6. Marco
Chapter Six
MARCO
The thought of leaving Clara makes me sick, but I don’t have a choice. Even though Tommaso and Alfonzo are both dead, my work isn’t done just yet. We still have a long way to go before I can be sure Clara and Zoe are safe.
Liam got back to me a few hours after I sent him the footage of Ben, letting me know that he’s found something of interest.
When I pressed him for details, he said he would rather give it to me in person, which means whatever the hell he’s found, it can’t be good.
I know I should probably inform Andre of the potential threat, but we haven’t had a chance to speak to one another since he got back to the house in the early hours of the morning.
We need to have a formal debrief to discuss what we’re going to do about Cillian now that he’s kept up his end of the bargain.
I hate to have this debt hanging over us, so if there’s a way to get him to call it in quickly, I’ll take it.
Not only that, but we need to talk to Marissa. After all, her husband died in order to protect our family, and I will make sure she is taken care of. It’s the least we can do.
But for now, I let my brother spend some time with his wife and child. Those conversations can wait until after I get back from speaking with Liam.
I take a shower, finally washing off the blood and sweat that still clings to my skin. I turn the heat up to max and stay in there until the water runs cold.
I wish I could send someone in my place to talk to Liam, but this is part of the job. At least Andre, Vince, and Jax are here, so I know Clara and Zoe will be well taken care of.
After getting out of the shower, I pull on a fresh shirt and slacks before making the drive into the city. I try my best to ignore the ache in my chest as I leave Clara and Zoe behind, but that’s easier said than done.
Alfonzo and Tommaso might both be dead because of me, but I’m yet to feel any relief. Maybe this is just how I’m always going to feel now that I have so much to lose.
Anyone could pose a threat to my girls, and it’s my job to keep them safe, which is why this matter with this Ben guy needs to be taken care of as soon as possible.
I can’t get the look on Clara’s face as she asked if he was dead out of my mind. There was genuine fear in her eyes, as if she’s terrified he’s going to come after her, and it’s my job to make sure that doesn’t happen.
Liam texted to tell me to meet him at some shady bar in the Lower East Side. It’s just far enough off the beaten path that most people forget it’s there, which only adds to my concern.
What the hell did he find on this guy?
After parking my car on the street, I head inside the bar, grimacing as the smell of cigarette smoke and cheap whisky hits my nose.
Considering the fact it’s mid-morning on a weekday, the place is still half full and from the looks of it, some of the guys sitting at the bar look like they’re left over from last night.
I scan the room and spot Liam in a back corner booth.
He’s dressed the same as always, wearing a leather jacket and a baseball cap pulled low over his eyes. A half-drunk cup of coffee sits in front of him as well as a whisky, though I know the latter is for me. Liam doesn’t drink on jobs, the paranoid bastard, but that’s what makes him so good.
I cross the room and slide into the seat across from him without a word.
He doesn’t greet me either. Instead, he reaches under the table and slides a thick manila folder across the table toward me. “It’s all there. Everything I could dig up on your guy.”
His eyes flick around the room as if he expects someone to be eavesdropping, though I doubt anyone in here cares about anything except their next drink.
I don’t open the folder right away. Instead, I wrap my fingers around the glass of whisky and take a slow sip. I have a feeling I’m going to need some alcohol in my system before I see what the hell’s inside this folder.
Liam takes a sip of his coffee too. "The guy’s been busy.”
I pick up the heavy folder. “Clearly. I appreciate this, Liam.”
“Anything else I can do for you?”
“No, you can go.” I set the envelope back down onto the sticky tabletop.
He hesitates, his eyes flicking to the folder, no doubt knowing that whatever is inside is going to send me into a blind rage. But he also knows better than to ask questions.
Without another word, Liam pushes himself up from the table and disappears into the crowd of rowdy drinkers.
I let the silence settle around me before I reach for the file.
My fingers tighten around the edges as I flip it open and scan the first few pages.
It seems like Ben is a career criminal. He has a record longer than my arm, with various charges, including assault, armed robbery, drug trafficking, and arms dealing. The list is never-ending but one thing is abundantly clear—he has no allegiance, no loyalty.
Career criminals like Ben can be useful contacts.
Andre and I have had our fair share on the books in our time as sometimes, it’s best for us not to be the ones to get our hands dirty.
But when we do, we’re careful to make sure their allegiance is to us.
It normally means a thick stack of cash is exchanged, but it’s worth the investment to ensure we won’t be stabbed in the back.
