Chapter 20
Chapter Twenty
RHETT
I walk to my bedroom door before turning around to look at her one last time before slipping through the doorway.
I hate leaving her like this, but we need answers about what went down tonight.
We need answers about how the Rossi henchmen knew Francesca was at the shipyard.
We need to know why they want her and what she could be hiding from all of us.
And we need to know how her ex-fucking-boyfriend knows the Rossis.
Most of all, Francesca deserves to have these answers.
Heading straight to my front door, I open it as quietly as I can before leaving her alone and naked in my bed.
The image alone will keep me from being away too long.
It’ll keep me from killing the fucker, too. I don’t want to be over here longer than necessary.
I climb into my truck and race the short distance to the Marino estate, not caring that I’m driving almost twice the speed limit. Most of the police force probably already know about the shitshow happening .
They might even be at the Rossi estate cleaning up the dead bodies.
I slow down to turn down Arturo’s road. Unlike the Rossi estate, Arturo didn’t install a gate, so I drive down the long driveway toward the house.
There are plenty of security cameras all over the property, so you’d have to be an idiot to trespass. No one has tried thus far, but with tensions rising between the two mafia families, it’s only a matter of time before it actually happens.
Arturo needs to think about increasing personnel and implementing stronger security measures.
I park in front of the closed garage door that houses Joey’s cars and jog around the house to the back basement door.
Using my key, I let myself in before closing and locking the door back.
It’s quiet. Almost too quiet.
Did everyone leave already?
Did no one come here except Arturo, Joey, and the man I shot, Jax?
“Hey. It’s about damn time you got here.” Joey says as he takes the stairs two at a time. He stops a few feet from me.
“Where is everyone?” I ask, looking around at the empty basement.
This is our normal meet up and hang out spot after jobs, especially when shit is as fucked up as it is. I half expected it to be packed with standing room only, but all three couches are empty. Even the cushioned high back stools near the small bar are unoccupied.
“Most guys are still at the shipyard cleaning up or on delivery runs around town. Reed is on surveillance watching the Rossi place.”
He moves over to the couch and lays down as he sighs and throws an arm over his face.
“Dad and I have been on the phone nonstop, trying to get information from our informants. Although, he’s been getting more and more impatient the more calls we make with no information.”
“How can no one not know anything? Nothing at all. Sounds sketchy at best.”
“That’s what I said. I suggested we cancel practice in the morning and go door to door and get the information by force.”
“Your ideas are always risky, but right now, I’d do anything to get answers and keep your sister safe.”
I remember the cop that threatened me in the park and add, “But we might have a new complication to throw in the mix.”
“What now?” He says as he sits up.
“There’s a new class of officers that aren’t going to look the other way. He made it clear to pass that information on, so we need to try to lie as low as we can for a while.”
“That’s impossible! My sister just got kidnapped and we are just supposed to let them get away with it? No fucking way. They can kiss my ass.”
“We need to wait until the deliveries are done before getting revenge. ”
“I’ll concede to that, but as soon as the deliveries are done, I’m getting answers.”
“Speaking of answers, have you tried talking to him since our conversation?” I nod towards the interrogation room door.
Joey shakes his head. “There’s no point. He hasn’t said two words to me. Besides, Dad seems to think one of us will remember him from one of the past jobs we’ve done. Do you know him? We couldn’t find a phone or wallet on him.”
“No, I don’t know him, and I don’t think we’ve seen him on a past job.” I think back to my conversation with Francesca. “Well, not really. He knows your sister.”
His eyes widen before narrowing on the door to the interrogation room. “How does he know her?”
“They were together on and off, very casually, while she was getting her degree.”
Joey yells as he stalks toward the door. “He touched my sister? I should cut off his fucking hands.”
I pull Joey back and shove him until he’s sitting on the couch. “You don’t want to do that because then he’d bleed out before we can get any information.”
“How are you so calm? He’s been with Francesca, and he tried to kidnap her tonight. Why aren’t you begging to rip him limb from limb?”
I shrug. “Shooting him helped a little, like rage therapy, but underneath the surface, I’m still pissed. Besides, Chessie is a grown woman, and we weren’t together. Do I like that he’s touched her or made her happy? No, but it’s something I have to deal with and accept.”
“That’s bullshit. She never should have left.” He gets up and heads toward the stairs to the main floor of their house.
“That wasn’t our decision to make, and I’ll never make her feel guilty for choosing to leave and pursue a degree. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need some answers.”
He doesn’t say anything as I push past him and head to the large metal door. I enter my personal code on the keypad and push the heavy door open.
