“Thank you.” I told her before opening the door. “Anything I can do to help.” She said, giving me a smile.
“Papa!” Romano said, hopping off the chair and running to me with open arms. I squatted down and hugged him tightly, kissing his curly head. “Pa-pa…” Romano began, already starting to cry. I rubbed his back and shook my head. I stood up and took his hand, leading him to a couch by the window.
We sat down and Romano wiped his face with the back of his hand as he began kicking his feet. He kicked his feet whenever he was in deep thought or very angry or upset. “How are you feeling, Romano? Tell the truth.” I asked him.
He stopped kicking his feet and looked up at me. “I feel sad.” He had a large frown on his face, his bottom lip quivering. “Papa is sad too.” I told him, truthfully. Sad would be an understatement, but I needed my son to understand it’s okay to share his honest feelings with me.
My father never showed his true feelings to me and I always wished he did. I thought maybe we’d have a stronger relationship if he was more transparent. I didn’t want my son to grow up lacking in anything. While I’m alive, I plan to be the best, loving father I can be to my son.
“You’re sad?” Romano asked, knitting his eyebrows together. I nodded my head. “Very sad, and it’s okay for you to be upset as well. I know you want to be tough and strong-” I started but he cut me off.
“Just like you, papa! I want to be just like you when I grow up.” Romano said, his tone elevated. A smile cracked my lips. “I know you want to be tough and strong like me, but you shouldn’t be in a rush.” You shouldn’t be in a rush to die.
“Huh?” He asked, confused.
“I was told that a bad man pointed a gun at you, yet you still persisted towards him.”
“But he had mommy!” He interrupted me again,
“Romano-”
“I wanted to save mommy! I wanted to be like you!” He said, his voice cracking. I looked down at his face and started to see his eyes watering, his fists also clenched.
I exhaled deeply through my nose and closed my eyes before opening them. “I’m not saying what you did was wrong, Romano. I’m saying you have to be careful. I told you before that you’re a big boy now, but you’re still too little to do certain things. Do you understand me?” I asked him, firmly.
Romano nodded his head slowly, frowning. “I’m proud of you, Romano.” I said, giving him a smile. He looked up at me with a bright smile. “Really?”
“Yes. You’re very gutsy and brave and that’s the most important thing. Remember Romano, bravery is not the lack of fear but the ability to move forward even when you’re afraid.” I told him.
He nodded his head slowly, a small smile on his face.
**
251 Washington street, plainville
“Looks like this place hasn’t had business in decades.” Angelo said kicking a stone as he entered the old, abandoned casino. I turned my flashlight on to lighten up the dark atmosphere and the others followed suit.
Large block letters were dangling from the ceiling, there was a light fog dangling over our heads and I was sure I stepped on a dead rat just now. These poker cards are cover in dust!” Angelo said again.
Thomas scoffed. “Do you only point out the obvious?” He asked his partner.
Angelo slammed his hand on the pool table. “You sure know how to drain the cool out of things don’t you?” He asked back.
“Enough, Angelo.” Ricardo spoke up, joining my side. I needed and extra man on this mission and I thanked Ricardo for coming. He usually helped Enrico with intel but I was sure Enrico could handle things over there.
“Angelo, Thomas, you two go in that direction. Ricardo and I will look through here.” I said to them. If we split up, we could get more work done faster.
*
As Ricardo and I placed our flashlights on certain objects, I could see he was getting a bit paranoid. After walking around for twenty minutes, I wasn’t exactly sure what we were supposed to find.
“There are things out there that could turn your blood to ice.” He said, carefully stepping over objects.
“I’m aware.” I said to him.
“There are many objects knocked down. Either someone has been here not too long ago or-”
“Hold on, Ricardo.” I said to him, answering my phone call coming from Angelo. “I think we’ve found something.” He said, his voice wavering. I ended the call and Ricardo and I looked at each other with furrowed eyebrows.
