Chapter 23
LUCA
After Alessia took off with her driver, I jumped in my car and started to make the trek into Jersey to check on Arianna.
I’d been so consumed with all things Alessia, I hadn’t provided adequate supervision of my little sister.
A few weeks’ time on her own and there was no telling what kind of trouble she could get into.
Before I crossed over the GW bridge, I texted Alessia. Did you make it home?
Setting my phone back on its charger, I waited for a response.
The tires passing over each section of bridge made a clicking sound that counted off the seconds as my text went unanswered.
She swore she would answer me, and I was fairly certain she hadn’t been lying to appease me.
With growing agitation, I grabbed the phone and dialed her number.
Ring after ring came across the line before her voicemail picked up.
It was entirely possible she had jumped in the shower or had some other valid reason for not answering, but I couldn’t shake the feeling in my gut that something wasn’t right. As soon as I made it to the other side of the bridge, I flipped a U-turn and started back toward her Manhattan apartment.
By the time I reached the building over a half-hour later, she still hadn’t returned my text or answered my calls.
My head filled with gruesome images as I went from concern to worry to all-out fear.
I wasn’t normally the type to succumb to the emotion, but in this instance, I was drenched in the sticky substance.
I double-parked and tore off toward the entrance.
The concierge attempted to stop me, but I blew past him and caught an elevator already waiting on the ground floor.
Each agonizing rise between floors felt like a lifetime.
When the elevator finally opened, I ran to her apartment and pounded on the door.
“Alessia, it’s me. Open up!” Hand flat against the door, I stood motionless and waited, listening for sound on the other side.
Nothing.
Pulling out my pocketknife, I jimmied the lock, and her door popped open, the deadbolt not in use. I scanned the room, instantly zeroing in on her purse set on the counter. Inside were her keys, phone, and wallet.
Shit! Fuck!
I didn’t have my gun with me, so I took a knife from the kitchen and slowly scoped out the apartment. It was empty, no signs of a struggle, nothing out of place. If I’d gone to the cops, which was never going to happen, they’d probably tell me she’d gone for a walk, but I knew that wasn’t the case.
Alessia had been taken.
Grabbing my phone, I dialed Enzo, thanking God her father had given me his number before I’d left his house.
“Yeah.”
“Enzo, this is Luca. We got a real problem—Alessia’s been taken.”
Silence. “How do you know?” His voice had gone steely. I was about to see a side of Enzo Genovese that had been dormant for a long time.
“She didn’t answer my texts or calls, so I came to her place.
Her purse is here with everything in it—phone, keys—but she’s not here.
She knows the dangers; I’d just told her she wasn’t to go anywhere without an escort.
Her driver brought her home, but someone must have taken her as soon as she got here. ”
He was silent for a moment, and I waited for his instruction. He far outranked me, even if he was from a different outfit.
“Let me make some calls. You check out the security office at her building and see what the cameras show.”
“Got it.” The phone clicked dead, and I resisted the urge to launch the device against the wall.
How could I have fucked this up so badly?
I’d been watching her, warned her and her father, got information to the Commission as fast as I could, and it hadn’t been enough.
Alessia was gone, and all I could do was hope she was still alive.
After threatening to cut off his balls, I was finally able to get the concierge to take me back to the security office.
The surveillance film for the lobby over the previous hour showed only residents coming and going.
When we pulled up the footage for the fourteenth floor, the recording started just thirty minutes earlier.
Everything prior to that had been erased.
“Is there another way up, aside from the front lobby?” I asked the older man who was clearly shaken.
“There’s a service elevator and emergency exit out the back.”
“Are there cameras in those locations?”
“No. The backdoor stays locked, and the service elevator requires a keycard.”
Whoever had done this had been savvy enough to cover their tracks.
I thanked the man for his help and called Enzo to give him an update.
He instructed me to call my underboss and have him meet us at Tedesco’s, a small Italian joint in Little Italy.
