Chapter 17
Chapter Seventeen
Giana
The wind whistled through the alley, sending a shiver of apprehension up my spine. The main street was like a ghost town tonight, not a person in sight. That was better than having the place crawling with Angelo’s men, but it was disconcerting nonetheless.
“Alert us if anyone pulls up to the front of the building,” Merrick growled into the earpiece as we approached the back of the ice cream shop.
“10-4,” Nicholas said, and the radio went silent.
We weren’t sure how Lorenzo was getting in and out of the shop unseen, but we’d had at least one person watching the cameras all day, and they didn’t capture him once.
“Are you sure you want to go in alone?” Kellan asked, his lips quirking to the side. I could tell he really didn’t like this idea, but we couldn’t stop her.
“Of course I am,” Francine huffed, pulling her jacket tighter around her as the cold air wrapped around us.
It was getting colder and colder every day as autumn quickly took hold.
“Imagine the situation was reversed and it was one of you I was meeting. I know you all like you’re my own children.
Even when Giana left, I knew there was something else going on. ”
“Yeah, and you just had to meddle when I came back,” I teased, and she narrowed her eyes at me.
“And I knew you’d be grateful I did.”
“Always.” I placed my hand on her shoulder in reassurance. “We’ll be right outside; just radio us if you need anything.”
She clasped her shaky palm over mine and squeezed, nodding in agreement, before she rolled her shoulders back and strode for the door into the back of her shop.
Merrick started the timer on his watch, none of us wanting to go over the minute we promised her. I trusted Francine knew what she was doing, but I couldn’t trust Lorenzo, not before I truly knew which face was the real one.
Spade zipped up my leather jacket, helping to keep some of the chill out.
I hadn’t even noticed I’d been shivering until he wrapped me up in his arms, letting his warmth soak into me.
I wasn’t convinced that the tremors wracking my body were from the cold rather than unease, but either way, Spade’s body cocooning mine seemed to do the trick.
The moment the timer went off, Merrick and Kellan had their guns drawn and out at their sides, ready for anything as we entered.
The lights were off, the blinds shuttered to keep anyone from seeing inside, but there wasn’t a sound that reached the kitchen as we silently closed the door behind us.
My stomach twisted, and we quickened our pace to the open doorway.
I froze as their shrouded forms came into view. Lorenzo was crouched low, embracing Francine in a tight hug.
“Don’t act so surprised,” he said, reluctantly releasing her.
I schooled my features, not even realizing my mouth was agape. My teeth clacked together as I snapped it closed and followed Merrick and Kellan into the shop area. Francine smiled as she took a step back, pride shining in her eyes as she looked over all of us.
“I never thought I’d see the day that all four of you were in a room.” Francine’s lip wobbled, and I clasped her hand. Spade gripped me tighter, and I leaned back into him, showing him he was just as essential to our group even if he hadn’t grown up with us.
“I think we should get into why exactly you’re here,” Merrick growled. He didn’t put his gun away, but he didn’t point it at Lorenzo, which was a win in my book. “Do you just want to get your father out of the way so you can take over, or are you actually looking to right his wrongs?”
Lorenzo scowled, and the expression was quickly wiped away as he glanced back at Francine and nodded. She must’ve warned him at least that Merrick and Kellan would be the hardest to convince and they wouldn’t hold any punches.
“I have no love for my family.” He took a deep breath, his gaze darkening as he surveyed each of us before his gaze landed on me. The guys shifted uncomfortably, like they were going to attack him just for looking at me. “Giana would know best what those monsters can do to a person.”
Rage boiled in the mahogany depths of his eyes before he leashed it, but it was too late.
I sucked in a breath and shook my head. He and Tommaso shared so many traits that I thought for a moment that this was one of the nightmares plaguing me and he’d come back from the dead just to drag me back to hell with him.
He dragged a hand through his dark brown hair like he was trying to tamp down his anger for my sake.
