Chapter 10
Chapter
Ten
Emiliano
T he headlights of my Mercedes-Benz AMG GT 63 illuminated el Patr?n’s gate as I flashed my badge beneath the sensor. The gate moved slowly to the side. A new set of guards stood at either side of the interior gate as I parked amongst many other vehicles.
“Busy place,” Nick said as he unfastened his seat belt.
My skin prickled as I scanned the different cars, noticing my father’s. This was more visitors than would usually be at Jano’s house after nine on a weeknight, filling the confined space. Nick and I had gotten word out about tonight’s meeting, and this gathering crowd was no doubt here for the same reason.
The guards nodded as Nick and I opened the inner gate. The usually quiet courtyard contained more than a handful of cartel guards, soldiers, and lieutenants. Nick walked toward his father, my Uncle Nicolas, while I made my way to Horace Torres who was talking to José Pérez, Liliana’s bodyguard.
“ Hola ,” I said. “How has your first day with Isabella been?”
“Quiet. She’s been content inside. Manana , we go to the apartments.”
Yeah, I wondered how that would go. Currently, there were too many other things at play for me to give Isabella too much thought. I turned and nodded toward the house. “Jano in there?”
“ Sí . Rei too. El Patr?n wants everyone to stay outside.” Horace looked at the growing crowd. “I don’t blame him. He said he’d talk to those of us gathered before we head over to the warehouse.”
José lowered his voice. “The rumors aren’t true, o sí ?”
Rumors?
What I knew: Kozlov’s men attacked our soldiers, or we could have a traitor among us.
I flashed a grin. “I guess you’d need to be more specific. What rumors have you heard?”
“Kozlov is gone. Volkov’s men gunned him down.”
The fuck?
My expression stayed stoic, despite my shock. This wasn’t a rumor I’d heard. “When and where did you hear this?”
“Happened last night,” Horace said. “Stories started circulating on the streets this afternoon.”
“Took him out at his home,” José said, “Up in Hidden Hills. That’s why Rei is down here. It could be a fucking game changer.”
“Well, fuck, that’s news to me.” I searched for Nick in the growing crowd. He was still with his father and mine. I joined them and kept my volume below the growing din. “Is the news about Ivan Kozlov real?”
“I hope not,” my papá replied. “If Kozlov is gone, Volkov is even more powerful. Add Herrera to that equation and shit’s going to get real.”
As if shit wasn’t already real.
Everyone turned as Silas came out of the house. He scanned the men, his gaze landing on us. “Emiliano and Andrés, come with me.”
I immediately stepped forward. It wasn’t lost on me that my papá hesitated. Taking orders from Jano and Rei was upsetting but taking orders from Jano’s guard… Papá made up the difference and got to Silas at the same time as I did.
“What do you need?” I asked.
“The first wave of reinforcements from the famiglia will arrive soon—ten men. Dante Luciano is with them.” Silas scanned the cartel men. “Jano wants a friendly welcoming committee.” He lowered his voice. “We don’t need anyone with a stick up their ass about the alliance causing problems.”
Papá and I were friendly. Dante was married to my sister, Papá’s daughter. And my other sister, his other daughter, was married to the capo dei capi himself.
I nodded. “Silas, is the rumor true about Ivan Kozlov?”
He pressed his lips together in a straight line and nodded. “Found the same way Jorge was found. We didn’t get the official news until after you spoke to Horace. They took out his wife, two children, staff, and guards. I heard his fucking dog was shot.” Silas shook his head. “An akita. I only hope it took a bite out of the motherfucker’s leg who slaughtered them.”
“Why would Volkov do that?” Inhaling, I closed my eyes and exhaled. “Kozlov’s men attacked our soldiers last night. Why kill him?”
“The aftermath is eerily similar to Bella.”
My mind was swirling with a tornado of thoughts. “Are you suggesting that it was Volkov’s men who attacked the Bella instead of Kozlov?”
Silas shook his head and shrugged. “We don’t know. As for Kozlov’s soldiers, either they’re now with Volkov or they’re dead.” He gripped my arm and tugged me a few feet away. “With Myshkin gone in Kansas City, the bratva world is fighting for supremacy.”
“Is there any proof that Herrera’s in on this?”
“Dante wants to talk to Jano in person before the meeting. I need you and your father to meet Dante at the airport. Keep word of their arrival under wraps. We’re keeping our trusted close. Nicolas, Nick, Felipe, and Diego need to lead these men” —he gestured with his chin— “to the warehouse. Tell them to keep the crowd there until Jano, Rei, and Dante arrive. Tell Nick not to mention anything about the famiglia coming until they’re all in the warehouse.”
“Will do.” I gritted my teeth. “These men are expecting to hear from Jano.”
“They will—at the warehouse. This crowd is getting too loud. They need to go. We don’t need any uniforms showing up.” He started to head toward the door and turned back. “Oh, and if you see José Peréz, tell him Liliana will spend tonight here. There’s no use spreading people out.”
