Unbound (The Dominator #3)

Chapter 4

4

A Week Later

Tessa was still missing. No sign of her. And so was Denarda. His people were saying he was out of the country on business. Against my initial wishes, Dare involved Zack and he picked up a trail that followed Denarda to Canada.

He landed in Vancouver. Alone. Drove up to Whistler with one of his girlfriends, who checked in at a swanky Whistler hotel. We had an investigator on Zack’s team tailing him, but nothing was giving us leads regarding my sister.

Dare involving Zack? I wasn’t thrilled about it at first, but Zack was still running his investigations agency, telling us it was his main gig, still, and would continue to be. And the guy was good at his job. Fucking asshole. And his agency was responsible for a lot of our security for the last few months so we’d have been stuck without him. Didn’t mean I trusted him, though.

Dare did cut his honeymoon short. He and Angel would do the Iceland leg of their tour when things were settled down. He hadn’t told Annette, his ma, that Tessa was missing; she was wrapped up in her husband Tony, whose death was reportedly imminent.

Luc, Eddy, and the kids were staying at Pop’s house. Dare and Angel stayed at their place because he had decent security but whenever he wasn’t home, he’d been dropping Angel off with the other girls.

I’d had my house’s security system upgraded so Tia and I were back home at our place. It was a pain in the ass and a few things about the security of the place didn’t sit well, so I decided I wasn’t buying it. I’d find or build us something later.

She was still suffering with morning sickness, but it didn’t end at noon. She felt like garbage all fucking day long, but kept trying to help out with Tess’s boys over at Pop’s. The girls had pulled together.

On day six after my sister’s disappearance, me and Dare were in Pop’s office at the conference table with Nino and Tino, reviewing options about what to do next, reviewing details about Denarda’s top guys and what they were all up to. We had eyes on the ground in Vegas and were getting regular reports from people.

The house phone rang with an unknown number. I answered.

“Yeah?”

“This Tommy Ferrano?”

“Yeah, who’s this?”

“Leo Denarda here. I understand you been looking for me.”

This fucking guy. Acting casual and nonchalant.

He continued.

“There was disrespect and it was not acceptable. That said, I believe there’s no reason why we can’t move forward. Provided that stuff don’t happen again, of course. I’m finished with my vacation and I’m ready to discuss movin’ forward. When and where should we meet?”

“Where’s my sister?”

“Don’t know what you’re talkin’ about.”

Fuck. Bullshit.

“Then what is it you wanna discuss?”

“A way for us to move forward as partners on Fete. I’ll need my share of the business to be equal to yours and Lewis’s.”

“If that were to happen, you telling me my sister might magically re-appear?”

“I know nothing about your sister’s whereabouts,” he said and there was ice in his voice. “I’m simply givin’ you an option to reconsider keepin’ me out of the Fete action. I can offer a lot of benefits as part of the project. I think you know this.”

“In the middle of something. I’ll call you back when I’m ready to discuss,” I said and ended the call before he could get another word out.

“Motherfucker,” I snapped. “We have no time for these fuckin’ games.” I shook my head, my eyes on Dare.

My phone started ringing immediately and it was fucking Zack calling me.

I declined it. A text came through from him immediately afterwards.

Call pls. About Tessa.

“Call him,” Dare said, glancing at my screen.

I glared. Dare and I nearly came to blows over involving Zack. Dare argued that Zack had resources, was already in our business, so we’d might as well make use of him. We’d scaled down our security team before Pop died because we were using a few of Zack’s resources as it was, so Dare was right. But I didn’t fuckin’ like it.

Zack had earned my trust and betrayed me. And now what? He thought he had us under his thumb?

No one fucked me over and didn’t feel my displeasure. I wasn’t about to make it easy on Zack, let him off the hook. Not a fucking chance. I still had no idea what his end game with me was.

“I’ll do it. Fuck,” Dare grumbled, swiping at his own phone, and then put it on the table and leaned over.

“Dario?” was how Zack answered.

“Yeah, Zack. I got Tommy here. You’re on speaker.”

Zack’s voice was low, by his tone I knew immediately that things were not good.

“We found Tessa. Or, I should say, the person who has her reached out to me. She’s okay. She’s safe.”

“Fuck,” Dare breathed out and ran his hands through his hair. I let out a big breath of my own. Thank God.

Zack continued, “Alessandro Romero has her. He did not abduct her but intercepted those who had her and made a deal. He’ll forgive you both for Juan Carlos and for Jesse. No retribution. He’ll give us back Tessa, unharmed.”

“What the fuck?” Dare’s eyes darted to me. His face looked as baffled as I was feeling.

“Say that again?” Dare requested.

Zack kept talking, “Denarda sold Tessa to a known flesh peddler in Tijuana. As you might know, Juan Carlos Castillo’s business was heavily into heroin, but the Romero side of that family are peddlers of flesh as their primary business. Romero knows who you are, of course, and he knows about Angelica. He purchased Tessa and doesn’t want the money back. He’s willing to release Tessa to you on just one condition.”