A scar split his left brow, helping to distinguish him from his brother. There was a story behind the old injury, but we definitely weren’t close enough to ask.
He gave me an apologetic smile. “I hate how much I look like him too. Especially when I was his punching bag for years. Angelo rewarded violence in our household, and Tommaso took full advantage of that fact. I lost count of the number of bruises and broken bones he left me with, and if he was bored, Angelo would take over. He subjected me to unimaginable torture to help build my tolerance for it. He always thought I was the weak one, but I’d been the one to take all their abuse and still got up every day wishing and dreaming of another future.
My strength of will is the only reason I hadn’t killed one of them already. ”
“Why didn’t you?” A crease formed between my brows. I hadn’t slit Tommaso’s throat because I knew that Merrick and Kellan would end up paying the price for it, but Lorenzo kept his friends hidden, judging by his letter, so Angelo wouldn’t have any cards to play.
“Because they shipped me off to boarding school the one time I snapped and tried to, and ever since, they both kept their distance.”
“Which brings us back to my original question.” Merrick glowered. “I believe you hate Angelo just as much as we do, if not more. But what’s to stop you from being just as big of a monster as he is?”
“Because I’ve seen the mental anguish my family has caused everyone in this town. I felt it even as a child. Everyone was scared of me or loathed me. Francine was the only person I ever had here—the one who kept me from going mad.”
Silence fell over us as we all let that sink in. Greg and Pam warned me to stay away from him when they learned we’d be in the same class, but I couldn’t remember ever really interacting with him.
“So when I tell you I want nothing to do with this town, I hope you’ll believe me.
I plan on dismantling Angelo’s operations and moving out of here completely the first moment I can.
” Steely determination glinted in his mahogany orbs, the vehemence enough to convince me even without the note of sorrow in his tone.
“I’ll be cleaning house and rebuilding in New York, a city big enough where I can easily slip into the shadows. ”
‘Where he belonged’ seemed to hang in the air, and I hated that his father and brother had beaten him down so much that he thought he didn’t deserve to walk in the light.
“At least that was one good thing Tommaso did. He brought our influence to New York. He thought of it as expanding the family’s territory, but I knew the day would come when you finally killed him, and I always planned to move the entire operation to the city.”
Silence permeated the room like a thick, suffocating shroud.
Distrust lingered on both sides, each of us deciding whether we should take the risk and trust the other.
He had as much to lose, especially if Angelo’s right-hand man, Antonio, was poised to take over at any moment.
If we killed Angelo and Lorenzo, we might be stuck with an even worse monster who didn’t have any connection or hidden motives to interfere with his revenge.
“I know you might not believe me, but I watched over you while you were in New York. I went to NYU at the same time as you, and I worked in the same office building.” Lorenzo gave me a sad smile, which made my guys stiffen.
“I stayed close enough that Tommaso knew I was watching, but far enough that he knew I wasn’t trying to take you away from him. ”
“Honestly, I don’t really know what to say.” I frowned. “Thanks for keeping an eye on me, but it’s a little disconcerting that I never noticed.”
“I’m good at sticking to the shadows.” He smiled, like he was proud of his stalking skills. He was apparently just as unhinged as my guys. That was definitely something especially Spade would brag about.
“You won’t be following her anymore.” Spade tightened his grip on me like he feared Lorenzo might steal me away. “That’s my job now.”
I sighed, but I couldn’t hide my smile. I should probably protest a little, but oh well. He already knows I love him and his unhinged tendencies.
“Deal.” Lorenzo chuckled, shaking his head. “Besides, if everything goes right, I’ll hopefully be out of here soon.”
Francine shifted uncomfortably, but she didn’t argue.
This town held too dark a past for Lorenzo that I was sure he wanted to escape almost as much as he wanted to spare the town from the constant pressure of gangs and mafia ties.
New York held those same memories for me, which is probably the only reason I wouldn’t want to move the guys there after all of this was over.
