Chapter 21
TWENTY-ONE
Milo
The coordinated attacks on all three cities was a success. It took a few days to organize, and now we had to wait and see where the pieces fell. That news should have brought a sense of relief, but we knew that was only one battle, not the war.
More was headed our way. We anticipated the attacks on our businesses, and the cartels were prepared to step in as soon as we gave the word.
“Your warning has been sent,” I said to my father. “The other families know if they still want to work with Medina their troubles are just beginning.”
“They don’t want me as an enemy.” He put on his suit jacket. “My family is under attack, so that makes this personal. They need to choose their sides wisely.”
It wasn’t just our family that was under attack. When Medina sent that butterfly necklace, the message became much more than a threat. He went right for Sable. He had my attention.
“Without those three cities, Medina can’t successfully traffic those women,” I said.
“He’s extremely determined. We have to be prepared for his retaliation.” My father opened his office door. “I’ll have Josh bring the SUV to the front of the house. I have to make a call, and then we’ll leave.”
We were meeting with Juan today to go over some important shipping information. He wanted to meet with all three of us because it had been quite some time since my father, brother, and I gave him a report.
“I’ll find Marchello, and we’ll meet you out there.”
“Don’t forget the files on the desk.” He stepped into the hallway. “Good morning, Sable.”
“Good morning, Nico,” she replied. “I hope you have a wonderful day.”
I was pleased to hear her relaxed exchange with my father. He had done a fantastic job of getting her to adapt to him. His personality took some getting used to, but Sable was holding her own.
“I wish the same for you.” His heavy footsteps faded as he walked down the foyer.
“Sweet Sable.” I dropped my phone into my inside suit pocket. “Good morning.”
She came into the office, still wearing her pink pajama bottoms and a gray cropped sweatshirt. Her hair was piled into a messy bun, and her bare feet revealed the sheer polish on her toenails. “How come you didn’t wake me?” she asked.
“I have an early meeting.” I flipped through the papers on the desk, making sure we had everything we needed. “You were sound asleep, but I did kiss you goodbye. I was going to text you in a bit.”
“I’m a little sluggish this morning.”
“Are you not sleeping well?” I put the papers in a folder. “You’ve been tired all week.”
“Yeah, I know.” She leaned against the chair by the desk. “I think, well…” She trailed off and then stopped her thoughts.
Maybe I should give her a break tonight. Waking her up when I came in to have sex might be a bit selfish. But when I got into bed and she was soft, warm, and smelled delicious, how was I supposed to stop myself?
“Do you have plans today?” I asked. “Maybe you should stay in and rest.”
“Oh, um…” She ran her hand along the leather on the top of the chair. “I’m going to the boutique with Lissia and Ricardo.”
“Did I know that?” With the strike we just made against Boston, Philly, and Chicago, I wasn’t sure this was the best time for her to go to the city without me.
“Lissia just texted me and invited me.” She stretched out her back. “If you want, I could stay here with you and we could spend the day together.”
“No, you should go.” Keeping her locked away wasn’t practical, especially if I expected her to adjust to my world. “I can’t miss this meeting.”
As much as I wanted to stay with her, we couldn’t afford any backlash from Juan. He wanted all three of us to be there. That hadn’t been possible these last few months.
“You stay with Ax and don’t let Lissia talk you into doing anything reckless.”
“Reckless?” She continued to wipe her hand along the chair. “That’s the last thing I want.”
“I’m happy to hear that.” I met her on the other side of the chair. “Maybe you should go back to bed.” I pressed my hand to her forehead. “I can get Antonella to bring you a tray with juice, fruit, and toast.”
“I’m not sick.” She looked down. “Do you have a minute to talk?”
“It’s already been a hectic morning.” I glanced at my watch. “My father is waiting for me, and I’m supposed to find Chello.”
My brother was probably upstairs with Lissia, and I didn’t have to imagine what they were doing. They tried to make a baby every chance they got.
“This meeting is important,” I said. “I want you to have my undivided attention when we’re together.”
“I understand.”
“I’m not neglecting you, but things are heating up and I have to be available for any complications.” Am I as much of a jerk as I sound like right now? “I’m sorry.”
“I don’t feel neglected.” She rested her hands on my lapels. “I know you have to work.”
“Can we catch up tonight?” I had been working late nights, trying to coordinate the messages we sent to the cities we needed to get back on our side. “I’ll pick up take-out and we can have dinner in our suite. Just the two of us.”
“That sounds perfect.” She kissed my cheek. “I miss you.”
“I’ll get dinner from Franchi’s Bistro.”
“Cannoli cheesecake?” She grinned. “I’ve been craving it.”
“Whatever you want.” I ran my finger along her sexy lips. “I miss you too.”
“I want you back safe and sound.” She hugged me, holding on for a few seconds. “It’s important that you come home to me.”
“I’ll always come home to you.” I let go of her and cupped the side of her face. “I promise.”
“I’m going to hold you to that.”
“We might almost be on the other side of this fight with Medina,” I said. “I’ll tell you all about it tonight.”
“What you’re doing today, is it dangerous?”
“No more than usual.” I lowered my head and kissed her. “But I probably won’t even have to draw my gun today.”
“Is that supposed to comfort me?”
“A little.”
Marchello barged into the room. “Sorry to interrupt. Dad’s almost done with his call.”
“Hello, Marchello.” Sable stepped away from me. “How’s it going?”
“Hey, Sable.” He smiled. “Lissia’s looking for you.”
“I’ll leave you two.” She kissed my cheek. “Be careful.”
“You too.” I grabbed her hand. “Nothing reckless.”
