33. Leona
LEONA
T he next day, my head felt a little more clear.
Orik Vokshi’s death seemed to reset my brain. I slept well for once, and I took it as proof that if I could just deal with the Albanians for good, I could leave all my pain in the past where it belonged.
After waking up in a sprawl of limbs, which I was quickly becoming accustomed to, I called a family meeting. We needed to get on the same page about what to do next and how we were going to juggle all the balls we had in the air without letting them drop and shatter.
On the ride home, Ryuji had loosened a lot of the tension between me and the guys.
At first, I wasn’t sure how my body was going to react when we finally had sex again.
I was terrified something would come up.
A memory. A flashback. A fear. Ryuji knew exactly what I needed.
Putting me in charge, allowing me to hold on to my power and control, was exactly the right motivation. I felt safe .
“So, family meeting,” Cas said from the kitchen.
He and Ryu had just come upstairs from the gym after sparring.
I hadn’t yet watched or gone toe to toe with either of them, but I wanted to.
I’d probably get laid flat on the mat, but I’d come a long way since Wynn first started training me, and maybe I could get the drop on them just like I had with Wynn a few times.
“We need to talk about next steps,” I responded, dishing out our food into six of the new fancy pasta bowls that Obi had purchased since we’d moved in.
That man was constantly buying me things—new blankets, dishes, clothes—then pretending he had nothing to do with it, but it was so obvious it felt like a game now.
“Yeah, since Wynn killed our only lead,” Ryu said, voice flat.
Wynn’s shoulders curled inward, and he turned away from the kitchen island to face the massive windows instead.
“He moved to protect me quicker than anyone else,” I responded. “We don’t know what would have happened. The whole situation just sucked.”
Max showing up had created a total shitshow. Wynn did the best he could do, and I didn’t blame him at all for Vokshi’s death. In fact, I felt relieved by it.
“I wonder what else we could have gotten had I been able to torture him,” Ryu said, voice dripping with frustration. “We could know where the rest of them are, where they’re keeping more women, how they’re getting into and out of the city. But, nope .”
“Stop, Ryu.” Defensiveness straightened my shoulders and coiled in my stomach. “You’re being unfair.”
The more he picked on Wynn, the more Wynn retreated into himself. It had to stop.
Ryu mimed pulling a zipper across his lips. I rolled my eyes. He pulled out a bottle of wine from the rack and held it up for Obi’s approval. Obi glanced at the label, then nodded before Ryu grabbed the corkscrew.
“I’ve been keeping my camera sweeps of the city online,” Ciel said as he sat down at the kitchen table with a plate full of ragu and tagliatelle. “With Orik Vokshi dead, they might get sloppy, or they might change how they transport product. Maybe we can catch another trail.”
Ciel had also pointedly avoided looking at Wynn since the two of them bumped into each other in the hallway after I called for the meeting. He had to be pissed at Wynn for lying, but this seemed like something else.
“That’s excellent, Ciel,” I said, pressing a quick kiss against his cheek. I leaned close to his ear and whispered so only he could hear, “Love you.”
His cheeks went bright pink, and my heart swelled.
The rest of the guys settled around the table with their own plates.
The recipe was my mother’s, and I spent the morning teaching Obi how to make it along with homemade pasta.
My mamma and I used to make it with Max’s mom on Sunday afternoons, and we’d make massive pots of it to feed my father’s men.
I loved how my mother and Max’s mother were the beating heart of our Family.
After they died, Family meals became a thing of business, not community.
I never thought our mothers would like that very much.
Mamma would be happy I was teaching her recipe to my new family.
“After we have leads, we can track them down and wipe them out,” I said as I took a bite. I withheld my mumble of approval. The sauce turned out perfect. “We need to prioritize this, especially if Max and the Camorra are doing the same. We can get in front of them both.”
“Since Vokshi is a dead end—” Ryu paused, snorting. I kicked his shin under the table. “—maybe we could talk to the other girls we rescued from your ship?”
My fork froze halfway to my mouth. Cas gave me a look. Slowly, I lowered the utensil. “I don’t know if that would be a good idea.”
“Why not?” asked Ciel. “They might tell us more about where they were held or when they were taken. The information would help.”
My heart rate escalated, and my hands clasped in my lap. “I’d rather not dredge up old memories they wouldn’t want to revisit.”
