32. ~Nico~
32
~Nico~
I’d been able to keep Bianca hidden here at my home for a few days thanks to the fallout of the Leone Estate attack and the camouflage the chaos had provided.
But things were settling down now, so time was up where that was concerned.
She had to leave now. We had to get her out tonight.
Between my contacts and Julian’s, we’d found a way to spirit her out of the city and set her up in a safehouse that no one knew about. And with Caterina and Milo working together, they’d forged the necessary paperwork for her new identity, as well as finding a concealed way to finance her new life.
Unfortunately, that new life began with her living off the grid, so she would be near-impossible to contact in that time—for the next six months at least. It meant that Caterina wouldn’t be able to connect with her.
These precautions were absolutely necessary, however.
I was positive that if we hadn’t gotten her out of there that night, Santino would have executed her.
The life she’d known was now over.
At least until we were done with our mission.
The truth was, even if it had actually been possible to keep her here longer with us, I wouldn’t have entertained it. That night, Caterina had been on the verge of taking a massive risk and even outing her involvement in the takedown of the human trafficking ring, taking full responsibility for it in a bid to take the heat off her mom, to protect her.
I wouldn’t have that.
No fucking way would I allow her to make a sacrifice play like that.
Having her mom here was also impeding her focus on the mission. Even possibly undercutting it because her mom was a person of healing and peace, that influence bearing down on Caterina whether she could recognize that or not. I didn’t think she could, because she was too taken with actually spending quality time with her mom over the last few days, something she hadn’t been able to do for years because of the way things had been with her father’s strict control over Bianca’s movements and Caterina being considered an outsider all that time.
There was no peace for the likes of us.
And she needed to breathe in that reality deeply.
If she didn’t, it risked her very life.
Because there couldn’t be that peace until we were done with our mission, until we tore apart our enemies, supplanted them, and utterly annihilated the status quo.
So, as I watched her saying goodbye to her mom in the courtyard while the unmarked black van waited a few feet back to take Bianca away to safety, far from here, I reminded myself of the necessity of it even as tears filled Caterina’s beautiful emerald eyes, pain and grief at their impending parting hanging incredibly heavily.
Julian and Milo were over there with her, while I leaned against the entrance door, watching from afar.
I couldn’t let it get to me or impact my decision to do this.
While I’d expected Julian to absorb the emotions around him as he was known to do when it came to those closest to him being impacted by something, it was odd to see Milo comforting her and being a part of it too. He’d become somewhat of a simp for her. Perhaps that was why he’d resisted so much initially when it came to bringing her into our fold, he’d felt himself going that way, realizing what a shocking effect she’d have on him if he'd let go. Now that he had, and he was all in, that effect was strikingly apparent.
I grimaced as Caterina hugged her mom tightly to her, burying her face in her shoulder, her body shaking with her sobs.
Fuck. She was reeling.
Everything had happened too fast.
Too much brutality.
Too much upheaval and changes.
I knew her. And this wasn’t her.
She was more determined and fucking resilient than anyone I’d ever known.
She’d been shoving her reactions to everything down so much to keep moving forward that it was now catching up with her and this thing with her mom was worsening all of that.
As shitty as it sounded, Bianca Leone couldn’t leave fast enough for my liking.
I needed Caterina back on track.
All hell was about to break loose any day now that the fallout from the attack was waning. We had to be ready.
The next part of our strategy involved several hits against key Marchetti and Leone business ventures, as well as undermining faith in the new alliance amongst my soldiers and then those of the Leones. All of that had to be carried out meticulously without any mistakes.
As Caterina and her mom finally broke apart, I tensed when Bianca looked my way, then started over to me. She held her hand up to Caterina, willing her to stay where she was.
And then she stopped in front of me, looking me up and down studiously, clearly trying to see into me. No chance.
I was expecting a lecture, especially considering I’d barely said more than a handful of words to her in the few days that she’d been here. A lot of that had been due to the damage control I’d been called in to handle for the family, my father surprisingly ordering me to take the lead with reinforcing our holdings, even on Cassio and Gio’s territory, schooling them on how I took care of my own territory where that was concerned.