Dare’s face went stone cold and angry at the mention of his wife.

“What?” I asked.

Zack blew out a breath and then said, “You won’t try to take Holly from him.”

My jaw went tight and then I glanced at my brother.

Dare’s eyes closed and pain slashed across his features.

Zack continued, “Denarda had no intention of you ever getting Tessa back. He thinks he covered his trail and he made bank by selling the sister of connected guys to one of the bigger cartels, a cartel that did not like Tom Ferrano Sr. Shows his thinking, he’d rather do that to someone than take them out with a bullet because he knows this way will hurt more, even if you never found out what happened. Picking people with a beef with your father, it was also a power play, him showing you he’s got the means to make people you love disappear. He didn’t think you’d find her, I’m guessing, but probably thinkin’ that even if you did, you’d have a fight on your hands and make enemies tryin’ to get her back. We got almost enough to nail him for the kidnapping, though we think we know how to make him get put away for even longer for child pornography possession, so we’ll hold off. Need to interview your sister. And more on all that later. For now, we get her back, get him arrested.”

Not if I could help it. Leo Denarda wouldn’t see a jail cell.

“How does Romero factor into all of this?” I asked.

“Romero keeps his ear to the ground as a rule anyway but knowing about the connection between Holly and Mrs. Dario Ferrano? He’s probably paying even more attention, knew Denarda had put her up for auction, and paid through the nose to buy her. In other words, he did this because he found out you boys were nosing around for Holly Mooney and he wanted leverage.”

“How did he know that?” Dare asked.

“I called him,” Zack replied, “He’s knowledgeable and I hit a dead end. It was pointing one way and I had no idea at first that he not only knew who Holly was, but that he had her.”

Dare shook his head at me and kept talking, “What the fuck, man? We can’t let him keep Holly in exchange for Tessa.”

“Get Tessa back first. Then set up a meeting,” Zack suggested, “Try to negotiate.”

“We’re going nowhere near that fucker,” I bit off. “We’re supposed to believe he’ll hand our sister over without retaliation for what he thinks we did?” I wasn’t about to admit it, not knowing who else was privy to the conversation with Zack, Zack the fuckin’ Fed.

Only a fool doesn’t try to think like someone who should be an enemy. No way would I negotiate with anyone who’d killed my brother. I might pretend for a heartbeat to get them in my sights and then I’d end them. How could Zack or Romero think we were this gullible?

“I’ll go,” Zack offered, “I’ll pick up your sister and see if it’s open for negotiation about Holly.”

“What the fuck?” I bit off, “Why would you go?”

“I have a strategic relationship with him. He’s not a good guy. But he’s an ally of mine. Nothing will happen to me if I go down there. I can get your sister back safely. Speaking of which, I need to meet with you both, today, have you sign non-disclosure agreements. In the meantime, I know you both know that this conversation is privileged.”

“He know you’re working with the Feds?” Dare asked.

I was grinding my teeth down so hard my jaw was beginning to ache.

“I hope that’s not a threat, Dario,” Zack said.

Dare laughed. There was a threatening edge to his laughter. Even though he was playing ball with Zack, he wasn’t happy about what’d gone down and I knew my brother; he wasn’t about to be anybody’s bitch.

“He has Angel’s sister for sure, then?” I cut in.

“For sure,” Zack replied. “But Romero insists she’s non-negotiable.”

“How dangerous is he?” Dare asked.

“You don’t wanna fuck with this guy,” Zack replied.

In the time we’d worked with him, we’d put him in a number of rocky scenarios with some bad motherfuckers and he had never cautioned us against fucking with someone before.

“All right. Go down there. Call us after you’ve got a read on this situation,” Dare ordered.

My eyes met my brother’s and I shook my head in dismay. What a fuckin’ mess.

I was gonna be heading back to Vegas to get my sister, who Zack was bringing. I’d be taking Tia with me, no way would she be that far away from me while all this was going down. And I decided that I wanted to be seen in public with Tessa by Leo’s people and that might flush him out. And then I was going to fucking kill him.

After Zack got Tessa to Vegas, he’d head to Thailand to rendezvous with his people about bringing down Kruna.

Dare was gonna be heading to Thailand the night we arrived in Vegas. I was skipping the partner summit for the sex slave resort but Dare needed to go. I didn’t envy my brother.

He had to tell Angel that not only did he need to go to Thailand for the Kruna partner meeting but that he needed to bring her with him, also. And Zack was suggesting Angel be the one with the wire. Dare was havin’ a problem with this. Understandably.

I didn’t know whether or not she knew the latest news about her sister or not. My brother and I were butting heads a bit, both of us feeling the strain of everything happening, so we were talking but it was minimal.

“Maybe it’s better that you skip this summit and we go after Fete opens together for a meeting with them.”

