Chapter 13
Vincenzo
She’s as attracted to me as I am to her, but thinks the worst of me at the same time and wants me to fucking buy her. If I thought Gallini would sell her, I’d do it in a fucking heartbeat.
I contemplate what she’s said, letting the options weigh out in my mind. Never in a thousand years did I expect her to go there. Buy her? I let it resonate. It’s not a bad reason for her to think she’s being kept here, at least for now.
It would eliminate her demanding that we tell Massimo, and it would give me the time I need to help her overcome the trust issues.
Surely after what we’ve shared and not being handed over to Gallini she should trust me a little bit more, even if my last name is DeLuca.
No matter what she’s been told about my family in the past or what she thinks she heard on that fucking phone call.
It would be starting our relationship on a lie, but fuck, I’ve already done that, and I’ll deal with her wrath about that rather than see her die at the hands of that sadistic bastard. I decide to circumvent the question. She’s going to think what she wants regardless of what I say.
“You’re mine now. I’m keeping you. I’m still contemplating how.” It’s all I’m telling her for now.
If I thought she’d be pissed, she’s not.
Anna knows the life, from a female’s perspective far better than I.
The females are the ones who are usually bartered, for position, power, marriage arrangements for family mergers, you name it, they are the ones who seal the family’s future in many cases throughout the crime family lands.
Yet she does not seem upset but instead accepting of the fact.
“However I decide to handle it I’ll keep you from Gallini. You’ll stay with me.”
“Are you going to rape and torture me? Try to impregnate me with a baby that you can call your son?”
Her words gut me to the very core…
I may know much of what she’s been through in the past but clearly not all.
My chest pumps with unprecedented fury and a gut wrenching need to make that fucker pay from the grave but for her sake I keep my voice controlled.
“Of course not. I find our mutual attraction quite satisfactory, and protection can be arranged. I assumed it was, the pills in your purse, I had them put on the bathroom counter. Am I mistaken?”
She shrugs. “I’m unable to bear children so it’s a moot point. I was just trying them to keep the monthlies tolerable, but it didn’t work.”
My chest tightens, kicking myself for not learning the full extent of the brutality of Bastian’s dead brother.
He’s lucky he’s deader than fuck or he would find himself dead by my own hands after what she just said.
“We’ll talk in more length about the arrangement.
For now, simply know there will be rules, but we’ll need to discuss those later. I’m late for a meeting.”
I need to get out of here, blow off some steam, punch something to let some of this boiling rage out after learning of what he did.
It’s not that I didn’t suspect after carrying her from Barcelo’s hideout that night battered and broken that she had been raped but hearing it from her lips, and what he caused, is like a kick in the gut that makes you so sick you may not ever be the same again.
That fucking sadistic bastard. I barely make it out of the room before bile fills the back of my throat leaving me striding quickly for the toilet in my own room.
Almost fifteen minutes later, I rise from the floor next to the toilet, the rage fueling my vow of revenge for the sins of the Gallinis endured by my angel.
Barcelo Gallini may not be here to pay, but his brother, Bastian, he’s about to come face to face with the DeLuca devil himself not for what he’s done, but for what he intends to do to my angel if ever he gets the chance.
He’ll never get the chance, but he’ll pay for his intent just the fucking same.
This afternoon was supposed to end so fucking differently, a conversation to let her know she no longer needed to be afraid of Gallini, that she was staying with me, and with her ending underneath me while I fucked her into tomorrow.
None of which occurred.
The thought of that prick’s hands anywhere near her and especially causing so much harm keeps me moving at a rapid pace out of my own penthouse and toward the door to Nicolo’s.
I use my thumbprint to his penthouse, not bothering to knock, knowing he’s still in his office getting everything coordinated before the meetup with Massimo while making sure all of our soldiers have explicit orders down to the very letter.
Nicolo looks up from his laptop. “Second time today. Do come in and take a seat,” he drawls. I slump into the seat, and his gaze meets mine. “What’s the matter?”
