He chuckled. “Over my dead body.”
I motioned to the floor. “Already got your brother. Might as well make it a duo so he’s not lonely in Hell.”
I went to charge Lorenzo, but all he did was snap his fingers. And the in the blink of an eye, I had three security men picking me up and carrying me back towards the front door. I struggled against their muscles as they tossed me out onto my ass. I heard Char yelling from around the back of the house and I scrambled to my feet.
“If you’ve harmed one hair on her--.”
But, all he did was snap his fingers again and interrupt me. I heard the faint cocking of a gun in the distance before something clattered to the ground. And out of nowhere, Char started cursing.
“Put me down you massive, brutish son of a bitch! I’m going to kill you if you don’t let go of me. Teo! Teo, where are you!? Fucking son of a god damn--.”
Lorenzo chuckled. “Would you shut up, you stupid bitch?”
I growled. “You say one more thing against her, and I’ll—.”
He snapped his fingers once more and all of his men had their guns trained on me. I held up my hands as my vision finally began clearing as Char was dumped at my feet. She scrambled to get up and I saw tears dripping down her face despite the anger in her features.
Then, I noticed the blood on her hands.
“What happened?” I murmured.
Lorenzo chuckled. “My guess is her mother was shot back there on my orders.”
I blinked. “Her mother? On whose orders?”
He pulled out his own gun from his hip and aimed it at my face. “Thank you for helping me out with my little predicament. I wasn’t sure if I’d have the physical capability to take out poor Gloria and Ronnie at the same time. But, it seems as if you two really do like playing dirty.”
I took a step toward him. “You are the most disgusting, most annoying, craziest little--.”
He pressed his gun against my head. “Uh-uh-uuuuh. Wouldn’t want my finger to slip, would you? After all, Miss Pettigrew’s already seen one person she loves killed today. Do we really need to make it two?”
I felt her trembling at my side and I reached for her hand. She slipped her palm against my own and she was as cold as ice. In shock, no doubt, but that meant we needed to get back to the beach house.
Somewhere where she felt safe so I could calm her down.
“This isn’t over,” I said.
Lorenzo nodded. “But for now, it is.”
His men started shoving both of us to the Ferrari and I bubbled over with rage. How the hell had Lorenzo commanded the respect and ownership of Ronnie’s entire empire before the man was even dead!? That family had some shady shit going on inside of those walls, which gave me all the more reason to want Lorenzo dead.
But for now, I needed to make sure Char was all right.
“Just go,” she whispered.
We sped down the driveway and almost crashed through the wrought iron gate that definitely didn’t open quickly enough. I sped us all the way home, sticking to the backroads just so we didn’t get clocked by the police. How the hell Lorenzo ended up in that home after being chained up in the hospital was beyond me. But, the only thing that made sense was the fact that the Lucchese Family had people paid off in the hospital as well as the police department.
Just my fucking luck.
“I could send him to prison for life if you put me in front of a judge, you know.”
Char’s soft voice piped up just as I shut down the engine of the car. “We don’t have to talk about that right now. What we need to do is--.”
“He killed my fucking mother right in front of me,” she said curtly, “so yes, we’re going to talk about this right now.”
I looked over at her and took her hand. “Are you okay?”
She scoffed. “Am I okay. Am I okay? Are you really asking me that after everything we’ve been through and everything that just happened back there? Am I okay!?”
I winced as she shrieked at me. “Char, let’s get inside and run a nice hot bath. We can relax and toss around some—Char!”
She pulled away from me and shoved herself out of the car. I went rushing after her, all the way inside until we were upstairs in my bedroom. I closed the door behind me as she started tearing her clothes off. Literally, tearing them at the seams as she tried to dispel the anger coursing through her veins.
“How the fuck can they do this? How the fuck can they get away with this!?”
She sounded completely animalistic, and it ripped me back to my first memory like this. I had been on a job with my father and I watched as he ordered the death of a business owner that hadn’t paid us our percentage of his wages in almost three months. And when the man started groveling for his life, my father started laughing at him. Actually, physically laughing at him.
Kill his wife, too. Get his boy in here running this shop. He’ll listen to me.
I heard my father’s voice echoing off the corners of my mind as if it were yesterday. There wasn’t a day that went by that I didn’t harbor guilt every time I walked into that fucking pharmacy. After I took my father’s place at the head of the family, that young man couldn’t even look at me. And I had a hard time looking at him, too. Then and there, I vowed to myself that I’d run a tight ship. One with better morals than what my father had.
One with better morals than the Lucchese Family.
“He has to go away. He has to be killed. I don’t give a shit what happens to that asshole, but Lorenzo Lucchese has gone too far!” Char roared.
I wrapped my arms around her and felt her thrashing about. She shrieked and screamed, letting out unearthly sounds as I closed my eyes. It reminded me of my first breakdown. When my mind first started to wrap itself around the things I was doing and the life I was really leading. But, when I felt her go limp against me, I peppered the top of her head with kisses.