The old-timers used to base their operations in that area, but things didn’t work that way anymore.
With modern technology, there was no reason to be so predictable.
Little Italy existed for tourists, that was about it.
When I arrived, I was escorted to a basement where an ancient table and chairs were set up in the middle of the room.
The scene was straight out of an old gangster movie—empty cellar with a single dangling light over a rectangular table, highlighting the angles of each severe face below.
Enzo was there with his brother, Edoardo, who had been acting as his Consigliere.
The two brothers had relied too heavily on Sal for information, both completely ignorant to what had been going on.
Next to them sat my underboss, Michael Abbatelli, who nodded as I entered the room.
Along with them, the Moretti underboss sat at the table, face stoic as he waited to hear why everyone had been gathered.
“What’s the plan?” I asked, not allowing any of my wariness to enter my voice.
“We’re waiting on the Giordano and Gallo representatives to show up, then we talk,” said Enzo, his features devoid of emotion.
I was impressed. He’d managed to call together an impromptu meeting of The Five Families.
The only seats missing from the Commission were those occupied by the Chicago Outfit, but this was too short of notice to get them here.
I went to stand on the back wall, knowing it was not my place to sit at the table with the underbosses, when Enzo spoke up.
“Have a seat,” he motioned to a chair across from him. “You’re just as much a part of this as the rest of us.”
I followed his instructions and sat at the table next to Abbetelli.
Moments later, steps sounded on the wooden stairs.
I tensed as Matteo De Luca, underboss of the Gallo family, came into view.
He was an intimidating bastard—tattoos inked on each finger and snaking up from the collar of his dress shirt.
There was nothing subtle or demure about him.
He made no attempt to hide who he was or mask the nature of his dealings.
He didn’t draw unnecessary attention, but he also didn’t try to fit in with civilized society.
“De Luca, I appreciate you joining us. I know this is rather unorthodox.” Enzo stood, an offering of respect to the rival family. He had to be fuming inside—his calm exterior was truly impressive.
De Luca was in his late thirties, young for an underboss, but he was good at commanding respect. He too had his game face on, making it impossible to tell if we were about to have a civil discussion or unleash a bloody war.
“Unorthodox, yes, but also reminiscent of the old days.” Matteo gazed around the musty basement. “You appear to have a nostalgic side. I remember sitting upstairs as a kid while my father had meets down here.”
“From what I’ve learned recently, I knew trust would be hard to come by. I figured old Gallo stomping grounds would give me a better shot of getting you to show up.”
Matteo gave a nod with a tight smirk that held no humor. “There’s been some very bad blood between our families, and recent months have not made things any better.”
The door above creaked open, and all eyes turned to the stairs as the Giordano underboss joined the party. Each man had come with one or two soldiers who now stood lined against the walls, eyeing the room cautiously.
“Excellent,” Enzo said, drawing everyone’s attention.
“Now that we’re all here, we can get started.
Edoardo has our Chicago associates on speakerphone, so we don’t leave them out of the discussion.
I understand this was very unexpected, and I appreciate everyone giving me their time today.
It’s been a long time since I’ve seen all of you, some I’ve never had the pleasure of meeting.
From here on out, that changes. It’s been brought to my attention my absence from the scene has enabled my underboss to commit some unforgivable acts in my name.
I want to assure each of you, I in no way sanctioned his actions.
” As he spoke, Enzo held the eyes of each man at the table, one-by-one, professing his veracity.
“We’ve all gone back to the old ways—silent in our operations and demanding absolute adherence to our code.
I thought if I remained a ghost, invisible to even my own outfit, it would protect me and my family.
If you ever have the misfortune of losing a child, you would know there is no greater pain.
In trying to protect myself from outsiders, I made myself vulnerable to an attack from the inside. ”
“I appreciate your efforts to smooth things over,” cut in Matteo. “But how are we supposed to trust you aren’t just throwing Sal under the bus?” His point had been valid, and everyone in the room seemed interested in the answer.