Dare shook his head. “They got a better chance of people implicating themselves at the summit. Stan Smith sent me information with the loose itinerary. If I gotta go, this is the time. How’s this gonna pan out though, man? These fuckers get arrested and we don’t? That’ll go over well. They’re being tight-lipped about how it’s all gonna shake out.”

“No,” I told him. “We approach it all with caution, bro. You go, get information or whatever, and then when you’re back, you and I meet before anything is handed over. No way will we put our trust in these guys. They’ll use you and Angel as pawns.”

Dare nodded. “Zack’s given me assurances about getting out of all of this but can’t promise we won’t have to change our identities.”

To shave Tommy Ferrano off and be something else? I tried, briefly, to be Thomas Caruso in Costa Rica but it didn’t feel like me.

I was me. I didn’t think I could be anyone else. My brother wanted to live clean. I’m not saying I didn’t. I just didn’t know how much I’d be able to put my fate into the hands of others, particularly people like Zack who’d betrayed my trust, who’d played me.

You know that saying, once bitten, twice shy? Well, for me it was more like… you even try to bite me and I’ll rip your goddamn teeth out.

I met with Zack to sign his non-disclosure agreement and talk more about shit. We were in his office.

“Your brother on his way?” Zack asked.

His associate and right-hand man Hal, a forty-something private eye and another dude named Randall, who was a Fed with the special task force Zack worked with, witnessed the signing.

I told them Tommy wasn’t able to make it for the meeting and Randall tried to pull a heavy on me saying he couldn’t guarantee Tommy’s immunity unless he came in and went through everything with them.

“My brother is busy.”

“Jacobs has updated us on the situation with your missing sister. We still need him to sign these documents. We’ll still need to interview him regarding several matters.”

“That’s gonna have to wait,” I said, not sure if Tommy would play ball at all and not liking that they knew about Tessa. I didn’t know how much they knew so I wasn’t gonna even address it with these guys.

“We have evidence pointing to your brother being the one who murdered your father and if we–”

I got to my feet. “Shut this fucker up, Zack. Get him out of here or I bail. You can work without my help.”

The little fucking puke.

“Everybody!” Zack pushed his hands down in an attempt at a calming gesture, then reached into a cupboard above his desk and pulled out a bottle of Jack Daniels. He fetched a couple glasses and put them down.

“Have a drink, Dario.”

I didn’t want a drink. I wanted a cigarette. And to smash Randall-the-motherfucker’s nose. I was still wearing a fuckin’ nicotine patch but I was ready to either rip it off and light up. Maybe also rip someone’s head off.

Randall said, “We’ll circle back to your brother later. For now, I’ll say we may or may not require testimony from you. Your wife, we will, but we are hoping it can be done in such a way to protect her identity. We already have testimony from Jason Frost. He’s still in custody and cutting a deal. We need one more thing from him in order to clinch the deal and we’ve got people working on that. We also have testimony from someone else and this is something we need to discuss, as well. We’d have preferred that your brother be in attendance for this part.”

“What testimony?” I asked.

The guy regarded me a second and then made his decision to tell me what he was talking about. “Your father’s widow.”

“What?”

When had they talked to Lisa?

“As part of our investigation, I employed some tactics,” Zack began, pouring me some whisky. I shook my head, refusing it.

He pushed it closer and gave me a look. “Randall’s team directed me to set Tommy up with Oliver as a counselor. Oliver also does work for Randall’s department.”

“Fuck,” I bit off. And then I drank down the contents of the glass and immediately poured myself another.

“Tommy got Oliver talking to Lisa when she had her breakdown after the miscarriage. While she was away on her retreat, she was with Oliver and more of Randall’s people. I spoke to her as well. They have a lot of information from her and it’s gonna help, Dario. Immensely.”

I blew out a breath. My brother was going to lose his fuckin’ mind. He was either gonna kill or ruin that guy. He’d be enraged.

Randall got up, his phone ringing, and he left the room.

“You’d best tell Oliver to change his face and get a new identity,” I advised Zack. “And what the fuck on Jason Frost? He’s getting away with his part in this?”

“Don’t know what the deal is for him, that’s out of scope for me, but lesser of evils, Dario. Maybe Lisa should go with you to Thailand as well. Bring them both?”

I shook my head. “I told Joseph Lucas that I took Jason Frost out. Because you fuckin’ asked me to trust you and that’s what you told me to do, Zack. He surfaces, it’s gonna put me in a very fuckin’ uncomfortable situation. And Lisa? No. Lisa’s too fragile.”

But in my head, I wished she wasn’t. She could help Angel through this.

I was not looking forward to telling my angel that she had to go to Kruna with me. She hadn’t brought the place up at all lately. We didn’t discuss it even once while we were in Italy. On our honeymoon, other than seeing Ma and her husband in rough shape, Angel had seemed like she was trying to have a good time.

