Chapter 27
Vincenzo
It’s going to be a while before Papa walks into that room. If he really does plan to come, but I have never known that man to say something he doesn’t mean. He’ll be here.
I gave him my word that I wouldn’t be the one to tell the family, that I would let him do it himself as long as he was alive, and I’ll keep that confidence, but looking at Nicolo, Gianni, Agosto and Lanah watching our mom in such bad shape doesn’t make this fucking easy at all.
The doc gives me the nod. “It’s time, we need the patient.”
One by one each of her children whisper something quietly in her ear and kiss her forehead, all with grim features, all of us boys seeing loss of life, but never feeling the imminent threat of loss of our mom like this before.
Lanah hovers the longest, as if by staying longer she can make it go away, and once her tears start, I step in.
My arm goes around her sagging shoulders and I gather her close.
“Let the doctors take care of her. The sooner we leave, the sooner she can get better.” I fucking hope that’s the truth, because she’s looking at me like she doesn’t quite believe me and I’ve never before seen that look in my little sister’s eyes.
She allows me to guide her from the room, wiping tears as they flow gently down her cheeks. Agosto paces in the waiting room. “I need to get out of here, blow off some steam while I wait.” Gianni nods. “I need a fucking cigar.”
Nicolo turns his phone back on and message after message begin hitting both of our phones at the same time. My eyes go wide digesting what I read. “Lanah can stay with the boys. We need to go.”
He types frantically on his phone, grimacing, and then looks at me. “My guy on the inside over at the Sarone’s sent me a ping. We need to move fast.”
I scowl. “Fucking go where?”
“Our guy on the docks says the Sarones caught Anna taking a boat but she’s drifting toward the north bridge.”
Lanah’s eyes go wide. “Find her! I’ll be fine with the others.” I barely hear her because Nicolo and I are already out the door, racing to the car Terry pulls up to it.
“Out by the north bridge,” Nicolo tells him as Terry peels out of the parking lot and I finish closing the door.
“Fucking get us there yesterday.” Nicolo turns to me.
“They know where she is, right off the edge of the shore, hiding in some brush. What the fuck is she thinking? The Sarones are going to turn her over to Bastian the minute they have her.”
The thought of her in their hands makes my blood run fucking cold.
I swear to god if I find her alive, I’m never letting her out of my sight again.
“What did you find out from Addie when you went to visit her?” I need to keep my mind busy, do anything that will kill time between now and the time we reach her.
We are going to find her, she’s going to be okay, because without her…
I let the thought drift away, because I really don’t have the answer to that question anymore. “Nicolo?”
That locked jaw of his tells me that he either doesn’t want to tell me or doesn’t think I’m going to like the answer. I press him again. “Tell me.”
“That visit was about as unpleasant as having my nuts rung out in court. That woman could spar with the devil and come out as clean as a fucking angel. She gave me the run around with all that legal mumbo jumbo. I had to get a little rough.”
My eyebrow arches. “She defends the families.”
He sighs. “I know it, it’s not like I got real rough, just threatened her a little bit and maybe said a few things I shouldn’t have said.”
“Well, did you find out anything that we didn’t already know or just piss her off?” Nicolo is smooth with the ladies; it’s not like him to let someone get under his skin and knock him off his game.
Nicolo thrums a finger against the cell phone balancing on his leg.
“Apparently, Denato told her that old man Cassone agreed to give Anna to Barcelo in the beginning, but Gallini had conditions. If she couldn’t bear children, the deal was off.
If she could, then after the firstborn the entire estate would belong to the Gallinis.
My head spins with the sudden realization that Gallini nulled the agreement when the fucker made Anna sterile.
Took the ability to bear children away from her at such a young age that it makes me want to hurl.
But the meeting with Massimo just became a different conversation completely.
I watch for car lights or any signs of activity, pulling the gun from the back of my waistband as Terry gets closer to the water’s edge.
The car hits a bump in the road. “Damn, sorry boss.”
I point in between the two of them in the front seat. “There, see that move? It was a flashlight. Get our soldiers down toward the water and surround them.”
Terry nods. “On it, boss. We’ll get her.”
But promises aren’t what I want. I’m not going to calm down until my princessa is in my fucking arms. Just the thought of them touching her in any way causes my chest to pound with unprecedented rage. “Faster,” I growl.
Terry already has the car lights off, far back in the road, and he shuts off the engine. “We’re too close now, boss. We need to move on foot.”
I get out with Nicolo and Terry on my heels. He knows the rules, the protocols about staying in the car but nobody’s barking orders at him today. We need every man available and both Nicolo and I fucking know it.