Maria (The Family Book 4)

by Angelique Jones

  Stopping, Angie turned and walked to her. With a gentle hand, she laid it against Maria’s stomach and pressed. “No, Maria, this is what you have left.”

  A wave of sadness filled Maria as she said, “Angie, I’m not pregnant.”

  “Yes, you are. I was listed as your next of kin, so when you were in the hospital, the doctor told me.”

  “Why didn’t he tell me?” Maria asked in shock. She didn’t put it past Angie to lie, but Maria knew she wouldn’t lie about this.

  “I told him to wait. With everything going on, I didn’t think you could handle it.”

  Laying her hands gently on her stomach, Maria couldn’t stop the tremble of fear that entered her voice when she whispered, “What am I going to do? Nero will never believe that it’s his, and if he does, he might take it away.”

  “Maria, I am done with telling others how to live their lives. Whatever you decide, I will respect.”

  “I love him.”

  Pity filled Angie’s face. “I know you do.”

  “Do you think that he could ever forgive me?”

  “I don’t know, Maria. I just don’t know anything anymore. I’m just as lost as you are right now. Just as lost in regret and misery. I should have been in that casket a hundred times over, yet fate never took me. That boy was not made for this life. He was sweet and kind. There was no harshness in him.”

  “It’s my fault. If I hadn’t gone to Jason, none of this would have happened.”

  “No, Maria, it’s mine. The devil wanted its due, and it took an innocent soul. It will always take the innocent instead of one of its own,” Angie whispered before walking away and leaving Maria alone.

  ***

  It was raining, the sky as dark and unpredictable as she was. Lucca had watched her with cold eyes as she’d placed her bag into the trunk. They spoke not a word to each other as she climbed in, and he turned his back when she drove away. Pain so sharp filled her in those moments that she was afraid that her heart would burst, but she pushed it down and pressed harder on the accelerator. She knew that he meant what he’d said, yet she went, anyway. She couldn’t help herself. The demon within her thirsted, never satisfied until blood was spilled. Death was what she was made for, and death was what she would bring. She had been forged in the fires of depravity and want, the lust of man creating something that could not be controlled or tamed.

  She had not told Lucca where she was going, and she knew that he wouldn’t care. The only thing that mattered to him was that she was leaving. In his mind, she was betraying him, and maybe she was. Looking through the windshield, she saw where she had been headed. She could have flown, but she needed this time to prepare. She needed this time to let go of her life and give herself up to the inevitability of death.

  The guard at the gate was shocked when he saw her. He knew who she was—how couldn’t he? She was family. Driving through, she drove right to the front door and left the car running, knowing that someone would be out to collect her bags and move it. The door opened before she reached it. The face that stared out at her was no happier to see her than the one that she’d just left. Ignoring the guard, she went past him and straight to the office, where she knew he was.

  The door was open, and he didn’t look up when he said, “Whoever it is, send them away.”

  “I’m not so easily dismissed, Nero, so don’t be too hard on your men.”

  Slowly, he raised his head at the sound of her voice. The look on his face made his thoughts clear before he spoke them. “You’re not welcome here, Angelica.”

  “I know, yet here I am,” she said, walking forward to take the chair in front of the desk.

  “Why?”

  “Because I need your help.”

  Disbelief filled his face at her words. “Since when do you need anyone’s help?”

  “Maybe I was wrong to come here.”

  “You were definitely wrong to come here, but you’ve roused my curiosity, so please continue.”

  “Nero, since I came through the front door, would you like to tell your man to join us and stop pointing a gun at my head? It’s quite rude and makes me wonder if your family’s manners are lacking.”

  “You can’t blame them for being careful. You’re not exactly know for your civil ways,” he said before looking past her. “Matteo, why don’t you join us?”

  With a small smile on her lips, she watched Matteo walk past her and go around the desk to join Nero. The gun was still visible in his hand, though now held down at his side.

  “Charming, as always. Tell me, Matteo, how is your little family?”

  “None of your business,” he replied, coldly gripping the gun more firmly in his hand.

  “There’s no need to be uncivil. I was just being polite.”

  “Enough of this. Angelica, say what you’ve come to say, and get out,” Nero cut in coldly, his patience at an end.

  “As you wish. I need your help to take care of a problem that has affected us both once and for all,” she said before smiling coldly at the surprise in his eyes. “You thought I came to talk to you about Maria, didn’t you?”

  “Yes.”

  “I’m sorry to disappoint you, but your spat with your wife is not my concern.”

  “Why the fuck are you here?”

  “For justice.”

  “Nico already has justice. Caterina is dead.”

  “She is, yes, but the others are not.”

  “The others are deep in Mexico with an army to protect them.”

  “Yes, and I plan to go there and finish this.”

  “You’ll never get anywhere near them.”

  “Yes, I will. Mexico has a custom that I plan to take advantage of.”

  “And what is that?”

  “Every man for himself.”

  Leaning back in his chair Nero’s gaze sharpened. “Even if you could bribe your way in, that won’t stop the army from coming, literally. He pays a fortune to have the army at his beck and call. His place is a fortress. He can hold you back and anyone with you until they get there.”

