38. Elio
38
ELIO
T he plane ride had been tense. Now, I was holed up in a De Sanctis safe house just outside of Naples, preparing for the next step.
I’d chosen to send the bulk of my trusted men with Georgia. Sure, she was only driving to Casa Nera, but with her went my only reason to live.
If they hurt her, or she died… I’d lay down and die, too. It would finally be time. But first, I’d take out Sergio Ravelli for all the trouble he’d caused me.
I pulled out the small snapshot I had of her from my wallet. It was just a picture from her apartment that I’d cut Conti out from. She was smiling at the spot where her former husband had been standing. I wanted more pictures of her. Albums’ worth. I wanted to capture her smile again and again, and I wanted that smile to be reserved for me. I wanted to see it every fucking day. I wanted to see it every morning, and every night… fuck, I wanted it so badly it felt hard to breathe.
For the first time in fourteen years, I wanted to live.
A rap sounded at the door, and one of my men appeared.
“Boss, Giada says she’s been trying to get through to you.”
“I’ll call her back.”
It had been a few years after I’d left Col Moschin that I’d started to employ my former squad mates. Experiences in the Special Forces bonded people on a soul-deep level. When they’d gotten out, at a loose end and trying to fit themselves into civilian life, I’d understood their struggle. Renato didn’t worry about my team. He understood the compulsion but also knew my first allegiance would always be to the De Sanctis family. He was the man who had gotten me out of prison, after all. He’d also delivered the news about Georgia.
The news that had sent me into hell… news that had turned out to be a lie. Renato hadn’t known, of course. I supposed that no one outside of Conti and Georgia had known. I hadn’t even suspected that Conti was gay. It hadn’t crossed my mind, because in my mind, he had to be infatuated with Georgia, because who wouldn’t be?
I pinched the bridge of my nose and stared at the darkness beyond the window of the jet.
She’d been living with her husband and his partner for thirteen years.
She’d never replaced me.
She’d thought I’d left her… taken a bag of cash and run away.
“I guess I want you to save me, Santori. I want you… I just want you.”
I closed my eyes, filled with pain and regret like I’d never known before. It was just such a fucking waste. Fourteen years I’d hated her, blamed her for all of it, and all the while, she’d been out there, doing the same.
If I hadn’t been a heartless bastard who was more intent on ensuring his own peace of mind, I’d have looked her up years ago when I’d gotten out of the military and demanded to know why she’d married Conti. I’d have seen the truth with my own eyes.
She wouldn’t have been able to do the same… I was a ghost. She didn’t have the resources to counter my sister’s efforts to hide my existence from prying eyes.
No, the fault was mine, and I was going to fix it. I was going to take out every motherfucker who had dared to threaten Georgia, and then, when it was done, I was going to give my wife the life she deserved…
No one was going to get in my way.
I’d changed out of my suit and into clothes I could move easily in. Pockets for weapons, and black to blend in. I stood in front of the mirror in the safe house and slowly shed my pretense of being a civilian, becoming the mercenary that my wife called me. I slipped knives into sheaths on my arms and thighs. Extra clips went in there, too, as well as my guns. I pulled a long case from the safe in the corner of the room and carried it to the dining room table to set up. I put an earpiece on and fiddled with it.
“Comms check, over.”
“I hear you. How was the flight? Catch any good movies?”
I ignored my sister’s glib remarks. “Is she at Casa Nera?”
“Should be any second now.”
I’d left for the private jet before my security team had left for Casa Nera. The security escort for Georgia had waited a good ten hours, until the dead of night and Giada was sure that no one was around.
“Keep an eye on it,” I told Giada.
“Yes, boss. Now, would you like to know where Sergio Ravelli has been staying lately? You’ll never guess…”
“The Bellisario villa, right?” I didn’t even have to think about it.
“How did you guess? Were you and Sergio much closer than you pretended you were in prison? You can tell me. I won’t judge, but if this is a scorned former lover, I can understand the situation better.”
I blew out a sigh. “Very funny. What happened to that property? How come the Ravellis can just move in?”
“Looks like old Alfredo had a lot of gambling debt lately. He was deep in the shit with the Ravellis. Probably why they were so certain he was going to squeal on them and needed to try and get to Georgia so urgently. As you know, Zio Sal doesn’t stay at the De Sanctis estate out there anymore, so the town has been up for grabs, and it seems like the Ravellis went for it. Did you bring the flash drive?”
“Yes.” I patted my pocket that held the tampered-with evidence.
Giada had removed everything related to the De Sanctis family. I’d hand it over as evidence… if any of the motherfuckers made it through the night.
“Okay, so we know where we’re going… I’m getting my darlings in the air.”
Before changing, I’d taken Giada’s drones to the rooftop and set them up, so she could remotely control them by satellite.
Keys were clacking away in my ear as my sister did her thing.
“And they’re up,” she said with satisfaction. “I can see your safe house… Wait, what’s that?” she muttered.
I checked my weapons once more. A glint of something metal shone from the table, beside my phone. I’d emptied my suit pockets earlier and found it.