But the rest had been because I didn’t want her here due to the impact she had on Caterina. The way she softened her. Weakened her, as far as I was concerned.
Bianca was no fool, and she’d clearly picked up on it.
However, instead of a lecture coming my way, she told me quietly but in a firm tone full of conviction, “Caterina will be okay once I take my leave. As regrettable as it is for me to admit as her mother, she’s not used to having me around due to circumstances with the family, her father’s rules that had been bearing down upon me. So what you’ve been experiencing from her, this version of her, is a result of that.”
“That’s already very apparent to me.”
“You’re her husband now, for better or worse, so I expect you to live up to it. Treat her well.” She glared hard at me. “As more than the phenomenal asset that she is in your dangerous war.”
“She’s much more than that to all three of us.”
She smiled. “Good. Remember that when you’re in the thick of it.”
“I will.”
“And… thank you. Thank you for ensuring this forced marriage was a facade, and not what my awful husband had intended for her.”
“He’s afraid of her. Do you know why?”
It wasn’t the human trafficking angle, because he had no idea she’d been involved in that.
Milo had mentioned it on the way home the other night from the reception. He thought that the pain of the terrible issues she had with her father had been why she’d never brought it up. But that wasn’t like her, to shy away from something like that when so much was at stake. I believed it to simply be that she didn’t actually know what it was. She knew a great deal, but what he knew about that, about her reach, was a whole other thing.
One thing was certain, if he knew her full reach, he would have already tried to have her killed, forget the degradation and control route that this marriage was supposed to be functioning as.
So it had to be something specific.
Bianca was my best chance of finding out, save from torturing Angelo. Of course, I’d also have to murder the fucker, which would prove to be one hell of a headache to cover up and keep my involvement clean from. Aside from that sick bastard, Bianca was the one person in a close enough position to know just from living in that house with him, being around him the most and knowing, as his long-time wife, where to be to learn what was needed.
“It’s nothing she has on him. He’s clueless where that’s concerned. Even I barely know much about it. She claims it’s so I can maintain plausible deniability, but you’ve probably realized by now that Caterina has extreme trust issues, so that’s where it’s rooted. Even toward her own mother. Because I am—was—connected to him. The fact that she’s given you her trust says a great deal about your character and your intentions toward her.” She shifted her weight and folded her arms across her chest. “His fear of her stems from his paranoia that she will supplant him.” Off my raised eyebrow, she clarified, “Not just in business, but as head of the Family.”
“She has no intention of becoming the Boss of the Leone Family.”
“Paranoia and ego and actual megalomania can skew reality. It certainly has his. He sees her coming up in the city, not just establishing herself, but thriving, her empire growing. Although she left for many reasons, he believes it to be solely because he cast her aside as his heir. He’s zeroed in on that and, combined with her burgeoning empire, he believes she’s growing power to challenge him. He's become weak over the years, he’s flailing, he has no idea what direction to take the Family in to keep it strong, while Caterina is the opposite.”
“I see.”
“He’s been looking for an opportunity to reel her in. So he watched and waited until your father made that mistake of trying to venture into military-grade weapons and thereby violating the treaty of the three families. He whispered in his ear about how the Benzinos would respond, how he’d expose him and ally with Carlo to come for him and destroy the Marchetti Syndicate, unless he agreed to a partnership. Hence the new alliance that now exists, your father capitulating to him in ways he would normally never allow. He trapped him and he used him through you to put a leash on my daughter. Or so they mistakenly believe. Now that’s been achieved, and he thinks Caterina won’t be able to grow her empire now she’s under your control, he’ll work on taking power for himself. He’ll destroy the Marchetti Syndicate from within via their faux-friendly alliance, take the spoils of that, and then he’ll move on to eradicating the Benzinos.”
