Warning, Part Two

by A. D. Justice

  How important was my anger if I had no one to love and no one to love me?

  The driver’s door opened, and the masculine scents of bergamot, cinnamon, and leather filled the car. His signature cologne set my senses ablaze and left my body burning with need for his touch. While he started the car and maneuvered it into traffic, I studied his strong profile. His thick black hair, those chocolate brown eyes, the sexy, eternal five-o’clock shadow faded beard. Damon was still the sexiest man I’d ever seen. He was dangerous but affectionate. He was calculating yet generous. He was cruel and somehow sweet.

  The warning in my head wasn’t loud enough to overcome the yearning in my heart. Giving him another chance was dangerous to my heart and mind. Mentally and physically, he could crush me into oblivion if he betrayed me again. But something told me he wouldn’t. His family code. The way the Marchetti clan had adopted me as one of their own. Even the space and time he gave me after I returned to New York with him told me he wanted what was best for me, regardless of what that meant for him.

  But being kept in the dark about the plans and information he and his father discussed openly was still a deal-breaker for me. If they trusted me to be part of the family, then I wanted to be a full-fledged member. Not a stepchild they merely tolerated and placated.

  To be truly considered one of them, I’d have to prove my mettle. And I only knew of one way to do that.

  If Carrie and I could pull off our cockamamie plan and somehow incapacitate Lorenzo until Damon met us, we would both be viewed in a different light. We’d be trusted and respected—at least more so than our current situation. And maybe, just maybe, I could move past the helplessness I felt over being unable to save my mother when she needed me. Maybe it would renew my sense of empowerment and independence.

  Or maybe I was grasping at straws and it would all go horribly wrong.

  I was never good at guessing odds, though I figured they were much less than fifty-fifty. Probably more like seventy-thirty…and not in my favor. The only ace in the hole I had was Carrie—her time in the family, her training, and her underground activities she’d managed to successfully accomplish without any help at all.

  After a couple of glances in my direction, Damon finally turned and stared at me straight on, lifting one brow in question with an amused expression on his handsome face. “Something I can do for you, doll?”

  I answered him with a candid smile. One that reached my eyes and covered my face from ear to ear. “That’s a loaded question to ask a woman who just found out you impregnated her with twins, Damon.”

  A salacious grin spread slowly across his face. His bedroom eyes twinkled with mischief, and his voice dropped to a low timbre when he spoke. “I’m more than willing to try to do it again. And again. And again. However many times it takes to hit the jackpot a second time, doll.”

  Ah, my cocky, sexy hit man was back.

  “That would be hard to accomplish since I’m already pregnant right now.”

  He shrugged one shoulder, and one side of his lips lifted slightly. “Practice makes perfect.”

  “You wouldn’t know what to do if I suddenly agreed to your requests for sexual favors.”

  He laughed out loud. “See, doll, that’s where you couldn’t be more wrong. I’d know exactly what to do, and I think we both know it.”

  I did know that about him—all too well.

  When we arrived back at Carrie’s house, I was more than ready to start pushing the timing of our plan. My life and heart had been in limbo long enough. And Lorenzo had gotten away with his bullshit long enough. He needed to pay for what he did, and I needed to be the one to do it, so I could close that horrible chapter and move on. Carrie had been working behind the scenes for hours on end, developing the news articles and setting up the smoke and mirrors.

  Damon opened my door then took my hand to help me stand. He pulled me up, my chest sliding against his, and I thought the heat from the friction would set my clothes on fire. Or, maybe I hoped it would, so they’d burn off me and I wouldn’t have an excuse to turn him down again.

  “When this is over with Lorenzo, I’ll schedule some time with a Realtor who knows what to look for in a piece of property for our family. She can take you house-hunting in the safest areas. When you find one you can’t live without, all you have to do is tell her. I’ll take care of the rest. You won’t have to worry about a thing except what color you want to paint the walls. Mama would love to take you shopping for furniture—she lives for that shit.”

  “Is that what you think is best?” My bottom lip started to quiver, so I pulled it between my teeth, trying to control it along with my emotions.

  “I do. You’re right. You’ll want to stretch out in your own place well before the babies are born. You’ll want to decorate the nurseries and have everything just perfect before they come home. Baby showers—my whole family will fill the house with gifts. I know you don’t want to store all that at Carrie’s.”

  He wasn’t kidding, but he wasn’t being mean either.

  He was simply being practical, matter-of-fact.

  Just like that, what I thought I wanted changed again. I’d wanted to hurt him, to push him away, to make him leave me alone. I’d done my best to guard my heart and keep him out of it. Though he had been in my thoughts every single day since we parted, I’d fought against what that really meant.

  And now…

  He was giving me what I thought I wanted—a life without his interference. He was leaving me alone while still providing for his children. I’d accomplished pushing him away and hurting him time after time with my trivial jabs, while he’d tried several times to make amends. He’d broken the Boss’s rules and chanced being exiled from his family—for me. That could’ve meant death for him.