We’d gone for nice meals, fucked two or three times a day like honeymooners were supposed to do, and did a bunch of sightseeing. I was glad we were gonna have the rest of it once everything was done, though. She’d need it.

Randall was back. “We think Lisa should also go. Is there a way to finesse that with Gan Chen?”

I shook my head, “Not likely. And Lisa isn’t ready for that.”

“Lisa is stronger than you think. Her therapy has been helpful,” Randall said, “And of course we will need to interview Angelica. Soon.”

I figured Angel would want to help put those fuckers away, but I needed to protect her from this, keep her safe not only physically but also mentally.

“I do not think Lisa’s a good idea. At all. Regards to my wife, I’m there for any meetings or interviews. She’s extremely traumatized and she won’t be without me for any of this.”

“If all goes a certain way, she’ll have to sit on the witness stand alone, though, Dario. We’ll try to plea. The more information we have, the better that’ll go and the more chances we won’t have to reveal the identities of any of the witnesses, including Frost.” Zack put his hand on my shoulder.

The look in his eyes reminded me of why I’d considered this guy a friend.

“I know. But if she takes the stand, she’ll have me there in the courtroom. She’ll know she’s safe if she can lay eyes on me, if I’m in the room.”

As much as I detested all she had endured, I had zero problem being her touchstone, her strength.

They wanted to wire her, though, and that didn’t sit well.

“My woman is not your sacrificial lamb,” I repeated, pissed at the very idea of it being brought up again.

They retorted that since she was considered my property no one at Kruna would touch her. They had special devices that would fly under radar by typical bug detecting devices. They recommended I avoid the wire if at all possible because if there was any suspicion whatsoever it would be more likely that they’d check me for bugs and her bra would be made of some material that would mask it, whereas if I wore the bug i on my body somewhere, it could be detected. If I got stuck, I should snip that section out, leaving it in the bra fabric, before planting it on myself somewhere.

We discussed logistics, they badgered me about trying to get Tommy more on board, and Randall tried to get pushy again.

“My brother can’t help you with Kruna. My brother hasn’t yet met any of these fuckers, we’ve had one conference call where Tommy was present but you already know that shit because Zack recorded that call, so my guess is that you’ve heard the tape. Tommy does not play in that world. He’s focusing on getting Contessa back right now.”

“We know he was privy to some of your father’s dealings in human trafficking…”

“Tommy knew my father knew people and knew Pop frequented an overseas sex resort. That was the extent of his knowledge. Tommy didn’t even know Lisa was bought and had no day-to-day dealings with that trade. Knowledge and participation are two different things and Tommy’s knowledge was minimal, participation: nil.”

They had to know this, if they’d spent effort building a case against my father. They also had Tommy’s head shrink on staff so whatever my brother had copped to with him in his efforts to clear his conscience or whatever the fuck he was trying to do, clearly, they didn’t have all that much. Or so I’d hoped.

Randall and Hal left and me and Zack were alone again. I had a lot to chew on. Certain things happening might make witness protection better for all of us. Getting through all of this without the Ferrano name being mud was possible but would be tricky. I’d already given a lot of requirements that had to be worked into my written ‘deal’.

We would have another meeting before I left for Thailand to discuss the revised terms.

Of course, I didn’t want to go into witness protection. But I wanted to carve out at least a few options so I could pick the best of them when this all shook out.

“I got a number, Dario,” Zack said. “You can speak to your sister. All right?”

That got my attention and settled me down for a minute because I’d lost a lot of fuckin’ sleep worrying about her in the past week.

He plucked a phone out of his jeans pocket and fiddled a minute and then put it on the table between us on hands-free.

“Hello,” a male voice greeted, finally, on the fourth ring.

“Lex? Jacobs here. I have Dario with me and you’re on speaker.”

Silence.

Zack gestured to me and looked at the phone.

“Where’s Tess?” I didn’t bother with useless greetings.

“She’s safe here,” the voice answered. “She has been safe since she came to me. She’s comfortable and physically, she’s mostly well. She’ll be sent home with our mutual acquaintance when he arrives tomorrow.”

The guy didn’t have a Mexican accent. If anything, he sounded like he could’ve been brought up here in our neighborhood.

“And you have my sister-in-law?” I ventured.

“I do.”

“I’d appreciate it if you would send her back with Tess. I will make it worth your while,” I tried.

“She’s not for sale.”

“Her sister–”

The guy cut me off. “I’m aware of the situation. I’m telling you, she is not negotiable. I said this to Zack Jacobs. I went to great expense to acquire your sister. She is the peace offering.”

“I’m aware and I’m appreciative. This is my wife’s sister we’re talking about right now. Do you know the backstory?”

“I do. Show your appreciation for my saving your sister from what we both know would have been a horrific end by dropping your hunt for your wife’s sister. You now know who has her and it’s me. She’s staying put.”

I looked to Zack. Zack gave me a pointed look.

