Chapter 41 Phoenix
Phoenix
Sometimes I sit in the olive grove and cry. Why did you have to leave me? —Izzy
Enzo
“Tesoro mio!” Mamma croons, throwing her arms around my neck. “I’m so happy for you.”
“Thanks, Mamma.”
I untangle myself from her embrace just as Papa steps into the hall. A wave of tension frosts the air.
They stare at each other—Mamma’s eyes narrowed, her mouth pressed tight. She hates him for stealing me away and dragging me into this life.
“Giuliana,” Papa says, extending a hand.
Her lips purse. But then—after a long pause—she accepts the gesture.
“Let me show you upstairs, Mamma.” I take her arm, steering her away from Papa and the awkward silence, leading her up to one of the guest rooms.
“Quell'uomo è un bastardo21,” she mutters.
“Be nice. He’s letting you stay here.”
“I birthed his son! Raised you! Bare minimum, Lorenzo.”
“Yes, Mamma.”
Once I get her settled, I head back down to Papa’s office.
I sink into the chair across from him and accept the glass of whiskey he slides over. “What did you want to discuss?”
A beat passes before he answers. “Phoenix.”
“What about it?”
“It’s time you learn everything. I’ll be expecting you to take over when the time comes.”
I nod, waiting.
“I’m sure you know a little—what the public’s aware of—but there’s much more to it.” He sighs, running a hand over his weathered face. “None of the operatives know who runs it. All their contact goes through handlers—like Cam was for Izzy—and the handlers report to me.”
“How do you recruit operatives?”
“It depends. Sometimes recommendations. Sometimes we spot someone we think could be useful.”
“Why did you never tell me?”
“It’s not that I don’t trust you, Lorenzo. You know I do. But Phoenix was separate from everything else. You didn’t need to know.”
“Still would’ve been useful,” I grumble.
He has the gall to laugh. “Perhaps.”
There’s a knock on the door.
“Come in,” Papa calls out.
The door opens, and Cam—Izzy’s handler—pops his head inside. “Is now a bad time?”
“No, this is good. I was just filling Lorenzo in on Phoenix’s operations. After all—he will be the one in charge soon.”
Cam nods, taking the seat next to me.
He seems nice enough. But something about him makes me dislike him—probably the way he’s too friendly with Izzy.
“I hear congratulation are in order,” he says, offering his hand to me.
I shake it, internally rolling my eyes. I’m sure he’s real pleased. Bastard.
“How do you fund all of this?” I ask, turning back to Papa.
“Alessio set aside a large source of money that funds the operatives and recruitment. The rest,” he pauses, “that comes from Salvatore.”
“As in—”
“Yes, my brother.”
“He knows?”
“I told you we all grew up together. We might have our differences, but he believes in this cause.”
Huh. Wouldn’t have expected that.
“How are the girls we rescued? Where are they?”
I have so many questions I’m not sure which are the most important.
“They’re safe. Protected. That’s all that matters.”
I frown. “You don’t know.”
Papa smiles proudly. “No, I don’t know their location. As I’ve said, the secrecy is how this all has worked for so long. But I do know that they’re in a safehouse with my team. Only my guards and doctors at the site are aware of its placement.”
“How it that possible? Surely you had to buy the land? Get contractors in?”
He rolls his eyes at me. “I have one guard I trusted to buy the land for me—without telling me where. The contractors didn’t know what they were building. Everyone who knows the location lives on site. That’s the same for all my safehouses”
“That’s… a lot of security.”
Papa sighs. “Lorenzo… Isolde alone took down five trafficking rings. Imagine how many girls are involved in each one? Then imagine the rest of my operatives. If I know where the girls are staying—if anyone does—it puts them in danger.”
“What if someone wants to leave?”
“One of the girls?”
“No, what happens when the operatives want to stop working? Surely, they know too much?”
Cam’s the one to answer this time. “It depends on why they’re leaving.
If they’ve been compromised, then usually we offer witness protection.
But if they just want to stop… well, they don’t really know anything at all.
They don’t know the other operatives. They don’t know any of the locations.
That’s why everything mission is given through handlers. It’s all very need-to-know.”
The more I learn, the more impressed I am. I can’t believe Papa has been leading this entire operation on his own since Alessio died.
“And Izzy?”
“Her papa always had plans for her to join. He started training her when she turned eighteen. She never stopped—not until the day he died.”
“What happens to her role now?”
“That’s up to her.” The thought of her going back undercover has my heart clenching. “But I assume, with the marriage, she’ll take a step back.”
I fucking hope so.