Chapter 23
CAELIAN
“ Y ou let her go?” Isaia says. “What the fuck?”
I turn, grab Isaia and slam him into the wall. “Watch your fucking mouth.” Then I release him and go to my gun, checking the rounds.
“She jumped out of the car,” Maximo says. “Caelian went after her, but it was like she disappeared into thin air. Drove around town for an hour and couldn’t find her.”
“I wanted to go straight to her house, but Maximo here decided to pull a big-dig move, telling me we need to come back here first.” I glare at him. “Would you like an award for the best kiss-ass?”
“We can’t just barge in there, guns blazing, without a plan, Caelian.”
I scoff.
“Why would she run?” Nicoli asks.
I still for a second, hating the thought that’s been stuck in my head ever since she ran. “I think she’s going to try to kill him.”
“Jesus,” Isaia curses. “How the hell is she going to do that?”
“I don’t know,” I snap at him. “I don’t fucking know. But I have to find her before she does something stupid.”
Nicoli shoots me a stern look. “First, you’re going to tell me exactly what the hell is going on.”
I flick my gaze to him. “You look like him. You talk like him. But you’re not him. I can do what I want.”
My brother glares. “Not until you tell us what the fuck’s going on. C’mon, man, I’d like to see my wife before she gives birth, but I’m not letting her back here until this is done and dusted. Kidnapping?”
“Desperate times, brother.” I check my second gun. Murder is hot and volatile in my veins. Ways to kill the fucker keep flashing up ideas in bright neon. It’s Satan’s version of Times Square. Full of evil intent. “I’m ending this. Tonight.”
“You don’t even know if she’s home. All your guards have left after you got Cristiano taken. You don’t have eyes on that place.”
“Where else would she go?”
“Caelian,” Nicoli starts, “rewind, lay it out. And start with the kidnapping of a goddamn minor.” He raises his voice at the end.
“Cristiano is safe. I simply took him out of the equation.”
“By kidnapping him?” Nicoli crosses his arms.
“Fake kidnapping.”
Nicoli nods at the other two. “And this lot helped?”
“While you were busy selling Alexius and Leandra, I had to think on my feet, and it just so happens these two thought it was a pretty solid plan.”
“Until your solid plan hit the asphalt in high heels?”
I blink. “I have two guns and an overwhelming urge to pull both triggers. Do not fuck with me, Nicoli. Not tonight.”
This is the part where Alexius would probably threaten me, take me down until I could convince him what I’ve done tonight isn’t as off-the-cuff and foolhardy as it seems.
I might be a vessel bottled up with sarcasm and quick-witted comebacks, but I’m capable of seeing the bigger picture. I take wild risks, within reason. I can also think outside the box. Be creative.
“I think we can agree,” I say, choosing my words carefully for one of the few times in my life, “that with Alexius on downtime, we’ve all found we can adapt, find new places to help him and the family. We can hold it together. And I think I’m good at doing all the risky, out-of-the-box shit. So, yeah, I took the kid and made Isaia and Maximo help me organize it.”
Nicoli’s scowling at me, cigarette pack in hand, so I continue.
“We made it look like Aurelio took baby Belucci.”
“Baby Belucci?”
“Cristiano. Keep up. Aurelio is known for kidnapping and murdering when he doesn’t get his way. And Polaroids are his thing. My guys took a few and left them for Giana’s father to find. Operation Frame-The-Cunt, done.”
“This helps us how, Caelian?”
“It helps us turn shit on him, rock his foundations, and expose him for the snake he is.”
“And if it backfires?”
“It won’t.”
“It already did, man,” Isaia chirps from the side, and I give Nicoli a look.
“Please, can I kill our brother?”
Maximo steps in, arms crossed, muscles bulging, looking mean as fuck. “Cristiano came willingly. Didn’t take much to convince the kid to play along. He’s all for saving his sister from the hands of that cocksucker.”
Nicoli gets a drink and downs it. Then he lights a cigarette. “So, with her brother out of the way, Giana wants to kill Aurelio? What the hell is this woman thinking?”
My heart skips a beat. “My guess is she’s thinking she’s got nothing to lose now.”
“What about her dad?”
I shrug. “I dunno. Maybe she’s finally seeing through his bullshit, and I don’t care. All I need to do right now is find her.”
“Or find Aurelio before she does.” Isaia crosses his arms. “If we find him first, take care of the problem, Giana is safe and Aurelio’s no longer a threat. It’s a win-win.”
Maximo grunts, a rumble of approval from deep within his chest. “And we get to squeeze out the competition. Killing two birds with one stone.”
Nicoli takes a long drag from his cigarette, blowing out the smoke slowly, deliberating. “Alexius will want Aurelio’s death for himself. And it’s rightfully his.”
“That cunt touched my wife,” I snap. “He might have put a bullet in Alexius’ chest, but he touched my wife and left a goddamn mark. You know as well as I do that trumps every card Alexius might have.”
Nicoli and I stare at each other for a long time, silent words exchanged. A mutual understanding. He knows what it’s like, how it feels when someone lays a hand on your woman. He went through it four times over with Mirabella.
