Chapter 9
CHAPTER NINE
Fionn
When we hear over the radio that there were shots fired at Espresso Joy, we all run to our cars and head back.
Riley’s sobbing in the car and all I can do is hold her.
The only information we have is that a female was shot.
And that could be anyone. One of the mamas, Daphne, any of the customers that were in the shop.
The other piece of information I heard as we were running out is that the shooters were wearing Feral Raptors cuts. That means Playboy is to blame.
I know that Salvatore will call my zio. Even if he’s sheriff, Lake Renegade has a council that makes the big decisions here.
There are seven men on that council. This is one of the times that they will be getting involved.
And for that I feel a little relief, Riley doesn’t know my family.
But I do, and I know that they won’t let Playboy and his assholes get away with this.
A ten minute drive feels like an hour when you’re worried about people you love. I can feel the fear coming from Riley as I hold her. I kiss her head. We finally get to Espresso Joy and there’s more cop cars and a couple of ambulances. I take Riley’s hand as we run straight to Salvatore.
“They didn’t get who did it. But the witnesses say they had Feral Raptor cuts on.”
“Who got shot?” Riley blurts out.
“RILEY!” we hear Daphne scream, we turn and she’s running towards us.
I watch them hold onto each other for dear life.
I walk over to them and wrap my arms around them both as they cry.
Oliver and I are shielding them from everyone.
I need to find out who got shot. I look around and make sure I see all the mamas and the women that work in the bakery and cafe.
That’s when I realize I don’t see Fiorella, but I see her employees.
And I see Salvatore screaming at one of the officers that was on the scene when we got here. And my heart drops.
“I need to check on Sal, I’m leaving Oliver with you. Stay here and please don’t move.” I say to Riley as I kiss her, she nods at me and I head over to Salvatore.
“Was it Rella?” I ask him as he’s yelling still.
“Fuck, Fionn. They said she was shot, my mamà went with her. Papà is headed there and I have to call Gianluca.”
“Let me do that. Go to the hospital. I can help here.”
“You’re not on duty. You need to take care of Riley. She’s his target.”
“I can do both. I’ll get the girls back to the property. She’ll understand that I need to do things. Now go to the hospital.” I wave Hugh over to us. “Get Sal to the hospital don’t let him drive. No matter what he says.”
“I got him. You should get back to the property.” Hugh says.
“We’re headed there now. Let me know how Rella is.”
I hug both of them before I head back to Riley.
“Omg. Was it really Fiorella that was shot?” Riley sobs.
“It was. I need to get you to the property. You’ll be safe there.”
“Are you going to the hospital?”
“I will after I talk to my Zio.”
“I need to go with you. She was shot because of me.”
“No, mo fhíorghra, it wasn’t because of you.” I say as I hold her.
“Playboy was trying to get me. And he got her instead, I should’ve been there.” She sobs harder.
I hold her tighter as Daphne helps me get her to the car.
Oliver gets us to the property, it’s on lockdown and the gates are locked.
There’s three guards working it, they let us in and we get her to our house.
I make sure Daphne and Oliver know not to let her leave.
Then I head to the Cimaruta clubhouse to talk to the council.
Leonardo Mancini is the only one of the council missing. His triplet brothers, Enea and Antonio are pacing.
“This bastard is crazier than we thought.” Antonio snaps.
Enea gets off his phone.
“Fiorella’s in surgery. Leo will call us as soon as there’s news. But when we’re done, I’m headed over there. Graínne’s waiting for me at home. I had Seamus drive all of the women home.”
“Do we know where Playboy is?” I ask.
“No. But we have guys out looking. And I’ve called Scrapper, they’re getting on a flight now, instead of tomorrow.”
“Do you still think that he’s on our side?” Zeus asks.
“I do. But I want to look him in the eyes before I say I’m one hundred percent sure.” My Zio says.
“I agree. We’ve made mistakes before, let’s hope Scrapper isn’t making the same mistakes T-Rex did.”
“The property is on full lockdown. No one leaves without permission. We have Celestino, Sebastiano, Area and Kostas putting signs up at the bakery, cafe, coffee shop and the boutique. They’ll be closed until we find Playboy.
Or at least until we can get the upgrades done. ” Panagiotis tells everyone.
“How can I help?” I ask.
“You need to keep your girl safe. And talk to her about the families. We’ve also decided that you can tell Daphne too. But she also needs to know the rules if she decides to leave.”
“Thank you, I’ll make sure they both understand.”
The council closes the meeting, Enea and Antonio head to the hospital while the others stay back to get the rest of the lock down in order. I head home to talk to Riley. I’d rather get this over with now.
“How is Fiorella?” Riley asks as I step through the front door.
“She’s in surgery. They’ll call us as soon as there’s news.”
“Can we go to the hospital?”
“We can, but first I need to talk to you and Daphne.”
They both come and sit with me in the living room.
“I need to tell you both something. But this something comes with rules.”
“Rules?” Daphne frowns.
“Yes.”
Riley smacks Daphne.
“You know you can trust us. This is our town now, our family.” She says as Daphne nods.
“Since you’re both from Chicago, you’ve heard of the Chicago Mafia, right?”
They both nod.
“Don’t tell me you know them too…” Daphne says as she stares at me.
“You know them too. The Mancini family? They’re the Chicago Mafia. Enea is the boss. As for my Zio? He’s the president of the Cimaruta MC. I know the rumors about both families. But they’re good peole. And they’ve been working on making things better.”
“What are the rules you’re talking about?”
