Chapter 17
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Marko
I’d never gone to war with the Vitales before. When Gio helped get Vinnie back from the Calogeras, I’d been watching the club for him. When they went after the Russians, again I was left behind, as I knew more about the shipping and receiving in the ports, as well as the casinos, illegal gambling plus our own club interests better than anyone else, but they all knew there would be no leaving me behind this time.
I was Gio’s head capo, his second in more ways than one. If anything ever happened to him, I could hold the businesses together for the Vitales until they shuffled things.
We were on the precipice of something big. Something larger than Niki, Gio and myself. My gut told me what we’d seen and what was really at stake were miles apart. I didn’t trust what we had learned of the situation so far and felt there was more. My—for lack of a better word— Spidey senses were tingling.
My brain kept going as we got ready to go to war. It wasn’t just the Irish, but the Russians as well. Hetty vehemently denied any connection beyond her brother, Liam, wanting Niki for himself and swore that everything had been orchestrated to get her. But she turned bright red when Gio pointed out that Hetty was married to a known Russian mob leader. She’d been taken from the studio to the Vitale mansion for questioning with Dante who couldn't come fight with us due to his undercover status.
Romeo had a good plan. He had half a dozen sharpshooters, led by Vitto, already set up at the warehouses. Fausto had spies everywhere on the docks and knew we were up against an army of Russians lying in wait for us. We didn’t know why the Russians were in bed with the Irish, or what Liam had promised them, but we assumed it was our port and shipping lanes as it seemed to be what everyone wanted.
A boat under the guise of a floating petroleum refill station was already on its way into port with twenty of our men led by Paulo, one of Romeo's personal guards who was with him when he rescued Vittoria, and finally, there was the ground crew, consisting of us, and an additional twenty men.
I glanced at Gio as he suited up in a Kevlar vest at Romeo's insistence, and then pocketed guns into every space he could possibly place them. This wasn’t his first rodeo and with Niki’s life at stake, he would ensure we won. That is what he did, what he’d always done.
His eyes found mine. Something undefinable passed through his intense blue orbs before he nodded at me. “Suited up?”
“Ready for action, boss.”
A ghost of a smile passed his lips. “I’ll kick your ass if you get yourself killed.”
A low chuckle escaped me. “How do you propose to do that if I’m dead?”
“Don’t underestimate the devil, Marko Marino.”
He had a point. If any of the Vitale brothers were the devil hiding beneath expensive cologne and designer suits, it was Giovanni. I almost pitied Liam Kelly, almost. Then everything in me hardened and I was ready to do whatever it took to bring Niki home once and for all.
Fausto and Antonio were already at the docks orchestrating the attack. Antonio—nicknamed ‘The Beast”—was the killer in the group, while Fausto, dark and quiet, was the assassin. He’d seen more than he was willing to ever share and seemed to see poetic justice in everything. I knew for a fact that the two brothers and Dante rivaled each other in kills.
Tano was closest to Fausto, but as to who was darker and the more reserved of the two, it was hard to say. I think they enjoyed each other's company, although enjoyment may be a bit of a stretch. Out of all the possible pairings, they tolerated each other the best.
We piled into four bulletproof vehicles and headed for the docks. The Vitale empire owned many buildings and businesses, one of which was a yacht club under an untraceable dummy company. The Russians wouldn’t know about it, or the secret passage from there to the warehouse they were currently hiding in. The one where we kept our jewelry imports, or had until Fausto recently changed everything to protect our merchandise. Our stuff hadn’t been passing through that particular warehouse for a few weeks, and all the crates inside were empty.
I wished I could have seen those bastards’ faces when they opened the crates and the riches they hoped to steal weren’t there. That would have been priceless. One of the younger cousins had been running the ground transportation from Jersey and it was a good thing too, or the brothers would have had a fortune in repayments to make to clients.
“Do we have a location on Niki yet?” Unfortunately for me, I’d not yet been caught up on everything as plans were moving swiftly.
“Simon is working on it, but we think outskirts of New York somewhere.”