I wait until the door is shut behind me to step deeper into the dark room.
There’s only one light on and it’s the one directly over the man slumped in the foldable metal chair.
His arms and legs are zip tied to the chair. His leg is bandaged, like someone medically treated him. It had to be Joey or Spencer. They are the only two, besides me, that know how to treat a gunshot wound.
My footsteps echo off the concrete floor.
The man snaps his head up as I get closer. His blank expression turns into a smirk as I step into the light. He cracks a hollow laugh as I step up to his chair.
“Did they really send their worst shooter in here to interview me?” His gaze flicks down to his gunshot wound.
I scoff. “I’m not the worst shooter. The only reason you are alive right now is because I need answers.”
“You’ll have to find them somewhere else. I’m not a rat. I take my oath very seriously, and if you were a real mafia man, you would know what happens once you betray your family.”
My fist flies through the air before connecting with his cheek. He acts as if the punch was a feather hitting him, despite the angry red mark growing on his face.
Damn, it felt good to wipe that smirk off his face. I might not be a real mafia man, but I’d do anything to protect Francesca and her family.
“Let’s try this again. I’ll ask you a question and you answer it. If you don’t, I will inflict more and more pain. You got it?”
He doesn’t answer or nod his head. Instead, he spits out a mouthful of blood.
I take a few steps away from him. “I’ll take that as a yes. Let’s start with an easy one. What’s your name?”
He stares at me, blinking from the bright light, but he doesn’t answer my question.
“I’ll give you one last chance to tell me what your name is before-”
He sits up straighter in his chair and squares his shoulders. “Before what? You punch me again? I’m not afraid of you. I know your type. You’re a sucker. Always have been. Always will be.”
My fist lands on his opposite cheek, causing his head to snap to the side. My knuckles sting and when I look down, I see my own blood seeping from the cuts.
“Do you want to answer now?”
His jaw clenches as he takes a deep breath .
I wait a few seconds before throwing another punch. I put more effort into this punch as it lands on the left side of his mouth. Blood spurts out as his lip splits open.
“Jax.” He says before leaning forward and spitting out more blood.
“Jax what?” I growl out.
He’s just fucking with me. I don’t have the patience for this right now.
He glares at me, like he wishes the roles were reversed.
“Jax Brown.”
Without having his driver’s license, I can’t tell if he’s telling the truth or lying.
Why would he lie about his age? Especially with the way this “interview” is going right now.
“What do you want with Francesca Marino?”
He rolls his eyes. “I already told you. I’m her boyfriend.”
“I know what you told me, but you aren’t her boyfriend.”
“Yes, I am.”
I take a step back and cross my arms. “That’s not what she told me, and I just left her in my bed.”
Sure, it might be petty to throw that out there, but he’s pissing me off. I want answers so I can get back to Francesca in my bed.
“We might not have been in a full-fledged ready to get married relationship, but we have been with each other for a long time. ”
“She said she hasn’t talked to you in months. I will always believe her over you.”
“That’s your stupidity. Both of us have been extremely busy. It was the end of the semester. We had finals to worry about. You can believe what you want, but I was invited to her surprise birthday party last weekend before she moved.”
I spin around and pace so he can’t see the surprise on my face.
How could I forget Francesca’s birthday?
I quickly check my mental calendar.
Her birthday isn’t for a few days, but I don’t have a gift for her or dinner plans for her. Her birthday is the day of our first game.
“Wait, you said you didn’t know she moved, but just now, you said you were invited to her party before she moved.”
Jax rolls his eyes. “I didn’t know she moved until her roommate, Mandy, told me. Why would I lie about this?”
I spin around and level my gaze on him. “Because you are a liar! Why were you trying to kidnap her? And you better come up with a better reason besides saying what you were doing wasn’t kidnapping.”
He clamps his mouth shut.
“Tell me.” I demand, my voice barely above a whisper.
He tilts his head forward and lets his gaze land on the blood-soaked ground.
I clench my fist and aim towards his stomach. He lets out a grunt as soon as my fist makes contact .
I hit him again and again, not letting up until he’s slumped over in his chair with blood dripping from several cuts.
“How do you know the Rossis? Do you work for them?” I ask, taking several steps back to refrain from hitting him some more.
He tilts his head up to look at me. “I was at college for the past two years. Do you think they had operations that far away?”
“Savannah is pretty fucking far from New York. Why did they come down here? Were they spying on the Marinos?”
Why else would they move this close to Arturo?
“I don’t know, and I don’t care. All I wanted was to get Francesca back.”
“By kidnapping her?”
“Actually, I found out some information and wanted to tell her in person.”