“No one, not anyone takes Bastian Gallini out. That bastard is mine. You tell everyone of those fucking soldiers that unless their very life is in danger, and I mean no other option is left but to take him out, they capture him and leave him for me. Capisce?”
His brow furrows. “Sure, but can I ask why?”
My chest is so fucking tight, I just can’t even get the words out. “Maybe one fucking day but not today.”
He nods. “Consider it done, Vincenzo. I’m glad you’re here anyway.
I was just going to call you. Massimo Roselli apparently went to Addie’s house personally.
Our informant said he brought his soldiers and spent over an hour talking with her alone in the privacy of the office she works out of when she’s at her parents. ”
I’m surprised it took him this long to round back to her again but burning half the city down looking for Anna clearly took priority.
“That’s exactly what I would try to do, but she wasn’t lying when she told our soldiers the last thing that Anna told her was that she was waiting for her service to pull up. ”
Nicolo nods thoughtfully. “She told them the same thing she told us that night. She ordered a car to pick Anna up. It arrived moments after she got in the wrong car with those fucks. Our soldiers tracked it down and confirmed it, so we know she’s not lying”
“Then there’s nothing to worry about. Massimo’s going to get the same story from Addie that we got.
Addie is her friend and she fucking knows Anna has a far better chance with us than she does with Massimo right now.
The Gallinis, they know he orchestrated Anna’s fake death.
They’re not the forgiving kind. If I were him, I’d have Anna’s sister Sophia on lockdown too, just like we do with Lanah. ”
He spins his cell phone on the desk in front of him.
“I don’t disagree, but she didn’t exactly spill the information for us that night in the casino until the men got in her face.
She may not have as much allegiance to us as you believe, Vincenzo.
Massimo has been trying to get her to work for him for the last six months. Her allegiance may just be to him.”
My blood races. “If he hadn’t let her go traipsing across the state, hell, Addie too for that matter. They’re both as guilty as the other for having her identity learned.”
He stands and goes to the far corner and pours himself a cup of coffee. His vice of choice. “Wanna cup?”
“Sure.”
Nicolo brings me a strong cup of Fazenda Santa Ines, a premium bean grown in the Mantiqueira Mountains of Brazil. Gianni and his cigars, Nicolo and his penchant for a high-end cup of coffee. Agosto a penchant for a different female under him every night of the week.
“Where’s Agosto?” I ask.
“He’s been down at the docks and the foremen aren’t fucking happy, I can tell you that.
Three shipments in the last month that were supposed to go out inconspicuously on charter boats come up missing?
Agosto’s had every fucking one of them going through their crews with a fine-tooth comb and they came up with a couple of rats today. ”
“You know who they’re working for yet?”
“In the warehouse as we speak. Not confirmed but I’d put money on the fucking Sarones and now that we know who’s backing them, we know they’re probably greasing palms far better than before down at the docks.”
One fucking thing after another with those Sarones. “Put a payday on any intel coming to us about any Sarone reaching out, a payday better then they’d be getting for turning.”
His eyebrow arches. “Pay them to be loyal? The fuck is that?”
“Times are changing, Nicolo. Papa saw it already. It’s not paying them to stay loyal, it’s making sure they know their loyalty is seen, and rewarded. Capisce? Do this for me, no?”
He nods. “I guess it’s one way.”
“Smart ass. When you’re the boss, we do it your way, okay?”
He laughs. “I’m happy right where I’m at. I’ll make the call. In the meantime, we’re going to lean on the rats we caught and find out who’s paying them, how much, and what more they know. Any issues with that, boss?”
I nod. “Not a fucking one. You and Len go over what we raked in with the games for the weekend? All the debts paid up?”
Nicolo smiles. “It’s like you have a crystal ball. Len and I just went over them not two hours ago. All the casino numbers got loaded into the online books while I was sitting with him, pretty fucking impressive if you ask me. Pull them up on the site. You’ll be happy.”
“And the debts?”
He nods. “Yeah, we’ve got two outstanding with no chance in hell of paying up in the next year much less a month. The fucking game masters are going to need to start running those games with solid dollars. They’ve already been talked to, and the next one’s coming out of their own pockets.”