“You should visit me at the Sunny Motel in Fallpond. I’d love to catch up some more if you’re going to be leaving town after all of this is over,” Francine said, like it was no big deal for her to reveal this to a man we weren’t sure we could trust yet.
Ice filled my veins, the blood draining from my face.
“What? You’re acting like I just murdered someone. ”
“Oh, we’d be less horrified by that right now.” Spade snorted. He gripped my hips as though he was preparing to push me behind him to get at Lorenzo if he even blinked wrong.
Lorenzo cleared his throat, giving Francine a fond smile. “I’m not sure if that’s a good idea right now. I don’t want to lead anyone to you, but I promise to sit down for a nice, long catch up before I leave.”
He shifted his gaze to us again. “I was wondering where you were hiding everyone, though. Angelo traced Merrick’s cards to the motel in East Haven, so he thinks that’s where you’ve stashed everyone, but I’m assuming that’s just a cover?”
“It is…” I trailed off. We had to trust him at some point, and this was the perfect test. “Don’t tell him otherwise.”
“I won’t.” He clasped a hand over his heart. “I’d never put anyone in danger like that, especially not Francine and her family.”
I nodded, hoping we could rely on him for this. We had men stationed at each of the motels, including the decoy one, so we’d know right away if he passed the information on to anyone or if he’d kept his word.
“I have a burner cell for you.” Lorenzo reached into the inside pocket of his suit jacket, and the guys tensed until the small, old-school silver flip phone materialized in his hand.
Merrick took it cautiously, as though it might bite.
He removed the battery and examined it, making sure there weren’t any explosives in it.
“You can have Francine hold on to it if you need reassurance that I haven’t placed anything in it.
Besides, I already know her location now. ”
“Give that to me,” Francine said and swiped the phone right out of Merrick’s hand.
He was right, of course, but there was still apprehension on both ends if Lorenzo’s narrowed gaze was a barometer of his feelings for Merrick, at least. Kellan shifted uncomfortably, glancing at the phone like he wanted to examine it even more thoroughly than Merrick had.
“Why do we need that?” Kellan asked, his brow scrunched in thought.
“Because I can’t be sure that Angelo hasn’t bugged your phones.
That one’s clean, and the only number programmed into it is my burner.
Contact me if there’s anything you need help with or to plan out your endgame—that is, if you decide to trust me, of course.
” He gave the guys a mocking smile, before it softened as he met my gaze.
Yeah, that was one way to immediately piss my guys off.
“We’ll give you a call,” I said, not wanting Merrick to insult him when this could be our chance to actually get near Angelo.
Every time we’d gotten close, we’d been on the knife’s edge of an all-out gunfight.
And if we’d taken him out then, there would’ve been a bullet between our brows before we’d even fired off another shot.
The guys seemed to come to the same conclusion, though, since they only nodded. Lorenzo returned the gesture with a dip of his own head before grasping Francine’s hands. “I’ll see you soon, old friend.”
“Soon,” she said, her voice wavering as her eyes scanned his face as if he were about to meet the firing squad. Which he very well might be if Angelo ever caught on that he was making a deal with the devil.
He released her and stalked into the kitchen, not even looking over his shoulder as he strode out into the night.
He obviously didn’t want us to find his hidden entrance because unless he’d been surviving off ice cream and toppings for the last twenty-four hours and sleeping on the cold, hard tiled floor, he hadn’t stayed here last night.
My lips thinned into a straight line as I met the guys’ equally wary expressions before making our way back into the chilled night air.
We’d have to discuss this later, but I didn’t trust Lorenzo not to have placed a listening device before we got here.
Francine might see the boy who lingered in his eyes, but I saw the ruthless man Angelo and Tommaso’s cruelty had turned him into.
Trusting him was another hurdle altogether.
But Francine gave him the perfect bait. If he kept our secret, we’d know we could trust him.
Either way, this war was going to end sooner rather than later; his decisions just decided if one or both of the Barone men would perish alongside Tommaso, and how much of our blood would be spilled in the process.