Epilogue
EPILOGUE
NICCOLò
ONE MONTH LATER
“S ee, I told you we would get here on time for your meeting with my brothers,” Isabella says cheerily as we walk into Matteo’s house. I made a bet with her that we wouldn’t get here on time with how long she was taking to get ready, and while I could’ve cheated and driven slowly, it was too damn cute to see how excited she was about being right.
“Which means you owe me a massage later tonight,” she adds.
Plus, how could I pass up the opportunity to have my hands all over my girl’s oiled up body?
“Oh, I guarantee you the best massage of your life tonight, baby.”
“Oh yeah?” She wiggles her brows at me. “Will it end in a happy ending?”
Grabbing her around the waist, I pull her into me so her back is against my chest. I wrap my arms around her, and we continue walking in unison around the corner into the kitchen. Isabella lets out a giggle while I whisper in her ear, “You bet your fucking ass it does.”
“Oh, yay, the two lovebirds are here,” Enzo says in his chipper tone, but it’s laced with sarcasm.
“Oh, shut it, Vincenzo,” Isabella says while spinning around in my arms. She gives me a quick peck on the nose before saying, “I’ll leave you to it.”
I reluctantly let her go, and she looks at her brothers. “If anyone needs me, I’ll be getting in a pole sesh with Lux and Char.”
My gaze follows her as she leaves the room, and the anxiety that seems to find me each time I don’t have eyes on her, rises within. It’s what that night did to me a month ago. She was taken away from me so easily, and that’s permanently marked me.
“I get it,” Matteo says, and I’m about to ask him what, but he continues. “After Lux was taken by Mancini, I struggled with not having her near me twenty-four seven. If I didn’t have eyes on her, then I didn’t know she was safe.”
“Does that feeling ever go away?” I ask.
“Not really,” he laughs out. “But I think that’s just who we are as men in our world. We’re always going to be protective over the women we love. That’s not a bad thing. It’ll keep us prepared whenever the next threat comes. We need that.”
He pauses for a moment as if he’s trying to figure out how to continue. “But the worry will start to lessen as time goes on, Nicco. It’ll never go away, but you’ll learn to trust that just because you don’t have eyes on her, doesn’t mean she’s not safe.”
I give him a small nod. I’ll never stop worrying about my girl no matter what, but hopefully, Teo’s right. Hopefully, the anxiety when she’s not with me will lessen as time goes on, because right now, my mind gets thrown back to when Mauricio took her.
“I promise she’s safe here,” Teo says, then nods toward his office. “Come on.”
I follow Teo and Enzo to the office, and we all take our seats—Teo behind the desk and me and Enzo directly across from him.
“So,” Teo says, “to what do we owe this pleasure?”
“Let me guess, Izzy’s already driving you nuts?” Enzo says. “Because you claimed her, and there aren’t any takebacks,” he adds with a chuckle.
“Enzo, I really like you as a future brother-in-law, but am I going to have to beat the living shit out of you for speaking about my woman like that?” My tone is playful, but still with a hint of seriousness because I will defend my girl to the ends of this earth. Even to her own brothers. The protective instinct comes out strong and heavy with her.
“Damn, you two go and fall in love and now no one is fun anymore. It’s all overprotective assholes now.”
Teo chuckles. “You’ll understand when you’re in our position, Enzo.”
“I highly doubt that. I’m not looking to settle down. I happen to enjoy my sex life, thank you very much.”
Giving a relaxed shrug, Teo responds, “Hey, I fucking love my sex life. It’s just with one woman instead of… what is it now, a different chick every week, Enzo?”
Enzo shrugs off the number. “Enough to make me not get backed up if you must know.”
“I’m with Teo on this one. Me and Isabella’s sex life is fucking phenomenal. It always has been,” I say. Just when you think sex can’t get any better, Isabella pulls something out of her bag of tricks, and I’m a fucking fiend for it all.
“You took it too far,” Teo says at the same time Enzo says, “That’s fucking gross.”
I chuckle to myself, remembering I can’t talk about my sex life with these guys since it’s their sister.