Just then, shuffling could be heard from the distance. Ricardo pulled out his gun as the shuffling got closer. Shit. It was too dark to see clearly and the only light source available was the full sunlight peeking through the dirty windows.
The fast footsteps of running could be heard and I pulled out my gun quickly, aiming at the tall and stout body that was entering the casino. There was a man standing there, his arms quickly thrown up.
“I don’t have anything! Don’t shoot! It’s me!” The deep voice yelled.
I aimed at their head. “Stefano! It’s me! Don’t shoot! It’s Accardi!” The man yelled again.
Accardi? My eyebrows knitted and Ricardo cursed under his breath as he lowered his weapon. We took a few steps towards the entrance. “Don’t move.” Ricardo warned him.
As we walked closer to the suspicious man, we lowered our guard. The man truly was Accardi. His hair had grown a bit longer, a smudge of dirt was on his forehead and his beard was unkempt. His grey shirt was tattered and dirty along with his pants and I’d be lying if I said he didn’t look disheveled.
“Jesus Christ, it’s really you.” Ricardo said, relieved of tension.
“Louise, I’m glad.” I said, giving him a short smile. I then furrowed my eyebrows at the outcome of this situation. I assumed coming to this place would give me a lead on finding my wife, but Louise is here standing in front of me.
Was this a fake address or an address meant to locate Louise this whole time?
Louise's eyebrows then furrowed and his eyes widened as if remembering something crucial. “Have you found her yet?”
Ricardo raised an eyebrow and I narrowed my eyes at him. “Found who?” I asked.
“They brought a woman here just a couple days ago. I wasn’t able to get a good look at her but judging the situation we’ve been in for a couple months, she had to be from our town.” Louise explained.
“Adriano said he found something, so let’s go.” I said turning in the direction where they went.
“How were you able to escape this damn place?” I heard Ricardo ask Louise. “They’d only tied me with a rope before they left earlier in the day. I was able to escape quickly after they left. It was like they didn’t even try to keep me from running away.” Louise answered, suspicious.
“Why’d you come back?” I asked, this time. My flashlight guided the way as we walked. Although relieved that Louise is now found, I was suspicious of things not adding up.
“I needed to use a phone to call-shit.” Louise cursed, standing in place now. I turned and saw that his face showed worry. “What’s wrong, Louise?” I asked him.
“Stefano, your wife-your wife-is she safe? How are things at the restaurant?” Louise asked shakily. I clenched my jaw and balled my fists as I registered what he was asking. How does he know?
Before I had time to think of my next move, I was already over to Louise, my hands gripping his shirt as I looked seethingly into his eyes. The collision of his body onto the pool table caused boxes and a few balls to fall off, hitting the floor.
“Tell me. How did you know about my wife? How do you have any clue-” my hands moved up to his neck as I started to squeeze him tightly. He was turning red and his eyes were as large as saucers.
“St-please-“ Louise wheezed for air as his hands wrapped around his neck, trying to pry mine off his airway. Ricardo came up behind me and tried pulling me off of him. “Stefano, let him explain! Give ‘em a break!” Ricardo said ripping me away from Louise.
/>
I regained my balance and my fingers were itching to cause harm. Louise leaned on the table to catch his breath. “Shit, Stefano.” Ricardo cursed. I pinched the bridge of my nose and as I watched Louise carefully. “Explain.”
I heard fast approaching footsteps from Angelo and Thomas’ direction. They came running in with their guns drawn and Ricardo raised his arm and brought it down to signal for them to put down their weapons.
“I-I overheard the ones who captured me talking earlier today about the next p-place they were going to attack... When they left, I freed myself... and was able to use a stranger’s phone to contact the restaurant your wife works at. Unfortunately, your wife couldn’t talk to me and before I could explain the situation to her assistant, screaming was all I could hear on the other end.” He said, shaking his head as he rubbed his neck.
“Louise…” Angelo whispered in disbelief.
“There’s also another thing.” Louise continued. Ricardo placed his hand on Louise’s shoulder. “They’ll be stopping next is called the Prince’s haven, some club. There, they’re going to meet up with Segreto.”
