Chapter Thirteen Leo
Iused to think of hell as just a singular plane of existence. In the time since my night with Drea, I realized there were multiple levels. And just when I thought I’d reached rock bottom, I went even further.
Not only did I have to deal with my own suffering from being denied the one woman I desired, but I had a front row seat to witness Rafe’s doom spiral.
It all started with a phone call to Caruso just days after my memorable meeting with Drea. Unable to bear the thought of life without Maeve, Rafe called the wedding off.
Despite me giving him hell about the fact that it was a shitty thing to do a few weeks from their official engagement party, I totally supported Rafe’s decision, and so did Gianni.
Anyone outside of the mafia world wouldn’t have given two shits about what his brothers thought of his breakup.
But in our case, Rafe pissing off Caruso affected all of us.
Regardless of the potential blowback, we wanted Rafe to be happy. And nothing would make him happier than to marry Maeve. As for our allies, now that Caterina was happily married to Callum Kavanaugh, a double alliance with a prominent family was never a bad thing.
But then Callum had freaked the fuck out about the potential shitstorm that Rafe double crossing Caruso could bring.
Considering the bastard had killed his own father for his role in Maeve’s previous sexual assault, his reaction wasn’t unexpected.
After all the trauma Maeve had been through, it seemed a given that Callum would do anything to see her happy.
He’d cited his impending fatherhood as the reason why he was putting his foot down. After a scuffle between Callum and Rafe on the tarmac in Boston, Callum declared the two weren’t welcome in Boston.
While I hated all the shit Rafe was going through, I felt hope for the first time in forever that Drea and I might have a future together.
But Edoardo wasn’t going to take Rafe’s betrayal without a fight.
After Drea told me what Edoardo had done to Marco Zeferrelli, I should’ve realized just how insane he could be when things didn’t go his way.
It started out as a usual night for me on post at Inferno. With Maeve in town, Rafe was spending every possible moment with her. From my roost up in the VIP section, I watched over the crowd below me.
“Hey, Leo,” a sultry voice said behind me.
Throwing a glance over my shoulder, I eyed a leggy blonde who I’d probably slept with before. “Hey,” I muttered before turning my attention back to the crowd.
“It’s me, Harper.”
“Good to see you.”
Not taking no for an answer, she slithered up beside me. “Don’t you remember me?”
It was only sheer boredom that caused me to give her a second look. And then it hit me. Her father was Roland Newport–a billionaire who had the necessary ties I needed to the gaming commission.
Inwardly, I groaned before giving her my sexiest smirk. “Fuck, Harper. These lights suck. I thought you were someone else.”
Her face lit up. “I’m glad to hear you remember.” She tiptoed her finger up my tie. “I think about our night together all the time.”
“I’m so glad I made an impression.”
She grinned. “I’d love you for you to make another impression on me.”
I guess there were worse ways I could ensure getting a gambling license than fucking a beautiful woman. At the sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach, I fought the urge to laugh manically. Somehow, in my warped mind, it felt like I would be cheating on Drea.
She’s not yours. Even if she’s not Rafe’s, she’ll never be yours. Edoardo would never allow it.
I was just about to ask Harper for her number when a sonic boom erupted to the left of me. The force knocked Harper and me against the wall. For a moment, a low whine was all I could hear as I watched people scrambling around me.
Then the sound of panicked screams broke through. A red ball of fire burned at the employee entrance. Acrid plumes of black smoke poured out of the flames.
It only took a second to launch me into action. “Come on!” I shouted at Harper.
With a stunned expression, she stumbled along beside me. I started corralling the others in the VIP section over to the back stairs. If we tried going down the front, we would’ve run into too much smoke and chaos.
After shoving Harper forward, I didn’t go down after her. Instead, I made sure the VIP section was clear. Once I pounded down the steps, I once again started herding people. This time to one of the emergency exits.
I shoved the emergency bar on the door. “Go, go, go!” I shouted to the guests. Some screamed in fear while others cried silent tears. Some pushed and shoved and tried to bully their way to freedom.
As soon as the main floor appeared clear, I headed down the back stairs to Sin. Thankfully, they’d already started evacuating. Even though I assumed they would be doing the same in Lust, I still made my way down there.
It was less chaotic than the main floor. I’m sure the noise of the bomb, coupled with the smoke, had something to do with it. Once I’d gotten an all clear from one of the bouncers, I headed back upstairs.
By the time I reached the main floor, firefighters were on the scene. It didn’t hurt that we were just down the street from Ladder 15. Motioning his hands at me, one of the firemen said with a thick New York accent, “Sir, you need to get outside.”