“Because my daughter is missing. I never, ever would have intentionally set in motion events that would so clearly lead to retaliation against my own. Certainly not without taking the proper precautions first. Do you think I’d be fucking stupid enough to have a Gallo man killed the day after I’d met with him?
” Enzo’s fervor let slip the first signs of just how deeply he was affected.
Every man in the room shifted at his announcement, and the tension thickened more than I’d thought possible. The room had already been stifling; now, it was downright oppressive.
“How long has she been missing?” asked Abbatelli.
“About two hours, give or take.” He turned to Matteo and addressed him directly. “I fear this is a retaliation hit for the Venturi death, which would mean a Gallo was behind her disappearance. I know it can’t be easy to trust me, but I will be in your debt if you will help me get her back.”
Matteo remained unmoved, only the slightest lift of his chin gave any indication that he’d heard Enzo at all. “There must be blood for blood—how do you propose that’s handled?”
“Sal.” There was no hesitation in Enzo’s response. “The moment I get him into my custody, he’s yours.”
The room sat in excruciating silence for long seconds before Matteo nodded and stood. “I’ll take this to my boss and let you know his decision.” He exited the basement, followed by his two soldiers, and the room seemed to fill with fresh oxygen.
“Holy shit, Enzo, you know how to make an entrance,” came the Moretti underboss, wiping beads of sweat from his forehead. Postures relaxed, and the room filled with the shuffling of sound.
“Trust me, this isn’t how I’d have preferred to show back up. If I’d have known this would happen, I never would have taken a back seat.” His tone was morose, and the room got quiet again.
Enzo visited with the remaining underbosses, renewing his connections and assuring them things were going to change in the Lucciano family. Unable to sit still any longer, I started to make my way back upstairs when Enzo called out to me.
“Luca, wait for me outside.” His tone was casual, but the unknown reason for his request coiled my already tense muscles even further.
I waited under the old red awning out front as each of the men slowly dispersed. Eventually, Enzo and his brother stepped outside, Enzo placing a grateful hand on his brother’s back. They exchanged a few quiet words before parting ways, and Enzo turned his hard gaze my direction.
“I want you to promise me you won’t go after her.”
I wasn’t sure what I expected, but that hadn’t been it.
Enzo strolled over, hands in his pockets, his face a map of worry lines that hadn’t been visible at our first encounter.
“What am I supposed to do—go home and watch television? I can’t sit by while she’s missing.” No fucking way. I’d never forgive myself if something happened to her while I was sipping a beer, pretending everything was peachy.
“You don’t think I want to do the same damn thing?
” he spat back, renewed spark giving heat to his words.
“That’s my daughter out there, in the hands of God knows who.
However, there are protocols that must be followed.
We go in with guns blazing, nothing good will come of it.
You kill someone getting her back, only to end up with a price on your head, isn’t going to help.
If anything can be done to get her back, Matteo will make it happen.
He knows how huge it would be for me to owe him. The only thing we can do now is wait.”
He was right, and I fucking hated it.
I whirled and kicked one of the small metal dinette chairs on the sidewalk patio, sending the thing clattering onto its side. Pain blossomed in my foot but did little to ease the suffocating frustration sitting like a heavy boulder on my chest.
“Get it out—go to the gym or do whatever you need to but keep your nose out of trouble. I’ll call you when I hear something.”
I offered him a nod and stomped back to my car, unable to unclench my teeth long enough to say a word in response. I had no idea what I’d planned on doing to look for her, but having the option taken from me made me feel even more helpless.
I sat in my car, boxed in by the deafening silence.
I couldn’t remember ever feeling so fucking powerless.
What was I supposed to do—go home and pretend Alessia wasn’t out there in trouble?
I slammed my hands on the steering wheel.
The only thing that would remotely help was the gym, so I started the car and drove like an asshole to the one place where I could get out the rage eating me alive.