44. Freedom Has A Price #2
“Sean shot Gio,” Raya said, her voice trembling with worry.
“He’s in surgery. Olivia and Max went with him.
And Mamma is fine. She’s sleeping in her room, guarded by our men.
She wasn’t even aware of what happened. Aleksandr had his men stationed outside her wing, preventing any Irish from entering. ”
We all looked at Aleksandr.
“Last night, I realised Sean knew about our plans to ambush him in Belgium,” Aleksandr said, stepping away from the wall and taking a seat in an armchair. His hand dipped into his suit and pulled out a cigar.
“How? And why didn’t you inform us?” Alessio growled. “We flew to Belgium early this morning. If we’d known—“
“You wouldn’t have gone; Sean would have realised, and he’d have disappeared.
Again. Losing your only chance to capture him,” Aleksandr interrupted, making Alessio’s jaw clench.
“I knew because my tracker reported that, in the middle of the night, Sean and his men left the warehouse and boarded a private plane to Italy.”
“So you knew he was going to attack, yet you didn’t warn us?” Santino hissed, his eyes blazing with rage.
Aleksandr lit the cigar, taking his fucking time and savouring his first puff before speaking again.
“I didn’t warn you, because the moment McKenna abandoned Belgium, I knew two things.
” He blew thick smoke towards the ceiling.
“If Sean had sensed any change in your plans, he’d have gone back into hiding.
And two…” He took another drag, keeping us all in suspense, which made me want to slam my fist back into his face.
“…someone was feeding Sean information. He knew Maddox was here. And he knew your plan to ambush him today. You had a rat problem.”
Silence. Everyone frowned.
“A spy? Who?” Santino asked, his eyes flicking over the faces in the room, suspicious of all the soldiers.
Aleksandr gave a slight nod to one of his men, who left the room for a few seconds before returning with a bloodstained bag.
The Russian soldier tipped it upside down, and a head fell onto the carpet, rolling towards Liliana and Raffaele’s feet.
Lili screamed, lifting her legs onto the sofa and covering her face.
A subtle smirk tugged at Aleksandr’s mouth before he hid it behind his hand, thinking no one had noticed.
I stepped closer, staring at the mangled head of a young man I didn’t know. Lili’s loud gasp made me stiffen.
“Vito?”
“Who the fuck is Vito?” I asked.
Raya lifted her hand to her mouth in shock. “He was the stable hand. The horse groomer.”
Alessio glared at Aleksandr, clearly uneasy. “How would you know he was feeding information to Sean?”
“I’ve had him watched this week,” Aleksandr said, his eyes flicking to Lili as her face paled. “He was about to become my employee. I like to know everything about those who work for me.”
He tore his gaze away from Lili when she stared at him, wide-eyed and blushing. I didn’t have a clue what that was about, but there was something going on there.
“When he made a phone call late last night to a number I traced to Belgium, I became suspicious. He called the same number early this morning. It was a burner phone of Sean’s.”
“Fuck!” Santino roared, running his hand through his hair and pacing.
“At that point, I had two choices,” Aleksandr continued.
“Warn you all and risk Sean escaping. Or contact Sean myself and strike a deal. Sean has always misunderstood me. He believed I wanted ambition and power, like him. I told him I’d rather form an alliance that gave me that over obligation.
If I used my alliance with you to get him through the gates, and my men assisted him in taking out your family, I’d get control over Northern Italy as well as a bride. He ate up every word.”
My hands curled into fists, fury pounding in my veins. “You let the Irish in.”
“You son of a—“ Santino charged at him before I could. Alessio shoved Santino in the chest, holding him back. “Giovanni trusted you!”
“I didn’t know Giovanni was even here. The last I’d heard, he was going to Belgium.
I thought the women were here with only half your men for protection.
” Aleksandr took another drag on his cigar.
“You asked for my help in taking down the McKennas.” Smoke drifted lazily from his lips.
“Men like Sean only lose when they believe they’ve already won.
You wanted him on his knees, at your mercy.
” His blue eyes swept the room. “That is exactly what I’ve delivered. ”
“He could have slaughtered my family!” Santino shouted over Alessio’s shoulder, straining against his grip. “My brother’s been shot!”
“We are the mafia,” Aleksandr replied, his voice flat. “Risk is the price of victory. Men die every day for far less.”
Santino huffed, walking away from Alessio with his hands on his hips. As much as I didn’t enjoy it, the Russian had a point.
“Sean and I had agreed to a plan to round up your family, keep them all alive until we had them in the same room, then torture and execute them. But Sean is an unpredictable asshole. He shot Giovanni before I had barely stepped out of my car. That was out of my control.”
A dangerous silence fell over the room. Alessio turned towards Aleksandr, glaring at him.
“My men had one instruction,” Aleksandr continued, holding Alessio’s gaze.
“Do not kill a single Buccini; only injure if necessary to make it believable. I went into this knowing I’d lose men today.
Some of my best soldiers died making sure Sean believed he was walking into a winning battle.
But sacrifices have to be made when you want to take down a calculating fucker like McKenna.
You can only win against a man like that if you are just as cunning.
I may have let the Irish in, but I made sure none of them left alive. ”
Alessio exhaled, pacing back and forth with a dark expression.
“If I’d warned you…” he continued, “…he’d have known.
If your family had been prepared, he’d have known.
For this to have worked, I needed every piece to stay exactly where it was supposed to.
I needed Sean confident, comfortable and unknowingly exposed.
You may dislike my methods, but they were effective.
You have your enemy in chains. That was the goal, right? ”
No one said a word. As much as I wanted to tear his head off, no one could deny that he’d achieved exactly what he’d promised.
“So what happens now?” Raffaele asked, his eyes flicking between all the men in the room.
Aleksandr remained seated, one ankle resting on the opposite knee as smoke curled from the cigar dangling from his fingers.
“McKenna is yours,” he said, his blue eyes finding mine before he focused on Alessio. “I’ve fulfilled my side of the alliance. Now, it’s your turn.”
“Soraya isn’t marryin’ you,” I snapped, pulling her behind me.
If he wanted her, he’d have to get through me. Her nails bit into my bicep in warning, but I didn’t care who this man was, what he wanted, or how many soldiers stood at his back. He wasn’t taking her.
He stared at me for a long moment with the knowing look of a predator who always gets what he wants, recognising another.
“My father’s condition hasn’t changed,” Aleksandr said, glancing at Raya and me.
“He expects me to return to Moscow with a bride.” His eyes flicked back to Alessio, any warmth bleeding out of them.
“You gave your word. You signed an alliance. If you choose to break it, the Pakhan will consider it a declaration of war. One thing you should have learned today is that we do not wage war to send warnings. We wage war to end bloodlines.”
Alessio’s jaw tightened. “We are fully aware of the cost of war. But if Raya is no longer willing, you should know that wars bring bloodshed to both sides.”
Raya swallowed, gripping my arm harder. My jaw clenched.