“Alright, enough of that. What’s going on?” Teo asks, getting right down to business.
I texted him on my way over here asking if we could have a chat. Leo and Dante learned some interesting information today I know Teo and Enzo will want to hear.
“Remember how my dad went down to Miami to meet with the cartel?”
They nod, curiosity shining through their eyes as they wait to see where I’m going with this.
“Well, he promised them he would get access back to the ports. They partnered with my dad a few years ago because of the access NYC has to various parts of the country. They’re not exactly thrilled to find out that partnership is now null and void.”
Interlacing his fingers, Teo sets them on the desk before him. “Okay, who’s this contact? Maybe we can work out an arrangement if they’re so desperate for port access. What do they need it for? Drugs and weapons?”
The air in the room suddenly becomes thick as I prepare to tell him the rest.
Letting out a rugged breath, I push forward. “Drugs and weapons, yes… but also sex trafficking.”
Tension immediately fills the air. “We don’t fuck around with that shit,” Teo growls out.
Holding up my hands, I say, “I know, neither do I, which is why I didn’t give a shit when I told them the deal they made was with my dad and with him out of the picture, that meant the deal was off.”
Teo leans forward. “Who’s this contact?”
“I’m sure you’ve heard of the Velasco Cartel?”
Teo closes his eyes for a moment and sucks in a deep breath before letting it out. He opens his eyes and pins them on me. “Yes,” he grumbles out.
“Well, it looks like they’ve decided to set up shop in the city.”
“The fucking Velasco Cartel is here?” Enzo asks.
“Whose territory are they in?” Teo asks.
“Mine, of course. I haven’t kicked them out because let’s be fucking real, guys. The Velasco Cartel is a whole different ball game. They’ll start a war on someone else’s turf without batting a damn eye, and I’m not trying to have the entire fucking cartel rain down on the city. No matter what, blood will be shed on both sides if that were to happen. We need to go about this strategically. Think with our brains, not our fucking weapons.”
Teo lets out a loud, dismayed sigh. “What are our options?”
“I have Leo and Dante keeping eyes on them right now. So far, there’s only two of them: one woman and one man. They’re staying at one of my hotels in Hudson Yards.”
“What the fuck is their game plan with that?” Enzo asks, sitting up taller in his seat.
I shake my head. “I have no idea, but I think we can all assume it has something to do with those stupid ports. They want them, and from what I’ve heard, when the Velasco Cartel wants something, they typically get it.”
“Not this time,” Teo says. “I’m in charge of the ports now, and I’m not working with fucking sex traffickers.”
Dropping his hands on the desk, he continues. “I apologize that it’s come to this, Nicco, but this is not your problem.” Nodding to his brother, he says, “We’ll take it from here.”
“You sure?” I ask, even though I know there isn’t anything I can do other than starting a war with the cartel. “You have the support of the Silvestri family, Teo. Anything you need, don’t hesitate to ask.”
Teo gives me a respectful nod. “For now, let’s get Leo and Dante to give us any information they were able to obtain while surveilling them. We’ll take over from here.”
My phone vibrates in my pocket, so I pull it out and find a message from Dante. I had him and Leo look into who the man and woman are.
“Perfect timing,” I mutter as I swipe through the two files he sent me. “Dante just sent me the files on both members. There’s not much information, but I’m forwarding them to you both now,” I say to Teo and Enzo.
“The woman is Amalia Velasco, niece of Manuel Velasco. And the man is a guard, Carlos Montoya.”
“Damn, she’s hot,” Enzo mumbles under his breath as he stares at his phone. He clears his throat. “You want me to get a couple of our guys on it?” he says to Teo, whose gaze is still narrowed in on the files I sent him.
With a small shake of his head, he says, “No, there’s only one person I want for this job. Discretion is key right now, and I need the best that I have on it.”
“Alright, so who am I dispatching over there?” Enzo asks, cocking his brow at his brother.
Sitting back in his chair, Teo folds his arms across his chest, delaying the confirmation of my suspicions. He finally brings his attention up to Enzo, gives him a crooked smile, and says, “You.”
The End