His wife endured the kind of pain no woman ever should, survived the type of horrors most can’t. But she did. She came out stronger, demanded revenge on her own terms.
Fuck, I dunno how he did it. How he managed to put his own rage aside, his own bloodlust, so she could have the vengeance she needed and take it with her own two hands. Giana is out there somewhere, planning her own way out of this mess with Aurelio, and I’m losing my mind being here instead of out there protecting her.
Nicoli’s eyes are hard, flinty under the room's low light. He crushes out the cigarette, takes another drink from his glass, then nods. “All right,” he grates, voice rough like sandpaper. “Operation Find-The-Cunt is a go. Isaia, you get Leandra out of here. Maximo, get some extra eyes on them wherever they are, make sure they’re safe. Caelian, you're with me. We find this bastard and we end this once and for all.”
“How do you know where to start looking?” Isaia asks.
“I might have an idea.” Maximo steps up. “Fucker has a penthouse he uses for deals and hookups, right opposite a nightclub he’s got dibs on. I scoped it out a couple of times, even did a rough layout of the place. It's high security, cameras everywhere, bulletproof doors—the works.”
“And you’re only mentioning this now?” Nicoli slips on his suit jacket.
“You know I only come to you when I’ve got something worth reporting. So far, that place hasn’t been a concern to us. But since Aurelio was seen talking to Frank Corletto tonight, my guess is they’ll take their dealings there. And if he’s got Giana with him, he’ll finish up with Corletto first before he deals with her.”
“Maximo, you brilliant, brilliant piece of big-ass brute.” I stomp over to him, grab his face, and lay a big, fat kiss on his goddamn forehead. “You’re my hero.”
“Fuck off.”
“Love you, too, buddy.” I slap his face a few times, lightly, then turn to Nicoli. “We have a location and a plan.”
The room erupts into action, plans are laid out, and roles are divided. The air in the room is charged and electric with determination.
Isaia gives me a worried look, but I shake my head. He's got his job, and I've got mine. And even though I want to kick his ass half the time, we trust each other to do what we have to do. We know what needs to be done.
Outside, the city turns into a cocoon of darkness as rain pelts down like gunfire. The low rumble of thunder echoes ominously in the distance, dragging along a raw mix of anxiety and anticipation. It's a storm, both literally and metaphorically, and we're at its epicenter.
Once Nicoli and I get in the back of the SUV, Maximo speeds off. He’s on speakerphone, putting more security detail in place. Half our men are already on their way to the penthouse, the other half tasked to create a human goddamn wall around Leandra, Mira, and the kids.
My heart is hammering against my ribs as I dial Giana’s phone for the fiftieth time, hoping she might pick up. But she doesn’t, and I throw my phone against the seat in front of me, my frustration bubbling over like lava from a volcano.
Nicoli puts a hand on my shoulder in a silent gesture of camaraderie and empathy. We both know the gravity of the situation and understand what's at stake.
The rain continues to hammer down on the SUV, and I lean against the window, watching as the city blurs past us. Neon signs flicker, moments of bright color swallowed by the endless black. A million lives unaware of the lockstep march toward chaos happening under their noses.
My mind whirls, a jagged carousel of thoughts, all leading toward the one unimaginable outcome that we might not get to Giana in time. Each passing minute is a tick-tock countdown on an invisible clock, and I can’t bear thinking of what I’ll become if Aurelio takes her from me.
I’ve been a dick to her so many times, playing my selfish games, loving it way too much, so afraid shit will get boring between us. But I’ll gladly exchange excitement for boring if it means I get to keep her.
As the car rounds the corner, we catch sight of Aurelio’s green Lamborghini parked outside his club, rows of people standing in line, waiting for their chance to get in.
Maximo parks the car, and I’m about to jump out of the vehicle when Nicoli grabs my arm just as Maximo’s phone rings.
We both watch with bated breaths as Maximo answers with a single word.
“Talk.”
Seconds feel like eons, and Maximo’s giving me nothing, simply responding with a, “Hmm,” and “Ah-huh.” It’s like whoever’s on the other end is talking to a deaf, mute, impotent, giant piece of flesh with no brain.
Finally, he hangs up, and I’m about to throttle it out of him. “Maximo, talk before I cut out your tongue.”
He leans forward, glancing up at the top of the twenty-story building. “She’s here.”
“Then what the fuck are we waiting for?” I demand.
“Give it a second,” he says, then points across the street, rows of our men starting toward the building.
Nicoli’s phone vibrates with a text. “Davian and Poppy are in position.”
There’s a slight form of relief sliding down my spine, knowing we’ve got two of our best assassins in place, ready to take out the fucker as soon as they get a clear shot. Their orders are to take it without hesitation. No hand signals or confirmation needed. A bullet between Aurelio's eyes is the ultimate goal.
My patience wears thin as our men move with stealthy precision, blending in seamlessly with the teeming crowd. “Maximo? Talk to me, man.”
The moment hangs in the air, a toxic vapor. My heart dips into my stomach and begins to buzz like a starved locust. Finally, he nods, and we’re out of the car into the torrential rain, hoods up and heads down.
Tonight…this ends.