25. 25- Caterina
25- Caterina
I slip into the small bedroom about an hour before we land, unzipping the holdall and laying the clothes out on the bed.
Stripping out of the linen trousers, the white camisole that’s better suited for the Sicilian sun, I change into the supple black leather trousers, pulling them up and over my waist. The scarlet red blouse – one of my favorites – goes on next, the deep v-neck showing only a hint of my scar when I move. The edge of the ruined crow’s wings stand out more clearly at this angle.
The black heels follow, red soles flashing as I slide my feet into them before tugging my hair into a tight, high ponytail.
Ducking into the bathroom, I apply my make-up. A precise flick of eyeliner. My lips are lined perfectly, filled with a deep red.
Layer by layer, I put myself back together. And when I look at my reflection, I could almost kid myself that the last few months haven’t happened at all.
I stop when I walk out of the bathroom.
“I thought you might want them,” Gio says carefully. He holds up my knives with a nod at my shoes. “So I asked Vincent to send them. I packed them, though. Before we came for you.”
I blow out a breath. “I feel more like myself, at least. Thank you.”
More prepared to face whatever is coming for us when we land.
Gio hands me the knives, watching as I select the two daggers Luc gave me, sliding them into the back. “If he has broken Omertà, he’s handed you a heavy advantage.”
“I know.” I already mapped it, Dom and Stefano feeding in on the drive to the private airfield. “None of the men will willingly follow him if he has.”
Aside from my uncle’s men, nobody has stepped forward as an ally. But if they’re waiting, testing the waters, this could be the ammunition I need to push them into my corner.
“I suppose we’ll find out.”
I emerge from the bedroom and settle into the seat beside Dom. His jaw is tight. “I don’t agree with this.”
“Tough.” I don’t look at him. “I made the call.”
He turns his phone over in his hand. “I tried to call Vincent for back-up, but he’s not answering. Nor Tony.”
And he sounds pissed . “I’ve been out of the loop for too fucking long, Cat.”
“You and me both. It’ll be easier than you think to fall back into it, Dom. We’ve spent years doing this. Our whole lives preparing for it. A few months don’t take away years of work.”
He grimaces. “Is your uncle still on campus?”
I check my phone. “I don’t know.”
And I forgot to ask Vincent for his number. Stupid, careless mistakes.
I can’t afford to make any, small or large.
The pilot’s voice filters over the intercom. “Landing. Please take your seats.”
We land with a bump, the plane hurtling over the tarmac. We’re all out of our seats before it stops.
“Fuck.” Luc swings his head between Stefano and me. “You were right.”
I press my lips together. “Maybe.”
“They look like cops to me,” Gio says grimly. “This isn’t good.”
Three cars pull up beside the plane, lights flashing. “Give me your gun.”
Dante stares at me incredulously as Gio immediately pulls out his Glock, handing it to me. I take it with a nod, gesture at Dante. “I need another. Now , Dante.”
He shakes his head. “You can’t be serious. You start a shootout here and we’re all dead, Cat. They’ll turn a blind eye to a lot, but you won’t walk out alive.”
“I’m not starting anything.” I stride up to him, my hand sliding into his holster and pulling out a pistol. I flick the safety on, shoving it into the back of my trousers with a wince. Never the best idea.
They follow as I dart to the bedroom. Luc starts pulling off his own weapons, handing them to Stefano. Quickly, I pull two smaller pins from my dagger set, winding my hair into a bun and sticking them in. “Any pens on this plane?”
“Cat.” Dom snaps my name. “What the hell are you doing?”
I shove past him. “Why would Matteo break omertà now? It makes no fucking sense – he knows he’d lose the entire Cosa Nostra, whatever he chooses to call himself.”
“Because he’s a psychopath,” Dom snaps. “And he wants you dead.”
“Exactly.” I yank open drawers until I find a biro, snapping off the plastic piece and shoving it into my shoe. Another piece goes into my bra, digging into my skin. “But he wants to watch , Dom. He doesn’t want me locked up, getting out and coming after him.”
“It’s a set-up,” Luc breathes in understanding. “You think it’s fake?”
I nod. “Call Johnno. Ask him how many cops are covering the Asante compound right now.”
Stefan glances out of the window. “There’s a whole lot of fucking guns out there either way, Cat. We don’t have long.”
Gio mutters into the phone before he looks up. “ One .”
I finally stop, my hands running over the blatant, visible weapons strapped to me. “We burned more than eighty bodies that night. There’s a fucking human trafficking set-up in the basement. You think if they were really paying attention, they’d leave one cop watching over all of that?”
A tic appears in Dom’s jaw. “You think he’s going to separate you from us.”
I nod. “A fake arrest, and I’m away in the car. He’ll probably leave you alive, let it play out, just to pander to his warped fucking brain. I get delivered to Matteo, and he gets to rub his clever little plan in my face. You wouldn’t even know until you tried to find me, and he’d watch you tie yourselves up in knots when there’s no record of my arrest at all.”