  He walked me to the door to make sure I got safely inside. I had to admit, I did love the extra care and attention Damon gave me. With the exception of one awful night, he’d always made me feel safe and protected. I suddenly wanted nothing more than for him to stay, but I had to have distraction-free time with Carrie.

  “Do you want to take a few of these sonogram pictures with you to show your mother?”

  “I’d love to show my mother, but I want you with me when I do. Why don’t you come to family dinner with Carrie this Saturday? We’ll show her together then.”

  “Okay, I’ll be there Saturday, then. Thank you again for driving me today.”

  “Always my pleasure, doll.”

  I stood just inside the foyer and watched him drive away with my heart heavy, and uncertainty settled in my gut again. Had I lost him? Was it too late to carry out my plan for vengeance? Would it make any difference if I killed Lorenzo or not? I turned away from the window and went to join Carrie in her secret command center.

  “Carrie, I’m ready. Let’s draw him out and get this over with.”

  “Thought you’d never ask.” She pressed a key on her laptop. A series of command prompts ran through several lines of code sequences, then a satisfied smirk covered her face. “And, article number two has just been delivered. By morning, Lorenzo Sanfratello will be wanted by every member of his family, along with anyone else who has ever had a kind word for his family.”

  “What’s in this one?”

  “A very elaborate story detailing how Lorenzo has agreed to work with the FBI in exchange for immunity and some very convincing pictures of him and an FBI agent meeting in secret. I added a few of their real embezzlement methods to make it as convincing as possible.”

  “Then tomorrow, we set our trap to catch a rat.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  Damon

  “Boss, those two girls have been busy. Very busy. Your soldiers are on standby to move in at any moment.”

  Benny’s call woke me from a dead sleep, right in the middle of the best fucking dream I’d
had in a long time.

  “Tell me.” I glanced over at the clock and scrubbed my hand across my face. Two thirty in the fucking morning.

  “They’ve arranged a meeting with Lorenzo in about thirty minutes. They convinced him they’re a friend of the family who’s willing to take him in and help him clear his name. After the shit hit the fan with that news article, I’m not surprised he jumped at their offer to help him. He has to be desperate right about now.”

  “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me. They’re meeting him alone?” My voice echoed off the walls. I was wide fucking awake all of a sudden. Throwing my feet over the side of the mattress, I propelled myself out of the bed. With my phone held between my cheek and my shoulder, I threw my clothes on in a rush in the dark. “Where?”

  “Geno’s garbage distribution station in Brooklyn.”

  “Pretty smart move, I have to give them that. Doesn’t mean I’m not going to throttle them both when I get there. Get over there, and have the men surround the building now—and I mean they better be close. I’m on my way.”

  “Figured you’d say that. We have the block surrounded, just waiting for our special guests to show up.”

  Benny and I disconnected as I rushed out to my car. I knew something more was up than their internet stalking of Lorenzo. Both Jillian and Carrie had acted very strangely over the last few days. Stranger than usual, that is. I’d dropped by to see Jillian a few times, to ask if she needed anything and see how she felt, and she did her best to get rid of me as soon as possible every fucking time. Had I not known they were already targeting him, I would’ve sworn she had another man sneaking in her bedroom window at night.

  One or two nights of sitting outside Carrie’s house all night, watching said window like a fucking hawk, convinced me otherwise. While I had faced the fate of our relationship, I wanted to be the first to know if she’d moved on. I didn’t want to find out from anyone else.

  But tracking Carrie’s keystrokes on the dark web had been harder than we thought it would be. We had the words she used, but finding where she used them was pure hell. In a virtual world that was designed to preserve anonymity, we searched everywhere and anywhere we could imagine she’d frequent. We found a few spots and were able to piece enough together to make an educated guess that she’d found Lorenzo.

  Thank God Benny stayed on it until he found all the bread crumbs Carrie had left in various online private rooms. He must have been at it all night since he followed them to the empty building in the middle of the night.

  For the entire drive, I wrestled with my anger over the situation. Carrie was slightly better able to handle herself against Lorenzo than Jillian was, but not by much. She way overestimated her abilities while far underestimating her opponent. Jillian had no business what-so-fucking-ever being there, especially at four months pregnant. Had she told me she wanted to execute her revenge against Lorenzo herself, I would’ve arranged it for her. I would’ve walked her through every step. I would’ve ensured her safety while ensuring his demise.

  But she didn’t come to me.

  She trusted my sister’s lead instead of mine.

  She was about to walk into a situation she couldn’t just turn and walk away from. Once Lorenzo saw her face, he wouldn’t stop until she was dead. Even the two of them together couldn’t control him—not physically and not mentally. He’d prepared for his role his entire life. Every action was second nature to him. Where Carrie and Jillian wouldn’t be able to read the situation at a glance, Lorenzo could. They wouldn’t be prepared to face any backup he may bring with him, or for the very real possibility that he’d gain the upper hand and use one of them against the other.

  They’d stand and fall together, not leaving the other behind to call for help. And that very weakness would end up getting them both killed.