“Why there?”
“The Russians and Liam, we don’t know about the rest of the éannas… if they know how deep they are in with the Russian mob. Romeo thinks they are patsies for Liam, but that is a very large beast to defy. Anyway, Simon caught footage of Natalia Makarova leaving Niki’s old apartment building and the last cam image was of her heading out of town in that direction.”
That seemed like a huge jump in logic to me.
“She and Sergei have a home in Scarsdale. It was hard for Simon to find, and it was only through a connection he found between them and Knyazev and a container filled with stolen treasures that he was able to find the house. Liam Kelly was seen leaving the city around the same time and headed in the same direction. We’re assuming the house is well protected, but Kelly may be stupid enough to think that this Russian attack is under the radar, and we might not live to follow them. That stupid shit should never underestimate a Vitale.”
I’d cheer to that later with a large tumbler of my favorite scotch if we made it out of this alive. We may have had the advantage of knowing what was waiting for us, but the risk was still high.
We pulled into the yacht club and the soldiers already stationed there quickly took our vehicles and hid them under the great yawning canvases that held the more expensive boats.
Once inside, Romeo pulled us all together. “Okay men, this is it. Remember, wait for Simo to give the signal. Then we’ll show these Russians bums what the Italians are made of.”
A cheer went up with lots of back slapping before he continued.
“Remember, we need to search for Nicolette and Amergio as both are still missing. Those fuckers better pray we find them alive. Also, a few living bodies would be nice, aiming to injure a few so we can interrogate them. Capisce !”
“ Io capisco !”
Damn right we understood. I was itching to get this charade over with and get our girl back in our bed where she belonged. I refused to think about what Liam Kelly was doing to her, vowing I’d cross that bridge when I came to it.
Hail Mary, full of grace.
I silently recited Niki’s prayer to Mary while we followed Simo through the tunnel. We silently shuffled into the warehouse to find Fausto waiting for us. His dark, swarthy looks reminded me so much of Romeo. Funny how Gaetano and the two of them could almost be mistaken for triplets, since Tano was born a Di Mauro.
Romeo was back at the yacht club in front of a bank of monitors. Simo had finally convinced him that they needed someone to stay back who could see all three sets of our men and orchestrate our attack from this vantage point. When Romeo had argued that it could be anyone, Tano stepped in and said the commands to the ground leaders needed to come from the boss so there would be no mistakes.
Romeo, despite his capabilities, needed to remain safe. He had a wife, a newborn and was the leader, the Don and very well respected here and in Southern Italy where the family was originally from. They still owned a winery estate there that was over four hundred years old.
“Where’s Tony?” Gio asked Fausto. “I thought he’d be here with you.”
“He’s with the soldiers from the boats. We both know Tony is stealthy and has probably already taken out half a dozen men without anyone the wiser.”
I smirked; Fausto was probably right. Tony also loved the action and was usually the first one on scene where a fight was about to break out.
Fausto’s phone pinged with an incoming message, and he looked down before reading it off. “Romeo says the countdown is on. We should hear shouts when Tony’s innocuous cherry bombs go off. The sharpshooters will pick off anyone stumbling out, then we’ll charge in from the back, while the team from the boat charges in from the front.”
There was a small boom followed by cries of surprise.
“Get in position,” Gio commanded.
Fausto stood at the back door, and when the guards rushed inside the building, we followed them in. I stayed by Gio, as he pushed his way down the right side of the warehouse. With sunlight pouring in from the front and misty smoke, it was almost impossible to see the features of the men ahead of us and I hoped no one from the home team shot each other by accident.
Gio had a gun in either hand; being ambidextrous was a definite advantage in a shootout. He took the lead down the right side of the building, shooting left and straight ahead at the same time, reminding me of an old-time gunslinger from the west, his black pants and the jacket that covered his vest adding to his devilish persona.
All around us was gunfire, and shouts in both Italian and Russian. The hair rose on my arms, and I looked up to see Russians firing from the second level and a stealthy shadow moving toward them.
