Chapter 18 #2
She nods at him. “Yeah. I think Nico’s mad because I didn’t stay in the closet like he told me to.”
“I’m not mad,” I tell her. “But when I wake up tomorrow with fully gray hair, it’ll be your fault.”
Wraith drags Edwin inside along with them. Edwin looks about two seconds from passing out or peeing himself. “We found this one lurking in the hallway. Right below an open vent cover.”
Fury ignites. “Edwin.”
“He let us in,” Gio adds helpfully. “Showed us where to get into the ductwork and told us where to go to get to your place.”
Sofia turns to Edwin, her shock evident. “But. You were so nice. And you told me about the diner—” Her mouth drops. Horror fills her gaze. “You set me up.”
“Not exactly,” he replies. “They were already looking for you. I just… helped.”
“I’m going to kill you,” I grit out. “You fucking piece of shit. You knew. And you sent her out there. Then you had the fucking nerve to tell me about it?”
Wraith gives Edwin a hard shake. “Don’t lie,” Wraith snarls.
Edwin winces. “I couldn’t have you thinking I was involved. When it didn’t work. I needed to cover my tracks.”
I’m going to kill him. I don’t care if I go to prison. It would be worth it.
“Do we know who sent them?” Houdini asks.
Tamping down my rage, I reply, “Not yet. Gio was about to tell me. And then he’s going to convince his piece of shit boss to come here to explain himself.”
Gio looks up at me. “And you promise not to hurt—”
“I won’t. I promise. Now. Tell. Me.”
He sighs. “It’s Luca Caruso. He’s the one who sent us.”
“What?” I couldn’t be more shocked. “The head of the Cosa Nostra?”
“The Don,” he agrees. “And yes. We came on his orders.”
Ah, fuck, this is bad.
The Cosa Nostra wants Sofia? The fucking Don? Luca Caruso, one of the most feared men in all of Manhattan, wants my Sofia?
Not that I’m backing down. It doesn’t matter who he is. I’m putting an end to this bullshit. Once and for all.
It’s been almost an hour since Gio called his boss—well, his boss, who passed him on to his boss, who finally put him in touch with Caruso—explaining that he, Dave, Benito, and Edwin were in trouble and needed help.
Caruso wasn’t going to come until I grabbed the phone from Gio and snarled, “This Gio of yours is a real talker. But I bet you knew that. I wonder, if I keep him here for a couple of days, how much he’ll tell me about your organization. ”
“I’ll be there,” Caruso snapped. And then he muttered a string of curses before hanging up.
So, here we are, waiting in my condo for the damn Don of the Cosa Nostra to show up. Something I never imagined as a possibility ever in my life.
Sofia is in the bedroom again, and hopefully she’ll stay there this time.
My four captives, now including that traitorous piece of shit Edwin, are all restrained on the living room floor.
Knight, Houdini, Wraith, and Jester have all taken up positions around the room, ready to jump to my aid if I need it.
While I wait for Caruso’s arrival, I sort through my options.
Kill him on sight is one of them. But I have a feeling he’ll come with guards, so that will make things more difficult.
I can get close to him and kill him with my bare hands.
I can try to bargain with him, offering to pay double, triple, quadruple whatever the other person paid.
Except when does the Cosa Nostra take money for hits? As far as I know, the upper echelon of the organization doesn’t bother itself with things like that. They might eliminate someone who betrayed them, but to seek out an unrelated target? No.
Could Sofia have gotten mixed up with the mafia through one of her cases? It’s possible, but given the timing, I don’t think so.
So what is it, then? Why did they coordinate this attack? And why was Sofia the target and not me?
A heavy thud on the front door pulls my attention to it.
Everyone in the room tenses.
Wraith strides to the door and stands to its side. He nods at me. I lift my chin in return.
I raise my gun to low ready. My jaw sets.
Out of the corner of my eye, I spot Jester and Houdini do the same. And though I can’t see Knight, standing behind me, I can feel him getting into position.
Wraith unlocks the door, opens it, and smoothly steps to the side. His Sig goes up.
Just beyond the doorway, still standing in the hallway, five men stand in diamond formation. Four guards, my guess, and the one in the middle, Caruso.
“Not much of a greeting,” the man in the middle says. “And you expect us to come in like this?”
“Have your guards lower their weapons,” I reply, “and we’ll lower ours.”
There’s a brief conference among the five men. Then the man who spoke says, “Fine.”
We wait for the four guards to lower their weapons. Then me and my friends do the same. Once all the guns are pointed at the floor, I jerk my chin in a come inside gesture. “Get in here before someone sees you.”
