22. Elio
ELIO
Valentino was in a mood.
I didn’t fucking know why, but he was looking for a sparring partner, and I was more than happy to comply.
Getting into the middle of the Devil’s Wings MC shipment last night had gone fine.
We managed to capture a few of the MC bastards, but they hadn’t given us anything we didn’t already know about them.
And we hadn’t taken the important players. We hadn’t found the traitors of the De Luca Famiglia.
My mind shifted back. I could have sworn the man who escaped the night before was Joseph.
His back had been to me most of the time, but there had been a small moment when he had turned slightly and caught my eye.
The light in the warehouse that the Devil’s Wings MC used to store the drugs had been dimmed, but…
I wasn’t wrong.
And I managed to shoot him. I didn’t know where I had hit, but there had been blood on the ground when I went to check it out after.
The bastard was injured. He was fucking lucky last night.
A punch came out of nowhere. I stumbled back as pain erupted on the side of my face. I cupped my jaw and glared at Valentino.
“You shouldn’t be distracted in a fight,” the smug bastard said with a small smile. It didn’t quite reach his eyes. Something was definitely up with him.
I shook away the pain and repositioned myself once more. “Let’s go again.”
He came at me, putting a lot of force behind the weight of his punch.
Luckily, I moved out of the way in time.
I managed to kick his back, causing him to stumble in the boxing ring.
He grabbed onto one of the ropes to keep from falling, barely catching himself in time.
He wasn’t expecting me when he turned around.
I tackled him to the ground and pulled his arms up in an awkward position, keeping him immobile on the floor until he tapped his hand.
I smiled and got off him, then stood up and held out my hand for him. He took it, and I pulled him up before walking over to the corner for my water bottle. I chugged the entire thing.
“Want to tell me what’s got you into such a mood?” I asked when he sat down next to me. He was staring off into space.
Then finally, he said, “Isa.”
It took everything in me not to react. “What about Isa?”
Was she hurt? Did something happen that I didn’t know about? It had been a couple of days since I last saw her, considering how busy things had been with the Devil’s Wings MC.
“She’s keeping secrets from me. Since when did that happen? She always told me everything.”
“Did she?” I asked. I doubted she had always told him everything that went on with her.
The more I got to know Isa, the more I realized how closed off she really was, how reserved.
I just hadn’t realized it before because she always gave the impression of being open with everyone she came across, all the while never divulging any real information about herself.
Valentino shot me a look. “This is my sister we’re talking about. It's not like she would have some other big secrets. Her life is… pretty tame compared to ours.”
“And don’t you think that’s a problem?”
“Why would it be a problem?” he asked sharply.
I let out a small sigh. “Would you want to live your life in redundancy? She already had limited freedom due to her family’s background. You’re not helping by restricting her freedom even more.”
His jaw clenched, but he didn’t say anything. He knew I was right.
Isa might put on a brave face most of the time, but sometimes, I caught a glimpse of her real expression. And that look? It fucking gutted me. I rubbed my hand over my chest at the thought.
“Aren’t you going to ask me what secret she is keeping from me?” he asked.
I kept my expression neutral when I asked, “What?”
“She’s seeing someone.”
I had expected that when he said Isa was keeping secrets from him. The words still hit me, and not for the first time, I felt a slight tinge of guilt that I was seeing his sister behind his back.
But I didn’t feel guilty for being with Isa.
I didn’t feel regret.
“How do you know?” I asked.
“She came home late the other night and couldn’t tell me where she went. I asked Tommaso, and he said he hadn’t driven her anywhere much lately.”
“Then why don’t you give her time? She’ll tell you when she’s ready.”
“When she’s ready? What if some fucking bastard is taking advantage of her?”
“You really think Isa can’t see that for herself?”
“How would she? She doesn’t know.” His fists clenched.
“Know what?”
“How fucking cruel those bastards can be. Wouldn’t you have the same worry if it were Giulia?”
I looked off to the side, not saying anything. He was right. I would have had the same concerns had it been Giulia.
My phone chimed where I had left it by the post. I grabbed it and read the message, frowning a bit.
“What?” Valentino asked.
I shook my head. “It could be nothing, but a woman was caught in Massimo’s office at Rockwood.”
Rockwood was one of the dozens of casinos owned by us. It was also one of our most profitable legitimate businesses, raking in millions in profit each year.
“I should go check it out,” I said.
“Do you need backup?”
I shook my head. “Matteo is already there, along with several of our men. I think we’ll be okay.”
He nodded. “Then I’m going to see Isa. Text me for updates.”
“Yeah, okay.”
We climbed out of the ring and headed to the locker room. After a quick shower, I headed over to Rockwood, thinking about Isa the entire time.
This was more than just me missing my girl, although I did miss her… like fucking crazy. But there had been something bothering me for the past couple of days that I couldn’t shake off.
A terrible feeling in the pit of my stomach.
Either something terrible was about to happen, or it already did. I didn’t know fucking which, but my intuition was rarely ever wrong.