“I’m the owner’s brother. I just want to make everyone’s out.”
“You need to leave that to us.”
When he started to shove me towards the emergency exit, I stopped him. “Don’t you know who I really am?”
“Yes, Mr. Neretti, I know exactly who you are, which is why I’m not going to have your ass flambéed on my watch.”
Part of me wanted to chuckle at his directness. At the same time, I didn’t want to have to answer to Rafe. In the end, I followed his orders.
Once I got outside, I was surrounded by chaos. I knew I needed to call Rafe, but there was no way I could do it out in the open. Thankfully, one of our SUVs sat on the curb. I knew the one at the back was probably destroyed.
Nodding my head at the driver, he scrambled to hop out to let me inside. “Take a walk,” I said as I took my phone from my pocket.
“Yes, Mr. Neretti.”
Once I was locked in the car, I dialed Rafe. It rang and rang until it went to voicemail, so I dialed again. This time he picked up, but to my surprise, it wasn’t him who answered.
“Maeve?”
“Yes. What’s wrong?”
“I really need to talk to Rafe. Now.”
“Okay. I’ll wake him.”
“Wake up. It’s Leo,” Maeve said to Rafe.
“Tell him I'll call him in the morning,” he grunted.
“No. He says he has to talk to you now.”
When he took the phone, he growled, “This better be fucking good.”
“A bomb went off at the employee entrance about fifteen minutes ago.”
“Are you sure?”
“The fire department hasn’t confirmed it, but yeah, I’m pretty sure.”
“I’ll be right there.”
After he hung up, someone knocked on my window. Rolling it down, I nodded at the Fire Chief. Instead of his uniform, he was in plain clothes.
“Thanks for coming down so quickly, Ron.”
“My wife and I were having dinner in the neighborhood. I got a debriefing on my way over.”
“It was a bomb, wasn’t it?”
“Without a doubt.”
“Any casualties?”
“Just one. From the clothing, they think it was security.” At my grimace, he added, “It would’ve been quick.”
“Thank God for that.”
“Although I haven’t had a chance to examine it yet, I’d say it was designed for minimal damage.”
“But enough to send a message?”
“Correct.”
“Fucking Caruso,” I muttered under my breath.
“I’ll leave that part to you and your men.”
“I appreciate that.”
“Anyway, I just wanted to say hello before I took a look on my own.”
“Rafe’s on his way. I’ll let him know you’re here.”
As Ron turned from the SUV, he fished his badge out of his pocket. One of the perks of being in the underworld was having the cops and fire department in your pocket.
Once I was alone again, I stared down at my phone. Even though it was after midnight, I wanted to call Drea. It was the last thing I should’ve done.
But I needed to hear her voice.
After dialing, the phone rang and rang before she finally answered drowsily. “Hello?”
“Hey. It’s Leo.”
Drea’s breath hitched. “Has something happened to Rafe?”
For a moment, her concern sent jealousy ricocheting through me. But then I realized considering the time of night and that it was me calling her, she thought something must’ve happened.
“No, he’s fine.”
Instead of her voice sounding relieved, she countered, “But something’s happened, hasn’t it?”
“Inferno was bombed tonight.”
“What?”
“A bomb went off at the employee entrance.”
“Oh my God! Was anyone hurt?”
“One of our bouncers. Fire Chief said it was quick, and he didn’t feel anything.”
“That’s awful. Is the club damaged?”
“I haven’t been able to look, but the Deputy Fire Chief says it’s minimal.”
Silence echoed over the line. “It was my father, wasn’t it?”
“We’re not one hundred percent, but yeah, all signs point to him.”
“But why?
“Rafe called off your engagement yesterday.”
“He did?”
“Edoardo didn’t say anything?”
“No. In fact, he was talking at dinner about our engagement party.”
“Jesus,” I muttered.
“As much as I want to see Rafe happy, I don’t want him to get hurt.”
“He can take care of himself. The most important thing is you’re okay.”
“Fuck that. We both know what my father is capable of.”
“There’s no way Edoardo is going to hurt Rafe when he wants an alliance with him so badly.”
“There are other ways to hurt him, like through the people he loves.”
Her words caused the hairs on the back of my neck to prick up. “He could strike out at Maeve.”
“And you,” she said in a trembling voice.
For a moment, I couldn’t breathe. Drea was worried about me. That had to mean something, didn’t it? Everything that had happened that night at Bianca’s brownstone had meant something to me, too.
Before I could say anything, Rafe’s panicked form started rushing towards me. “Rafe’s here. I have to go.”
“Promise me, Leo. Promise me you’ll take care of yourself,” Drea pleaded.
“I promise.”