“Court is a good route to go, and I have a couple of old contacts in the local police. I’ll call them after I get you in a hot bath and I’ll get this plan moving. Okay?”
She sniffled. “Really?”
Feeling her tears through my shirt broke my heart. “Really. We did it my way today, and it backfired. So, we’re doing this your way. You ready?”
She looked up at me with eyes of fire. “I was born ready.”
I grinned. “Good. Because I’ve killed too many people in my lifetime, and if there’s a way to end this without more bloodshed, I think I might enjoy that route. But, first? Let’s get you a bath drawn.”
I led her into the bathroom and turned on the hot water. I waited until the entire bathroom was filled with steam before I even tempered the water with a bit of cold, then added as many bubbles as I thought were fit for the scenario. I helped Char ease into it, listening and reveling in her soft sighs and groans as she sank beneath the water. I perched myself on the bed just outside, wanting to give her privacy but also wanting to make sure she didn’t do anything stupid.
Then, I began placing my phone calls.
“This is Officer Mancini.”
I drew in a deep breath. “Mancini. It’s Mateo Emiliano.”
I heard shuffling around before his hissing voice sounded in my ear. “You know damn good and well you can’t call me at work. If they know I’m talking--.”
“I’m not calling for a favor, I’m calling because I have evidence I want to turn over regarding Lorenzo Lucchese.”
He paused. “Wait, seriously?”
I nodded. “Seriously. My lawyer and I have been working on a case to bring that entire family down, and I believe we’re ready to turn over all that we’ve collected to the proper authorities.”
He lowered his voice. “You know it’s only me and Gallo on your side now. The Luccheses have swept this place over and turned a lot of your officers.”
“I’m well aware of that, and thank you for the update. But, with all that we have? You and Gallo will have my full protection as we proceed forward.”
I heard a door close on his end of the line. “What exactly do you have?”
I shrugged. “You name it. I’ve got hours of video footage on my phone from his auctions. I’ve got stacks of surveillance pictures with him shaking the hands of felons you’ve only recently let out of prison.”
“Son of a bitch.”
“We’ve also got boxes of documentation that we know reside in Lorenzo Lucchese’s home in town. All we need to do is raid his house to retrieve it, and you have a treasure trove of documents from prices on the girls’ heads to who they were sold off to. You could bring down the entire ring if you can get a warrant to raid his place.”
He sighed. “You know damn good and well there’s going to be pushback, man. It’ll be hard to get a warrant from a judge that hasn’t taken a bribe from that family at least once.”
“Your job is to find that one judge. Our job is to give you everything you need to shut them down for good. You in?”
There was a long pause before he cleared his throat. “Yep. Just got Gallo to nod his head. We’re in.”
“Great. Stay by your phone. I’ll call you once we have a plan in place.”
“This better work, Emiliano.”
I chuckled. “Trust me, it will. But, don’t you ever address me like that again unless someone is walking by and you need to put on a face. Got it?”
“Got it.”
I nodded. “Good. We’ll talk soon.”
And after I hung up the phone, I gave myself a second to soak up the moment. We were one step closer to getting the Luccheses off this island for good. One step closer to reclaiming the life of this island that they had sucked from its very grounds.
All people had to do now was play nice.
28
Charlotte
The longer I sat in that bath, the clearer my mind became. My mother’s cold, dead eyes faded away and my rational mind came rushing back. I turned over all the information I had on the Lucchese Family and realized a case would hinge on whether or not we could get to that documentation in Lorenzo’s place. And for all I knew, he’d already destroyed those papers. If we didn’t have that paper trail, all we had were some pictures and a bunch of ‘he said, she said’ nonsense.
The court could be lenient on him, especially if he had the judge paid off, and then he’d have more reason than ever before to come after our heads.
You have no more life back home. And you have a life here that needs to be protected.
I turned everything over in my mind, wishing and hoping that there was some other way out of this. Because I knew if the plan forming in my mind was the only route we could take, it would change me forever. I’d never be able to go back. If I did this—if I protected Teo and this empire the way I wanted to—I’d never be the same again.
I’d cement my history on this island and forever abandon my life back in the States.
I know what has to be done.
I slipped out of the bath and enticed Teo into a nice round of sympathetic sex. It wasn’t as hard and sweaty as it usually was, but it got the job done. The thing about Teo is that sex took it right out of him. If I made him orgasm more than once, he was out like a light after all was said and done. After our spent bodies collapsed against our shared bed, I heard him snoring within minutes.
And that was my cue to slip out of bed.
I raided the walk-in closet that now housed my clothes as well as his and looked for the right outfit. Everything, down to my jewelry, needed to be planned out for something like this.
Then, I tucked the pistol and extra ammo Teo gave me into my clutch purse and headed for Lorenzo’s place.
Driving on the opposite side of the road was a bit weird, especially when I had to sit in what I considered the passenger’s seat of a car in order to drive. But, I took it slowly and made sure I approached with my guard down so Lorenzo’s soldier boys would let me up the drive.
And when I knocked on his front door, it quickly whipped open.
“You’ve got five seconds before I put a bullet in your head,” Lorenzo hissed.
