Chapter 22
Kane
“I don’t have time to bullshit right now,” Dominick says, walking out his front door and toward his SUV. “The mayor is hiding out at his house, and I’m going to pay him a visit.”
“Then it’s perfect timing.” I walk around to the passenger side of his vehicle. “I was here to ask what we’re doing about this bitch who went after our women.”
Dominick stops and stares at me. “Our women?”
“Brielle was there.”
“I know, but I wasn’t aware she was your woman.”
“In a week’s time, she’ll be my wife. She’s every bit my fucking woman, and I’m not going to sit back while some crazy bitch keeps going after her.”
“Get in,” he says. Once we’re in and he turns the car on, he adds, “I see Brielle has you believing it’s a woman as well.”
“I’m not an expert on relationships, but I’ve learned over the years that women tend to be smarter than men, so if they believe it’s a woman, I’m not going to count it out.”
“Your brother ever mention working with a woman?”
“Only woman I knew he was working with was Hillary, but he didn’t tell me. I was keeping tabs on him, trying to make sure he didn’t do anything stupid. Not that it did much good once he lost his shit.”
“Fucking cunt,” he mutters. “I can’t believe she sank her claws into Lorenzo. Thank God he got away from that bitch.”
I chuckle but keep my thoughts to myself since Lorenzo obviously hasn’t told anyone about Hillary showing up and forcing him into an insta-family.
“Anything on Carlos Santiago?” I ask, changing the subject.
I looked him up, but everything regarding him has been wiped from the internet.
“Only that he had a son named Emmanual who took over the business after Carlos died. Looks like he went legit and then died a few years back in a car accident.”
“Any children?”
“Two daughters—Leysa died in the car accident with her father and Laura is in school.”
“Wife?”
“Remarried and, from what we’ve seen, doesn’t give a shit about her dead husband’s business.”
“Well, someone does.”
“Yeah, and I’m hoping Mr. Mayor will know who.”
Dominick pulls up to the gated community, and I’m expecting him to be stopped, but the moment the guard sees him, he lets us through.
“Matteo meeting us?” I ask when we pull into what I assume is the mayor’s driveway.
“No. He’s with Dani and their daughter. I told him I’d handle it.”
We get out, and it’s then I notice two more vehicles pulling up. They park, and six men get out, a few I recognize as Dominick’s men.
“Not taking any chances,” he says. “I’m adding another guard on Brielle since she’s insistent on going about her life instead of staying inside.”
I chuckle, imagining that conversation.
“She’s strong-minded.” I shrug.
Dominick side-eyes me. “I see she’s got you wrapped around her finger.”
I don’t confirm or deny even though we both know he’s not wrong.
Rather than knocking on the door, one of Dominick’s men quickly picks the lock, and another one disarms the alarm when it goes off.
Ilene, the mayor’s wife, appears first to see what’s going on. When she sees who’s in her home, she screams, and one of the men pulls her to the side as I follow Dominick’s lead and head straight to the mayor’s office, where he’s scrambling to grab his shit and run.
“Going somewhere?” Dominick asks, closing the door behind us.
“It wasn’t me!” Eric yells. “You don’t understand.” He glances from Dominick to me, his eyes wide in fear.
“So, make us understand,” Dominick says calmly, having a seat in the chair in front of the desk.
Eric shakes his head, his eyes going to the door, as if he’s calculating if he could make it.
“Sit your ass down,” I command, sitting next to Dominick. “Your wife is being detained until we have this conversation, and if you try to run, you’ll be met with several more men who will consider you a threat and kill you on the spot.”
“My hands are tied,” Eric cries, falling into his chair in defeat.
“And who tied them?” Dominick asks.
“I can’t say. He’ll kill me. I messed up. I got into bed with the wrong guy, and he’s out to get you. If you’re smart, you’ll move, sell the port, and find a new place to run your businesses.”
“This is our city,” Dominick says. “You have two options—tell me who you’re working with, or I’ll slit your throat.” His tone is calm, smooth, like he’s telling the corrupt mayor about the weather, but anyone who knows Dominick Antonov knows that he doesn’t make threats unless he can back them up.
“Carlos Santiago,” Eric hisses. “That’s all I know.”
“And you’ve seen him?” Dominick asks, remaining calm.
“No.” Eric shakes his head. “He donated to my campaign in exchange for me agreeing that I’d push you out.”
Dominick barks out a laugh. “That wasn’t very smart.”
“I know,” he whines. “But I was desperate. I made some bad choices. I needed the money to stay afloat.”
“Hmm.” I chuckle. “Must be why they were going after your daughter.”
The mayor swallows thickly. “I can help you. I’ll help you find him. He texts me sometimes … and I’ll set up a meeting. If you can just protect me, please.”
Dominick snorts out a laugh and stands, so I follow since I’m just along for the ride. “I think I’ll wait and see how this plays out. Have a good day, Mayor.”
“It could be a woman,” I note once we’re back in his SUV.
“It could be any-fucking-one. Hell, it could be you.”
“You know damn well that shit isn’t my style,” I drawl. “You don’t think I know you had me looked into? The moment my name was pinged, my IT guy sent me everything.”
Dominick nods and then hits a button on his steering wheel. “Call Eddy.”
“Boss,” the guy says once he answers.
“I need you to dig deeper on Carlos Santiago. The mayor said he’s working with him as well.”
“He’s dead,” Eddy says dumbly.
“I know he’s fucking dead!” Dominick barks. “I killed him with my bare hands, but someone is fucking with my family, and two people have mentioned this asshole’s name.”
“Unless whoever it is was aware of your connection to Carlos Santiago and is using his name to fuck with you,” I point out.
“Who’s that?” Eddy asks.
“The dipshit who’s forcing my sister to marry him,” Dominick notes, reminding me that while we might be allies, we’re not on the same team either.
“Ahh, Kane Morgan,” Eddy says over the line. “I see your mom is enjoying the mountains.”
I stiffen at his words, and Dominick smirks.
“You didn’t think we’d find where she was, right? Eddy here is the best hacker on the East Coast.”
“Finding her was child’s play,” Eddy adds with a chuckle.
“I need you to find everything you can on Carlos,” Dominick says, shifting the conversation.
“And the mayor?” Eddy asks.
“We’ve bugged his office. Hopefully, he talks before he has it searched. My guess is, he has a burner phone stashed somewhere. My men are looking for it as we speak.”
“You got it,” Eddy says before he hangs up.
“If you knew where my mom was this entire time, why didn’t you go after her?”
“One, we don’t go after women if it can be helped. And two …” Dominick sighs. “My sister asked us not to. She doesn’t want bloodshed, and she’s been through a lot. Daniil said she’s been happy lately. Bought a gym—”
“Pilates studio,” I correct.
“Yeah,” he says. “Heard what you did to Theo, and you’re a good businessman.
The investors for the waterfront expansion were more than happy to have you on board.
And since I’m trying to go as legit as possible …
” He shrugs, then glances at me. “But, Kane, if you hurt my sister, I promise that I will do more than shed blood.”
The threat should piss me off, but the only thought that occurs to me is that if someone hurt Brielle, I would tear this fucking town apart.
Speaking of which …
“I’m going to have security installed in the house,” I say, changing gears. “Can I use your contact to ensure it’s done right? I don’t know what this fucker is capable of, and I want to make sure Brielle is safe when she’s at home.”
“You’re not afraid we’ll bug your place?” He smirks.
“I have nothing to hide,” I tell him. “You wanna listen to me fuck your sister all over the house, go for it.”
Dominick whips his head around to glare at me. “And to think, I was actually starting to tolerate you, Morgan.”