The Prince’s Haven. It’s an upscale Casino and club in Brooklyn, New York. I’ve been there once when I was younger so getting access into the place couldn’t be hard.
Morelli was the one orchestrating this whole thing. He really thought I’d be stupid enough to think all of this was happening under his nose. That, or he thought he had all of us by the balls so tightly that he didn’t care how sloppy he was getting with his plan.
“Angelo, lead the way.”
Very quickly once we reached the area Angelo and Thomas spoke of, I cursed.
“Fuck, she looks bad.” Ricardo cursed, holding Gianna up slowly as he squatted down to the floor. I bit my lip hard enough to draw blood as I could feel my insides burning with rage. We just found Gianna Moreno’s unconscious body in a dirty storage closet. She was obviously drugged up based on how limp her body was when Ricardo tried to sit her up.
She was hard to recognize. Her hair was in all kinds of directions and visible purple bruises were found on her wrists and upper arms, showing signs of her fighting back.
They’ll pay. They will all fucking pay.
*
Raelyn’s POV
My eyes fluttered open and my vision blurred for just a moment. I was blinded by the darkness in the room and the dull ache at my ventral side caused me to wince. Just then, everything that occurred today drowned my mind. I widened my eyes and opened my eyes to gasp when I heard a small noise.
It was like something sharp cutting something. Looking into the distance, my heart leaped out of its place as I saw a figure sitting down in a chair.
As my vision became clear and I readjusted to the darkness, I saw the person's hands in front of them. I felt myself shaking and my throat became tight the longer I looked at this figure.
“You like what you see?” A masculine voice asked me. It was deep, yet raspy. I felt it in my heart it was familiar and I wanted to tell myself that I couldn’t recognize it. I shrunk back and heard chains rattling. I felt tears at the corner of my eyes as I realized my feet and arms were linked to the wall.
The man raised up from his chair and the sound of a chair scraping against the hard floor was made. Closer and closer he got to me until he was just a mere three feet away.
There was moonlight shining through a small window twenty feet up on the wall. It casted just in the right direction, making the man in front of me visibly to my eyes.
Vincent…
He held an apple in his hands, his elbows resting on his knees as he cut it in front of him. The scrapes landed on a plate he had sitting on the floor.
I wanted to say I was frightened, but that would be an understatement. I couldn’t believe my eyes nor the situation I was in. I was terrified.
A few minutes went by with just us staring at each other. Me in complete fear and him with a blank expression. I could feel him judging me with his eyes, those dark abysmal eyes of his.
My heart thumped against my chest with every second that went by. Asking him to let me go was laughable. A tear slips from my eyes as I register that it is really Vincent Vandal I'm looking at.
Vincent Vandal.
“Why are you crying, Raelyn?” He asked, continuing to stare at me, his head leaning to the side just a bit. He kept staring at me with that same blank look in his eyes. Except, there was a bit of a glint in them.
The expression he gave me scared me to my core. It was the kind of stare that you get lost in while looking at an owl.
Am I dreaming? I asked myself. My eyes danced around to the dimensions of this dark room.
Vincent got up from his chair once again, making me jump. He walked closer until he was standing dangerously close to me. He smelled Earthy, like sandalwood and rosewood. There was also a light scent of shaving cream.
“Are you hungry?” He asked raising the plate of cut apples to my face. I turned my head a different direction, too scared to speak and also not wanting to eat anything he provided.
He chuckled a bit and sat the apples on his chair.
Vincent swiftly got something out of his pocket and flipped it around his finger. It was a pocket knife and I bit my lip hard enough to draw blood as the weapon was face to face with me.
“Still the same feisty Rae...I wonder if anything else about you has stayed the same.” He said lowly. I gasped as I felt the soft and cool edge of his knife glide slowly down the side of my neck. With each second, I trembled.
The knife moved lower until it reached my cleavage.