Antonio.
Gio and I took cover behind a wide pillar and started shooting at the men on the upper level while Tony snuck in from behind and took out the ones focused on us, before seeming to vaporize before my eyes. One day, I’d have to ask him to teach me that trick.
The gunfire was slowing down; we were winning, and we stepped over bodies as we continued our way toward the front. When we arrived, Simo had three men captured. All appeared to be quite alive but bleeding from gunshot wounds. Tano stepped up and did some quick triage to ensure they lived long enough for Romeo to question them.
Romeo stepped up. “Simo, let’s get these guys into Malvasian cells at our number two location.”
Tony, Paulo and Matteo arrived.
“Numbers?” Romeo barked at them.
“We have one dead, and three injured,” Paulo replied.
“On it,” Tano said, and was led away by Paulo to tend to our three wounded.
“Rom, Marko and I need to go and find Niki.” Gio spoke with a new urgency, and I could tell he was over the bloodbath and revenge. All he cared about now was finding out girl.
I couldn’t blame him. Neither, apparently, could Romeo, who nodded his head in agreement.
“Simon messaged me just as the fight began; he has an address, and it was sent to your phone. The closest street cam shows a few suspicious vehicles headed that way, but beyond that, we have no way of knowing how many men are inside the compound. Take as many men as you need, brother, and be safe.”
Fausto appeared behind Gio. “I’m going with him.”
“Me as well,” Tony said, “and we’ll take four snipers with us, and a dozen soldiers.”
“Good, go,” Romeo agreed. “We gotta get this mess cleaned up before the cops get here.”
He was right, despite having half the force and a dozen judges in our pocket, we couldn’t hold off what must have been heard by dozens of witnesses, gunshot fire on the docks.
We hustled back the way we’d come with our soldiers covering our backs. The urgency to get to Niki, was a constant push. Being reunited with her was all I really cared about.
We made sure to take exits that had no cam feed just in case Liam had people watching. That was no guarantee, of course, that they wouldn’t be alerted to our arrival anyway, but it couldn’t hurt.
The closer we got to Scarsdale, the harder it became to hold my errant fears at bay. Gio was unreadable with the exception of drumming his fingers. I knew better than to try and talk to him when he was in a dark place, and I could only imagine what thoughts he was entertaining.
Fausto, Tony and the team of sharpshooters got out of the car about half a mile away from our location and disappeared into the darkness. Tony had been going back and forth the entire way with Simon, who’d been sending him images for the best vantage points.
“I think I need to take stealth lessons from your brothers," I said aloud in a weak attempt to lighten the mood.
Gio’s normally light eyes were so dark they appeared almost black. “Let’s go get our girl back.”
Most of the homes in this area were on acreage, or at least very large, treed lots that offered plenty of coverage.
Simon texted.
I can disable the security system, but it will only last for about thirty seconds before the place will lock down. When you’re in position, let me know and I will let you in. I don’t know yet if I can do it again, when it is time for you to leave. In theory it will work but I don’t know what types of safety encryption they may have in place.
We’ll figure out how to leave. We are in position.
Ready, Fausto typed.
One moment… Now!
We exploded into action and it was almost anticlimactic to see the outer perimeter guards already dead as we passed through the grounds and to the door in under thirty seconds.
We entered the building with no one to stop us.
“They must be using their limited coverage to guard Niki. Marko, Fausto, you take half the men and go up. Tony and the other half will go with me to the basement.”
I was pissed I wasn’t going to the basement which in all likelihood was where she was being kept. I wanted to argue with Gio, but to do so in front of our men would be a misstep. Regardless of our friendship, he was still my boss, first and foremost, and the eldest Vitale here by a few months which put him in charge of the mission. Not that he would have allowed anyone else to lead anyway.
Fausto didn’t hesitate. He took three men to explore the main level. That left me with Sandro and two others. Taking the lead, we moved silently up the carpeted stairs to investigate. the upper level. When we arrived at the first door, I nodded to Sandro and he stood to the side, ready to cover me if anyone opened fire when I kicked in the door.
