Chapter Thirty-Five
Raya
AROUND TWENTY HOURS LATER, the door beeps open and Luca strolls in with his trademark crooked grin. “Hey, smart girl.”
“You’re visiting me without food?” I straighten up from where I’m sitting by the window and rub behind my ear. “I thought you were my friend, Luca.”
“That’s because I’m here to do you one better.” He winks. “Bust you up outta here.”
“Uh…” I shake my head. “Yeah, I think I’ll pass. I don’t like you enough to die with you.”
He laughs and flops down on the bed. “Nah, just kidding. I’m here to take you back to the villa. Boss’s orders.”
Oh…Oh…”Really?”
“Yup. The Uppers came through for you.” He snaps his fingers. “Chop chop. Pack it up, smart girl. There may or may not be a surprise for you at Brioso Hubb…”
Most certainly may not… “I hope it’s a feast, because I’m famished.”
There’s not much to pack up since I never unpacked to begin with, so it takes less than five minutes to pull on jeans and a long-sleeved black tee, lace up the old combat boots I arrived in, and knot my hair into a tight bun. “Ready.”
Luca gets up and looks me over, then slides on a playful smile and tugs at my ear. “Let’s get you to where you belong, smart girl.”
As we walk down the hall to the elevator, Luca wheeling my suitcase along, I ask, “Is Lorenzo here? What’s his mood like? I want to—”
“They flew out on the chopper a few hours ago,” he says. “Rushed off to some urgent meeting in L.A.”
“Oh, okay.”
Outside, he loads my stuff into the cargo space of his Bronco, and I slide into the backseat where a Soldati is already waiting. Rochi. He was on rotation while I was confined underground.
“Hey,” I greet, bumping my shoulder against his. “You getting on the clock or off?”
His answering smile is jerky, uncertain. “Uh, off. Luca’s giving me a ride home. My car’s at the garage.”
My gaze drops to his hands, rubbing back and forth on his thighs. “Too much caffeine?”
He abruptly stops and grips his knees, giving me another hesitant smile. “Uh, yeah. I’ll definitely have to pop a downer when I get home.”
Luca gets in behind the wheel and pulls off into traffic.
“How’s everything back at the villa?” I ask, slumping in my seat.
“Back to business as usual,” Luca replies. “The girls are still a little shaken up, but, you know...it’s the life.”
“What do you think happened, though?” I press.
“Could be anything. We’ve got a lot of enemies. But…” A long pause. “I think sometimes when you go unchallenged for too long, you get complacent. Let your guard down ‘cause you think you’re untouchable. Who knows, maybe someone out there thinks it’s time for a new king. Time for a new Vegas.”
A snort slips out of me. “Funny that ‘someone out there’ really believes that’s how it all works.”
His eyes snap to mine in the rear-view mirror. “What?”
I point out the window. “You missed the turn.”
A phone vibrates in the cupholder. “Oh, I’m dropping Ricky home first.”
As Luca slips in his earphones and answers the call, I slide a glance at Rochi beside me. He’s back to rubbing his thighs, staring blankly out the window.
Seventeen minutes later, Luca careens onto a property littered with old, rusted containers and tumbleweeds.
As he yanks up the handbrake and hops out, I lift a brow at Rochi. “This isn’t your stop, is it?”
He jerks his head in a stiff shake. “It’s yours.”
When Luca wrenches my door open, I shift to face him. “Who gave the order?”
He laughs and leans into the doorframe. “You know, I actually started thinking of you as a friend. You’re chill.
You can hang with the boys. But that brain of yours?
It’s become a nuisance. And as much as I like you, you’re not just another Pink House girl, and that’s a big problem. So...get out of the car.”
When I don’t move, he adds, “Don’t worry, I won’t kill you. You’re too valuable. You’re just helping the wrong side. With a little too much…freedom.”
Still, I don’t move.
With a deep snarl, he whips out his gun and levels it at me, “Get out of the fucking car, smart girl.”
At the same time, Rochi slams his shoulder into mine, shoving me toward the door.
“Alright, alright,” I acquiesce with a laugh, raising my hands as I climb out.
Rochi exits from the other side and Luca grabs my upper arm, dragging me toward the field of corroding containers, weaving us between them.
After a few minutes, he stops in front of what looks like a manhole cover half-buried in sand. He scrapes his boot across it and jerks his chin at Rochi. “Open it.”
As Rochi crouches, sweeping his hand through the sand in search of something, I turn to Luca. “This leads right back to him, doesn’t it? Your real boss. Back to where the girls with less ‘freedom’ are.”
The immediate, perplexing frown that creases his brow is satisfying. “What—how do—”
“Don’t worry, they don’t know. Yet.” I hold his gaze. “Like you said, they’ve gotten too complacent. That’s how you’ve been able to pull this off, treachery right under their noses.”
Jaw tight, he presses his gun to my temple. “Shut it before I change my fucking mind about killing you.”
“Okay, okay. Calm down.” I raise my hands in surrender again, smiling. “I’d rather be on the winning side anyway.”
Rochi grunts as he finds whatever grip or lever he was searching for, then hefts up the heavy steel cover and flips it to one side.
Luca motions to the pitch-black opening with his gun. “Climb down.”
Taking a step forward, I peer into the hole. “How? Do I just jump, or...?”
“There’s a ladder on the right,” he snaps, impatient. “Climb the fuck in.”
Crouching down, I reach inside, making a show of feeling for the rungs. In my peripheral, Rochi’s shifting nervously, glancing around.
“Hey, jitter bug, you wanted in on this. You made your choice,” Luca snipes at him. “Stop being so damn jumpy all the goddamn time.”
