Chapter 23 #2
“Maybe they’re not trying to get in yet?
If Orlando had all the information on us and the passages from that fucker Tomasso, then maybe he’s just trying to have someone find a way in that we wouldn’t look for and then once they figure that out, Orlando and his men try to hack their way in.
If they managed to get up here unseen, then that means they would have time to figure it out without any of us ever knowing. How often are any of us up here?”
I hate that he’s right. “We need to have Dante check the feed. And why did they pick this room out of so many? I know it’s out of the way, but so are so many other rooms. This is the farthest you have to travel.”
“Maybe it was the only one they could get to with everything going on. Most of the other wings had people in them. I wouldn’t be surprised, though, if they had multiple rooms picked and this was just the one they were able to get to.”
“Orlando has to have blueprints of this place.” He curses. “We need to get through the files on those drives, but Urso and Zeno said that if they go too fast, they risk corrupting the entire thing and losing it.”
My own frustration bubbles. “Fuck. This whole fucking thing is a fucking mess. So if this was one of Giovanni’s men, then the men out there had to be his men or Russians.”
“Or it could be that Giovanni saw an opportunity. Leonardo attacks, and his guys sneak in in the fray. If we didn’t sweep the house, we wouldn’t have known they were here.
I doubt any of this is Marco. He’s not smart enough for this.
This is clever and precise, and Marco is all action without thought.
Hell, he’s trying to take over Seamus’s territory amongst all this shit? Fucking suicide.”
Yeah, he’s definitely right on that. “Once we talk to the men in the basement, we’ll find out, then we can plan.
We need to schedule rounds up here, though.
Have our men start searching every room.
Nico’s men are fucking lazy, and even though Caesar is working with them, you can’t change shit like this overnight. ”
Caesar is one of Nico’s men who was recently promoted to help get the men in shape, and while we can see some of the changes starting to take place, it won’t happen quickly enough.
Alonzo nods. He pulls out his phone to send a message. “Lazaro has been working with Caesar and Davide on the soldier rotations, so I’ll have him set it up with our men.”
“Good. Any word from the others?”
“Dante just messaged that they cleared everything and we’re all meeting in Nico’s office quickly before we get the women.”
We make our way down to Nico’s office, but I’m definitely going back up to that room. Whatever is in there, I’m going to find it.
Nico’s office is full of tension, the stress of the day filling the room. It’s well past evening now, but we still have a lot to do. “What do we know?” Nico demands.
Dante gives a quick report, finishing off with, “We’ve lost five men, have some injuries, but they lost more. We have three men in the basement waiting for questioning.”
“Good.” Nico’s eyes are bright with anticipation.
“Couple things about the men I caught,” I add. I give a quick rundown of what I know. “Alonzo made the point that they might not be part of Leonardo’s crew, but actually Giovanni’s trying to get in during the fray.”
“It’s possible,” Alessio agrees. “Sounds like something they would try to do. We’ll get the information out of them.” He looks at Lazaro. “You and Dante?”
Lazaro nods. Lazaro and Alonzo are our top interrogators, but if we want to leave pieces of them, then we’ll only sic one on them for now.
“I’ll be there,” Nico adds, his expression hard, like he expects someone to argue with him.
“I’ll be joining as well,” Papa says. “The more information we have, the better. Urso, Zeno, I want you both to get back to work on finding out what’s on those drives. Dante, we need to find out how these fuckers got in in the first place.”
“Already have the men pulling up the feed. I should have it shortly.”
“Good.”
“What about the women? Do we leave them in there for much longer or get them out?” I ask. Worry fills me, thinking of Lucy and Soren immediately as soon as the words leave my mouth. “If we didn’t catch everyone, I don’t want to risk them getting in while we’re doing shit out here.”
“Everything cleaned up?” Papa asks Dante. Dante nods. He looks back at me. “Alright, Massimo, you go and get them, while the rest of us handle what we need to. We’ll meet back here to discuss everything once we have more information.”
“Do we have a thought on who this was?” Zeno asks before we can all disperse.
“Right now it’s looking like Leonardo, but it also could be Giovanni, so at this point it’s anyone’s guess,” Dante replies grimly. “We just have to see which of our guests turns first.”
I don’t wait to listen to the rest and instead move to the hidden door in the office and open it, slipping inside.
It takes me a few minutes to make my way through to where Sofia texts me they are, but when I finally round a corner and see them all sitting in the middle of the passage, relief fills me.
Especially when I see Lucy sitting there, calm, and Soren asleep in Rori’s lap.
Hades is right next to her, his head beside Soren’s, almost dwarfing the baby with its size, and it only lifts when he senses me.
But when he realizes it’s me, his head lays back down, his big tongue gently licking at the top of the baby’s head.
Lucy sees me first, and I see her eyes move over me quickly. I smile at her. “Ladies, your knight in shining armour has arrived.”
There are a few quiet chuckles, and Lucy reaches over to grab Soren from Rori, waking the baby instantly. Soren starts to cry, and Lucy tries to soothe him.
“Glad to see you’re still alive, handsome,” Rori says as she stiffly gets to her feet. “And everyone else?”
The question is casual, but I know who she’s asking about. “Everyone is fine. A few scrapes and grazes on a couple of us, but nothing terrible.” Her eyes narrow ever so slightly, but I see the worry flash. “I’ve come to release you.”
