Chapter Twenty-Eight #2
I grin. "So... An ambush."
Silas nods. "An ambush."
Amalfi isn't someone I've dealt with. It's possible he's hired the Syndicate before. Depending on the job, sometimes it's better not to nose around too much. Other times, it very much is.
But one thing is for certain, he's enjoying the drinks, the conversation with Cade and Silas. And the girl who shoves her breasts in his face and lets him feel her up is an added bonus.
I walk out.
The look on his face is immediate recognition.
We don't know each other, but it's clear he hates all of my family, including me.
And it reminds me of Dad with Lola, of the asshole Dom, and their old-fashioned and skewed ways of blaming an innocent girl for the crimes of her father.
I smile and sit, extending a hand as I put a gun on the table, barrel pointed at him, even though I'm not touching the trigger. "You must be Vincent Amalfi."
"You look like your fucking father."
"I'm not here to discuss him or the past. I'm looking for someone."
He starts to rise, and the bartender thuds a glass on the bar, then picks up a gun, pointing it at Amalfi and gesturing for him to sit down.
Silas draws his gun, holding it.
This is supposed to be no-man's land, even if it's secretly owned by my father. Dad understands the importance of spaces like this, where whoever meets here is safe and can enter alone for secret deals and meetings.
Even Dad is enough of a businessman to enjoy the money.
By pulling guns, we've entered dangerous territory.
But if I'm running things, then I'll use this space to my advantage.
He snarls, "This is neutral, asshole. By crossing lines, you're declaring war."
Cade doesn't move.
Silas remains focused on Amalfi.
My heart is thudding, my stomach acid and lead.
"I'm really not." I'm not going to kill this asshole. I just want to gauge his reaction to my next set of words and hopefully flush Dom out.
"Then what is this?"
"You're helping hide Dom Rebecci. Hand him over, and this never happened."
His eyes glitter with rage. "You think I'm about to betray a loyal associate? I don't think so."
"So, you're protecting him." I look him straight in the eyes.
He doesn't glance away.
Shit, he's tough.
But I can be tougher.
And the lack of denial tells me a lot.
I smile. "Pass on a message. Lola and my sister are off-limits. He might not think a Mancini is protected, but this one is. By the Marino mafia. By me. I can make your life hell. I can destroy you. And I will."
"Those are dangerous words," Amalfi says.
I don't veer. "Pass the message along."
He stands up. "Fuck you. Fuck you to hell and back."
I know I've flung shit into the fan. A man like Amalfi won't take to a word I said. From all accounts, he has a nasty temper.
Even if he's not hiding or helping Dom, he'll speak to him. Rant. Possibly... move him? Kick him out?
It doesn't matter.
We head back to Cade's to monitor the man's movements.
Cade managed to bug his phone and copy all the data on it. Technology is a beautiful thing when you know how to use all the cutting-edge hacking tools.
We'll be able to track him and, hopefully, get details about Dom.
Cade looks at me. "It'll take a bit, but once we can track his movements, we should be able to pinpoint Dom. And you didn't really mean you wanted to talk to him, right?"
"No. The man's currently the walking dead and doesn't know it. No one threatens Lola, and no one touches my sister." Sister. Even if she is not my blood.
A different sort of fury sweeps over me.
And I need to get home, figure out what to say to Dad. "The moment we have anything, we move. But I need to deal with Dad."
Cade shakes his head. "Shit. Good luck with that."
I head out and try to call Dad.
He doesn't pick up.
And the buzzing anger builds.
Not at him for the affair, but for hiding it. Because before, I figured he might not know, but he does. And things make fucking sense now.
The way he treats Lyndall, all of it.
I get off the subway and try him again, making short work of getting home.
There's a familiar sleek black car on the street, one Dad favors.
I narrow my eyes and head up through the gate.
And there's the motherfucker himself, about to knock.
"Father."
His eyes narrow. "Open the fucking door, or I'll take all my men back and leave you without anyone to protect your precious—"
"Sister? You don't care, do you?"
Dad gives me a hard look. "I meant Lourdes Mancini."
I stalk up the stairs and brush by him, opening the door.
He knows that his men just obeyed me and not him by not opening the door, and it makes his step jerkier, more infused with ire.
He rounds on me the moment we get in. "What the fuck have you done, Enzo?"
"Me?"
He jabs a finger in the air in front of my face. "You. I just heard from one of Vincent Amalfi's people. Your actions have consequences, and he just declared war on us. All over a piece of fucking ass you can't stop banging."
"You know nothing. Nothing at all." He's insulting the mother of my baby. And I won't fucking have it.
"You're risking everything for fucking Lourdes Mancini of all people."
"Well, maybe if you admitted the fucking truth—truth I've suspected for a while now—things would be better."
"And what truth is that, Enzo?" Dad shouts back at me. "That you're an idiot?"
"No. The truth about Lola and Lyndall. Their father. The fact that your little second wife preferred Lola's dad's dick. Couldn't get enough and got knocked up by him!"
Dad's expression is cold flint. "You know nothing."
"I know why you treat Lyndall like she's nothing to you. Because she is nothing. To you. Not your flesh. Not your blood. You fucker."
He laughs. "You don't know what you're talking about."
I try to control my anger. "But I do. I've known for a long time and—"
"Fuck it. I'm out of here. Whatever happens is on y—"
A sob comes from my study.
There, in the door, stands Lyndall, tears on her face, betrayal written deeply, and behind her, a horrified Lola.
She looks at me. The force behind her gaze is pure hate.
In fact, their expressions are the same as their eyes go from me to Dad and back to me.
Betrayal.
Horror.
Hate.
Fuck...
"Lyndall..."
"Oh Jesus," Dad mutters.
Lyndall turns and runs.
He looks at me, savagely pointing again. "You caused this. You fix it."
The door slams behind him, and the silence threatens to crush me down to dust.
Shit.
I rub a hand over my face. "Lola—"
"Oh, fuck no. I'm not here to listen to more lies and omissions from you."
"Come on."
But her face says she is not having it. Her body language says the same.
"No. You're a liar and a control freak in all the wrong ways, Enzo. I forgave you. I thought the way you were with the baby was sweet. But it's all just about control, isn't it?"
"Lola—"
"No. You could have told her. You could have told me."
"I didn't—"
"Stop. I will throw up all over you if you tell me any more lies.
And as far as I'm concerned, that's every word out of your mouth.
Yesterday...yesterday, you promised me no more lies.
And yet here we are." She shakes her head.
"It's almost laughable how quickly that all crumbled.
I should have known things would turn to shit. "
She takes in a big, shaking breath.
I reach for her, but she shakes me off and stumbles back, out of reach.
"Lola, please. You know this isn't what I want. And I didn't—"
"What did I just say about me having had enough of your lies?" She shakes her head and wraps her arms around her stomach. Around Squish.
And my heart dies a little.
"Right now...right now I'm not in the mood for you or your lies or anything."
"Lola..."
She meets my gaze. "If you had any sense, you'd give me some space to calm down. Maybe then I'd listen. Maybe then I'd think differently. But right now... no."
Lola turns then, and this time heads to the elevator, pressing the button, as if the stairs are too much after this, as if I've somehow drained her.
But as the doors open, she puts her hand on the open door to stop it from shutting. And she looks back at me.
"You might want to focus your attention and words on your sister." She closes her eyes. "On Lyndall. My sister, I guess, by blood. Yours by virtue of growing up with you."
She shakes her head. "As bad as I'm feeling right now, Lyndall must be feeling a thousand times worse. She doesn't deserve what you did to her. So, grow the fuck up and try to do the right thing for once."