  “He could if he still owned them.”

  “Are you telling me that you’ve bought off the army?” Nero scoffed.

  “And a good part of the local officials. Basilio is not as generous as he used to be with the squeeze you’ve put on his enterprises, and those that he pays off would rather take what I can give them now rather than wait and see if he rises once more to the level where he once was.”

  “Where do I come in?”

  “You don’t. I just need your plane. There is a private landing strip near his home that I can use.”

  “What, you plan to go in alone? That’s suicide. You’ll never make it into the compound. He has at least a hundred of his people there at all times. How do you think you’re going to make it past them and out again?” As he saw the look in her eyes, the truth slowly dawned on him. “You don’t plan on making it out.”

  “Making it in will be easy enough; he won’t expect an attack. He thinks he’s safe. When I’m finished, Nico will have his justice and your family will be safe. Whatever happens after that is no concern of yours.”

  “No concern of mine until your husband comes looking for me and starts a war.”

  “Lucca is not an issue. He will never know about any of this.”

  “I think he’ll know when you don’t come back.”

  “I won’t be going back, no matter what. Lucca and I have parted ways.”

  “He’d never let you go.” Nero scoffed.

  “Yet I am here. If you need conformation, I suggest that you ask your sister.”

  “Why?”

  “Because none of us can escape the past, Nero. Lucca can no longer accept that, and I can no longer fight it.” She said a distant look briefly entering her eyes that told him she spoke the truth. It was a look that he had only seen her wear once before when she had looked at his Grandmothers mangled corpse.

  “If you take out Basilio, one of his men will jus
t take his place. My family will be in an even worse position than we are now. So, since I cannot stop you from going, I’m going to have to go with you and make sure that no one is left to take his place.”

  “I can’t ask you to risk your family.”

  “You’re not. This needs to be done to ensure my family’s safety, but you already knew that.” Nero said daring her deny it. She could have gotten a plane anywhere she didn’t need his.

  “So be it. I’ll need two days to arrange transport from the airstrip and additional help from that side of the border, along with weapons.”

  “I want to be involved with everything.”

  “Of course.”

  “Also, I think that it would be best that you stay here.”

  “Don’t trust me?”

  “No, I don’t.”

  “My bags are in the car. Have one of your men bring them in, and show me to a room.”

  “What, no argument?”

  “There is nothing left to argue about,” she told him, rising from the chair to join one of the men by the door.

  Chapter 17

  Sitting in the plane, they waited for her people to show. The last two days had been nonstop in preparation for what many of them thought was a suicide mission. Angie, as she insisted that they call her, had been all business. Schematics of the compound, aerial shots, lists of weapons, and positions of the men—she had it all. She was meticulous with everything, leaving nothing to chance. They had a window of forty-five minutes. Just forty-five minutes to wipe out every living soul in the place and get back to the plane. That was what all the millions of dollars that she spent had bought.

  The woman should have been a general. The sound of approaching vehicles had him and his men tensing but not her. Cool as a cucumber, she rose and walked down the steps of the plane. A seedy bunch was waiting for them. Mercenaries for hire. They would kill their own mothers for a price.

  One of the fucks stared at her, licking his lips, lewdly grabbing himself, and asking if she’d ever had a real man. He was dead as soon as the words left his lips.

  Lowering the gun, she looked to the commander of the group. “Is everything ready?”

  No one even blinked at the fucker on the ground. “Yes, my men are in position.”

  “Good. Do you have everything that I asked for?”

  “Waiting in the vehicles.”

  “Then let’s get started,” she said, stepping over the body and following the leader.

  Nero looked to his men and motioned for them to follow. There was no turning back.

  The truck that they were led to was filled with weapons. Looking back to him, Angie tilted her head, and he motioned for his guys to get what they needed. In twelve minutes, everyone was armed to the gills with military-grade weapons. She had planned for a battle the likes of which only one side would walk away from.

  The vehicles were off as soon as they got in. No one spoke as they waited for the vehicles to stop just out of sight of the compound. They all watched in silence as Angie climbed out of the vehicle. The plan was simple; they attacked after the first explosion went off. She would go in alone first. If nothing happened, they were to leave and pretend that none of this had happened. They were to leave her to her fate. Tensely, they waited, not knowing if they were going to fight or melt back into the night.

  ***

  Quickly, she covered the terrain, weaving in and out of the debris that littered the outside of the compound. This wouldn’t be the first battle that this compound had withstood, but it would be the last. Spotlights periodically searched, but they wouldn’t find anything. She was at home in the darkness, blending into it seamlessly. She would remain unseen until it was too late.

  Reaching the wall, she hugged it and worked her way around until she found a spot that she could climb. She made not a sound as she slowly made her way up. The guard above her didn’t have a clue that she was there until it was too late. The knife slid into his back between his ribs, killing him before he could utter a sound of warning. As she dropped him over the wall, his body made a soft thump, its sound so faint that the next guard had no clue that he was gone. She took out three more guards before making it into the courtyard.