“I-I know, but what if Stefano—”
“Shut. It,” he grits out. “They ran off to L.A. There’s no better window to do this than right now. Get it the fuck together.”
Tired of my dawdling, Luca steps closer and presses the gun to the side of my head. Just as I hoped… “What the fuck’s taking you so—”
I twist and execute a clean sweep kick, knocking his legs out from under him. He crashes to the ground with a heavy grunt and a pained groan.
Not a second wasted, I dip into the side of my boot for the knife tucked there. Rochi draws his gun, but in moments like this, it’s all about speed and resolve. And I am one decisive bitch.
With a swift, precise flick of my wrist, the blade whisks through the air and lodges squarely into his throat.
Eyes wide, his gun clatters from his grip as his hands shoot to his neck, blood seeping through his fingers.
Luca groans on the ground and tries to scramble for his fallen gun, but I pivot and drive a brutal kick under his chin. His head snaps back, blood spluttering from his mouth.
Before he can finish grunting in pain, I stomp my heel down on his groin, and his grunt morphs into a high-pitched, piggish squeal.
While he writhes, I move fast, straddling his chest, pinning his arms beneath my knees.
“You...fucking... b-bitch…” he wheezes.
“I never liked you, Luca. Not even as a friend.” I grab his jaw. “I was just waiting for the right time to kill you.”
“What? What do you—” He thrashes, trying to knock me off, but I’ve got him pinned tight. “Raya, no, you don’t understand—”
“Oh, but I do. He promised to make you ‘king.’” I laugh, cool and low, then shift my grip from his jaw to the sides of his head. “And your mistake was believing he actually could.”
He bucks, trying to knee me in the back. “I didn’t want it, I don’t! But it’s the only way to—”
“Yeah, I don’t care.”
With a sharp twist, I snap his neck. The crack of his bones is clean. Final. Satisfying.
As his body goes limp beneath me, limbs twitching as life drains from his eyes, I bound to my feet and swing my attention to Rochi.
He’s suffering. Eyes wide as he chokes on his blood, mouth gaping like a fish.
As the sound of screeching tires fills the air and headlights slice through the gaps between the containers, I walk over to Rochi and end his suffering with a swift twist of his neck. Mercy.
He could’ve been a good soldier. But I recognized the glint of greed in his eyes during confinement rotations. Knew he had no loyalty to him. He was a cheat in every game we played in that hall.
Greed has no honor.
Car doors slam. Footsteps hammer the ground. Seconds later, several members of my team appear, all braking to a halt when I lift a hand in the air.
“I’m good,” I assure them.
Wren—my stubborn, long-limbed, right-hand man—strides right up to me anyway, his frustration barely restrained. “Why didn’t you give the signal?”
I wave him off. “Because I knew I could handle them alone. They’re just idiots with guns.”
He drags a hand down his face. “You’re going to be the death of me, I swear.”
I toss him a wink. “Well, that’s literally what you signed up for, isn’t it?”
My right-hand is not amused. He takes in the two dead men behind me. “So...what do you want to do next? Go back to the villa and play it off?”
“No. Scratch the plan.” I shake my head.
“They’re too easily distracted to figure it out in time.
Too many blind spots with all the blood ties.
If I don’t kick things into gear for them, she will win.
She’ll take pleasure in killing him just to stick it to me.
And the rest won’t stand a chance without him. Luca’s death will—”
I stop mid-sentence when I notice Devy—the youngest and newest member of the team—is hanging back, ducking behind the others instead of standing shoulder-to-shoulder like he’s supposed to.
With a flick of my wrist, the line parts, giving me a clear view of him. Devy’s eyes widen when he realizes my attention’s on him, and he quickly straightens up, shoulders squared, but keeps his head slightly bowed.
“Lift your head,” I command.
“Oh, r-right.” He snaps his chin up, but stares straight past me. “Sorry, Ray.”
“What the hell is up with you?” I demand. “Look at me.”
Wren leans in close and mutters, “Go easy on him. You didn’t mute your chip last weekend at Summerlin and, uh...it was his first time hearing you...” He bites back a smile. “So, he’s a little…you know...”
Ah. I almost laugh. Instead, I nudge Wren aside and address the team. “When this is over, I want each and every one of your accounts of Devy’s reaction to hearing me fuck for the first time.”
A chorus of laughter breaks the dusty night air, layered with a few mocking jabs at Devy’s expense.
“Come here, Devy.”
His steps are nervous but immediate. Even in the dark, the red splotches on his cheeks are noticeable.
When he stops in front of me, I cup said cheeks and tell him, “You’ve been with me for nearly a year now. Get with it. Sometimes I’ll forget to mute my chip, and you’ll hear me having hot, filthy sex and really loud orgasms.”
He groans in mortification and the others burst out laughing.
“That’s the job, Devy. You signed up to be plugged into me twenty-four seven. Don’t make me regret bringing on a hetero, yeah?”
“I won’t, Ray. I promise.”
“Good.” I slap his cheek and turn to the others. “As I was saying, Luca’s death will force our man’s hand. With his plan busted and his allies down, he will rage. Blue, Chris, Johnnie, and Terrel, clean up the bodies and execute our initial plan. Do it at the villa. I’ll handle the cams.”
“Yes, Ray.”
“Devy and Sam, you’re on monitoring.”
“Yes, Ray.”
“White and Wren, you’re with me.” I point to the dark hole behind me. “Luca led us right to the X that marks the spot. We’re going to free the cubs and enrage the bear.”
Wren grins. “Always, Ray.”
“Great.” I clap my hands once, fired up. “Let’s wrap this shit up before Dad loses his patience and levels Vegas to the ground.”