I nodded. “Then, I’ll cut to the chase: I know you have a vacant position now that my mother is dead, and I’d like to offer my services to fill it.”
His eyes fell down my body. “And why the fuck would I want to do that?”
I shrugged. “As a last-minute effort to bridge the divide between your family and Teo’s. Because you have to admit, if the two of you shared control of this island, you’d be unstoppable.”
His eye twitched. “Why should I believe anything you’re saying?”
“If you call Teo right now, he’s not going to have the faintest idea as to where I am. In fact, you’ll wake him up and he’ll be pissed off at that. I kind of wore him out before I snuck out to come here.”
His eyes fell down my body. “I’m listening.”
“I just gave you my pitch: I offer my services as a lawyer and pick up right where my mother left off if you agree to a truce with Teo’s family so we can work out some sort of shared support of power along the island. This place doesn’t function well without both families. I’ve seen, first-hand, what war will do to this place. We need peace, and I come with a way to offer that peace.”
His eyes met mine. “Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t kill you and burn Teo’s place down with him in it?”
I licked my lips. “Because you were once a boy on this island before being exposed to its horrors. Why would you want that for the other children of this island, too?”
I didn’t think it would work, but it fucking did. The guard came down from behind Lorenzo’s eyes and he stepped off to the side. I nodded as I slid my way into his foyer, and I tried not to grimace at the feeling of being back in what had once essentially been my maze-worthy torture chamber.
And all the while, that gun burned a hole in my clutch.
Lorenzo closed the door and I heard him lock it. “I have to admit, it’s very brave of you to step onto my property. But, I’m afraid that once a lost little Bambi steps onto my property, I can’t always agree to let her go. You must understand, right?”
I pulled the gun out and whipped around, pointing it at his head. “Trust me, I understand perfectly.”
He snickered. “Now, that I did not see coming.”
“Seems like you’re slipping, then.”
He pressed his forehead tightly against the barrel of my gun. “You won’t do it. I know women like you.”
“Then, why don’t you tell me what you think you know.”
He grinned. “I know women like you get purchased up by men who have a particular fetish of building women up before they’re torn down, and you’re almost at your precipice.”
“Uh huh.”
He chuckled. “I know women like yourself begin to believe that the man who bought you loves you. That he cherishes you. That he cares for you. I’ve seen Mateo do it before.”
“I’m sure.”
He shrugged. “He really is a sick man, you know. At least I let my women know up front what they’ve gotten themselves into. Mateo, though? He’s a piece of work. He’ll make any woman believe she’s earned a right to be at his side before knocking them down and watching them fall into the slimy depths he really wants them to be in.”
I cocked my gun. “Any last words? Because you know I’m going to pull this trigger. I’ve already done it once.”
“You know, Rosana couldn’t pull the trigger on me, either. I guess there must be something about me.”
My hand twitched. “Funny. I would’ve made my last words something like, ‘I wish I would’ve dicked you down when I had the chance.’”
The grin fell from his face. “You stupid fucking--.”
I smiled. “Goodbye, Lorenzo.”
I went to pull the trigger, but his body dropped prematurely. My eyes widened as I watched his body plummet, almost as if things were happening in slow motion. I whipped around and saw two bodyguards barreling down the hallway, their guns d
rawn as a shadow stepped through the doorway of the hall.
And when I watched Teo put two bullets into each man charging him, I uncocked my gun.
“Took you long enough,” I said.
He quickly changed out his magazine. “You were right. Lorenzo had the place bugged back at that party a few weeks back. My head of security found three more devices while I was on my way.”
“Well, I was prepared to pull the trigger if your entrance through the back didn’t work.”
He holstered his gun. “That’s what he gets for splitting his brother’s forces between two homes.”
I smiled. “I’m really glad you’re okay. I was worried there for a little bit.”
He walked up and held my hips in his hands. “Come on. Let’s go find those boxes and get them turned over to the police. I have two contacts in the department waiting on them.”
I leaned my head against his chest. “We really had them fooled, didn’t we?”
He brushed his fingers through my hair. “From beginning to end.”
I sighed with relief. “Let’s go. I’m ready to end this.”
And with our fingers intertwined, we took our time walking through the winding maze of hallways in Lorenzo’s place. We put bullets into anyone that came barreling in our direction as I poked my head into rooms.
Then, we happened upon the deserted office filled to the brim with boxes.
“I’ll get Gallo and Mancini on the line,” Teo said.
And I smiled as I flicked on the light. “Time to end this, once and for all.”
29
Charlotte
Six Months Later…
As I stood inside a firm that once belonged to myself and my mother, I heaved a heavy sigh. So much had changed over the past few months, but nothing hit home quite like being back in the States. I hadn’t set foot into my office in months. And while the staff figured it was because of the ‘accidental death’ of my mother while on a ‘working holiday overseas’, my clients knew the truth.
Hell, everyone in the criminal underground world knew the truth.
Traitor: An Enemies to Lovers Mafia Romance (Sold to The Don Book 3) Page 15