I can only imagine his delight over the details of this one.
“ Probably leave us alive,” Gio mutters. “So what is the plan?”
Squaring my shoulders, I face them. “I’m going to leave with them.”
“Like fuck you are,” Dom says immediately.
Four equally vehement refusals ring out. All except for Luc. He stares at the floor, frowning. I wave off their protests. “They’ll search me for weapons. They’ll find some, not all. They won’t be expecting me to fight back. It’s an easy win.”
“In a moving car ,” Luc says quietly. “They could easily take the upper hand, Cat. Knock you out. Drug you. And you would be gone .”
My heart thumps at the pain in his words. “I’m not going to let that happen again, Luc. And we don’t have many options. There’s more of them out there than there are of us.”
More guns.
Everything – the lives of the men in front of me – hinges on what I know of Matteo, and the way he operates.
“He wants to cause as much pain as possible,” I say, my throat tight. “He kills me first. Then pushes in and hits the rest of you.”
“You’re asking us to gamble your life on this,” Dante says heavily.
But I hold his gaze. “I could have kept quiet and gone with them anyway.”
But I promised him. And he closes his eyes. “Alright.”
“No.” Dom pushes in front of me, his hands on my shoulders. “ No .”
“I’m giving you an order, Dom.” He jerks as if I’ve slapped him. “Are you my enforcer, or not? Am I your capo, or not ?”
Gio stirs. “We have to make it look real. Without them suspecting. If they suspect, if they think we’re going to fight, they’ll just shoot anyway.”
“Can you do it?” I ask Dom outright. “If not, tell me now, Domenico.”
He grits his teeth. “Fine.”
I toss my phone to Luc. “Follow as soon as you can. Check the sides of the road.”
Stefan murmurs something to Dom as I pass them, striding to the exit. The stairs are in place, a handful of terrified-looking staff huddled together on the ground below us as they watch the cops .
“I’ll see you in a few minutes,” I say softly, glancing over my shoulder. “And you’d better come after me. If any of you get shot, I’m going to be really fucked off.”
With that, I rip the door open.
Shouting erupts immediately. I emerge slowly, my hands above my head as guns point in our direction. Men duck behind car doors, the glint of barrels focusing on each of us as they follow me down.
A woman strides toward us, clad in a sleek navy-blue suit. Her eyes sweep over me. “Caterina Asante?”
I barely stop myself from flinching as I offer her a cool, unimpressed look. “It’s Corvo. How can we be of assistance, Officer…?”
“Rankin.” She holds up an ID badges, snapping it closed before sliding it into her pocket. I note the gun hanging from her left side. “May I ask where your husband is at the moment?”
“Abroad.” I wave a hand. “You know what these businessmen can be like.”
She eyes the men behind me. “Keep your hands in the air. All of you.”
I feign irritation. “Am I in some sort of trouble? I have an excellent relationship with the Police Commissioner. I can call him now – I’m sure he can sort this out quickly.”
“I’m with RICO.” She moves behind me. “Caterina Asante, I’m arresting you on suspicion of murder and human trafficking. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney, and if you do not have one, one will be appointed for you.”
There’s derision in her tone. “I’m sure that won’t be a problem, though, for a rich bitch like you.”
Ouch.
She pats me down, pulling out the guns Dante and Gio gave me and tossing them aside. An argument breaks out behind me, cops spreading out to separate me from the men demanding more information, feigning outrage as guns are shoved in their faces. “What about them?”
She turns me, slapping a pair of cuffs around my wrist and tightening them. “Just you. The guns are a precaution, given your… background.”
I smile. “I should think you’d be a little more careful of insulting me, then. As you say – given my background . I’ll be out within a few hours. You’ll find that I have a lot of friends in law enforcement, Officer Rankin.”
She leans in. This woman hates me, for whatever reason. I can see it in her eyes, in the filthy look she gives me. “Where you’re going, your background won’t matter. I can promise you that.”
Bingo.
I open my mouth, but a shout carries over the row happening behind us. We both turn, the metal cuffs already cutting into my wrists.
Stefan.
The men gripping his arms struggle to contain him as he surges forward until we can make out his words. “I killed Salvatore Asante.”
My heart stops. “ Stefan —,”
Behind him, the others stop. Gio, Dante and Luc all look between us, wariness on their faces. Only Dom doesn’t move. Instead, he meets my stare with his chin lifted.
Stefan doesn’t look at me. Instead, he stares straight at Rankin. “I killed him. I can give you details, as many as you need.”
I clamp my mouth shut. Rankin stares between us, her brows dipping. “Fine. Two for one then. Cuff him.”
He holds his hands out silently, and then we’re both being pulled, tugged to the waiting car that idles a few feet away. Rankin pushes me into the back, behind the driver. Stefan joins me on the other side.
“Go,” Rankin says sharply. Wheels screech as we pull away, leaving them behind.
