Chapter 32
Chapter Thirty-Two
ENZO
The problem with fucking shoot first and ask questions never is you don't get any pertinent questions asked or answered.
Things like who sent them, their names, and who they intended to kill.
Things like that.
The last one is surface easy. Me, most likely, but I'm not sure if I was the real target or more of a bonus kill.
That leaves Lyndall, and taking her out with me here would be...stupid. Enough to start a war with half the crime families in New York.
They knew my address, which isn't listed, but there is enough traffic that it would be easy to find it out.
Or...
Lola.
They could have been after Lola.
Shit.
Which puts me back where everything started.
I kick the closest body and straighten up.
No ID. No giveaway tattoos. I don't recognize either one.
Professional guns for hire, probably.
I look back at the camera, but I leave them safe for now as I call Silas and Cade, telling them to get here. Now.
When I have cleaned up as best I can to get the door shut and the lockdown door ready to come down and all my calls made to contacts within the cops and to one of Uncle Gino's men I trust, I throw a coat of mine over them and call the Syndicate's cleaning crew.
They must have known my door was reinforced...why else use the battering ram?
I'm somewhat disturbed about the door because they must have known enough about what I do to figure I would have something like that.
Then again, perhaps whoever is behind it figured I'm a Marino, so I would go the extra mile. Or, at least, my dad would.
But I bought this place fair and square with inheritance and the money I earn from the Syndicate.
Usually, I put out that I run an IT company, a small bespoke thing where we fix the computers of the important, famous, and rich. And we put in tailored security systems. Keep your guards and everything but add that extra layer.
We do do it. Me and Cade.
Everyone in the Syndicate has either cover jobs or they are so clean digitally you can't find them. So, maybe it is not a stretch to think I would have something like the door.
It was locked, not locked down.
But if I'd had that other door down...
Time to go check on the girls.
With a sigh, I cross the expanse of my modern great room and pass the staircase, and I slide back the panel. I have a print and special code if I have to override whoever is on the other side.
Apparently, I don't have to bother.
The door opens, and my sister storms out, all arms and tears and dramatics. I catch her and hold her close.
She is a kid, that is what she is—a kid.
This is probably the first time she has seen me do something like that. I say seen because I'm betting Lola ignored me and left the camera feeds on. That or Lyndall insisted.
As it is, my gaze connects with Lola's, and she wrings her hands, guilt everywhere. But she doesn't say a thing.
I ease Lyndall back. "It's okay."
"You could have been killed, you idiot," she says. "Who did that? Who were they?"
"I don't know." I think hard.
We can't stay here, but I'm going to need computer power and somewhere to lay low.
I have places. Silas does, too. And I can call the top of the chain at the Syndicate and use something else.
But I know a place. Just upstate. It used to be my grandmother's. And I have kept it in her maiden name. We can go there.
I ease my sister back and take her face in my hands. "I don't know, but I will."
"Dad."
"Not him. You're here, and he wants me as his second, so he's not going to do anything. Besides, he's our father." I push the words out. "Why don't you try and rest? The safe room is the best place, and—"
Lyndall pulls free, even as Lola steps forward and puts her hand on my sister's back. "No. He sent those men for me."
"Lyndall," Lola says, "listen to Enzo. I don't believe your father would do that. He's your dad, and he loves you, even if he has a hard time showing it."
"Lola's right. He wouldn't. And Dad would be here himself if he knew this had happened. He wanted you home but agreed to let you stay for a couple of nights, so...not Dad."
Lyndall frowns. "So, who were the men, then? What did they want?"
"No idea," I say, which isn't exactly a lie. I don't know. Yet. But I'm ninety-nine percent sure they were after Lola.
And I want to hold her close, too.
It sucks. Everything sucks.
Not even Alex can do a fucking thing to placate or distract her.
"We're going to go somewhere until I have this figured out, so Lyndall, get some rest. You too, Lola," I say. "In the safe room."
"Come on, Lyndall, let's get some rest," Lola says, and leads my sister into safety.
"Messy," Cade says, pushing his glasses to the top of his head after he examines the wallet that is on one of them. "The other's clean, and this one might well be, too, considering the wallet's only for show. Ten bucks, and that's that."
"No fucking phone," I say.
"You would think they would be polite and pin something on them, like a note with directions." He half-laughs, then slides his hands into his pockets. "Does this have to do with you, your dad, or your girl?"
"Not my girl," I say, a growl forming in the back of my throat. "And it might."
"Fuck."
"Those are my sentiments," I say.