Once Caruso and his guards come inside, Wraith quickly closes the door behind them. Caruso scans the room, scowling when he sees the four men zip tied on the floor. I inspect Caruso, who, now that I’m closer to him, I recognize as the man I’ve read about on the news.
Luca Caruso. Don Caruso. Son of Alonzo Caruso, who died of cancer five years ago, leaving the position open for his son to take over. But from the few articles I read at the time, it was a bloody struggle for power, with several underbosses fighting to take the position instead.
But Luca Caruso won out. And now, against all odds, he’s in my condo.
“Well,” Caruso says, “I have to say, this is unexpected. Being blackmailed into coming here.”
“It was unexpected for me, too,” I retort. “Waking up to find three of your men here. And this one—” I kick Edwin’s leg. “Who I’m assuming is one of yours, as well.”
Caruso gives Edwin a dismissive glance. “Him? He’s nothing. Just a pissant associate. The others… Very disappointing.”
Cutting right to the chase, I ask, “Why did you send them here?”
He smirks. “That’s why you wanted me to come here? You could have asked that on the phone.”
“No.” I advance towards him. The four guards raise their weapons. My friends do the same. “Whatever you want with her, it ends now. Money? I’ll give it to you. You want to ensure she doesn’t talk? I’ll make sure she doesn’t. Just tell me. What is it?”
Caruso stares at me. Then he laughs. “You really don’t know?”
“Or I could kill you now,” I threaten. I aim my Sig at him. “I guarantee I’ll get a shot off before any of them can. And I won’t miss.”
“It wouldn’t keep your precious Sofia safe. The contract is already out there.”
“Then end it,” I growl. “Whatever you want. I’ll do it.”
“I could just kill you,” he muses. “After all, it’s partly your fault, too.”
“What?”
“Don’t!” Sofia comes running into the living room. “Don’t hurt him!”
Four guns swivel towards her.
I lose another ten years of my life. “Sofia. Get in the damn bedroom.”
“No.” She has that stubborn look in her eyes. “No.” Turning to Caruso, she says, “If it’s me you want, then I have the right to know why. And leave Nico out of it.”
Caruso assesses her. Then he gestures with his hand for his guards to lower their weapons. “You’re bold. I appreciate that. But it doesn’t change what you did.”
“What did I do?” she asks. “I’m not involved with the mafia.”
“Involved, no. But you stuck your nose where it didn’t belong. And now one of my valued associates, one who’s helped the family for over twenty years, is in jail. Everything he did for us is over. Do you know what a massive inconvenience that is?”
A sick feeling sweeps through me.
“This is about my father, isn’t it?” I ask.
He nods. “I guess I can understand why he didn’t tell you. Not when you wouldn’t join his company.”
My teeth grind. “What. Did. He. Do?”
Caruso crosses his arms over his chest. “Elio Parisi. He was desperate for money to save his company. And it just so happened he was installing a security system in one of my father’s apartment buildings.
He knew who my father was, of course. Everyone knew back then.
And Elio, he saw an opportunity. In exchange for money, he’d do installs in the buildings we wanted.
Buildings our valuable associates owned.
And he’d provide untraceable access whenever we wanted. ”
Hatred for my father burns white-hot. “So he’s been working for you all along.”
“Not entirely for us,” Caruso replies. “He had plenty of his own clients. But he’s been in our pocket since then. It’s been very useful. Until—” He glance at Sofia. “She had to stick her nose into it. She was going to bring us down—”
“I didn’t know!” Sofia blurts. “I was just trying to help a woman with her stolen jewelry. And I saw a connection to Elio’s company. But I didn’t know it had anything to do with the mafia.”
“Elio said you targeted him. Because of what happened with his son. He said you were manipulating his son to gain access. So you could take the company down.”
“I didn’t know,” she repeats. Tears thicken her voice. “I wasn’t trying to take anyone down. I wasn’t targeting Elio. And I would never have manipulated Nico that way. Ever.”
“How did Edwin fit into this?” I ask. “These three, I get it. But him? Was he working for you or my father?”
“That’s a great question,” Caruso replies edgily. “Because I didn’t even know about this… issue with Sofia until Elio was arrested.”
Everyone turns to look at Edwin. He stares at the floor. Wraith walks over to Edwin and kicks him. “Talk.”
“I know Elio,” Edwin whispers. “I used to work in one of the buildings he did installs for. And he would pay me for information sometimes. Leads. So when he heard about Sofia, he asked me to keep an eye out for her. Let him know if she showed up, looking for Nico.”
“So you could send her off to be beaten?” I roar. “You fucking bastard!”