I nod. “You set a limit?”
“They fucking had a limit and exceeded it. That’s why the talk wasn’t so friendly.”
I swallow the last of my coffee, confident that he’s got a handle on the games. If anything ever happens to me, I know he’ll step in and make a hell of a boss. “Good job, Nicolo. Papa would be proud.”
His eyes meet mine. “What’s up with you, lately?”
“I’ve got work to do. I can’t stand around shooting the shit with you all day,” I tell him, leaving his office and heading for the door.
A shuffling sound behind me causes me to turn as I reach the outer door of his penthouse. He leans against the doorframe of his office. “You okay?” he asks.
I wave a hand in the air. “Just work to do. I’ll fill you in later,” I tell him, making my way back to my own office to do a little research on our enemies, because I haven’t yet shared with Nicolo quite all the secrets.
If strings are being pulled from overseas by the Gallini elders I need the big guns for this one, especially. I hit the contact and listen as a series of clicks and soft static noises confirm each of the relays until at last, the line is secure and reaches the man halfway across the globe. “Hello?”
“Vincenzo here.”
“It’s been too long my son.”
“It has, but better for all involved I’m afraid.”
“Your ma, brothers, and Lanah? I get all the pictures you send but miss their voices.”
“I’m sure you do. We all miss you too, but better to be alive than at the bottom of the sea.”
He knows time, even on a secure line, is limited. “Why the call?”
The Gallinis and old man Cassone tried to merge, but Barcelo backed out.
Ended up working with another family. Instead of marrying Anna, Cassone’s eldest daughter, he beat the living shit out of her and left her for dead.
She’s the one I was telling you about. The one I went in to get to repay the debt we owed to the Rosellis when Agosto fucked up a while back. ”
“The one who ended up dying?”
“I thought she was dead. Everyone underground thought she was dead, because that’s the word Massimo Roselli put out. But, just like you, she’s very much alive. Somehow the Gallinis found out and they’re coming for her.”
“I’m afraid to ask what it has to do with us.”
Exactly what I thought he’d fucking say. “I have her, and I’m not giving her back.”
My father, a man of many words only a few years ago is quiet and thoughtful on the other end of the phone. He’s taming that temper we all know old man DeLuca to have when his empire or family is in danger. “The Gallinis know about you or are they just going after her?”
“I wasn’t sure at first. Looks like the Gallini elders are financing Bastian’s merger back in the States with the Sarones.
The Sarones have been bumping up against our territory for months and we just took out most of their men.
They’re weak, the Gallinis move in and merge, and now we have neighbors we don’t want. ”
“The same neighbors who want the Cassone girl. No fucking coincidence there.”
We have some of the Sarone men in the warehouse, they’re pretty close to talking but I need information yesterday about the Gallini elders’ involvement and long-range plans. You still have underground ears?”
“Call me back tomorrow. I’ll learn what I can.”
“Thank you.”
“Vincenzo?”
“Yeah, Pa?”
“This Cassone, does she mean something to you?”
I smile, same fucking question all damn day long. It seems too fucking new to be sharing, especially since I haven’t even shared it with her but if that’s what it takes to get the information I need to protect her, fine. “She does. Anna’s mine.”
“Then keep her and the family safe. Talk to you tomorrow. Love you, son.”
“Love you too. Thanks.”
I disconnect, glancing at the second hand of my watch. Just under the wire. Nobody has to tell him about phones, taps, wires and connectivity angles. We have the best men in the world making a small fucking fortune to ensure we have the technology and protocols to safeguard his life.
And that’s exactly what Massimo Roselli should have demanded for Anna.
I head out of my office on the way to the shower.
Two more hours and I plan to have Anna literally eating out of my hands.
Because if she thinks buying her keeps her safe, makes her trust me and gives me a legitimate reason, at least in her eyes, not to allow her to call Massimo or her sister, then that’s what I’ll let her think.
At least until I know she’s completely safe.