25. Leona
LEONA
W e chased Orik Vokshi. Ciel picked up his trail on city cameras, but his trajectory looked like he was driving deeper into the Five Families’ territories instead of away and outside the city.
“Why wouldn’t he go South?” I asked. “Near the other Albanian businesses or something?”
We’d all piled into one vehicle when leaving the marina so we didn’t get separated in any traffic. Obi drove. Ryu sat in the front seat beside him. Cas and I took the middle seats, while Wynn and Ciel were in the back.
I glanced into the backseat, where Wynn stared out the window. He didn’t look good. His hand pressed against his stomach, and sweat misted his brow. I watched him try to hide the strain of this evening out of the corner of my eye, but it was getting worse.
He hadn’t said a word since we all got in the vehicle, but it’s not like it was his fault Orik got loose.
No, that blame lay firmly in Max’s lap. Max and his stupid, asshole men.
Fucking Daniele. Growing up, I had always thought he was friendly and kind, until he snitched to Max about the meeting where I’d tried to convince Vero Family men to join us instead.
Did he hate me since I was a girl? Or was that just a recent development?
I sighed while gripping the armrest of the door. When would Max stop fucking up my shit? Couldn’t we get one win under our belt before he blew everything to pieces?
Now we had to chase Orik Vokshi all over New York, and it just so happened that he was getting farther into Italian territory.
“Maybe he’s trying to lose us in the city traffic,” Ryu said. “He thinks he can get lost and disappear. Ditch the car and get another. Or head somewhere on foot.”
“There’s no way,” Ciel said with a shake of his head. “Vokshi would know exactly what territory belonged to whom. It would be stupid to go to the city unless he thought it would be safe.”
I closed my eyes and leaned my head back against the headrest as the realization laced through my brain. Before I could say anything, Obi beat me to it.
“He’s looking for allies among the Italians,” he said. “Possibly the Luccheses, the Sandrinis, or the Rossis.”
My father had paid the other Dons, and we had assumed it had something to do with the Albanians.
Cas shook his head. “Can’t be Rossi. He’d never work with scum like them.”
“The Rossis were conveniently left out of your father’s records, right?” Ryu asked. “Maybe they’re hiding something.”
“Or maybe he’s just not involved at all,” Cas answered, pulling his phone from his pocket. The screen lit up while it buzzed in his hand. “I’ll be damned.”
“What is it?” I asked as I leaned over to get a view of whoever was calling.
“It’s Enzo,” he said. “Enzo Rossi.”
We all exchanged glances.
“Well, answer it.”
He tapped the screen and brought it to his ear. “Enzo? ”
I could hear a deep voice on the other end, but not the words.
“What a coincidence. We’re nearby, actually,” Cas said while Ryu gestured widely. He might have actually hissed turn on the fucking speakerphone .
Cas waved him off, but just as quickly as he’d called, Enzo Rossi apparently hung up because Cas stared at the end call screen.
“He hung up on me.”
“What did he say?” Ryu demanded. “Do we have to add another name to our kill list?”
Cas shook his head. “He said we should meet him at his restaurant. He has some information we might want.”
I looked at Obi in the rearview. “Coincidence? I think not.”
We turned our SUV around and followed Cas’s directions to Rossi territory.
Thirty minutes later, we pulled up in front of a restaurant called Nonna’s . Four men stood out front, waiting for our arrival. They eyed our vehicle warily while Obi parked the SUV on the street and all six of us got out.
Wynn withheld his groan as he lagged. Fuck . I didn’t want to see him hurt. Ciel quickly came to his side, and Wynn discreetly leaned onto his shoulder.
The six of us walked up to the front of the restaurant.
An arty brick building extended five stories into the sky, with Nonna’s taking up the first level.
Small shops lined the rest of the street on each side.
A decent amount of foot traffic crossed in front of us on the sidewalk, but none of the pedestrians even blinked an eye at the clearly armed men waiting outside.
The people just went about their business, joking and laughing.
Rossi technically had the smallest territory out of all the Five Families, and he was, to my knowledge, mostly a recluse.
He rarely attended social events unless he was required to.
He kept to himself. My father never spoke of him—for good or for bad.
I wasn’t quite sure what to expect from him, or how much he knew about Max, the Albanians, or what was going on inside his territory.
He was a wildcard.
So why did he call us here?
I triple checked all my weapons. I still had my knives strapped to my thighs, and my Hellcat was freshly reloaded on the way over here.
