15. Franco
15
FRANCO
T he hackers found information on Wes. He didn’t try to hide anything about himself, and there was ample information about him to collect. Before long, we had many options of looking into Chloe’s ex, but it would take time to wade through it all and see what was important for the sake of removing him as a threat to Chloe and for any potential involvement he could’ve used to coordinate an attack on the Constella Family.
That was how we ruled—with no mercy for those who didn’t deserve it.
Wes was previously a cop in two different small towns before he left and went to law school. Then he hopped around, apparently not worrying about his income since he came from generational wealth. With that long-standing wealth came powerful influence, and he shaped his career into that of a politician. While he didn’t officially run for any positions or roles, it looked like he was preparing to campaign one day.
What Romeo and I focused on was how to find him now . Fortunately for us, he had an office in the city where he was supposed to meet with an up-and-coming entrepreneur from Canada. Unfortunately for him, we’d make sure he was dead and missed that meeting. There wasn’t a single chance of his getting away with what he’d done, and I wasn’t in the mood to wait for the hackers to compile more details. The man deserved to die for ever raising his hand to her and causing her to live a life on the run, always hiding.
But Wes was not there.
A couple of soldiers came with us, and while Romeo and I waited for the men to capture him and take him right out of his office and bring him down to us, we stalled and watched the time pass in the alley.
“He’s not there,” Vic said. He leaned over to speak through the window. “Doesn’t look like he’s been there all day.”
“Dammit.” I pounded my fist on the steering wheel.
“Maybe we were too hasty to think we’d find him on the first try,” Romeo told me. “We only just started looking into this. I’m not saying the hackers screwed up, but maybe this fucker has had practice at covering up his whereabouts.”
I nodded, frustrated, but I agreed. I couldn’t let my impatience for justice get the better of me. This wasn’t only about Chloe. We had to also see through the shooting at the deli.
“Did the staff say anything?” Romeo asked.
“No,” Vic replied. “None of them said shit.”
The other soldier shrugged. “Want us to go back up there and force answers out of them?”
I shook my head.
“I left a couple of bugs in there. We can record what’s said,” Vic added.
“Good,” Romeo said, dismissing them.
I drove away from the area, annoyed but taking it in stride. This was only day one of looking into him. Not every hunt went quickly. These things could take time.
“The two men you and Liam shot at the motel showed up in the database,” Romeo said after reading through something that came in on his phone.
I glanced over, seeing that he was skimming through a text.
“The hackers got back with me. It looks like the two men who shot up the deli were just hired killers. No affiliation with any group, but one of them was previously wanted as an accomplice for murder in Tennessee.”
“But no connection to Wes?” I asked. “Or the Devil’s Brothers? Or Stefan?”
He shook his head. “No. Just a mention that he could’ve been a former soldier for the Domino Family.”
I huffed and shook my head. Sometimes, it seemed like we were pulled in so many different directions. Life would never be peaceful, but for fuck’s sake, it was too damn difficult to identify who shot up that deli now.
“As soon as we get a lead on Wes, we’ll go after him. We’ll look for him again because we won’t give up on this.” Romeo put his phone away, turning to glance at me. “We’ll get answers from him before we kill him.”
“Definitely,” I agreed.
“And with those answers,” he added, “you’ll know who is to blame for that attack.”
I furrowed my brow, not following why he’d state the obvious like that.
“And then you won’t need to keep Chloe under our protective custody.”
I heaved out a sigh. I didn’t want to think about that. “I’m not letting her out of our protective services until her ex is gone.”
“That’s valid. But after Wes is gone, will you be able to let go of her?”
I clenched my teeth, hating how good he was at putting me on the spot like that.
“You haven’t let go of her all those years you weren’t together.”
“I know.” I checked my mirrors again, seeing that the soldiers still drove behind us.
“Can you let her go again?”
“I—” Slamming on the brakes halted me from finishing what I wanted to say. It also prevented me from slamming into the car that sped out from the perpendicular alleyway. It shot out in front of us, blocking me.
“What the fuck?” Romeo slammed his hand to the dashboard. We both reached for our guns as the soldiers driving behind us screeched to a sharp stop as well.
The car that pulled out in front of us zoomed away, and once it cleared the alley, the rumbling roars of engines came closer.
Bikers. They sped up in pairs on their motorcycles. From a distance, their skull logos were noticeable on their leather cuts.
“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.” Romeo shook his head.
Our soldiers filed out, rushing up to deal with the Devil’s Brothers members blocking our way.
“This is getting really fucking old,” I muttered. We stayed in the car, letting the soldiers handle the situation. If we stepped out, it might complicate things. Both of us were prime targets that our enemies would love to take out. With the blacked-out windows, though, they couldn’t see who was in this car. Romeo and I had a front-row seat to the men threatening the Constella soldiers.
“Very old,” Romeo agreed wryly.
“Who is that?” I asked and gestured to the older man near Reaper. If things went south, we’d step out and assist the soldiers, but they were trained for these sorts of things. I had faith they’d get them to leave. This area of the city wasn’t as rundown and lawless as the locale where the bikers thought they ruled. If they wanted to start shooting here, the NYPD would be alerted. Civilians in the surrounding businesses would be informed.
“Gunner,” Romeo said. “From what Andy has found out, Gunner is Reaper’s VP, and he’s been itching for an excuse to overthrow Reaper from power.”
I rolled my eyes at the gangly older man who coughed so hard I bet his bones were rattling. He looked as mean as a snake, his eyes slitted and his face scowling as he argued with Reaper.
They shouted about whose idea it was to come down this alley in this direction. It sounded like a petty squabble over minor details. Reaper reminded Gunner that he had no say in this, and that comment made Gunner shout louder yet.
I didn’t miss the threat they issued.
“If you drive one more fucking inch this way,” Reaper roared, “I’ll kill you all.”
Romeo and I shared a glance. We faced threats every damn day, but it was becoming an annoying habit for these bikers to think they had any power to tell us how it would be.
“Seems like these clubs have a lot of turnover.” I tipped my chin at Gunner telling the other four bikers to retreat. Reaper noticed and he yelled over his VP to order the other four MC men to stay right where they were. Soon enough, they ceased trying to act big and tough with us. They were too involved in their power struggle.
“Someone else will take over sooner or later,” Romeo agreed as Reaper and Gunner fought to the point that they seemed to race each other down the alleyway.
“They’ll suffer from so much infighting or seeking a new leader,” I said as I backed up with the soldiers in their car again and retreated for a different route out of this alleyway. “Then they won’t even be a concern for us.”
Romeo nodded. “I imagine a new leader might not want to side with Stefan Giovanni, either.”
“Not my problem,” I said. “Until they make it mine.”
“Exactly.” After letting out a long sigh, he faced me fully. “You didn’t answer me about what I said.”
“About Chloe?” I asked, still checking my mirrors for any other surprises or ill-executed ambushes.
“Yes. Can you let her go after Wes is dead, after the A&J’s case is closed?”
I shook my head, deciding to be honest. “I’m not sure I can let her go. Not again. I want to keep her for good, Romeo. You know that she’s always been it for me.”
“I recall,” he said.
“I want her forever. We’re reconnecting and getting into a little more give and take of information, but…”
He pounced on my hesitation. “But what?”
“I can’t shake this suspicion that she’s hiding something from me.”
And until I knew what that was, I refused to completely lower my guard with her and wind up in a horrible position of wishing she were the one for me.
She might need me. She might desire me and miss me. I could also swear left and right that she had feelings for me.
But she couldn’t be the one if she lied and hid things from me, right?