As I fought to absorb her revelations, something else became clear to me. “Santino doesn’t want you dead for your perceived involvement in the fall of his human trafficking startup. He’s afraid you know too much, like this that you’ve just revealed to me.”
“He won’t know for sure, but, yes, he does suspect as much. He doesn’t know how much I’m aware of, but I’m a loose end he can’t afford with all of this now in play. Even if I went to your father with this, or you did so on my behalf, it would just be tarred as the rantings of a scorned woman, or a desperate attempt to create trouble between them in order to save myself from his wrath.”
She wasn’t wrong about that.
“This is enlightening. Thank you.”
“Thank me by protecting my daughter.”
She didn’t need my protection.
Of course, she was absolutely going to get it, just like Milo and Julian always would. She was one of us. She belonged with us now.
But she was also far more capable and powerful than people knew. Even her own mother, as had just been made apparent to me.
I merely nodded. Satisfied, she headed back over to where Caterina was gathered with Milo and Julian all over her, comforting her.
Thankfully, the goodbyes didn’t start all over again and it was wrapped up in moments, with Bianca walking over to the van.
She slipped inside, then it took off out of our vicinity, disappearing into the night.
Relief sung through me.
Finally.
As the three of them walked back toward the house, Caterina eyed me curiously. “What did my mom say to you?”
“A lot.”
“What does that mean?”
“I’ll tell you once we get to the home gym.”
“The gym? What for?”
“To spar, principessa.”
“Nico, I don’t think—”
“We need to keep our skills sharp. It’s been weeks since you were in the field. So go get changed into your workout gear and meet me down there in six minutes.”
She glared at me, challenge sparking in her eyes.
Normally, she’d bite back at me.
And I wanted her to.
I wanted her to defy me, bust my balls, give me shit, even kick my fucking ass.
But then she merely nodded and murmured, “Okay.”
As she headed up the staircase to her room to get changed, I cursed under my breath.
“I get what you’re doing, but don’t push her too hard,” Julian warned me.
“This isn’t her,” I ground out.
“Did you really think there wouldn’t be a massive emotional toll to enduring all that shit at your wedding? Or even all the shit before then? Santino and Angelo’s abuse? Getting stabbed? Being pulled back into this world she worked so hard to escape from? Having to now go to war?” he put to me.
“She can’t even go into work,” Milo added. “She’s been working remotely since the wedding, all so we can keep up this she’s-under-your-brutal-control-and-abuse facade.”
“All I hear from you are problems. She needs solutions. And this sparring session will be a good start.”
“Or you give her some time to acclimate to everything,” Milo suggested.
Really? I spun toward him. “There isn’t time. That’s the issue. And now her mom’s finally out of our hair things can go back to normal where Caterina is concerned. She just needs a little push to get back on track.”
“You’re dreaming there if you think she was the only issue. You just heard us reel off a list of—”
“Instead of a push, why not a little fun?” Julian cut in, obviously seeing how pissed I was getting.
“Fun?” Milo pressed.
“Yeah, I know it’s a foreign concept to you two assholes, but it’s clearly something she’s in dire need of right about now. And, not surprisingly, something the two of you haven’t even considered.”
And I didn’t get to consider it now either, as my phone rang.
I pulled it from my leather jacket pocket to see Rocco calling me.
He was overseeing one of our big coke shipments tonight, securing the drug route with a portion of my soldiers, while I had Tony Amato doing the same with the other at the far end of the city. This one that Rocco was overseeing was particularly important because it was headed out to the new buyer I’d secured, Harlow Whethers. She ran an up-and-coming criminal enterprise a couple of cities over with an iron fist. She was on top of everything, very systematic and controlled, exactly what I needed in a new business associate. This was our first shipment, the beginning of a lucrative business relationship. It had to go well, had to go off without a hitch.
It became clear that wasn’t going to be the case the moment I swiped my phone and took the call, Rocco’s voice sounding down the line before I could even get a word of greeting out. Urgency and panic slammed into me.
