5. Massimo
Chapter 5
Massimo
T he faint creak from the doorway pulls my attention from the report I’m reviewing. I don’t need to look up to know it’s Daniele—the exhaustion rolling off him mirrors my own. We’ve been working tirelessly, chasing shadows, trying to flush out the people who dared to attack my family. It’s a hunt we won’t stop until their spilled blood is on our hands.
Mattia—Aurora’s uncle—confirmed that we have a rat, somewhere in our ranks, before Aurora shot him in the head for kidnapping her. He thought, under the poor advice of someone in my house, that Romeo would give up everything for Aurora. Maybe he would have, but for a moment, he thought she was the one conspiring against us.
The reminder brings to the surface a thought that I haven’t been able to shake since we got Aurora back. Why frame her if they wanted to use her as bait? Unless that was their play all along. Cut Mattia out—use him to do their dirty work and it doesn’t matter if he dies in the process.
Well, it didn’t work. We will find them and force them to face the consequences of trying to go against us. I won’t stop until they’re dead .
Daniele moves further into the room and I look up from the folder in front of me, welcoming the break. The pile I’ve been assessing has grown over the past couple of hours, with my men having passed through to deliver updates on various aspects of my operations. Numbers tumble through my mind from the financial report, but I blink them away and ask, “What have you got?”
As well as searching for the woman, Anastasia, who tortured Aurora when she was being held captive, Daniele is also searching for Elio Moretti. We’ve been informed by some reliable sources that he has been the one funding the operation to take us down.
Falling onto the couch at the back of the room, Daniele runs a hand down his face and rests his head on the back cushions. “Nothing?” He huffs out a cynical laugh. “We’re no further to finding out who the rat is. Elio is deeper underground than anyone is willing to share, and as you know, there hasn’t been any more activity since Mattia was killed. And given our inability to question him before.” He pauses, raising a pointed brow and leaving me to fill in the rest. “We don’t have any leads to find them. Callum has been monitoring the phones, but again, there’s been nothing. Not a single call has been made from any of the landlines.” His vexation is clear in the bite to his words.
Callum ‘used to’ work for the Irish mafia, but after his father was murdered, he stepped away, moving off the grid and doing odd IT jobs here and there. He’s been instrumental in helping us in our search for the people behind the attacks. More recently, he’s been looking into our phone records after it appeared Haven—the housekeeper Leonardo is tracking down—took a phone call from a number connected to the Russians.
I stand, crossing the room, and taking a seat opposite Daniele in one of the armchairs. Tapping my fingers on the armrest, I exhale heavily. “If we’ve exhausted every avenue, dig deeper. Question everyone—no exceptions. Tell Callum to tap the cellphones of anyone that so much as steps foot on the property. I don’t care how invasive it gets; whatever we need to do to find these bastards, we do it. There isn’t a reality in which they get away with this.”
Even as I issue the order to Daniele, frustration gnaws at me. We’ve been at this for weeks and we’re no closer than we were at the start. The anger burns in my chest, but I shove it down, refusing to allow it to engulf me. I’ll only make mistakes if I do. Our every move has to be calculated and measured, at least until we find them and then I’ll make them wish they’d never crossed me.
Daniele nods, his jaw tightening as he sits forward and rests his elbows on his knees. “ Capisco .” We fall quiet for a moment, the faint hum of the air conditioning the only sound before Daniele asks, “Will Leonardo be returning soon? I could use his help with the meetings, given his knowledge of the men.”
Scrubbing a hand over my chin, I lean back into my chair, crossing my leg over my knee. “No. The situation with tracking down Haven is…” I pause, searching for the right words. “Proving more difficult than first thought. I’ve told him not to return until he’s found her.”
Daniele nods. “I assume you’ve updated Romeo about the extension of my stay?”
Cracking my neck, I reply, “He’s going to be visiting soon for my wedding. Whilst he’s here, we can discuss bringing another person into the fold and strategize on how we can bring this situation to a close, sooner rather than later.”
Keeping his features neutral, Daniele leans forward, holding his hand out to me. “Congratulations, Massimo. I didn’t know you were seeing anyone.”
I huff out a laugh. The irony is not lost on me that Romeo said the exact same thing when I called him with the news. “Thank you. It’s… very new.”
“Well, I can’t wait to meet your bride. She must be quite something to have captured your attention.”
She sure is . Clearing my throat, I reply, “Let’s get back to business. What do you have on the ever elusive Anastasia?”
Daniele chuckles, relaxing back into his seat. “Now, this is an interesting one. I’ve asked around about her with some of the connections Leonardo gave me. She was born in Russia, daughter of a carpenter and baker. Those are the only facts I could gather. She’s a ghost, but with a lot of folklore following her around.
“According to the stories I’ve been told, when she was twelve, her parents sent her and her brother to the US to live with an aunt and uncle. I think the expectation was that she would get an education and build a life for herself, but instead, they were trafficked. There’s no doubt about it, she was groomed into what she is today.”
“A ‘fixer’ of sorts,” I reply, cracking my knuckles.
“That’s one thing to call her. She’s been hired to take out some of the biggest players in our world. Her ability to disappear into the shadows is what makes her lethal. She slips past even the most vigilant of security. We’re lucky we were able to get a description of her from Aurora. Others who have seen her face haven’t lived to describe it.” Daniele pauses, his gaze on the trees swaying under the weight of the storm that’s gathering beyond the rain-splattered window. When he returns his attention to me, he says, “It looks like her brother was in the warehouse where they were holding Aurora. I wouldn’t be surprised if we’re on her shit list, considering none of their men made it out alive when we attacked it.”
Which means she’ll be out there plotting her revenge, and I can add another thing to consider to my already overflowing plate. “Find her,” I reply, my voice a low growl. “And kill her before she convinces someone else it’s worth it to fuck with us.”
“I’m on it.” Daniele stands, heading for the door. When he reaches it, he asks, “Do you want me to bring her back here when I find her?” Something flickers in his gaze. Conflict? Doubt? It doesn’t matter. He’ll do what needs to be done, for the family. For Aurora . They have a unique bond, given the fact that he was the only one who didn’t think she’d betrayed us. If he hadn’t gone digging, she’d have died in that warehouse with none of us knowing the truth.
Rubbing my thumb along the line of my jaw, I reply, “No. Just kill her.”
“Got it.” He jerks his head in confirmation.
When the door clicks shut, I tip my head back, staring at the ceiling. The weight of the betrayal from a man in my own ranks has been sitting on my chest like a lead weight since the warehouse. It’s suffocating, relentless, and a constant reminder that someone I’ve put my trust in has sold us out. A weaker man would have broken by now, but weakness isn’t a luxury I’m afforded. Not now. Not ever .
My focus has to be on finding the rat. They were adamant on getting us out of New York; a drive like that doesn’t just disappear, it festers, waiting for the perfect moment to strike again. They’ll be out there, regrouping, planning their next move, but we’ll find them and when we do, they’ll wish they’d never taken us on.