Chapter 13
Chapter Thirteen
KEANE
The ground floor of Falcon Tower is crawling with Levine’s men. He must have the entire police department in his back pocket for him to live so close to the city’s downtown hub. Rossi had several officers and higher-ranking city officials in his, including a judge and a state representative, so it makes me curious to know who Levine controls.
Jax has been uncharacteristically quiet since he received the message that Levine wanted to meet with us. My friend has been on a warpath the past couple of days, and I don’t trust him not to do something stupid. However, I trust Levine even less.
As soon as our SUV pulls up, we’re met by Levine’s men and taken inside where one guy waves a wand over our clothes while another pats us down for weapons. The guards don’t take them from us like I expect them to and that just makes me even more wary about Levine’s intentions.
“A show of good faith from the boss,” one man says.
“This is a setup,” Jax mumbles low next to my ear.
I agree, but my need to lay eyes on Andie and make sure she’s alive and unharmed overrides my common sense. Levine’s message promised a neutral meeting, meaning he just wants to talk. Guess we’re about to find out if that was a bunch of bullshit.
Dante, Enzo, Marco, and Johnny are told to stay in the lobby while Jax and I are escorted to a private elevator. After a minute, we come to a stop and are met by six more of Levine’s men and one huge, scary motherfucker whose face looks like Jax went to town on it with his knife.
“This way,” the larger man tells us, and I immediately pick up on the Russian accent.
Jax tenses beside me, and I know what he must be thinking. If Levine has the Russians as his allies, things just got much, much worse for us. Max had been trying for years to set up an alliance with the East Coast Bratva. I understand now why those negotiations never succeeded.
Jax and I follow our escorts into a large, open room. A wall of windows showcases the beauty of the city at night, lit up and sparkling like stars. The view is incredible, but I much prefer the quiet countryside outside of city limits. No matter how many rooftop gardens and greenspaces the city adds, it can’t beat fresh air and the deciduous and pine forests that surround the Rossi estate.
“Thank you, Pearson.”
I’ve seen Declan Levine a few times in my life. Funny how he and Max lived in the same city, but they rarely crossed paths. The Irish and the Italians tend not to play well with one another, but since our business interests hardly ever crossed—we’re more gambling, loans, prostitution, and drugs, whereas Levine is one of the largest black-market dealers for guns, weapons, and bombs—there had always been a tentative truce between the two families. Max may have shied away from out-and-out war with him, but there’s a new king in the Rossi castle, and I bow to no-fucking-one. Something Levine is going to learn real quick. He took Andie and turned our brother against us, and for that, he is already a dead man walking.
Perhaps I should thank him. He did take out most of my competition and helped rid the planet of Maximillian Rossi. The man I once looked up to who turned out to be nothing more than a narcissistic pedophile.
Levine approaches us, hands casually dipped into his trouser pockets. He’s wearing a crisp green dress shirt, unbuttoned at the collar, reading glasses hanging from the “V.” But his face is grim and his eyes shrewd—and that’s what catches my attention. He has violet-colored eyes. Eyes like Andie’s. Jax has noticed as well because he tenses next to me.
“Mr. Agosti.” Levine offers me his hand to shake. He turns to Jax to do the same. “And Mr. West. Welcome. Would you like something to drink?” he asks, going over to a wet bar.
Taking out three tumblers, he pours scotch into one, then he adds a perfectly round ice ball into the glass. He takes a sip and sighs like it’s the best taste in the world.
“No, thank you,” I decline.
I want whatever meet-and-greet the hell this is over and done with, so we can find Andie and leave. Because there’s no fucking way we’re leaving here without her. And Levine should be a smart enough man to know that his actions against the Rossis won’t go unpunished.
“My daughter is very beautiful. Wouldn’t you agree?” he says, taking another sip of his drink.
He holds his glass up in mock inspection, swirling the golden liquid around. He’s waiting for a reaction, and he’s about to get a huge one if Jax’s low, pissed-off growl is any indication.
“I haven’t had the pleasure.”
Those damnable violet-tinted eyes train on me, and my mind starts screaming, knowing exactly what he’s about to say, but not wanting to believe a word of it.
“Mr. Agosti, you’re a very smart man. I think you and your companion have already figured it out.”
I want to resurrect Max’s body so I can kill him again myself. I don’t need another fucking revelation that shatters everything I’ve always believed. Is that why Max raped her and abused her? Because he knew she wasn’t his? Jesus Christ.
“You kidnapped her. Your men beat the crap out of her. You blew up the goddamn cabin, then attacked our home. If you’ve touched a hair on her head—” I start to threaten, but Levine cuts me off with a sharp bark of derisive laughter.
“Choose your words very carefully, Mr. Agosti. I have no patience or tolerance for liars.” His Irish brogue thickens with repressed anger. “You and I both know who really hurt her. And from what Rafael tells me, the two of you weren’t exactly kind to her either.”
His eyes harden on Jax, and it makes me want to know exactly what Rafe said to him. We’re nothing like Rossi. We tried to get Andie to leave. We tried to protect her. I was going to take Max out myself, but Levine got to him first. And as much as I wanted to fight it, Andie belongs to us. She’s ours, not his. And I will give her up for no one.
His control finally snapping, Jax shoulders past me, his hand on his gun. “Bring Andie to us right fucking now.”
Levine’s only reaction is to drum the lip of his glass with his fingertips before placing it on the wet bar. “There are a few things we need to discuss first.”
He pushes Jax’s gun to the side with two fingers and walks over to a small seating area near the windows. Most men would be pissing in their pants at the sight of an enraged Jaxson West. He’s called the Angel of Death for good reason. Yet, Levine isn’t intimidated by him and shows him as much.
Not needing an invitation, I join him and take a seat, the leather of the cushion creaking under my weight. Jax remains standing next to me, but he keeps glancing out the wall of windows. His hand comes down on my shoulder like a vice and that’s when I see the little red dot trained right in the middle of my chest.
Jax quickly moves in front of me, blocking my line of sight and shielding me with his body. I appreciate his protection, but we both know that the sniper’s bullet would go right through him and into me if Levine gave the signal for his man to fire.
“Tell your sniper to stand down.”
Levine waves Jax off like he’s a pesky fly. “Lochlan won’t do anything unless you make him. Unlike Rossi, I keep my word. I only wish to talk.”
“Not fucking happening until you tell your man to stand down,” Jax repeats, pointing his gun at Levine’s head.
“Jax. It’s okay,” I tell him.
I’m speaking as his boss, not as his friend. I’m the current head of the Rossi syndicate and until they pry that title out of my cold, dead hand, he will do as I say. If Levine wanted to kill us, he’s had plenty of opportunities to do so already.
As Jax moves to the side of my chair, he keeps a tight grip on his Glock and never takes his sights away from the windows, remaining ever watchful.
“You officially have my undivided attention,” I tell Levine.
He nods his approval. “Good. Now let’s discuss how we’re going to work together to take that piece of shit Ortiz down.”
Is he talking about an alliance? He can’t be serious. I don’t trust him or his motives. But I’m willing to play along because right now he holds all the cards. He has Andie.
I lean forward, forearms resting on my splayed knees, looking Levine straight in the eye. “That piece of shit is demanding to have his property returned to him.”
His entire demeanor turns murderous.
“Then let’s not waste any more time.”