  My sister liked to play mobster, but she had no real-world experience in manhandling a six-foot, two-hundred-plus-pound man made of muscle. She thought she could easily best them because she’d had years of a military-style defensive combat training. But she didn’t understand these men wouldn’t give her the chance to get that close to them. They’d put a bullet between her eyes at first glance. She was a known Marchetti, a natural enemy.

  I wanted to whip her ass and Jillian’s ass for even thinking they’d have the upper hand in this bullshit scheme. There was no way we’d all walk away unscathed. That knowledge alone jacked my blood pressure through the roof.

  I finally spotted Benny’s car, parked in the complete blackness in a side alley, and turned off my lights as I parked behind him. After I made sure my interior lights were off, I silently exited my car and crept up to Benny’s open window.

  “What’s the story?” I kept my voice low and my eyes trained on the darkened building across the street.

  “Carrie and Jillian just went in about ten minutes ago. Lorenzo made a few passes around the block, I’m sure looking for a trap and a way out, but he parked on the other side of the building. He stopped and checked out my car. The hood was cold, though, so he didn’t bother to check inside. He’s sloppy, Damon, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t dangerous. Tony has eyes on him. Said Lorenzo’s smoking a cigarette and pacing in front of his car. He’s not convinced he’s safe yet.”

  “Of course not. The building is still dark. That’s a sure sign the person waiting inside isn’t friendly. What the fuck were they thinking?”

  Rookie mistakes. Telltale signs. No one whom Lorenzo would trust would make the kind of mistakes they made. Lorenzo was desperate for a friend—someone who would protect him and hide him from the rest of the world. But desperation made him even more dangerous, because he knew he had nothing else to lose.

  “Think you should try getting in the back door and help them out?” Benny cut his eyes over at me, though he already knew my answer.

  “If we don’t all get killed tonight, I’m going to beat both of their asses when I get them home.” I swore under my breath and took the black ski mask from Benny’s outstretched hand. Then I slid my black leather gloves on my hands and made my silent trek through the shadows.

  My decision to enter the building was risky—for many reasons. The majority of Lorenzo’s family and soldiers had turned on him, but there was always the possibility a few remained loyal—or at least helpful. There was a fine line where family was concerned. If he were reinstated as a capo later, he’d retaliate against those who blatantly shunned him in his time of need. Eventually, anyway, though not openly. Several of the men would have unexplainable accidents.

  There was no way Carrie went inside the building unarmed, and I was sure she had Jillian armed to the teeth. Either of them could shoot me, not knowing I was the one sneaking in the back door instead of Lorenzo. The slightest noise could set them off, shooting first and asking questions later. Fear coupled with a spike of adrenaline would either make them freeze up completely or empty their magazines into me.

  Then there was Lorenzo himself. I had no way of communicating with my men, so I had no way of knowing if Lorenzo had taken another stroll around the block for a second or third pass. Crossing paths with him would definitely lead to an altercation, though I’d rather run into him face-to-face, outside in the darkened alley and away from the girls. But if he entered from the front around the time I entered from the back, the girls would be caught in the cross fire between us.

  The entire scenario had too many variables and too many dependencies for me to feel the least bit comfortable with what I had to do. But there was no fucking way I could leave them in there alone. Not my sister…and not the mother of my unborn children. Risking my life was worth their safety a million times over. And, if I was being honest with myself, maybe I also hoped my actions would help redeem my past behavior in Jillian’s eyes.

  Maybe she wouldn’t want that big house all to herself anymore.

  Maybe we could hav
e our own family.

  You know, if she didn’t shoot me first.

  My eyes scanned the area as I approached the fence surrounding the building, putting me out in the open and vulnerable to being seen. After making sure it wasn’t electrified, I picked the lock on the gate and hurried inside. The pitch-black night gave me cover inside the privacy fence, but every little sound caught my attention as I approached the huge metal door. Rats scurried around the enormous garbage bins, squeaking and clawing at the metal. Their noises would help cover mine, but they also covered for anyone coming up behind me while I picked yet another lock.

  When I felt the tumblers in the lock give way, I sensed the moment of truth had arrived. Opening the large metal door would reveal my presence—there was no way around it. The concrete at my feet showed wide, arcing marks from where the door had previously scraped against it. The rusted metal hinges would creak loudly from the weight of the swinging door.

  With my hand firmly gripping the lever door handle, I pushed it down and jerked the door open in one swift motion. I stepped inside the building, closed the door behind me, and then took a few long strides into the room. The silence in the large office was deafening. Years of experience told me I had guns trained on my chest, ready to blast holes in me at any second. Tension filled the air, even though they held their breath.

  “Doll, it’s just me. Don’t shoot.” I pulled off the ski mask and let it fall to the floor.

  “Damon?” Shock filled Jillian’s voice, the quiver her voice revealing her underlying fear.

  “What are you doing here, Damon?” Carrie hissed at me with the same fear, plus anger, in her tone.