It was a non-descript bedroom, probably reserved for guests and currently empty. Still, we entered and did a search for hiding spots and secret doors. When we came up empty-handed, we moved our search down the hallway, and applied the same strategy at the next door, revealing a large room with two additional doors.
The first was a walk-in filled with women’s clothing and the second led to a bathroom with a connecting door to another suite. After a quick, but careful search, we came up empty- handed again, confirming what I’d first thought. Most likely Niki was being held in the basement.
Our team moved back down the stairs and on the main level met up with Fausto, who shook his head.
We heard gunshots ring out from somewhere below us and flew down to the lower level. After traversing a series of hallways that felt designed to throw off anyone not familiar with the layout, we arrived in time to see Gio put a bullet through the head of Natalia Makarova.
They were surrounded by dead bodies, and Liam Kelly was holding a gun to Niki’s temple, his arm snaked around her neck as he held her hostage.
“Go ahead and shoot. You’ll kill the love of your life.”
Gio regarded him with stone-cold eyes. Niki was awkwardly wrapped in a sheet, her eyes as lifeless as Gio’s. At once, I knew something had happened to her.
An uncontrollable rage filled me, like hot lava rushing through my veins. I would kill him. I stormed toward Liam who’d just taken notice of me, his eyes widening in surprise. He shot, but missed, and all it did was fuel my fury, turning me into a raging bull. He shot again, his eyes going wild. I guess the idiot never thought I’d be wearing a vest. He should have aimed the second bullet at my head, but lucky me, he didn’t.
I reached him, yanking the gun from his hand. He lost ahold of Niki, and the killing shot rang out.
Liam Kelly dropped to the floor, his eyes still wide with surprise. I wanted to bring him back from the dead just so I could break his neck, but he was gone. Glancing up, I saw that Tony still had his gun pointed at Liam.
Gio seemed frozen in place, his eyes still empty. Niki lay on the ground entangled in the sheet. I ran toward her, gathered her up and held her to my chest. Her body was ice cold and her gaze so very far away.
My first thought was that they’d drugged her, but I quickly recognized the signs. She’d shut down, the fight had gone from her, just like when Gio and I came back that day from her apartment after giving her psycho father a beating.
“Come back to me, baby. Niki, it’s Marko, wake up.”
Her vacant eyes slowly turned from the ceiling to mine. She blinked several times as if trying to rein in her focus. “Marko?”
“Yeah baby, it’s me, and Gio is here too.”
“Here? Where is here?”
A slight frown pulled at my eyebrows. Could she be suffering from amnesia?
Fausto stepped up behind me. “Marko, we need to get her back to Tano, so he can check her out. He’ll know what to do.”
I nodded and stood with her in my arms. Gio regarded us with so much apprehension I wondered what demons he was battling. She was safe, wasn’t that all mattered?
Tony managed to find us a way out and we made our way to the cars. The three of us climbed in the back. Fausto drove and Tony sat in the passenger seat. No one spoke about what had just happened. Niki’s lifeless stare was back, and though her gaze trained on the window, I was sure she saw nothing but darkness and demons.
What had that fucker done to her? I wanted to talk to Gio, but he was in the same place as Niki it seemed. Tony often checked the rearview, his gaze landing on Gio with concern.
When we arrived at the mansion, Tano and Gabriella took over, caring for Niki while Gio and I took seats outside the room.
“What the fuck has gotten into you?” I gave him a shake.
He didn’t answer right away. But his eyes had finally come into focus, so I knew my friend was in there somewhere.
“Gio. Talk to me.”
“He said some nasty shit. She didn’t even recognize me, Marko, it was like she was dead. He did something to her, and I can’t, I won’t forgive myself for it.”
Ahh, the famous Vitale self-loathing. In all fairness, they’d all suffered from it in the past. They weren’t men who could be summarized from deeds alone, or the calm, cool, killer fa?ade they presented for the outside world. To build and sustain a huge empire, the mask was necessary, yes, but sometimes one of them would fall prey to a deep self-loathing and this was the first time I’d ever seen it in Gio.
