2. Marco
Chapter Two
MARCO
I managed to escape, please come get me.
Clara’s voice plays over and over in my head as I grip my phone so hard my knuckles ache.
Something about this doesn’t feel right. Tommaso doesn’t make mistakes. His men are too well-trained, too ruthless, to let Clara slip through their fingers like this.
There’s no way this isn’t a trap.
I fight the urge to launch my phone at the wall of Andre’s study.
The moment I got the call, I drove straight back to Westchester in the hopes that Andre would be able to think of a plan because I’m in no fit mind to think straight.
He’s the only reason I haven’t gone storming over to Tommaso’s hideout and opened fire on every fucker who dared lay a hand on my girl.
“What exactly did she say?” Andre asks for what feels like the hundredth time.
He crosses his arms over his chest as he leans against his desk, a deep frown on his face.
I repeat what Clara told me, word for word, including the location she gave me.
My body is vibrating as I think of her, terrified and alone, waiting for me to come and get her.
How could I have let this happen? I promised her that I would keep her safe and instead, I’ve put her in more danger.
“Lakeview Drive…” A crease forms between Andre’s eyebrows. “Do we know if this is a legit location?”
“Does it matter?”
“Marco.” Andre gives me a look that would make our father proud.
I run a hand through my hair. “I know! I’m not thinking straight.”
I stare down at the phone in my hand, feeling like a knife is being stabbed repeatedly into my chest as the screen remains blank.
Clara hasn’t called back, which only adds to my suspicion that this is a trap. Besides, why would she say she’d leave the phone on only to disconnect right after I said I loved her?
“I’ll get Jax to look into it.” Andre pulls his phone out of his pocket and starts quickly typing out a message. “Before we do anything, we should know what we’re facing.”
I start pacing around the study, my stomach in knots. I consider pouring myself a drink to try and numb my thoughts, but I can’t risk slowing my reflexes if I’m destined to come face to face with Tommaso.
“This is all my fault.” I think back to the night in the hotel bar all those months ago when I first met Clara.
I thought it was going to be a one-night stand, nothing more than sex. Never in my life could I have predicted falling in love and starting a family with her, and I don’t regret it for a second.
She has been the greatest joy of my life, and Tommaso knows it.
“I should have stayed away…”
Andre exhales sharply as he pockets his phone. “You realize how obvious this is, right?”
“Pretty fucking obvious? But if there’s even the slightest chance she’s really there… I have to go.”
“And walk right into Tommaso’s hands? You’ll be dead before you even get to Clara.”
I bristle at my brother’s words. “She could already be dead. Trap or not, I have to go to her.”
“If this is a setup, we can’t match his numbers. We need reinforcements.” My brother frowns. “I think it’s time you give Cillian a call.”
He’s right. As much as I want to storm out of here right now and tear apart anyone standing between me and Clara, I can’t do this alone. Not if we want to come away from this alive.
“I can’t believe I’m doing this.” I pull out my phone and dial Cillian.
“You don’t have a choice, Marco. You’re doing this for Clara, and for Zoe.”
I think of my daughter sleeping peacefully in her crib just down the hall, and my chest tightens.
I can’t let her grow up without her mother.
Cillian answers after two rings, sounding too damn cheerful for my liking. “Well, well. Thought ye forgot about me.”
I really don’t have time for his bullshit. “I need all the men you can spare. Tommaso has taken Clara.”
There’s a beat of silence followed by a low chuckle. “Oh, ye know I love a good bloodbath.”
The hairs on the back of my neck stand up at his words.
Cillian sounds too eager to help, which is unlike him.
But I don’t have time to consider his ulterior motives, not when Clara’s life might be hanging by a thread.
“How quickly can you get your men to Lakeview Drive?” I glance over at Andre, and the muscle in his jaw ticks.
I’m glad I’m not the only one who isn’t thrilled about the prospect of walking into Tommaso’s den with Cillian Moore at our side, but at this point, we don’t have much of a choice.
“Within the hour. And don’t ye worry, I’ll be sendin’ me very best.”
As soon as the phone goes dead, I exhale.
My brother frowns. “You trust him?”
“Not even a little.”
Andre nods.
My shoulders slump a bit. “But we don’t have any other options. Whatever happens, Clara is getting out of this alive.”
While we wait for Jax to get back to us with any information regarding the location, Andre and I get ready.
I stock up on weapons, stashing two guns in my waistband and multiple magazines in my pockets as well as strapping knives to my calves.
Though, I will take any opportunity to kill Tommaso Costa with my bare hands.
A bullet would be too quick of a death for him.
He deserves much worse for hurting Clara.
Andre checks his beeping phone. “Jax says the location has checked out. It’s a warehouse complex listed under one of Tommaso’s aliases.”
“Fuck.”
“He’s waiting outside with Vince, Enzo, and the others. We should get going.”
As we head into the hall, my chest tightens as I think of Zoe.
“I’ll be there in a minute.”