“What information?” What could he know that we didn’t? That Francesca didn’t even know.
“I found out that Francesca’s mother is alive.”
“Bullshit. She died in a car accident years ago.” Everyone knows this.
He shakes his head. “No, she didn’t. She faked her death and stayed in New York.”
There’s no way Francesca would know this and not tell me. Especially after tonight.
Jax cackles and rubs it in. “Oh, so she didn’t tell you? I guess the two of you aren’t as close as you think you are.”
I have to tell the family. This is life-changing news .
Punching him one last time, I turn around and head to the large metal door. I close and lock it behind me, leaving Jax bloodied and on the verge of unconsciousness.
Without cleaning up, I jog up the stairs, taking them two at a time.
“Joey?” I call out as soon as I’m on the main floor of the house.
“What’s up?”
“We need to meet with your father now.”
His expression hardens as he gives me a nod. “He’s already waiting.”
I follow Joey to the large office and take my normal seat towards the end of the table.
Arturo looks up from his laptop. “Good news, I hope.”
“His name is Jax Brown, and it’s clear he’s one of them. He mentioned his oath, said he wasn’t a rat, and didn’t really tell me anything outright.”
Joey pulls his chair out and plops down on it. “So what’s the news?”
I glance from Joey to Arturo. “He said he wanted to talk to Francesca because her mother is alive and living in New York.”
Arturo’s expression doesn’t change, but Joey slams his hand down on the table. “He’s fucking lying. Mom wouldn’t do that.”
“That’s what I thought at first, but I don’t think he is. He seems pretty sure, and he already told Francesca. ”
Joey scoffs. “Did she say anything to you about it when the two of you talked tonight?”
“No, she didn’t say anything. Why wouldn’t Chessie tell me about it?”
“Give her a chance to explain things when you get back.”
Yeah, I can mention it and see what she says.
Arturo clears his throat, causing all eyes to turn to him. “Don’t let her know you told Joey and I. I want to see what she has planned first.”
A slight stabbing pain radiates through my heart as I feel conflicted but eventually agree. “She’s going to see the cuts on my hands and ask what’s going on.”
“You can tell her about the interrogation and tell her what he said about her mother, but she will not know that we know anything about it.”
“Yes, sir.” I say before standing up. “I’ll see you in a few hours.”
My mind plays the interrogation on replay as I head back to my apartment. My body moves on autopilot as I navigate through the lobby and up the stairs.
Rich aromas fill the hallway before I even open my door.
As soon as the door opens, she turns to look at me. There are cookies cooling on the counter, a pot of tomato sauce on the stove, and a delicious smelling lasagna being pulled out of the oven.
She must have been cooking since I left. “I thought I told you to rest.”
She shrugs. “I was worried. ”
I slowly walk over to her. “Can we talk?”
She raises her eyebrow, but nods. “Uh, sure.”
I reach out and grab her hand to lead her into the living room.
“Oh. My. God. Rhett, what happened to your hands?”
“I was interrogating Jax and he wouldn’t talk, but when he did, he told me your mother faked her own death and is living in New York. I needed to tell you so you weren’t blindsided.”
She glances at our picture on the entertainment stand. “Yeah, he said my mom was shacked up with his dad.”
I sit up straighter. “Wait, his dad?”
“Yeah, the Rossi boss?” She looks at me, confused.
“Wait, he’s a Rossi?”
“Yeah, did you not know that?”
Son of a fucking bitch. That asshole lied to me. I wonder if Arturo and Joey know they have the son of the Rossi boss in their custody.
“Don’t worry, I have an idea. I’m going to get someone to look into it first before we storm the Rossi estate.”
“Who?” I ask, wondering where her mind is going.
“My cousin.”
AJ would be good to have on our side, and he already knows where to look since he’s from New York.
“Great idea. Call him now. ”
She glances at the clock on the microwave. “It’s almost four in the morning.”
“And he can sleep on the flight to New York.”
“That’s not the cousin I was thinking of. I was thinking of Angelica because she already lives in New York. No flights needed.”
I nod. “That’s even better. Everyone is awake at five in the morning in New York, anyway.”
She grins and stares at me. “Well, I kind of already called her.”
“Great. Now I can carry you back to bed before I have to head to practice in five hours.”
“You need sleep.” She reprimands me like I’m a schoolboy.
“No, I need you.” I growl out before picking her up and carrying her to my bed. She squeals and smacks my ass.
“Rhett, you are impossible.”
“Impossibly hard for you.” I grin, as if I just won the fucking lottery.
As long as I have Francesca by my side, we will figure things out as we go.