow. “No plates or license to track?”
Tony shook his head. “No. It was a rental, tied to the family. During the day, Manny and Suzie used it for delivering meats for the deli, but at night, the crew in the basement would take the decals off and use it for delivering product.”
“So it’s a Constella vehicle this employee took,” Liam guessed.
I nodded. “They probably figured it was the quickest escape, since the keys are always in it when it’s parked out back.”
“Then let’s go,” Liam said.
I appreciated his g0-get-’em mentality. He wasn’t impatient, but I already knew that he liked to be a man of action—in action. I was the same, and that was likely a reason we got along so well and had from the beginning.
As we walked outside, I tossed him my keys. He could drive while I followed the route the Constella van had gone. “It’s fortunate the employee did take the van,” I told Liam as we got into my SUV. “All the vehicles are equipped with tracking.”
And the route the A&J van had gone was recorded. I didn’t oversee too much of what the hackers did for the family. A wickedly smart technician named Sheldon handled the cyber warfare of our organization. All I ever had to do was ask, point, and tell them what I needed to know in order to do my job.
“Convenient.” Liam started the SUV and pulled out of the lot. “Lead the way.”
I scrolled through the route that Tony had just sent me. When I reached the end of the route, I did a double-take and brought the phone closer to see it clearer.
Beckson? Beckson, New York?
The destination was out of the city, which wasn’t surprising. If that terrified—and potentially wounded—employee wanted to get away from danger, speeding far from New York City was a logical move. I had to wonder if this survivor was a witness to the attack or complicit and wanting to hide. Either way, we had a destination, and we would get answers about this employee’s involvement. If they were a witness, they’d be interrogated. If they were an accomplice, they’d also be interrogated but then disposed of.
What I wasn’t expecting was the proximity to the small town I used to live in. Beckson, my stomping grounds that I never returned to after I moved into the Constella organization’s properties.
My surname was Constella, but I wasn’t closely related to Dante or his son, Romeo. I wasn’t too close to Eva, who was Dante’s niece, either. I was a distant cousin, however many times removed, but I didn’t spend much time in the city with them until I officially worked for them.
“Huh.” I frowned as I typed the address in for where the A&J van had stopped.
“What?” Liam asked, glancing at the navigation screen.
“Nothing. Just thinking.” I wasn’t about to tell him that I was thinking that the small town of Beckson, New York held a plethora of memories. Memories that I’d rather cram back into a recess of my mind to never revisit.
The day I left Beckson was the last time I allowed myself to think of her . Of Chloe. Of the girl who broke my heart when she decided to choose a life without me.
She was never far from my mind, always lurking there as a reminder of what I’d lost and would never have again. I did my best to avoid recalling her, but it was no easy feat to erase all thoughts and recollections of one’s true love.
True lost love.
Bitterness crept in—again—and I sighed as I looked out the window.
“Thinking about what?” Liam prompted.
About whether Beckson has changed over the years. If Chloe’s parents are still there acting like judgmental assholes. If she ever came back home since I left. If she ever misses me at all.
“Nothing,” I lied again.
“Yeah, right.” He huffed but didn’t push for more. Another reason I befriended Liam so quickly and so well was because he wasn’t stupid. He was sharp and observant, clued in to when he should drop a topic. “Now that it’s just you and me in here, who are you thinking for that attack? Who do you think shot up A&J’s?”
Thank you. The man deserved a medal for intuiting when to change the subject. “Donny Domino,” I answered.
“Isn’t he the guy from the Family that was killed?”
It happened before Liam came into the family, but we’d all filled him in on the basic facts. Stefan Giovanni partnered with Donny Domino. Donny got it into his head that he could kill the Devil’s Brothers MC after lying to them, but the MC men annihilated the Domino Family. Afterward, recouping from his losses by siding with the Dominos, Stefan two-timed and was now trying to ally with the MC.
“Yeah, but some people think he’s just lying low and isn’t actually dead.” I checked my phone, dismissing the message from another capo to stay focused on this talk with Liam. “Edward, one of Tony’s best soldiers, mentioned something about the attack resembling how Donny used to operate. Without mercy and with maximum bloodshed. He was a sadistic freak.”
“If anyone from this Domino Family is still around, why would they be motivated to attack a Constella business?”
I have no fucking clue. “I don’t know. If any members of the Domino Family are still alive, they won’t have many to rely on. The bikers damn near killed them all, and they targeted all the leaders and men. It would make more sense for Donny—or any other Domino—to fight back against their so-called former allies in the Giovanni Family or against their killers in the MC. Not us. Dante stayed out of all those deals for a reason.”
Liam nodded, accepting what I said as he drove on. I appreciated having him almost like a partner. He was competent and loyal, and while he handled navigating to Beckson, I was freed up to deal with the many messages I’d received while checking over the crime scene.
I was always busy like this, the highest-ranking capo of the Constellas. But this was different, having someone at my side like Liam. I could count on him, even if he was bound to be busier soon as Eva’s husband.
Everything’s been changing lately. Dante meeting Nina and expecting a baby soon. They’d be married this year, I bet. Then Tessa and Romeo getting engaged. Liam and Eva.
Change would only continue to come, but I didn’t count on anything drastic altering my life.
Not like that. I wouldn’t be paired up with anyone. I couldn’t imagine sharing my life with one woman. I wasn’t looking, and I never would.
Been there, done that.
I lost my one true love years ago, and the gaping hole in my heart that Chloe left kept me unavailable to ever considering letting anyone near it again.