“Nico, we’ve been hit! We’re under attack! Had our guys escorting the shipment, and we were hit by the truck stop at the northeast border! They came out of nowhere!” I heard machine gun fire, followed by thuds, crashes, screams and yelling. “Fuck! There’s too many of them and—”
The line went dead.
I tried to call him back, but it just rang and rang.
“What’s happened?” Milo asked, stepping forward.
I reported what I’d just heard from Rocco.
“Who’s attacking your guys?” Julian asked.
“He didn’t get to that part, on account of being shot at,” I bit back.
“Just saying, it’s the first thing I’d think he’d know to report.”
Milo held up his hand. “Let’s focus on what we do know.”
“What we know is I need to get down there immediately.”
“Without backup?” Julian asked worriedly.
“There’s no choice. I can’t pull Tony and that portion of my soldiers from securing our other shipment. Losing this one is bad enough. I can’t call on Cassio for support either, because he’s stretched thin covering both his territory and Gio’s because Leo has Gio and his soldiers with him scouring every-fucking-where for the Lone Gunners.”
I gritted my teeth. I’d told him to let it go—for now. Let them think they’re safe. Then when they come up for air, we move in and decimate what’s left of them. That way, we wouldn’t be stretched thin at a time when we needed to be on high-alert and securing our assets and territories first and foremost. And asking the Leones to cover us at this early stage of the alliance would make us look weak. Especially with what Bianca had just told me concerning Santino’s true plans to fuck us over.
“Let’s go,” I told Milo. “Cautious, recon approach. We’ll double back and come in from outside the city so they won’t be able to see us coming.”
“Sounds good,” Milo agreed.
I eyed Julian, giving him an order before he could launch into a whole protest about this being dangerous. Of course it was. It was the life we led. “Do your fun plan with Caterina until we get back. And before you ask, no, you can’t come along. The two of you need to be lying low right now.”
“Fine,” he muttered. “Just play it safe. No crazed heroics, Milo. And no feral state antics, Nico.”
“We’ll handle it,” I assured him.
Whoever had dared to cross me tonight had chosen the worst time to do so.
I was sick to fucking death of all this capitulating to the family, to this new alliance, the toll it had taken on me and those I cared about.
I was sick of the loss of power.
And I would take my frustrations out on these fools tonight.
Blood would spill.
Screams would echo through the night.
Terror would have free rein.
Lives would be torn away without a shred of fucking mercy.
“This wasn’t what I’d expected,” Milo commented as we took in the truck stop from our position in the trees a few blocks back.
The place was empty of people. No sign of my soldiers. No bodies torn apart by automatic fire sprawled out all over the fucking place. Not even any bloodstains on the concrete.
There was evidence that an attack had taken place, though.
Vehicles belonging to my soldiers were riddled with bullets, tires shot out, windows shattered to smithereens.
The transport truck was positioned in the center of the place, also riddled with bullets, the passenger window and the windshield with several bullet holes.
Pulling my gun, I broke from our cover and drew closer, Milo at my back, covering me with his piece.
I zoned in on the scuff marks and evidence of bodies being dragged along the ground, all leading to the diner that should be open at this hour, but wasn’t.
Movement in the darkness had both of us jolting as we stepped into the parking lot.
We both swung with our guns, taking aim as a dozen men in sleek suits strode out from around the triple car wash station.
Before we could even react, another two dozen emerged from the diner fifty feet from where we stood.
The two units were heavily armed, automatic weapons trained on us as they drew closer, surrounding us.
“Goddammit,” Milo uttered.
Adrenaline flooded my system, urging me to act.
But it got worse when a lone figure pushed through the doors of the diner next.
Middle-aged but wearing it well, he was well built, with his ash-gray hair styled in a chic Pompadour, and decked out in a two-thousand-dollar black pinstripe suit. Chunky gold rings adorned each one of his fingers.
Carlo Benzino in the flesh.
A self-satisfied smirk twisted his lips as he zeroed in on me.
“You just walked into a kill zone, mafia prince.”