“You know all of it?” I tried to confirm. “Know they’ve been apart for two years, not knowing where the other was?”

“I do know,” he replied. “I know more than you know. Take your sister and drop it.”

“What condition is Holly in?”

“She’s mine.”

I sucked on my teeth at that answer, which was delivered slowly and with a tone that couldn’t be mistaken. It meant ‘none of your fuckin’ business’.

“This about revenge against us? For what you may assume was our involvement in the deaths of two of your family members? Because–”

“No. If that were the case you wouldn’t be getting your sister back. You and your brother did me a favor. Between you and I. Do not repeat that; I will deny it and I’ll seek to ensure there are consequences if you do. This is about her being mine, which she’s been for a lot longer than the few months you’ve known her sister. I’m merely making this peace offering to show you there’s nothing unresolved between our families. I did you a favor by rescuing your sister. You return that favor by backing off where your sister-in-law is concerned.”

“I don’t think you understand my position. My wife spent two years enslaved and Holly is–”

“I warn you, you do not wanna attempt to take her from me. You do not.” I heard a noise with his ‘not’, as if he’d slammed his fist down with that word.

Zack put his hand on my shoulder. I shrugged him off and got to my feet out of frustration.

Fuck!

He considered Holly his property, without a doubt, and he wasn’t about to voluntarily part with that property. This would have to get dirty.

“What condition is she in?” I pushed, leaning toward the phone.

He didn’t answer. I wasn’t surprised.

“Let me rephrase,” I bit off, losing the thin thread of control I still had, but he cut me off again.

“I will allow Tessa to see her briefly so that you may put your wife’s mind at ease.”

“What about allowing Holly and her sister to meet?” Zack offered.

“We can discuss that at a later time. After your business in the East with our other acquaintance is done.”

Did Romero know that we were about to take Kruna down? Who did he know there? I looked at Zack. I couldn’t read him.

“Can Dario speak to Tessa briefly? It’ll put minds at ease,” Zack requested.

“All right. A minute.”

We waited for at least five minutes.

“Hello?” Tess called, her voice trembling.

“Tessa?” I asked.

She started to whimper and it cut like a fucking knife. “Dare?”

“You okay?”

“I wanna come home.”

“Zack is coming for you tomorrow. He’ll bring you to Tommy. I gotta go out of town but Tommy’ll be there. You ever meet Zack?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay, everything’s fine. The girls are all looking after your boys. They miss you but they’re not frightened. They’re getting spoiled by all their aunties. Okay? They’ll be there when you get to Tommy. Everything’s gonna be okay, sweetheart. This guy’s got you safe and comfortable?”

“Uh, yeah–” Her voice trailed off and Romero was back on the phone.

“Ferrano? Your sister was…” He stopped and I heard what sounded like a door close. “I don’t know who, I didn’t ask many questions, but someone who took her violated her. She has not been touched since she came to me. We’ve given her medical attention, but her arm is going to have a nasty scar. I gotta end this call now.”

“I’ll see you tomorrow, Lex,” Zack said. “Thanks man.”

“You will.”

The line went dead.

My eyes moved to Zack and my blood was thundering in my veins, my ears. Violated her? To what degree? I clenched my fists. I had to put that aside for the moment, until I knew more.

“What’s the deal?”

Zack blew out a slow breath and then called up something on his laptop and tilted it towards me.

It was a candid photo of a good-looking guy with dark hair and dark eyes, maybe around Tommy’s age, maybe between us in age, dressed in a nice suit. He had a ‘don’t fuck with me’ expression on his face as he was in a doorway of what might have been a hotel. He was lighting a cigarette.

I needed a goddamned smoke. And to put my fist through a wall.

Zack scrolled through a few candid photos of him in various places and then hit a button and the picture slideshow shrank and there was a small amount of text below with links.

The text visible read:

Alessandro Romero: AKA Alexander “Lex” Catelli, AKA Zander Roman. Born: September 18. Age 28. Morelia, Mexico. MORE

Mother: Allegra Christina Catelli, born: March 18. Age 48. Born: Cagliari, Italy. Presumed deceased. Date unknown. MORE

Father: Pablo Alejandro “Sandro” Romero, Born: date unknown, estimateD age: 55. Born: Mexico City. Presumed deceased. Date: Appx 3 years. MORE

Knowledgebase: LEVEL 2 AUTH NEEDED

Zack started talking. “Alessandro Romero’s father founded what would become one of the largest human trafficking rings in Mexico in the early eighties. It is still known that way and now Lex runs the show. His mother was the first girl Sandro Romero kept as personal property. He married her. She was an Italian student who had been kidnapped while on a vacation. He had her just over six years. She escaped with their son Alessandro when he was about six years old. They were found in the Spokane area and brought back when he was a teenager. At that point, his father completely entrenched him into the business as the heir. Lex is a complicated man. He’s also an ally, for reasons that are classified. Jesse Romero was his half-brother. Jesse moved to the states after their father disappeared, presumed dead. Jesse and Lex were estranged when Jesse died. Jesse was tight with the uncle, Juan Carlos. Lex was not tight with him. Sandro, the father, was known for his cruel streak. He’s the stuff nightmares are made of for girls. They tell stories about him to keep girls around there from straying after dark.”