  A lush, green landscape filled its confines, making it easy for her to move through to the other side. It was nothing to avoid Basilio’s men. He thought their inexperience would be hidden by sheer numbers, but he was wrong. Setting the charge on the far wall, she set it to go off two minutes before the one that she set on the other wall. It was a distraction, nothing more. The guards would rush to this side of the compound, leaving the true entrance point open. The mercenaries lurking in the shadows would fire bullets to keep them here. Once her people were inside the compound, it would fall. The whole defense of the compound was to keep others out. There was no interior defense.

  Following the greenery that surrounded the house, she leaped onto a patio and slipped through the open doors into the house. The sounds of laughter filled its depths. A new shipment of girls had been brought in from the local villages for the entertainment of his men. It was their job to break the girls before they were sent either to Basilio’s brothels that littered Mexico or north for sale.

  Silent as a cat stalking its prey, she moved through the halls that displayed his ill-gotten wealth, careful to freeze so that the constantly rotating cameras never caught her. A guard came out of a set of double-hung doors, catching her attention, but it was the voice that called out to him that held it. Basilio. Waiting, she counted the beats of her heart, then smiled as the first explosion rocked the compound. Screams filled the night as the laughter of before died and half-dressed men raced through the halls past her.

  Throwing open the doors, Basilio joined them to yell out orders as he hurried to a room not far away. Six men followed him. Two went inside the room with him while four others remained outside to guard the door. Muscles tense, she waited as a mock battle happened outside. She couldn’t move yet. No yet. When the sound of the second explosion came, she launched herself from the shadows. The distraction of sound had caused the men to turn from her and gave her the opening she needed. She had two of the guards down before the other two even realized that they were under attack. Swinging their guns around, the other two never stood a chance. While they tried to get their bulky weapons aimed at her, she was sliding her knife home. Death lay at her feet as she turned to the door before her.

  Putting her knife away, she pulled out her gun and knocked on the door with a hard, pounding fist. She mumbled some words in Spanish. The guard at the door opened it before the sound of the no that was shouted from within the room processed. She was in the room before his body hit the floor, taking out the second guard with a head shot. Scanning the room with a quick glance, she moved in as she saw her prey.

  The fucker stood there, smiling, smoking a cigar, unconcerned with the death that had just taken place. “Ah, Angelica, we meet at last. I have heard much about you.”

  “And I you, Basilio.”

  “Though, out of everything that I have heard, I truly had to watch you in action. While I know that a woman can be talented in the ways of death, there is a true beauty to your dance.”

  “Thank you. It is always nice to know that your work is appreciated.” Putting her gun in the waist at her back, she pulled out the knife strapped to her thigh. “I shall be sure that you, Basilio, are one of my masterpieces,” she whispered, seductively stepping forward.

  She was so focused on the man before her that she almost missed the warning that sounded behind her. Swinging at the sound, she froze when the gunman came into view. Her hesitation cost her. Pain filled her shoulder, but it wasn’t enough to stop the pain in her heart. It was instinct more than anything that saved her from the second bullet that would have taken her life. Diving to the side, she found cover behind a column.

  “Hello, Angie,” a voice called out that shouldn’t be.

  Closing her eyes, she squeezed them hard, wishing with everyt
hing left inside of her that this wasn’t real. Ignoring the pain in her shoulder, she pushed herself to her feet, dropping the knife in her hand as she pulled the gun free. Looking around the column, she knew her face showed her disbelief, but for once in her life she couldn’t mask her emotions.

  A large smile broke over his face at the look, and he said in a laughing voice, “You’re surprised, good. It just means that you aren’t the boogeyman that they made you out to be.”

  Pressing her head into the stone, she kept her eyes on him as she whispered in a broken voice, “You’re dead. We buried you.”

  “You buried some fool with his face blown off.”

  “Why did you want us to believe that you were dead?”

  “Well, it wasn’t supposed to go that way. It was Caterina’s idea, actually. She came up with the idea that Maria needed to be the one to kill Nero, and I agreed. Caterina told Maria it was me or Nero.” Stopping, he shook his head. “She didn’t do what we thought she would. So Caterina had me dragged out and beat one of her men, then dragged the body back into the room. She stupidly sent her men out and stayed there with Maria, taunting her. I was going to go put a stop to it when Maria attacked Caterina and killed her. Since I planned to kill her, anyway, I let Maria have her vengeance, but then everything fell to shit when Genovese’s men stormed the place. I was worried that if I was found alive and uninjured, someone might put everything together, so I decided that playing dead might be best, especially since I thought that my family would seek revenge. Imagine my surprise when it was you and Genovese that came and not my brothers. I guess I know where I rated.”

  “They loved you, Nico. They sought vengeance for you, but we moved before they could,” she told him. Then she asked brokenly, needing to understand, “Why? Why, Nico? Why did you do this to your family? Your blood?”

  “Are you kidding me? My family? You and those Genovese have been the destruction of my family.”