Georgia’s locket.
I picked it up and opened it. It swung open to reveal a tiny dried flower pressed against a creamy background, preserved behind glass.
A heliotrope.
My heliotrope. She’d kept it.
I lifted the chain over my head. It was long; she used to keep the necklace hidden, and now it hit me at my collarbones. I pressed it against my skin for a second and then fastened my bulletproof vest on top of it.
I didn’t need dog tags with my name on them anymore.
If they needed help identifying my body, this locket would suffice.
This body belonged to her… and it always had.
It was my last thought before the mission went to shit.
“Elio! Get down!” Giada shouted.
I was still pressing the place where the locket sat when the world exploded.
I woke with a start and nearly tumbled off the gurney bed I was lying on. I grabbed onto it just in time to stop myself from falling off. Everything was white. An alarm was beeping wildly beside me, and I realized that there were electrodes attached to me.
Hospital.
I was in the hospital.
Slowly, I sat up again and looked around. There was a window into the hallway, and a doctor talked to two men in blazers. Cops.
The beeping was driving me mad. I pulled the drip out of my arm, and the sensors went too. The machine made a long, flatlining beep until I yanked the power cable from the wall.
“Sir!” A nurse appeared, speaking in a rapid flood of Italian.
“You can’t take that off! You’ve been hurt. You were in an explosion.”
“Where are the men I was with at the house?” I demanded.
“They are here, too. They are more hurt. One is in surgery,” the nurse said, plugging the machine back in.
Fuck. None of this was going to plan.
I found my hand drifting to my neck and patting for the locket. It was gone.
“Where’s my stuff? The clothes I was wearing…” I trailed off.
The nurse paled. Of course, I’d had half an armory strapped to me when I’d been brought in. I’m sure the police outside had questions about that.
“The clothes are in the locker there. The other items… they are being held by the police.”
Shit. Still, they probably only took the weapons I had on me . My sniper rifle was in the house. Hopefully it was still there.
First, I needed to get out of here without trouble from the cops. I sat back as the nurse bustled around me.
“I have to tell the doctor that you’re awake.” She glanced toward the window.
The doctor who was standing with the cops. Perfect.
“Can you wait? I’m really dizzy. I think I need to sleep some more,” I asked her and summoned the best exhausted look I had. I didn’t need to try that hard.
She hesitated and then nodded. “Okay, next time you wake up… we have to tell them.”
I nodded. She meant the cops. Sure, she could tell him whatever she wanted…
When I was gone.
I watched her leave the room and then pushed myself out of bed. The locker beside the bed opened easily, and I got dressed. Tucked into a pocket that rested just above my heart, I found the locket. I had no guns or weapons, and my Kevlar vest was gone… but I had this.
Mia ragione.
My reason to live.
I pulled it over my neck and tucked it under my jacket.
I had what I needed. It was time to go.
The first rule of being prepared was always have extras. I went to the wreckage of the safe house first and sifted through the debris. A whole day had passed while I was in the hospital. I’d glanced at my chart as I went out the door. Suspected concussion. I’d gotten off lucky.
Still, I’d lost twenty-four hours.
I found my sniper rifle in the mess that was the bedroom I’d been in. Luckily, it had been the least hit, and the case could take a few hard knocks. I carried it outside to the car we’d driven from the airport. It was parked four blocks away. Never leave your assets all in one location. Thankfully, the keys had still been in my pocket. I got in and drove even farther, until I was backed into a space in a deserted parking lot, where I could see all around me.
I went into the trunk and took out the backup weapons cases. For the second time in twenty-four hours, I strapped myself up with guns and knives. I took a backup phone from a pocket in one of the cases and called Giada.
“Oh my God, are you okay? That was fucking crazy,” my sister said, answering immediately. She had that wired note to her voice that told me that she hadn’t left her post in twenty-four hours, waiting for news. I’d seen her do it before, existing on energy drinks and anxiety. Hopefully Bran was making sure she was taking care of herself.
I reached for the satellite link I’d need and put it in my ear.
“How are the drones?”
“Dead. You’ve got one spare. Be gentle with her. What about your other men?”
“In the hospital, and hurt. I’m not bothering them with this. They’ve done enough.”
“So, you’re going in alone, after they tried to blow you up.”
“I don’t have a choice.”
Giada was quiet.
“What is it?” Dread formed like ice in my veins, and I just knew something even worse had happened.
“She didn’t make it here, Elio… We think Massimo caught her.”
I stared at the dark night beyond the parking lot, emotions I hadn’t felt in a decade brewing in my chest.
“She’s not dead. Don’t you dare tell me she is,” I warned my sister.
“She’s not! I don’t think that she is. Her tracker is still working… transmitting a location. It went haywire for a bit, when I first realized that they were taking too long to show up here, but it’s transmitting normally now.”
“Where is she?”
Giada cleared her throat. “Actually, you’ll be happy to hear that she’s not too far from you.”
“Where?” I demanded, but I knew. Of course it would come to this.
“Castel Amaro. The Bellisario villa. They’ve taken her… home.”