“I know who Sandro Romero was. Heard plenty of stories; he was a sick fuck. And you know this guy, his son, well? An ally?”

“One of my guys went to high school with him for a couple years. I know him a little. A P.I. on my team knows him as well as Alessandro Romero allows anyone to know him. Which isn’t well.”

“And what are the chances he’ll change his mind about Holly?” I asked but already knew the answer.

“He’s put his foot down. Based on his history – doubt it.”

“Then he gets taken out,” I said.

“No. You don’t wanna try to do that.”

“You do it,” I said. “You want my help with Kruna, you help me with Holly.”

“I can’t do that, Dario. A lot of reasons why but bottom line, he has power and he has influence. And I’ve helped with Holly. I found her for you.”

“You’re a fucking Fed out to stop the sale of women into the sex trade. What the fuck? You’ll take down Kruna but not this guy? Biggest pussy dealer in Mexico and you say he’s untouchable?”

“I need the alliance I have with him. I can’t say anything further, but even if I didn’t need him, he’s untouchable and I’ll tell you again… I am a freelance special agent, my security and investigations business is my primary gig. They pay me well to be on call and two years ago I was put on your father’s scent as part of what I do for them. They aren’t my only client and that said, I try to veer to the side of the good guy. Is this a good guy? No. But is he a guy I don’t wanna fuck with? You bet your ass he is. I have strategic associations with a lot of people, Dario. Many are criminals; present company included. And all I’m gonna say is that there are a lot of complex things happening related to the Kruna takedown as well as other ongoing projects. It’s a goddamn spider web with booby traps at every fucking intersection. I’m tryin’ to help you out here but you’re on a need-to-know basis. I will see what’s what and get more information for you. But Holly Mooney might be out of scope from here forward. You have to be prepared for that likelihood. At least we know what happened to her.”

I massaged my forehead, tried to tamp down my frustration, and asked. “This guy a confidential informant?”

“No. And I can’t tell you anything further about his association with me. I’m real sorry that it’s not better news. But she’s alive. He’s not one of the good guys, unfortunately. And sometimes we gotta work with the not-so-good guys to get shit done. I don’t know what else I can do other than to get Tessa back and then report Holly’s condition when I see her. All I’m doing with this is outside of scope beyond the project for Kruna. I’m doing this for you, using my network for you.”

“Is he a sick fuck like his old man was?” I asked, not acknowledging his words about him helping for me, suggesting our friendship was real rather than just whatever the fuck he was pretending in order to hook me into helping him with the Kruna takedown.

Zack didn’t answer me. He didn’t have to. His carefully blank expression said it all.

I had to play it smart here. Somehow, some way, I needed to get Angel’s sister back. And without pissing off one of the most powerful human traffickers in North America, maybe the world. Or, if he wasn’t willing, we’d have to find some way of getting rid of him so we could get her back. As if we didn’t already have enough bullshit on our plates.

Instead of calling, I needed to see my brother in person. This conversation had to take place in person so I could try to do some damage control.

My brother was the smartest fucker I knew, but to say he was hotheaded was a massive understatement. When he found out his counselor was a Fed and probably using whatever my brother’s confessions were to build a case against us so that we had to be their puppets… he was gonna snap.

I texted to ask if he was busy and told him I wanted to come by. He told me to head over so I drove to his house. Dex was there, handling security between Tommy’s and Pop’s houses. He was outside, conferring with two other guys, one of them my buddy, a local bookie Killian’s little brother Will, who was twenty-two and saving up to go back to school. Kill asked me to get him a job as a favor.

Will was a bodybuilder, knew how to fight, was licensed to carry, and he was reliable. I thought a lot of Killian, too, so while Will wouldn’t be a long-timer with us, he was trustworthy. And we needed that right now.

I waved to Will. “How is he?”

“Better.”

“Good, good. See ya later, bud.” I headed inside.

Kill had been jumped and we believed it was Denarda that’d arranged it, not knowing Kill was no longer bookmaking under us. Kill had a chain of off-betting clubs with our blessing and help and he’d been beat up pretty bad but no long-term damage, thankfully.

It was evening and Dex told me that two guards had just driven Angel home, she had a headache, and the guards were hanging out at my condo until I got home. I texted to tell her I’d be home soon.

I found Tommy in the kitchen, sitting at a table working on something with his laptop, opened jars of olives and pickles as well as a huge hunk of salami and knife on a cutting board sitting beside him. He was eating from the jar of pickles.

“Sympathetic pregnancy cravings, man?” I joked as I took my suit jacket off and threw it on the back of the kitchen chair.

