Unspoken Betrayal (Casino King)

12. Nicki

Vitorio pulls me up against his solid, broad chest, and a sense of security and warmth surrounds me.

"I won't be long. I will be back by lunchtime." He says, kissing the top of my head.

"Are you sure I can't come with you?" I grumble, annoyed that he is going without me.

"The man I am meeting today wants to speak to me alone. If you are there he might not share the information we want him to share. I will tell you everything when I get back."

He steps away from me and my body feels colder in his absence.

I have been constantly fighting my feelings for him because I am still so scared to trust him. So much of what we have discovered still points to his family, and as much as I want to believe that he is in this with me, looking for the truth and nothing else, I still have to be careful and aware of the fact that it is his family.

Once Vitorio left, I paced up and down his penthouse alone, feeling agitated and useless.

I am running through everything in my mind as I walk up and down -- every bit of information, every piece of the puzzle. But it is so difficult to put it all together when you don't know what the final picture is.

There is one thing that has been bothering me for the last two days.

One of the men we questioned, who went missing only hours after we spoke to him, mentioned a warehouse.

Vitorio assured me it was abandoned many years ago, and no one uses it anymore. It was his father's warehouse and now sits empty on the edge of a plot of land.

Something about this warehouse keeps nagging at my thoughts.

I have to continue, with or without Vitorio. I have to find justice for my father and bring understanding to my mother and sister. I can't just do nothing right now.

I glance at my small, rose-gold wristwatch. Vitorio is going to be gone for at least three or four hours. If it is abandoned, then there is surely no risk of me going to take a look by myself.

At least if I see it for myself I can ease my worries and focus on something else.

With my mind made up, knowing that doing this will be better than driving myself crazy all day here alone, I grab my car keys and my phone and rush out the door.

I punch the location into the navigation system on my phone, and even though I don't have the exact address, I imagine that a giant, abandoned warehouse can't be that hard to find.

And I am right.

As soon as I get to the area, I see it. It is the only building on this stretch of land, and it looks old and decrepit. The corrugated walls are rusted, and some have even detached from the supporting frames and have fallen away from the building.

There isn't a car or person in sight.

I park close by and sit in my car staring at it for a moment, just waiting and watching.

Finally, I feel confident enough that it is safe, so I climb out and start walking toward the menacing-looking warehouse.

My nerves are tightly wound as I step over a rusted bar, into the dark space.

My eyes take a moment to adjust.

Sunlight is filtering through cracks in the ceiling, where panels of the roof have been peeled away by weather and years.

Small flakes of dust float in the air, creating a beautiful effect, as though the entire place was filled with small flakes of white glitter, dancing on a soft breeze, peaceful and calm.

But I know that is an illusion. This place is not beautiful. And I need to stay sharp while I am here.

Roaming through the musty, damp-smelling warehouse, I brush aside cobwebs and disturb the settled dust as I move.

I look everywhere, from the empty corners to the old rotting wooden crates.

I scratch through rusty filing cabinets, in long-ago abandoned offices, and find nothing.

Inside what looks like the main office, I begin to feel like this was all a waste of time.

Vitorio was right. This place is a dead end of dirt and emptiness.

I turn to leave the office, and my foot catches on a fallen shelf. I stumble, gasping loudly, the sound echoing through the old space.

I fall forward and reach out to catch myself on the office wall.

My heart is beating fast as I regain my balance and push myself back up.

The wall in front of me shifts and the sheet of plaster begins to crack. It is so dried and decayed, that the impact of my fall has jolted it, and now it is crumbling.

Slowly it starts shifting, and then with a sudden, loud, crash, the entire panel disintegrates and in complete shock, I stare at a hidden room.

My heart begins to race as I step towards it, to carefully look through the doorway.

Inside is a neat, small room, filled with shelves.

Each shelf has a box, labeled in peeling stickers, and I can just make out the lettering.

I run my fingers across the flaking letters.

Then I stop.

Staring at the word in front of me.

Leonard Dellacroce.

Why would my father's name be on a box in a hidden room in an abandoned warehouse?

For a moment, I can't move. I can hardly breathe. The air is too stale in here, and it feels too hot and too quiet, and –

Close your eyes. Take a slow breath. Pull yourself together.

I open my eyes when my heart returns to a normal rhythm.

Then carefully I pull the old box from the shelf, supporting the base as it begins to disintegrate.

I lower it to the floor and crouch in front of it.

My fingers are shaking when I pull the lid open and stare at the folder inside.

I pull it out, lay it on top of the box, and begin flipping through the pages.

The first thing I see is a photograph that causes my throat to tighten.

My father is standing next to a man I don't recognize. He looks happy. The man has his arm over my father's shoulder, as though they were friends.

I set the photograph aside and started reading the old papers.

The folder tells a story of a long-standing conflict, something that I am struggling to understand as everything appears to be coded. But there was a disagreement, and there are copies of emails detailing threats made against my father if he didn't back off and stop asking about something he saw, that he wasn't supposed to see.

What did you see Dad?

I continue reading.

My stomach lurches as I see the words.

The paper I am holding details a bounty taken out on my father's head.

It is signed.

Vitali.

A loud crash inside the main area of the warehouse makes me snap back to reality.

It is probably just old pieces, shifting and falling after I disturbed them - but I shouldn't still be here. I need to get away from this place.

I close the folder and pick it up, carefully and quietly making my way out of the hidden room with the file grasped securely against my body.

I walk out of the office, avoiding the sharp rusted edges of the doorway, and find myself back in the main area of the warehouse. The dust is still dancing in the sunlight, but in one corner, I can see more movement in the air. It must be where something fell.

My heart is thundering with fear.

The entire place is suddenly filled with an ominous tone, and the urgency to leave is getting worse.

I hurry along, watching my step, but moving quickly towards the broken wall where I came in.

Behind me I hear another sound and spin in that direction - to see the dark silhouette of a person, looking right at me.

I cry out in a fight, but the sound leaves my lips as a dry whisper, rather than anything that represents the intense fear I feel.

The figure is tall, muscular, and moving towards me now.

I spin on my heels, no longer trying to be quiet or careful.

A loud shout echoes through the warehouse.

"Stop, what the fuck are you doing here?"

The guy is starting to run, and I push harder, fueled by the terror that if I am caught, I will disappear like everyone else.

I burst through the broken wall and into the blinding light of the sun. For a moment I cannot see anything, and I feel disoriented. Behind me, I hear the crashing sound of footsteps inside the warehouse.

I blink hard and bolt towards my car just as the shrieking sound of an alarm pierces into the air.

I yank the car door open, throw the file onto the passenger seat, and leap into my car, slamming the door behind me as I turn the key to ignite the engine.

The tires spin against the dirt and gravel and my car jumps forward as the man erupts from the warehouse, still running towards me.

My foot is flat on the accelerator, as I scream away from there, back out onto the road, and leave a trail of dust and fear behind me.

All I can think right now is that he would have seen my car, and he would be able to find out who I am - and that has put me in serious danger.