"What's the plan? Is the basement compromised?"
"It's not. But I think I have to go remote for a while."
"Cancun?" he asks.
Heat takes me as I glower. "What happened in Cancun, asshole, isn't anyone's business, and no. I have got Lyndall here."
"How's the kid?"
"Fifteen going on thirty."
It is at that time that Silas rocks up, taking in everything. "Nice. Real nice. You called the cleaners?"
"No," I say to him, "I thought it would be fun to just leave this."
"Dude, Enzo called the cleaners and the cops. There is no record of any calls placed from neighbors." Cade crouches down to examine something. "Thought it was the remnants of a removed tattoo on his hand." He drops the hand and rises.
"You called the cops?"
Cade rolls his eyes at Silas. He is aware Silas is pushing buttons, but he plays anyway. "They're called Syndicate contacts. You should try them."
Silas laughs. "I'm too good."
"You're too much of an asshole," Cade says. "Gino?"
"Fuck no," I say. Though I just might have to call my uncle. "Too many strings and favors, you know that."
"Why not call your dad?" Silas asks as he opens the door for the cleaners who are dressed like EMTs.
Cade hands me the wallet he found, and I pocket it.
"My father's worse than my uncle. Gino can only extract favors. My father can extract the rest of my life as his," I say. "And best-case scenario is Dad will pull complicated strings, which I don't want to deal with."
But I'm going to have to call him again about tonight, but my main priority is getting Lyndall and Lola away from here and somewhere safe.
"Where are you taking them?" Cade asks. "I can cover if you can't get this job done."
"I can do it. Remote is fine."
"Where?" Silas asks, as we move out of the way. Cade is placing a call to someone, I hear the word door.
I shrug. "Upstate. My grandma's old place."
"Go to my beach house in the Rockaways. State of the art and small enough we can easily keep them safe."
"Sounds like a plan, Silas." At least until I figure out a longer-term, better option.
Lola chooses that time to come out of the safe room.
And she stares. "Did you call him Silas?"
"Nooo," I say, "Simon."
"Simon. You're not a PI, are you?"
He laughs as Cade comes over. "No."
"He's—"
But her sharp look shuts me up.
Did I just fuck everything up by calling him Silas?
Cade smiles his charming smile and offers his hand to Lola. "I'm Cade, and this is Simon. And you are?"
"Mr. Marino's assistant. Lola." She doesn't even attempt a fake smile.
I groan inwardly, waiting for shit to hit the fan. I didn't even think about Lola being here and being able to listen.
"Simon?" she asks Silas as Cade runs a hand over the back of his neck and talks to the main cleaner.
Within minutes the place is clean, and the cleaning crew is gone, but Cade hovers near the door, clearly not wanting to be grilled. I don't blame him. I want to be there with him.
Silas's voice drags me back to the potential disaster unfolding.
"Yep. Simon. Dr. Simon Black. I'm a trauma doctor at Woodhull in Bushwick. I'm on their website too, if you want to check."
But her cheeks heat, and her shoulders lose their stiffness as she shakes her head. "No, no, it has just been a brutal day."
"Take two aspirins and call me in the morning." He laughs.
I'm really going to kill him.
Then he looks at his watch. "Got to check in with the hospital, so I'm out of here. The beach property. I will send you the address and codes."
I go to him and drop my voice. "Doctor?"
"It's a cover. For Simon. I will send the codes."
"Do it."
"I will. And hang tight, we will get to the bottom of this." And then he is gone.
Cade comes over to me. "The door will look fine from the outside, but keep the security steel door locked. Simon will text everything, but maybe get on the road and not in your car."
"And what car should I use?"
"The SUV I took here." He tosses me some keys as a flying teenager launches herself at him, hugging him tight. "Heya, kid. Violet says hi."
"She's not here, Cade."
Cade ruffles her hair. "She always says hi. And do what your brother says. If not, do what Lola says. Now, get your things together, I think you're having an adventure."
She looks at me. "Enzo? Where are we going?"
"Away."
As my sister races off to pack, Cade goes off to talk to the guy working on the door.
I glance at Lola, she is holding up, but I don't know how used to this side of the mafia world she is. Right now, she looks okay, but I'm betting it is adrenaline.
I'm going to need to get her clothes, though.
"So, Lola...we need to go somewhere saf—"
"You might, I don't. I have work. Bills."
"And I'm your boss." I rub a hand over my face. This is tricky. "Look, you were here, so I'm not taking chances. You're coming with us."
"But—"
"No buts. You're coming, and that's final."