Tommy snickered and put the lid on. “Probably.”

“Just got back from Zack’s. They were pissed you didn’t show to fill out their paperwork.”

He rolled his eyes. “You hungry? Bunch of food in here. Tia’s been cookin’ all day by the looks of it.”

“Naw. I’ll eat at home. I talked to Alessandro Romero,” I told him.

That got his attention.

“He assured me Tessa is fine and she’s a peace offering to keep us from trying to get Holly away from him. He says, confidentially, that whoever got his family members out of the picture did him a favor.” I gave him a pointed look and continued, “Zack is tight-lipped about this guy but fuck, doesn’t sound good. I talked to Tess briefly. She sounded okay but he didn’t allow me to talk to her for long. He said she got violated somehow before she came into his possession but didn’t elaborate on what that meant. I’m trying to keep my cool ‘till we find out.”

Tommy took a big swig from a bottle of water, hardness in his eyes.

“We need more info on that. Leo Denarda pays for whatever happened to her, whoever did it, that’s for damn sure. Zack says Romero’s not one we wanna fuck with, but…” I said.

“I know,” Tommy said. “Heard stories. Ice cold motherfucker. No conscience. Chip off the old block.”

“Yeah man, but that’s what they say about you and it’s bullshit.”

Tommy shrugged. “Word is that his old block? Ten times worse than ours. Made Pop look like a choir boy. Sandro Romero didn’t even try to look legit. He was untouchable, like royalty down there. Fearless. Sadistic. Cruel.”

“Yeah,” I said. “But the fact that this guy intercepted Tess, reached out, did this proactively? Think Holly means something to him?”

“Possibly,” Tommy said carefully.

“She’s fuckin’ seventeen, man. Angel said she turns eighteen the day after Christmas.”

He blew out a breath.

So did I.

“I don’t know what the fuck she’s been through. Angel’s come a long way but she still has a long way to go, you know? How the fuck do I tell her that her sister is in the hands of a sick fucker and that we don’t even know what that girl has endured in the past two years? We might not be able to do a damn thing about it unless we piss off a whole lotta people and put the whole family at risk. We have to fuckin’ do something about it, bro. This guy is around our age but if he’s like his father?”

In my mind, I was back that day at Pop’s when we talked about rescuing Tia from the clutches of Castillo. I was insisting we not play when it was Tommy’s new fiancée. And now here I was, the other side of the argument, pleading a case and arguing that we do whatever it took to save not even my wife but my wife’s sister.

“We will,” he told me. “Don’t you worry. We’ll do whatever we have to do to make sure Angel’s little sister is all right. This is family. It’s all that matters.”

“Fuck. That’s what Pop’d say,” I thrust my hand through my hair. And then my eyes met my brother’s. “We’re both chips off that block in some ways, Tommy, but it doesn’t mean–”

“Let’s just hope the same can be said for Romero,” Tommy’s expression darkened.

“There’s something else you need to know,” I started, wincing.

“What?”

“When was the last time you talked to your counselor?”

“Before your wedding. Why?”

“He’s a Fed, too. Lisa was with him during her retreat, which was more of a de-briefing by the sounds of it. Zack questioned her and that task force interrogated her. They’re gonna put her on the stand when all of this is over unless they can do it in a way to keep the Ferrano name out of it. We have a lot to talk about.”

Tommy’s lip curled.

“How much information has he gotten from you?” I asked.

“Other than that I shot our father in the head out of self-defense? That I’ve got a violent streak? Very little,” Tommy hissed acidly. “I talked in code a lot, skirted facts, gave him information without direct admissions. But that doesn’t make a difference. That fucker has more than he should have. Dunno if patient-doctor confidentiality is a factor, probably, but still: even if it doesn’t make it into court, the info he used can be used against me in other ways. And the fucker’s gonna pay. He’s reached out three times since your wedding, but I’ve ignored him. Once I knew Zack was a Fed, I immediately put my guard up with Oliver since Zack hooked the two of us up.”

I didn’t know what he was gonna do about this. He said he’d mull it over. We had enough shit on our plates as it was.

I headed back to the condo and said goodbye to the guard who met me at the elevator and gave me a rundown. He had another guard outside, watching the building. Nothing out of the ordinary at home. Inside, I found Angel curled up on the sofa, asleep with her e-reader in her drooping hand, a half-eaten sandwich on a plate on the cushion beside her. I leaned over and put it on the coffee table and then lifted her up and carried her to the bedroom.

She smiled as I lay her down in bed and climbed in beside her.

“Hi,” she whispered sweetly.

I gently pulled the elastic out of her hair and watched her fiery curls tumble down around her shoulders. Fuck, but I loved her curls.

“Wanna fool around?” she asked me and chewed her bottom lip.

“Mm,” I took my blazer and tie off. “Always. But we have to talk about a few things. Maybe we oughta get that outta the way first.”