“Even though people know about the families, we don’t talk about it to outsiders. I had to get permission before telling you both.”
“So you’re serious? We’re talking mafia and MC like the kind you hear about in the news? They’re criminals?” Daphne asks.
“They’re not criminals.” I frown. “You’ve met them.”
Daphne opens her mouth and then shuts it again after Riley looks at her.
“They’re family, Daph. No matter what they’ve done or will do. We have their backs, because I know in my heart that they have ours. But why do I feel like there’s more?” Riley says to me.
Oliver starts chuckling.
“You laugh at the weirdest times.” Riley says to him.
“Well, the other part involves Oliver. But that’s one I need to tell you when you can see what I mean. If I were to tell you, you won’t believe me.”
“Try us.”
“The Athanasious and Nikolaidis’ are shifters.”
Oliver clears his throat and I laugh.
“There are two new families that have joined them. And yes, they’re shifters too.”
“Is shifter code for like greek mafia or MC?” Riley asks.
Oliver and I laugh.
“No, baby. They’re actual shifters.”
“Yeah, we need to show them. Let me ask Zeus if I can.” Oliver says as he pulls his phone out to call Zeus to ask.
“You’re both delusional, right? Shifters are make believe.” Daphne laughs. “But I love your sense of humor. Even if it comes out at weird times.”
As she’s saying this, a snake comes out and comes over to us.
“HOLY FUCK. Where did that fucking snake come from?” Daphne screams as she jumps up on the couch. Riley seems like she’s frozen and her eyes are as big as saucers.
Oliver comes over to me and climbs onto my shoulders.
“No. No. No. You’re not a snake lover are you?” Riley says.
I’m trying not to laugh because she’s still not moving. All of a sudden Oliver launches himself at the girls and all hell breaks loose. Before I can stop her, Daphne grabs a chef knife from my kitchen and comes back screeching like a banshee trying to stab Oliver.
“No!” I laugh as I grab the knife from her.
“I have to kill it!” she screams.
“Omg. Where did it go?” Riley says as her eyes are still bugging out. “Are we going to die? Do we know if it’s poisonous? What the fuck is going on?”
Apollo, Seraphina and Francesco come barreling into my house, guns drawn.
“Whoa! What the fuck, guys?” I say as I step in front of them.
“We heard screaming.” Apollo says as he’s looking around.
“Where’s Oliver?” Seraphina asks.
Seraphina is Oliver’s older sister and she looks worried.
“I’m here.” He answers as he’s buttoning his jeans and putting on his shirt as he’s coming out of one of the bedrooms.
“Ohhh. You were showing them your snake?” she laughs.
“Well that could be taken in a couple of different ways.” Francesco laughs.
“Why are you all laughing? You didn’t see the snake that just tried to kill us! Where is it?” Daphne screams more.
“You’re talking about a real animal snake right?” Seraphina giggles.
“Okay, seriously, you need to stop screaming. Oliver wouldn’t kill you. He might bite you, but never kill you.” Apollo says as he’s putting his gun away.
“What does Oliver have to do with all this? I’m not worried that Oliver will kill us. It’s the snake and I know it’s still here.”
“Wait what do you mean ‘animal snake’?” Riley asks as she’s looking around at all of us. “Are you saying that snake that was trying to eat us was Oliver? That’s not possible.”
While Riley’s trying to figure out if she believes me about Oliver, Apollo comes out of one of my bedrooms. The only reason I know it’s Apollo is because Ares is still in the room with us.
I’m not actually sure how he managed to shift in the room and squeeze himself out without destroying my house.
But he’s squeezing his way down my hallway and I’m pretty sure he thinks he’s being quiet.
But it considering he’s filling up my entire hallway, he’s not as quiet as he thinks he is.
“We’re. Going. To. Die.” Daphne says as she turns and sees him.
Apollo-bear finally wiggles his way into the living room where he takes up a lot of it. As a human, he stands six foot six. But as a polar bear? When he’s sitting, he’s about six feet. But standing? He’s pushing over eight feet. He opens his mouth and smiles at everyone.
“Back away slowly. I heard they won’t chase you if you don’t give them a reason to.” Daphne says quietly.
Apollo makes a noise like he’s annoyed. Seraphina goes over to him and kisses his muzzle.
“Why are you touching the killer bear?” Riley asks.
“Apollo would never kill any of us. If someone was hurting me, he might…”Seraphina smiles as she continues to let Apollo nuzzle her.
“Did you just call that killer bear, Apollo?” Riley frowns. “Why would you name it after your husband?”
Daphne is gripping Riley’s arm and they’re trying to back away from Apollo-bear. But there’s really no where to go.
“I didn’t name it after Apollo. That IS Apollo.” Seraphina laughs.
“Are you all fucking with us? How is that Apollo?” Riley whispers. “Holy fuck. You weren’t joking when you were explaining that they’re shifters?”
I shake my head no.
“A-are you a shifter too?” Riley asks Seraphina.
“I am. I’m a Taipan snake. Our family are all Taipan snakes.”
“Wait. You’re a snake, like the one that tried to kill us. And Apollo’s a polar bear and you’re married?”
“Yes. There’s a lot to us being shifters. One day we’ll sit down and talk.” Seraphina smiles.
“I’d like that. Because I’m still not sure that I’m not hallucinating.”
I laugh more. “Why don’t we all head to the hospital. Fiorella will love to hear this story when she’s out of surgery and awake.”
I have to believe that Fiorella will be okay. Our family can’t lose anyone because of Playboy.