I sit facing straight ahead, only my eyes moving as I look around. My voice is a low hiss. “What the hell are you doing ?”
“Where you go, I go.” There’s not an ounce of regret in his voice as he studies the plastic screen separating us from the front. “Whatever happens.”
I don’t know whether to kiss him or punch him. A problem to consider – later.
Slowly, my eyes lingering on Rankin, I lean forward. Her search was sloppy at best, and the shim I created from the broken pen lid slides easily into my hand. Rankin is muttering into her phone, and I pause when her eyes dart up to the rearview mirror.
As soon as she looks away, my hand fiddles with the shim, sliding it into the locking mechanism. It takes a few seconds before I’m able to get it into place and push the cuffs down, tightening them with a silent prayer.
They click open. Breathing deeply, I pass the shim to Stefan and slide my knives from the back of my heels.
Fucking idiots.
After his own cuffs click free, I hand him one of my knives before dropping the other in my lap. Keeping my wrists pushed together, I lift my hands and prod experimentally at the plastic. It moves beneath my fingers, a poor imitation of what you’d see in a real cop car.
I’m almost disappointed.
Stefan taps my knee, his gazes questioning. I move my hands to show him, nodding at his own area. My lips move. On three.
One.
Two.
“Hey, Rankin,” I call through the plastic. She glances up at me with a smug smile. “How much is Matteo paying you?”
The smile slides off her face, but mine grows.
“ Three .”
I pull my hand back and slam it into the plastic as hard as I can. It parts like butter beneath the lethally sharp edge of my dagger – straight into the neck of the driver. Beside me, Stefan’s jab is vicious enough the pop the screen out of its weak fastening, even as the dagger goes straight through Rankin’s throat.
The car swerves, veers wildly to the side. “ Shit —.”
Stefan pulls his dagger free, his hand grabbing for the door as wet, gurgling sounds come from the seats in front of us. Breathing hard, I yank the dagger in my hand as far as I can to the left, praying that it shifts the driver’s weight.
It works a little too well.
I slam against the door, Stefan almost sliding into me as the car spins. His eyes meet mine, full of fear as he throws his arm across my chest.
Neither of us is wearing a belt —
Metal crumples around us with a screeching sound as the world flips. My head slams into the roof as I’m flung into the air, Stefan’s arm catching me before it gets ripped away.
I try to suck air into my lungs as the car rocks, and then settles on its roof. A hissing noise sounds as I blink the dizziness away. The taste of iron floods my mouth. “Ste… Stefan.”
My hand bangs against the window. Again. I twist my head, ignoring the burst of pain. “Stefan?”
Voices, panicked voices, calling my name. Stefan’s name. Groggy, I reach for his shoulder, shake it. “They’re here. It worked.”
He’s still silent, and icy tendrils begin to wrap around my chest. “ Stefano .”
Sharper this time, tinged with panic. His face is turned away from me, and why the fuck isn’t he saying anything—
Faces at the window, banging on it. Ignoring them, I pull myself over to him, turn his face to mine. His dark eyes are hidden beneath closed eyelids, and I wipe at the blood on his face.
He looks like he’s sleeping—
Glass smashes behind me. “Cat. Are you hurt?”
“Help him,” I rasp. “Dom. Help him.”
“Talk to me—,”
“ Help him !”
I scream the words around a raw throat.
More glass. And then Dom’s face appears on my other side beside Stefan, his eyes sweeping over me, over Stefano. He stills. “Dante!”
There are hands on me from the other side, and I struggle against Luc as he drags me out. There are tears on my face as he grips my cheeks, turns my head back and forth. “Are you hurt?”
“ Stefan —,”
“They’re getting him.” He’s pale. “ Merda , Cat, when I saw the car flip—,”
“I’m okay,” I say through numb lips. But I’m not.
He has to wake up.
I pull out of Luc’s arms, darting around the car. They’re lifting him out, and I step back to give them space. Dom presses his fingers against Stefan’s neck. “He’s breathing, Cat.”
My knees couldn’t hold me up if I tried. I crash down beside him, leaning over to check for myself as the buzzing in my head begins to recede. “Just knocked out?”
Dom nods. “Looks that way. What about you?”
I glance down, making a brief assessment before dismissing the light cuts. “I’m fine.”
“For the record, this was not one of your better plans.”
Beneath my hands, Stefan coughs. His eyes open slowly, pupils wide as he starts to struggle. Dom pushes him back down. “Steady. Take a minute.”
His eyes dart around before they land on me. “You hurt?”
My mouth feels dry as I shake my head. Luc’s hand lands on my shoulder. “Your phone is ringing.”
I glance down at Vincent’s name, my voice hoarse as I pick up. “Yeah.”
Frowning, I try to hear him over the noise in the background. “What?”
My entire body goes cold. “We’re coming.”
Dom is pulling Stefan to his feet, helping him find his balance. “What’s happened?”
But it’s Luc that I turn to. “We need to get to campus, now .”