“No, don’t.” I whispered, closing my eyes tightly
“Stop..” I said again, turning my head so I wouldn’t face him. This was too embarrassing. I felt his stubble as he whispered in my ear.
“Your husband must be a very lucky guy.” He said again.
I could feel the blood rush to my face at his words.
“It’s not me you’re after. Why don’t you just let me go?” I asked, my vision blurring again. I didn’t want to be in this predicament and Vincent didn’t have to do what he was doing.
“You and me both know that’s not happening.” He said. His soft tone changed into a serious and cold one, letting me know he was not playing around.
I knew he was just using me to get to Stefano. I didn’t matter in all of this and Stefano was who he wanted.
Vincent stepped back and I got a good luck at his shirtless body. It almost looked ravaged and the scars that I saw caused a shiver to run down my spine. “Oh, ya looking at my scars?” He asked with a grin. “Your husband did this to me. He drew all of these.”
Chapter 21
Stefano’s POV
It was now midnight and I saw Rose shake her head, leaving the room in which Gianna was in. She then smoothed her skirt down with her palms as she collected herself. Just as I suspected, dealing with Gianna wouldn’t be easy. I got up from my chair and walked over to her. “Rose,” I said her name, getting her attention. She snapped her head up and for a second she looked as if she was surprised to see me.
“Stefano,” She said and gave me a warm smile. “You want to see Gianna?” She asked me.
I nodded my head. “Is she good for speaking?” I asked her. Rose sighed, her eyebrows knitting together. “She barely answered my questions, but she did say she wanted to speak to you. Other than that, she’s conscious again.” Rose answered me. The whole time, she was staring into my eyes.
It wasn’t often that women were bold enough to look a made man in the eyes for long. When I had even met my wife years ago, she could barely lock eyes with me. But, having this conversation with Rose almost humored me. She was in to me and I could tell because the whole time she looked at me, I could feel this sexual energy coming off from her.
“Thank you.” I said giving her one last look before entering Gianna’s room.
Gianna was sitting up on the bed, her arms crossed as her head rested against the propped up pillow.
She wasn’t one hundred percent back to her usual self, but she was still recognizable. When she saw me enter, she uncrossed her arms and looked alert. “Stefano, is Rae safe?” Was the first thing she asked.
I sat in the chair in front of her bed and laced my fingers together as I gave her a suspicious look. Gianna sees me and that’s the first thing she asks? Something was wrong here. I could see the fear and panic in her eyes, as well as her anxiety as she waited for my response.
“What do you know?” I asked her.
“Damnit Stefano! I asked you first.” Gianna yelled at me, quickly pointing her finger at me. Her eyebrows were furrowed and she looked like she was about to have another one of her fits. “Is Rae okay or not? Where is she, even?!”
“Rae was...taken yesterday evening.” I answered her, watching her face carefully. She stared at my face for a minute, sizing me up and not believing a word I’d said. Then, she frowned largely and her lips quivered at the same time her eyes began to water.
“Answer me now, Gianna. What do you know? Why did you ask me about Raelyn’s safety the moment I walked into this room?” I asked firmly. So much time had already gone by and I was going crazy at the fact I wasn’t able to know where my wife was. I didn’t know if she was safe, if she was harmed, if she was now dead or alive.
Gianna rested her face in her palms, crying. “Rae’s in trouble. Vincent is...he-he’s different now.” She sobbed. I clenched my jaw and the pounding of my heart became harder and tighter. “What do you mean?” I asked her, slowly.
“He knew you’d come forward if he took Rae. He’s just using her to get to you. And when he gets you…” she trailed, looking up from her hands and meeting me in the eyes. Her cheeks were wet and her eyes were pink from crying so hard.
“How do you know this? What did they do to you?” I asked her.
“After your son’s birthday party, I was driving home. I didn’t realize I was being followed until I was driving on a vacant road. It had been just me and that car for five minutes. When I sped up, the vehicle behind me sped up also.” As she spoke, her hands covered her chest.
Of Mobsters and Men: WILD (Book #2) Page 17