The six of us stepped closer, and the four Rossi men formed a wall directly in front of us, barring us from entry.
Cas nodded to them. “Gentlemen. The Don has invited us.” He extended a hand to one man while he looped the other around my shoulders. “Anthony.”
“Caspian.” The man, Anthony, met Cas’s outstretched hand. “I can see that you’re armed.”
I glanced across us and almost snorted at the dozens of visible weapons, plus the knowledge we all had even more hidden.
“Yeah, well, we’ve been out hunting tonight,” Cas replied easily.
Anthony crossed his arms over his chest. “The Don requested to speak with you, but only you and the woman are to be permitted. You’ll also be required to turn over your weapons as a show of respect.”
My men instantly balked at the idea, with both Obi and Ryu reaching for me. I held up a hand, and they paused.
“And what about a show of respect to me?” I asked.
Rossi was a Don.
I was a queen.
I stepped out from under Cas’s arm while pulling a knife from my thigh sheath. I sauntered closer while my men all tensed behind me. The Rossi Italians didn’t even look twice, like they couldn’t be bothered to even consider that I might be a threat .
Assholes.
Anthony stared down his nose at me while he reached for my knife. I flipped the knife through my fingers, away from his grasp, like I’d seen Ryu do countless times.
I lowered my voice to a whisper. A dare. “Take it from me.”
He flinched when I brought the blade to his scrawny throat. We didn’t have time for disrespect. If they wouldn’t let us in, then I’d cut my way inside.
Now I was interested. I wanted whatever Rossi had.
The man beside Anthony reached into his jacket but stopped moving when I cast him a withering glare. Behind me, Ryu cocked his gun. Waves of displeasure radiated from my men to Anthony and these goons.
Cas placed a hand on my back. His voice was monotone. “Rossi has asked for us. Go tell him we’re here.”
Anthony swallowed, pulling back slightly from whatever he saw on my face. “The Don will not be pleased.”
“Do we look like we fucking care?” Ryu snapped.
“Call him,” Cas said. “Or I’d be happy to. We’ll wait.”
Anthony stepped back and pulled a phone from his jacket, holding it to his ear. After a few moments, he returned slightly more pale than before. “The Don says Caspian and Leona Vero can enter with their weapons. The rest of you must stay out here.”
I rolled my eyes but looked back at my men. Rossi obviously had something he thought we wanted, or else he wouldn’t have reached out. Would he really lure us here to kill us or harm us?
Cas seemed to believe he was a good man. I trusted his judgment, even if Rossi’s men were making me murderous.
“Fine.” I tucked my knife back into my thigh sheath. I turned to the other goons. “Don’t do anything stupid, or they will kill you. I’m the level-headed one in the group.”
Ryuji snickered and grinned while Obi crossed his arms over his massive chest and glowered. They looked positively menacing, and I smirked.
“Follow me.”
Cas and I followed Anthony into the restaurant. Behind me, just as we were walking inside, Cas whispered in my ear, “Rossi might be my friend, but you’re in charge. I’m just here for backup.”
The corner of my mouth pulled up as I looked at him.
He didn’t realize how much those words meant, how they lit a fire inside my chest. It wasn’t very long ago that I questioned their belief in me, that I feared whether the men around me would follow simply because of who I was.
But here Cas stood, showing me that no matter the circumstances, no matter what happened, he still believed in me.
I grabbed him on the forearm and pulled his ear down to my mouth so I could whisper without Rossi’s men hearing.
“I love you.”
He smiled crookedly, and his eyes sparkled. “ Sempre e per sempre .”
Before I got lost in those deep ocean blues, I hurried after Anthony.
The first thing I noticed about Nonna’s was the smell.
It smelled like my childhood. Garlic and tomatoes and bread and seared meat.
A notch in my defensiveness dislodged almost immediately.
The restaurant itself was warm and inviting: wood tables lit by candles and small, intimate settings.
Waitstaff bustled between filled tables, even though it was late in the evening. How long was this place open?
It was an actual restaurant? Not just a front?
Anthony led us around the edges of the restaurant, and I let my fingers skim across the brick wall while we walked. What was Rossi doing here?
“The Don is waiting,” Anthony said as he gestured for us to step into the kitchen in the back. I eyed him warily, expecting us to be led to some sort of private table or dark, secret room in the back, but Anthony gestured to a man kneading dough at one of the stainless steel prep counters.