Fausto and Tony showed up and took one look at their brother. “Suck it up, Giovanni, shit happens.”
Gio stood up so fast the chair would have toppled to the floor had it not been against the wall. “Go fuck yourself, Tony!”
Tony kept going, rolling his eyes. “Stop feeling sorry for yourself. It’s over and she’s alive. You should be celebrating, not moping.”
Gio was still looking like he was about to bash Tony’s head in when Romeo, Simo and Vincenzo appeared.
“What the fuck is going on here?” Romeo demanded.
I wanted to intercede for Gio, but my comments would not have been appreciated. This was between the brothers, and they would know better than anyone how to get Gio out of this funk.
“Our brother is a pussy,” Tony spat out.
“Tony…” Vinnie frowned. “Cut the guy some slack.”
“There is no room for slack in this life, Vincenzo, at least not for us. Only you, it seems, are spared from the ugly realities that keep you safe.”
Oh shit, this was getting out of hand.
The six of them all started yelling like they had as kids until Romeo whistled loud enough for my ears to pound.
“You,”—he pointed at Gio—“come with me.”
Tano chose that moment to open the door and glare at the group. “What the fuck is wrong with you all? Shut the hell up!”
“Tano, if Niki is stable and can be left with Gaby for a few minutes I’d like you to come with me,” Romeo said.
Gaetano stepped out and closed the door behind him.
“You too, Marko,” Romeo added.
I followed the group to the war room, my gut knotted from the stress, both of worrying about Niki, and now, also about Gio.
Romeo sat down in his usual chair and glared at the three of us. “Please sit down.” It sounded like a request, but it was a direct order.
“Marko, tell me what happened from your perspective.”
I quickly brought him up to speed. He remained quiet for a moment, then speared Gio with a look.
“So, what is bothering you more? The fact you didn’t get to kill Liam Kelly, or that Niki seems to be in a place of no return?”
Gio glared at his elder brother. “Liam did something to her, but I don't know what.”
Romeo's gaze softened just enough for us to see that he understood. “You blame yourself.”
There was no need for Gio to answer, it was evident for all to see.
“If it helps, brother, other than a swollen lip with a cut, nothing has been done to Nicolette, at least not physically. I felt it prudent to have Gaby administer the rape kit, to ensure nothing happened when she was unconscious. She is clean. Whatever she has suffered, it must have been more psychological in nature.”
“Thank fuck,” I said, taking my first deep breath since before the attack.
“My advice is to be gentle. No demands Gio, at least not yet. She seems confused about what happened, and my guess is she’s blocking it out. Her brain's way of helping her to cope. It will all come back in time, and when it does, it’s important that both of you are there for her.”
“Thank you, Gaetano.” I nodded respectfully. “Don Vitale.” I bowed my head to Romeo. “I think I’ll take Gio and Nicolette home. It’s best she falls asleep and wakes up in a place she is familiar with.”
“I couldn’t agree more, but if you need us, we're a phone call away,” Tano replied.
Gio stood up, but before we could leave, Romeo asked him to stay a moment.
Tano and I went back to the state-of-the-art hospital room where Gaby had been busy coaxing Niki back to the present. Her eyes were less haunted, and she wore a warm sweatsuit.
“Marko!” she cried when she saw me. “Can we go home now?”
I couldn’t hold back the smile. “We sure can.”
Gio arrived a few minutes later, his expression carefully neutral, but also less haunted.
Niki flung her arms around him. He whispered things in her ear that at first had her blushing and made the pulse at the base of her neck speed up.
He scooped her up in his arms, and Niki waved to Gaby who promised to come by the next day for coffee. Gio carried her through the mansion to the car and placed her on my lap once I was in the back seat.
Sandro was at the wheel and Gio climbed into the passenger seat. “It’s time to go home,” he said to no one in particular.