“Thank God, I was going crazy,” Sofia huffs. “Not that you ladies aren’t lovely company, but being cooped up in one place for so long has me antsy.”
“I know the feeling,” Kida agrees. She gets to her feet and they all help each other up, but I get to Lucy first.
I reach down and help her, supporting her as she tries to soothe Soren. She gives me a tired smile, and I murmur, “Would you like me to take him to give you a break?”
“Not unless you have a pair of boobs,” she jokes softly. “He’s been sleeping a lot of the time, and he’s probably getting hungry. And his diaper needs changing. Once we’re out of here, I can get him settled hopefully.”
“We can accomplish that quickly.” I turn and lead them back to the exit that leads into my walk-in closet. All of them quickly climb out.
“Where is Alessio and the others?” Sienna asks.
Before I can answer, the bedroom door opens, and I see Alessio, Lazaro, and Nico all hurry in. Gia, Sienna, and Amara move to their men, leaving the room without a backwards glance.
“I need to get down to the kitchen and see to the staff,” Sofia tells me. “Have they been secured?”
“All good.” She gives me a grateful look, tells Lucy to let her know if she needs anything, and then hurries out.
“Well, I guess I better go and see what I can do,” Rori sighs. “Even though no one trusts me, I don’t like to be idle.” I catch the bitter note in her tone.
“Rori, Nico was being an ass and you know he doesn’t trust easily. It’s not an excuse, but we’ve already taken him to task for it. Or rather, Alonzo did.”
She doesn’t react to that, but when she leaves with Hades, her shoulders aren’t as stiff. Hopefully my best friend doesn’t screw that the hell up.
That leaves me with Kida and Lucy.
“Do we get to know what’s going on?” Kida asks me, brow arched.
“We’re still figuring it out ourselves, but the threat is gone, so we figured that you didn’t want to be left in there too much longer.” I see Lucy head for the bathroom out of the corner of my eye, trying to calm Soren down. I want to go after her, but I force myself to stay where I am.
“You’d be right.” Kida looks at the now shut bathroom door and then back up at me.
Her eyes take on a warning look. “Don’t think I don’t notice the way you look at her.
She’s not going to be some temporary fling while this entire shit is going down.
She’s been through so much more than you know, and I won’t see her hurt again.
It’s the only warning I’m going to give you.
Hurt her, make her question herself even a little bit because she trusts you, and I don’t care who or what you are.
I will gut you and leave you for your father to find. ”
Then she turns and stalks out of the closet. I stare after her a moment. I’ll give the woman props, she’s got a big set of balls to be threatening me so openly. I also understand it. If I thought Sienna was fucking over Alessio, I wouldn’t hesitate to warn her about what would happen.
I push that thought aside and head to the bathroom door, knocking, and hoping she can hear me over Soren’s angry cries.
“Soren, it’s alright,” Lucy says desperately. “Shhh, it’s okay.” I frown. “I know, I know, you’re all out of sorts now, aren’t you? Me too, baby, me too.” She sounds so frazzled and sad that it hurts my heart.
“Lucy?” I really want to just walk in, but I doubt she’d welcome me with open arms.
Lucy makes a sound. “I need another diaper. Can you have Kida grab me one out of the bag in the back of the closet?”
I look around, and head for the bag, grabbing what she asked for. I knock again, and when it opens this time, I see Lucy holding a naked, screaming baby in her arms, and a desperate look on her face. “Let me help,” I tell her, stepping in. “What do you need?”
“I need to get him in a new diaper, fed, and then hopefully back to sleep,” Lucy answers, tone strained.
“But I need to pee so bad that I’m not sure how I’m going to do both.
” Her eyes are a little wild and desperate.
“And I need a shower because I’m pretty sure I’ve bled through the pad because I’ve been wearing it so long.
” She sounds like she’s going to cry. “And I don’t know why I’m telling you any of this. ”
“Hand him over,” I order. She shakes her head. “Lucy, hand me Soren and go and look after yourself,” I say, hardening my tone so she understands I mean it. Her lips quiver, but she must see that I’m not going to budge because she hands him over to me carefully.
“Is Kida still around? She can help you—”
“Lucy,” I interrupt. “We’ll be fine. I’ll grab everything Kida tells me and we’ll get him settled.
When you’re freshened up, then we’ll get him fed, yes?
Now, I want you to shut this door, and do what you need to do.
I don’t want you to leave this bathroom until you’re feeling better. Do you understand?”
I see the same reaction that she gave me in the passage. That submissive downcast of her eyes and the way she replies, “Yes, Massimo.” Then she turns away, shutting the door behind her.
My blood heats, but I force myself to ignore it.
I have a screaming baby to attend to first. I grab the items from the back of the closet that I’ll need, and a new sleeper outfit for Soren, before I head back into the bedroom.
I look around for Kida, but the bedroom door is open.
Guess she decided to leave after that little confrontation.
I look at Soren’s red, angry face, streaked with tears. “Ometto, you and I are going to have to make this work, alright? Your mama needs a break. So, let’s get this figured out and then we’ll get you fed.”
Trial by fire. Good thing I don’t mind a challenge.