8. Chapter Seven
Chapter Seven
Alessandrio
E milio: The Outfit is coming. I need you to come back.
Emilio’s text has shards of ice filling my veins and my thumb hitting call. It rings once before he answers.
“Where the fuck are you?” he snaps down the line.
“You won’t believe me if I told you.” I wouldn’t have if I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes either.
“I’m with Lorenzo. Humor us.” The audio suddenly changes and I know he’s put me on loudspeaker.
“I’ll send you the file.” Telling him won’t hit as hard as showing him.
I slide my thumb up and go back to the document. Her face fills my screen and my chest sparks. My finger hovers for a moment over the share button. The thought of anyone else laying eyes on her fills me with something dark and inhuman. I growl low at the train of my thought and emotions, stabbing the button as if I was punching my claw tip into her. It’s just the anticipation, the knowledge of being so close to our revenge, I soothe myself. I wait, feeling the tension on the other end of the call, even through the line. Knowing that when they see it, they will understand.
“You have got to be fucking kidding me.” It’s Lorenzo’s exclamation that reaches me down the phone.
“Jesus,” is all my brother breathes.
“I’m just outside the walls of the school. I’ve been inside,” I tell them, pausing to let the knowledge sink in.
“Your plan?” Emilio questions.
“Already in motion,” I tell them simply.
Sharing with them is out of the question. I don’t trust my voice not to give me away. The two people who know me better than anyone will hear it. My brother might even order me home and send some of our men in to extract her. The thought of anyone else putting hands on her in the way I intend to makes me have to put my phone down to stop myself from crushing it in my grip.
“Boston?” Emilio questions.
“Yes,” I answer.
“I know you, Drio. You are no doubt wanting to toy with her.” He doesn’t need my answer to that. “Usually, I would allow you free rein to do as you please. My intel tells me Riccardo is back in New York and with the Outfit coming here, I know it’s been planned this way.”
“Very fucking convenient,” I snarl, understanding the threat this turn of events has.
“Bring her back. I want her sitting across from me in three days’ time, spilling all her life’s secrets. Do what you must, but we need this bargaining chip and we need it now.”
He’s putting me on notice. My anger rears up, but not at him. The Outfit is coming and Riccardo is in the city. If that isn’t an obvious play, I don’t know what is. Emilio needs me. I would have liked to drag this out a little longer, taunt Olivia til she was begging for mercy, but my duty comes before my blood lust.
“I’ll extract her tonight.”
“Good.” He sounds relieved and guilt racks me.
“I’ll use the next two days to have her under control.” There is no ignoring the way my body comes alive as I lay my desire bare.
“Do what you must. You have three days,” he reminds me. “And Drio—” There is a long pause in which I shift uncomfortably. “Be safe.”
“When did you get so sentimental?” I huff out.
“Fuck you,” he snaps, and the line goes dead.
Fuck me indeed. I text Jimmy immediately, letting him know I need the cameras handled tonight as I’ll be doing the extraction. I then message Donatella, my brother’s housekeeper and ask for a delivery of food to be made to my apartment. Preparation is key when you are about to have a guest. Despite Emilio throwing a wrench into my plan, I still feel alive with anticipation. Tonight. Tonight I will have her and a thrill goes through me knowing she isn’t ready for what is coming.