I nodded as I pushed my way through the growing crowd. Once I’d passed on Silas’s message to José, I found Nick. “Silas said for you, Felipe, and Diego to take the lieutenants and soldiers to the warehouse.”
Nick narrowed his gaze. “They expect to hear from Jano.”
“I know. Silas said they will at the warehouse.”
“Where are you going?”
“Taking my father” —I looked around— “with Horace and José” —I need to tell them— “to meet Dante Luciano’s plane. He’s bringing ten men with him. I’ll need a few drivers.”
Nick’s jaw clenched. “What the fuck about Volkov and Kozlov?”
“Seems to be true. It’s fucked.”
My cousin nodded. “I’ll round up everyone and head south toward the warehouse.”
“I need to get Papá, José, and Horace. We’ll meet you as soon as we can with the reinforcements. Don’t mention the famiglia until you’re all contained.”
There was a rumble of discontent that el Patr?n hadn’t addressed them.
“He will at the warehouse,” Nick reassured.
After gathering my papá, José, and Horace, I took one last look at Jano’s house. The noise level had lessened as more and more soldiers made their way out of the inside gate. I turned to Horace. “Should you make one last check on Isabella?”
“Everyone within those walls is safe. It’s those who are outside those walls that concern me.”
With each of us driving our own vehicle, we set off for the private airport while the others made their way to the warehouse. Our caravan arrived at the exclusive small airport minutes before their plane was scheduled to land. This was the airport the Lucianos frequented when they came out west. Getting out of my car, I leaned against the hood and surveyed the land.
By the look of the chain-link fences and pole-barn-style structure housing offices, it wasn’t exclusive in a luxury sense of the word. Not as frequented would be a better definition. Narrowing my eyes, I scanned beyond the fences. There were plenty of open fields. A sharpshooter could possibly hit a target.
My father stepped from his SUV driven by Carlos, his trusted bodyguard for most of my life. “Silas spoke privately to you, not to me.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Jano is pushing us older lieutenants out.”
I shook my head. “That’s not true.”
He leaned against my car and faced the runway. “You know what they’re saying?”
“Who?”
“Our men.” Papá shook his head. “Some are blaming the famiglia for our war. Before Dario and Catalina married, we were friendly with Herrera.”
“You agreed to have Cat marry. Do you think that was now a mistake?”
“Fuck,” he growled. “ El Patr?n didn’t leave me a choice in the matter. And now Camila…”
I repeated my question. “Do you think it was a mistake, either on your or Jorge’s part?”
He pulled a pack of cigarettes from his inside suit coat pocket and offered me one. I shook my head. It wasn’t that I never smoked, only that when I did it meant I was stressed. I refused to admit to that state of mind at the moment.
Dad removed a lighter from his slacks pocket, lit the cigarette, and took a long drag. The thing was that my stress smoking came from an example in my life.
“You’re stressed about this?” I asked.
He blew a cloud of smoke into the breeze. “It wasn’t a mistake on either of our parts.” He tipped his face up toward the sky. “Dante is my son-in-law as well as Dario. I trust them, more than I did their father. Jorge made an alliance with the Kansas City Mafia. Herrera made an alliance with the Volkov and Kozlov bratvas. I’m concerned we chose the wrong ally.”
“Herrera and Volkov have fucked Kozlov. That doesn’t sound like an ally.”
“Jano doesn’t have what it takes to be jefe . He’s too young. This new turn of events is making our ranks concerned. Do you know what frightened soldiers do?”
“They fight.”
“They run,” he said. “And they’ll run to Herrera.”
I shook my head. “I refuse to believe that.”
“Youth has a way of blinding people, always seeing possibilities when experience would tell you that the fucking house is on fire. I can smell the smoke. Either we get out or go down in flames.”
I turned to face my father. At over a quarter century my senior, he was the man I always looked up to and admired. Maybe it was youth. Maybe it was that Nick and I were closer to Jano and Rei than our fathers were. Whatever the reason, this moment felt earthshaking in a way I wasn’t ready to internalize. “If you’re not for the Roríguez cartel, Papá, then you’re against it. I never imagined you would be a traitor.”
Shaking his head, he released another cloud of smoke. “A traitor is by definition a person who commits treason. I haven’t betrayed anyone or any organization. I swore an oath to Jorge and to Senor Cruz before him.” His dark stare met mine. “You’re a man now, Em. Start thinking like one. Two of my daughters are married to Luciano men, two very powerful men. I will never turn to Elizondro Herrera, but I’m not above asking my sons-in-law for clemency. This ship feels as if it will go the way of Bella.”
“My oath was to Jorge and since to Jano. As long as my sisters are under the protection of the famiglia and the alliance is intact, I will support both sides. The only clemency I may ask for will be for Mama if she finds herself a widow.”
The bright lights of a Cessna preceded the rumbling sound of engines as the plane carrying Dante and his soldiers touched down on the runway.
Papá tossed the remains of the cigarette to the ground and stubbed it out on the tarmac. “Be careful, Em.”
“Jano sent us here because of our connection to the Lucianos—a friendly welcoming crew, remember?”