Her expression sobered. “Or let’s fool around first and then tell me the bad news? Wait…it’s not your sister, is it?”

“Tess is okay. We’re getting her back. As for the fooling around, you’re probably gonna need it in the middle of this news,” I said and her expression dropped. We both knew what that meant.

I took my shirt off and stripped down to my boxers and got into bed and pulled her close, arranging the blankets over us.

Normally, I avoided all negative talk about her triggers and her outbursts in order to deter them from happening. She knew she was under orders from me to not have meltdowns in public and her having those orders seemed to help keep her even keeled.

But twice so far in our short time together, I ordered her to let it go in private. She’d held firm and strong so many times that I’d worried I was doing something bad in getting her to bury it.

So, I gave her a safe place where she could let it out. Where she could cry or tremble, or where I’d encourage her to tell me what she was thinking, what her bad dreams were about. She never volunteered much about her thoughts; sometimes she opened up with vagueness. Sometimes she just cried herself to sleep tucked tight to me after begging for what she needed, whether it was sexual, spankings, cuddling.

I hoped I was doing the right thing. Now, right now, though… she needed to brace and I wanted her to trust me completely. I knew there was a greater chance of earning that trust if I didn’t blindside her about shit.

“You need to come with me to Zack’s office tomorrow morning.”

“Oh. Okay.”

“The partner summit in Thailand is in a few days. He needs to brief you. They need us to go, baby.”

She nodded blankly but then lines appeared between her eyebrows as she tried to process what I was saying.

“Go?” she finally asked.

“To the partner summit. We need to go.”

She did the slowest blink I’d ever seen in my life.

Fuck.

I saw a swallow move down her throat and then she blinked again. And then a few more times. Rapidly.

“Angelbaby. I promise you, promise you, they’ll know you’re off limits. If any one of them even think about laying a finger on you…” I felt her body rev up into a full-on tremble.

I put my arms around her and pulled her to straddling on my lap. “Hang onto me, my baby. You’re safe. Talk to me.” I backed against the headboard.

She started to gasp for air. “Can’t breathe, ah –”

“I don’t want this for you. I don’t want this for us. But my baby, this could bring those fuckers down, set all those girls free. You know? And it could help us get out of the dirtiest shit Pop stuffed us in.” I ran my hand up and down her back.

She was nodding and gasping and trembling in my arms, her eyes shiny.

“Breathe, baby,” I cupped her cheek. “I put you first. You’re number one, you got me? I am taking all this shit very fuckin’ seriously. This is not what I want for our lives. But the sooner we shut this shit down, the sooner these sick fucks are out of our lives. You know?”

She was trying to nod but she was trembling so hard that her movements were jerky, erratic.

“We go, we’re there a few days, we gather information, and then we leave. In a couple months you may need to take the witness stand and tell the judge what happened to you. I don’t know yet how it’ll all play out because we don’t want to reveal we helped take them down but that’s to be determined and might not be in our control. But right now, we just control what we can control. We take a step at a time and you do so knowing you got me with you every single step that you take.”

She swallowed.

“Or…” I started, not premeditating what came out of my mouth at all, “Fuck it. We run. I have enough money to set us up. You tell me you can’t do it and we’ll go. We’ll disappear. Forever.”

A minute earlier I wouldn’t have thought it was possible, but she started to shake even harder. And she looked shocked. I’d fuckin’ give her anything, anything in the world she wanted.

I got her tighter against my body. I ran my hands up and down her back. She was glued against me.

“We have to stop them,” she said, her voice steady.

I was so fucking proud of her.

“We will get through this,” I promised her and she nodded and burrowed in deeper to me.

“I promise, we’ll be okay.” I kissed her tears away. “And I’m gonna make them pay, Angel. I mean that. I’ve had to play it cool, but do not mistake that. I want those fuckers taken down. I’ll blow the place up if I have to. You get me?”

She shuddered but nodded again. “I just want it over.”

That she wasn’t begging me to fuck her or bring her to orgasm was shocking to me. She held me tight and shook like a leaf, crying quietly. It was almost as extreme as the first night we were here, when I told her that she wasn’t a slave any longer. This news was cutting deep, rocking her fragile world.

There was no way she could handle news about Holly on top of all that. I’d talk to her about that later. Maybe much later. Unfortunately.

More than anything, I wanted to give her life a solid foundation, nothing to fear, nothing but goodness. I wanted that more than anything.

“Tess is really okay?” she whispered.

“She’s gonna be,” I said. “Even if she’s not right now, we’ll make it so she is.”

Angel’s body locked tight, the meaning of my words clear. I didn’t know what the fuckers who had her had done but we’d make them pay, too.

The fact that Romero had helped was still a lot for me to wade through, but one thing at a time. I’d control what I could, one step at a time. And by the end, Kruna would be dust, an unpleasant memory.

And hopefully, my wife would have her baby sister back.