It’s clear from Ben’s record that he’s been in the game for a long time, moving between crime syndicates like a fucking ghost, taking whatever work he could find.
I flick through a few more pages and pause when I read of his most recent conviction, the one that landed him with a hefty prison sentence five years ago.
A series of drug offenses led to him being locked up for at least fifteen years, yet somehow he managed to break out with two other inmates, both of whom were found and shot dead within days of their escape. Yet somehow, Ben managed to get away…
I continue to read on and from the looks of Liam’s research, Ben’s two accomplices were heavily tied to Tommaso.
“You fucking idiot…”
This prison break was no accident. It looks to me like Ben didn’t just stumble into Tommaso’s business. He was part of it. But there has got to have been a price. No way in hell would Tommaso risk being linked to a prison break if it wasn’t worth his while.
Something about Ben must have caught his attention, but from what I’m reading in his file, he seems no more special than any other one of Tommaso’s men.
There must be something I’m missing, something that made Ben more useful to Tommaso than anyone else…
I turn the page, scanning through his financial records, old addresses, and known associates that Liam managed to track down, desperate to find something that must have sparked Tommaso’s interest.
Liam has been thorough, that’s for sure, which is exactly why I pay him so well. If I’m to go up against this guy, I don’t want any surprises. But still, I find nothing that stands out.
As I delve deeper into the file, I scan information on Ben’s childhood including school records and exam results.
He was clearly a very smart kid. It seems a shame that he got caught up in the wrong crowd. Who knows where he would have ended up if he chose a different path.
Toward the end of the file, there are a handful of photos including a few mugshots, snapshots from surveillance footage, and a few candid shots taken over the years. Some clearer than others, but my eyes linger on one grainy image in particular.
It’s of a younger Ben, maybe seventeen or eighteen. He’s smirking at the camera with his arm slung over a girl’s shoulders. A girl with blonde hair and bright green eyes…
“No…”
I must be seeing things. There’s no way in hell that’s Clara.
I flip back to the first page, my pulse pounding as I scan it for more details on Ben’s family. That’s when I see it, clear as fucking day—the name listed under siblings.
Clara Peterson, sister, aged twenty-four.
Manager at Nox bar, Soho.
Mother to Zoe Peterson, aged seven months (father: Marco De Luca)
I freeze as a cold wave of realization washes over me, knocking the air from my lungs.
The alcohol threatens to come right back up as I look down at the photo of the two of them together, smiling at the camera.
She knew who he was. She knew, and she fucking lied .
Blood roars in my ears as I slam the file shut, my grip tightening until the edges of the folder crumple in my hands.
My chest rises and falls with each sharp breath, my vision tunneling as the pieces start to slot into place.
The fear in her eyes when she asked if Ben was dead, the hesitation in her voice, the way she refused to meet my gaze…
She wasn’t in shock.
She was hiding something .
I reach for my whisky and down the rest of it in one gulp before slamming the empty glass back down on the table so hard it shatters.
Glass slices into my palm, but I don’t feel the pain. All I can feel is the sharp sting of betrayal as I think about Clara.
Did Tommaso plant her at the bar all those months ago to seduce me? To have me knock her up with a kid to use as a fucking chess piece?
I ball my bloodied hand into a fist as I grind my teeth together.
All this time, have I been nothing more than a pawn in Tommaso’s sick and twisted game?
Every moment Clara and I spent together, every kiss we shared, every time she told me she loved me… Was it nothing but lies?
No, surely, it can’t be.
She stepped in front of that gun in the cabin, willing to sacrifice her own life in order to save the lives of my family.
Unless it was nothing more than an act.
If Ben was working for Tommaso, and Clara knew all along, it makes me wonder what the hell I’ve let into my life, into my family .
I don’t know what pisses me off more, the lie itself, or the fact that now, even knowing the truth about her brother’s alliance with Tommaso, I still fucking love her.
I take a sharp breath, trying to push down the fury rising in my chest.
I need to be smart about this because as much as I want to storm home and demand she tell me everything, I know Clara. She’s stubborn as hell, and she won’t give up information easily, especially if she thinks it might put her or Zoe in danger.
I need to get ahead of this before it gets out of control, before my family pays the ultimate price for my mistake.
The sky has clouded over as I head back to the car, the file in my hand a ticking time bomb.
Clara lied to me, but the question is why.
Was she doing it to protect me, or him ?