Obi tilted his head to the side. “That they wouldn’t want to revisit? Or you?”
The box in my chest rattled. I tightened the chains around it and shoved it down with a firm push. With a steady inhale, I got my emotions back in check. I’d controlled it so far. I could control it until this was over.
“Them,” I responded confidently while picking up my water and taking a drink. After I set the glass down, my thumb dug into the gemstones of my engagement ring.
The look on Cas’s face said he didn’t believe me. Neither did Ryu, and neither did Ciel. Wynn still stared at his plate.
“But I see your point. I’ll consider it and see if we can fit it into the schedule,” I lied. “Wynn, do you want to go with me?”
His eyes flicked up. Silently, I pleaded with him to agree. I doubted he’d want to go, and we could avoid it together.
“Sure,” he said after a beat. He straightened, clearly picking up my hidden message. “I can see what Willow thinks. If she gives the go ahead, then fine. If she doesn’t think it’s a good idea, then we won’t.”
“Good idea,” I added. We both nodded, settling the matter.
It would not be happening.
“Any other activity on their transport processes?” Obi asked.
“No other suspicious behavior at the ports,” Ciel responded. “The two ships we were tracking to Miami diverted to South America. We could go after them, but in the meantime, I’ve set up an algorithm to alert us again if anything comes our way.”
Obi took a bite of his food, then leaned over to kiss my head. “Delicious, ifunanya’m . ”
I blushed, smiling down at my plate. “Thanks, but you made it.”
“What about the buyers?” Cas asked. “Trafficking can’t exist without buyers. Do we know anything about them?”
Ciel shook his head while Obi took another bite with a pensive look on his face. It looked like the gears were turning in his head, like he was cataloguing through his contacts.
“None of my contacts have said anything,” Wynn said. “But their operation isn’t small. Someone has to know something.”
Behind my eyelids, I remembered the flashes of camera lights. Murmurings of a website. My shirt tearing.
The conversation around the table continued without me, while I jumped on the box over and over again. Words were stuck behind my teeth, but I couldn’t bring myself to say them.
We’d find information about the buyers another way.
“Leona?” Cas’s voice shocked my system back to reality.
I blinked rapidly. “What?”
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah, of course,” I answered. I had no idea what they’d all just said, but I played it off. “How can we be more vocal and clear? Trafficking of any kind is no longer allowed in New York City, and anyone we catch will answer to us.”
“Ciel and I can spread the word through our contacts,” Obi said, exchanging a look with my hacker, who nodded.
“Same,” Ryu said. “I can make it clear to the people in my clubs.”
“We can also put out a bounty or reward for information,” Wynn said. “Increase the incentive.”
My hand squeezed his thigh. “That’s a great idea.”
“What about Max?” Cas asked.
“What about him?” I asked carefully.
Max was…an issue. I knew it. They knew it. But I didn’t know what the fuck to do about it.
“Kill him next,” Ryu mumbled, mouth full.
He poured the opened bottle of wine into my glass first, then the rest of us.
The deep red color swirled around in my glass.
“If we knock him out, we can absorb his territory and enforce our rules easier. The Lucchese territory helps, but we need to own everything.”
Ryu was right to challenge me during the car ride home. I didn’t know why I didn’t kill him, or why I didn’t want to kill him. Was it because of what we went through together?
Or something else?
“We can’t kill him because of VCI,” I said. It was as good an answer as I had right now. “It’ll throw a huge amount of doubt my way, and I guarantee Max has some backup plan prepared in case he dies.”
I’d only recently been voted onto the board of Vero Construction Inc. during an extremely tense business meeting, and killing Max now would cause upheaval where we needed smooth sailing. Our legitimate business had to operate smoothly so our gun smuggling could continue.
“Plus, there are the other Families to consider. Rossi. Sandrini,” Obi pointed out. “Any other news from Rossi?”
Cas glanced at his phone. “He said he’s keeping an eye out, but nothing new.” He cast a sideways glance at me. “He also asked if we had any updates on the Chiara situation.”
“Fuck,” I grumbled. “I haven’t heard from her since the VCI meeting. What are the odds Max has her tucked away somewhere safe, outside of this entire mess?”
“They are high,” Obi said. “She is critical to his control over the Tommasos. He can’t risk her safety, either through his own hand or through others. She’s fine for now unless we care to intervene.”