“Marco—”
I don’t wait for Andre to finish his sentence. In the back of my mind, I can’t help but think that this could be the last time I ever see my daughter.
Creeping down the hall, I slip into Clara’s room where Zoe is fast asleep in her crib.
The soft glow from the nightlight casts shadows over her face. She looks so peaceful, so unaware, which is how it should be.
I’m glad that she won’t remember anything from the last forty-eight hours, that her innocence will still be intact.
But I can’t help but fear for when she’s older. Something like this will happen again, and I might not even be around to stop it.
My heart clenches as I brush my fingers over her little hand.
Her fingers twitch in her sleep, curling around my finger for the briefest second before she relaxes again.
My world isn’t meant for her, and yet she’s already in it, forever trapped in the web of violence and danger.
Is this really the life I want for her?
“I love you, Zoe.” I stroke her hair, shoving the thoughts of Zoe’s future aside.
Now isn’t the time for doubts. All that matters is getting Clara back, no matter what.
I step out of the room, shutting the door quietly behind me, and head down the stairs to where Andre is waiting for me in the foyer.
“We need to go, Marco.”
I nod as I reach for my gun.
It’s time to go and get my girl.
As we speed through the dark, empty streets toward Lakeview Drive, my body hums.
I wish Andre had let me drive just to give me something else to focus on other than my thoughts.
I bounce my knee up and down as I check my gun for the third time just for something to do.
Neither Andre nor I speak, though I have no doubt the same question plagues both of our thoughts.
What if we’re already too late?
I wrap my fingers around my gun as I stare out the window.
Andre presses his foot harder on the gas, but it doesn’t feel fast enough.
I can’t stop picturing Clara with her hands tied, her delicate body covered in bruises as she bleeds from multiple wounds.
Tommaso is a sick fuck. He will take delight in making her suffer because it will only add to the thrill of the game.
“She’s strong,” Andre says suddenly, as if he can hear my thoughts spiraling. “You know she is.”
Of course, I know that.
Clara is the strongest person I’ve ever known, but strength doesn’t stop a bullet. She’s no match for Tommaso.
“She sacrificed herself for them,” I say quietly, almost to myself.
I keep replaying what Rosa told me in the cabin, trying to make sense of it.
The fact that Clara was willing to offer herself up to those bastards in order to protect my family is admirable, but if it costs her her own life…
“You’d have done the same.”
I would. Still… “That’s not the point.”
“Then what is?”
I don’t answer, not when my chest is caving in as I imagine a life without Clara.
As the warehouse complex comes into view, my heart starts to hammer in my chest as it pumps my body with adrenaline.
Under the harsh yellow security lights, there’s nothing but piles of rusted metal and rundown buildings. It’s the sort of place nobody would pay attention to, which makes it that much more dangerous.
We kill the headlights half a block out and park under the cover of an old loading dock, out of sight, as a swarm of black SUV’s drive in behind us.
“Cillian really came through.” I count at least two dozen men climbing out.
Andre’s eyes are in the buildings ahead of us. “Think she’s really in there?”
I swallow hard. “Only one way to find out.”
I go to open the car door, but Andre grips my arm.
“If this is a setup, Tommaso will be waiting for us. Especially you.”
I grit my teeth.
As much as I want to storm the place and put a bullet in the skull of every fucker who gets in my way, Tommaso will be expecting that. He’ll be waiting for me to make a mistake because I’ll be too blinded by my rage, and then it will be all over.
“What do you suggest?”
Andre tilts his chin toward Cillian’s men.
“I think we should send a few of them in first to make sure it’s clear.”
“But that would take away the element of surprise.”
“I’d rather that than offer you up on a silver platter.”
I look over at the warehouse complex.
Every instinct is screaming at me to make a move. Clara is in there, frightened and alone.
What if Tommaso panics when he realizes the place is being attacked and decides to kill her?
“Andre…” My finger twitches against the trigger of my gun.
Andre places a hand on my shoulder. “We can’t play into his hand, Marco. The risk is too great.”
As if I need fucking reminding. “Fine, they can have a two-minute head start, but then I’m going in.”
“And I’ll be right there with you.”
We climb out of the car and stalk over to where Cillian’s men are waiting for us. Before my brother has a chance to address them, one of Cillian’s men, a wiry guy with a scar running down his cheek, nods to me.
“We’ll head in first. If it’s clear, we’ll give ye the nod.”
I just nod, not bothering to thank him.
Five of Cillian’s men move forward, creeping through the shadows toward the complex, each one with their gun aimed and ready.
I hold my breath as I watch them.
This is not going to be an easy fight, and it’s likely many of these men won’t make it out of there alive—a fact Cillian will be aware of and will no doubt make me pay for.
But I don’t care. Any price is worth paying if it means Clara lives.
Each second that ticks by is agony, and as it gets close to the two-minute mark, an eerie sense of calm settles over me.
I click the safety off my gun and ready myself to sprint for my life.
But that’s when I hear it. A single, short whistle.
The signal.