“Nothing reckless.” She let go of my hand and headed for the door. “Take care of him.”
“I always do.” Chello waved as she exited the room.
“Does she seem okay to you?” I asked once she had left. “She seems off.”
“As far as I can tell.” He shrugged. “I don’t really know her that well.”
“Maybe she’s getting a cold?” I picked up the file on the desk. “Did Lissia tell you she’s going to the city?”
“She asked me if she could go.”
“Right.” I smirked. “I’m sure she said please too.”
“She’s getting better,” he said with a sigh. “She behaves around Dad.”
“Do you think it’s safe for them to go into the city without us?”
“They have Dom and Ax,” he said. “You have someone watching the boutique, right?”
“Yes.” According to the security at the boutique, Bello hadn’t been there. It had been the usual clients for a couple of weeks. I had no reason to believe the boutique wasn’t secure. “Ricardo will be with them too.”
“I guess that’s something.”
“He’s excellent at what he does,” I reminded him. “He would never let anything happened to Lissia.”
“You’re right, but I still blame him for what happened with Collins. If Ricardo didn’t let Lissia manipulate him, none of that would have happened.”
“Sounds like Lissia is to blame too.”
“That’s why Dom is her guard, He doesn’t fall for her shit.”
I loved my sister-in-law, but I was grateful that Sable didn’t find trouble or give me stress when it came to her security.
“Should we go?” I asked. “The sooner we get this meeting done, the sooner we can get back to eliminating Medina.”
As we walked to the foyer, I tried to get Sable out of my head. I should have asked her what she wanted to talk about, but I wanted to go into this meeting with a clear head. I would be home early enough and we could spend the evening alone.
If she still wasn’t feeling well, I could take care of her. She seemed to enjoy the warm bath. I could join her this time. The tub was big enough.
Marchello glanced out of the large windows overlooking the front of the property.
“Dad’s still on a call.” He motioned to the porch. “It’s too fucking cold to be out there. I’ll wait here until he’s finished. I’m not going to freeze my balls off.”
“Well, you’ve been in Miami and Puerto Rico, so I guess this shitty New Jersey weather does kind of suck for you.”
“They’re calling for more freezing rain today.” He retrieved his overcoat from the foyer closet. “I’m over this.”
“You’re not considering moving, are you?”
“Are you and Dad going to come with me?”
“He’ll never leave the city.” I buttoned my suit coat. “While we’re waiting, I want to run something by you.”
I had been thinking about this particular message that I needed to send, and I wanted to get Chello’s take on it.
“What is it?”
“You might understand where I’m coming from with this because you were in a similar situation.” I leaned against the banister. “Sable’s been struggling since the assault inflicted by Bello. She talked about it a little, but I know it’s on her mind.”
“Look,” he said. “I know it’s fucked up that you can’t go after that piece of shit yet, but I promise once Medina is incapacitated, we’ll make Bello suffer.”
“I know.” I hated not being able to kill Bello for hurting Sable, but I had to be patient. His time would come, but for now, there was someone else I could go after. “There is something else I want done.”
“Anything.”
Of course he would say that. He always had my back and never asked me any questions. That was how we were raised. We would always be there for one another.
“After Bello hit Sable, she remembered things from her childhood she tried to suppress.”
“Abuse?”
I nodded calmly, but my insides filled with a rage that spiraled and threatened to break free and wreak havoc on anyone in my path.
“What do you want to do about it?” he asked.
“It was her father.”
“Shit, that does complicate matters.”
“He needs to pay for hurting her.”
“I’m not against that.” He took his leather gloves from his coat pocket. “What do you have in mind?”
“I had our guys locate him. He still lives in Brooklyn.” When Sable and Chance left, he never even tried to look for them. What kind of father does that? I guess the kind who would abuse them. “I want a couple of men to go rough him up. Show him how it feels to be defenseless.”
“Do you want it to be an anonymous job?” He stretched his glove over his large hand. “Make him suffer so you’ll feel better?”
“I want to be there when it’s over. I want to walk in and let him know I’m responsible.” I gazed up the stairs, knowing that Sable would never approve of this. “I want him to know I’m taking care of her and giving her the life she deserves.”
“Are you sure that’s how you want to play this?”
“Positive.” I couldn’t rest until this was done.
I had a difficult time accepting that I couldn’t make Bello and Medina suffer for coming at me through Sable right now, but I could have control over how her father was dealt with.
“You’ve had a similar situation with Lissia and her father, so you know where I’m coming from. ”
“I agree with you, but Sable might not,” he said. “She left her past behind for a reason.”
“It’s still going to be in her past, but I need that fucker to know that I know what he did and I want him to pay.” I took my coat that I had slung over the chair when I first came downstairs this morning. “He needs to know she belongs to me now and I’ll never hurt her.”
“You want to fix this for her,” he said. “Because that’s what you do.”
“Having her father beat up for treating her like dirt won’t solve any problems, but maybe he’ll regret hurting her and that will have to be enough.”
My father looked in the window from outside and pointed to the SUV waiting in the driveway.
“I’ll set it up.” Chello patted my shoulder. “And if you decide that the beating isn’t enough, I’ll take care of him. No questions asked.”
“Thank you.” I hoped that this visit would be enough for me to get over the anguish Sable’s father put her through. “It’s good to know that I won’t have to be the one to do it.”
“You need to be able to look her in the eyes and tell the truth when you say you didn’t kill him.” He glanced out the window. “Just like Dad did for me when he took care of Gian.”
“Bello’s mine though.” I opened the front door. “The end of my gun will be the last thing he ever sees.”
No one would ever hurt Sable again. Not while I draw breath.