Scarless & Sacred (The Chicago War #3)

by Bethany-Kris

  What in the hell was that supposed to mean?

  “My brother is dead,” Theo growled.

  Tommas nodded. “So he is. And if you’re not careful, DeLuca, you’re going to end up in the same graveyard that he did.”

  Theo ignored the biting chill of the December wind whipping through the city. He ignored the stares he got as he strolled through Melrose, too.

  Stay away from Trentini territory.

  Theo wasn’t scared, he was pissed.

  Tommas and his driver had dropped Theo off at the spot where he’d parked his Stingray with a warning to get out of Trentini ground. Tommas promised to follow behind to make sure Theo followed through, and the man had. It was just too bad Theo didn’t follow the rules.

  The black Mercedes parked a little ways down the road behind Theo as he continued his stroll down the quiet street, heading for a familiar restaurant. A couple of phone calls was all it took to find out where Joel Trentini was playing the good little underboss.

  The whole day felt bad to Theo. He didn’t want to end up like Dino because someone wanted to make a point and Theo would be the sacrifice. He planned on nipping that shit in the ass quickly.

  The only thing Joel Trentini had going for him was his underboss position. It was the one thing keeping him safe. A street war was one thing, but going after the underboss of the Outfit was something else entirely. Theo had to be careful. Extra careful. But if Joel wanted to play games, Theo was up for that.

  Starting now.

  CHAPTER SIX

  “I have a hard time believing that Theo DeLuca would put himself in that kind of situation,” Adriano said. “So no, Joel, I won’t start another street war with the DeLuca crew when everything is finally quieting down.”

  Joel scoffed. “That¸ or you’re afraid you don’t have the man power to finish it out.”

  Adriano’s jaw ticked. “Or maybe I would simply like to see this all come to an end.”

  “I think it makes perfect sense that he was there today,” Joel replied. “Think about it, Adriano. Would he put himself in that situation? Would he risk being shot? Any sane man would say no, but no one said anything about Theo being sane. It’s the perfect distraction for your father. He expects Riley to look everywhere else but at him. You have to be careful and pick the right sides.”

  “Listen,” Adriano practically spat, “if you want to go head to head with Theo on something, then do that. It was your territory, after all. Don’t, however, bring me into it, too. Don’t use my name and my sister’s name as a reason to justify your vendettas. I won’t do that shit, Joel. I’ve got better things to do than share bullets with another Outfit family.”

  Evelina passed Adriano a small smile, thanking him silently. Joel and her father blamed Theo for the earlier shooting. No matter how many times Evelina said that meeting up with Theo in the café had been nothing more than coincidence, Joel brushed her words off like she was a silly woman.

  Adriano listened, thankfully.

  Evelina appreciated that.

  “You’ve found out the gender, right?” Abriella asked suddenly.

  “Another four or five weeks, and that’s only if the baby cooperates,” Alessa said quietly.

  “Oh, I thought you would know by now.” Abriella pouted before breaking out in a wide grin. “You want a girl, right?”

  “Of course, not,” Joel said as he poured gravy over the potatoes on his plate. “They want a boy—a Conti principe to follow after his father. Every man wants a boy to carry on his name, Ella.”

  Evelina forced herself to stay quiet. This dinner was one of the only meetings between the Trentini and Conti families since Adriano and Alessa’s pregnancy had been announced publically. Joel had shunned his sister and Evelina’s brother without a backward glance.

  Why Adriano was even sitting down with the man, Evelina didn’t know. Well, maybe she could understand a little as she watched Alessa smile at her sister from across the table.

  “A boy, am I right?” Joel asked Adriano.

  Adriano shrugged, unbothered. “Either gender is fine by me as long as the child is healthy and happy like its mother.”

  Joel chuckled dryly. “How sweet.”

  “I’m sure you’ll understand someday, Joel.”

  “Children are the very last thing on my mind currently,” Joel replied.

  “That’s too bad,” Adriano said, frowning. “At your age, most men are married and starting a family. I’m surprised my father hasn’t brought up the issue to you, yet.”

  Joel’s gaze narrowed. “What issue?”

  Someone’s form passed by the large bay windows at the front of the restaurant and caught Evelina’s gaze. She stiffened in her seat, unsure if that was who she thought it was or not. Surely not. He wouldn’t be that stupid, right?

  Joel had put out word on the street that he would kill any man from the DeLuca crew who dared step into his territory because of the shooting. Surely that wasn’t Theo.

  Yeah, it was.

  A spike of dread drove straight into Evelina’s spine as the restaurant door opened and Theo stepped inside. With his hands shoved in his pockets and a disinterested expression, he surveyed the restaurant floor until he found the table he was looking for. Quickly, Theo crossed the restaurant with a confident stride and a bitter smirk.

  The anxiety settled a little deeper into the pit of Evelina’s stomach. Not here, she wanted to say. Don’t do this here.

  It wasn’t what Theo would do that Evelina worried about, but rather, what Joel might do. The asshole had proven that the safety and happiness of others, even his own family, didn’t matter as long as he got what he wanted.

  Adriano took note of Theo as the man came closer to their table. With a sigh, Adriano tossed his napkin to the table and stood, drawing in Joel’s attention, too.

  “Well, well,” Joel said with a grin. “Who do we have here?”

  Theo bypassed Adriano with barely a glance. Even when Evelina’s younger brother tried asking Theo to step into the back of the restaurant with him, Theo ignored the request.

  “There are a lot of people inside this restaurant,” Abriella said quietly. “Try not to act like a bunch of gun toting fools. One shooting connected to the Outfit is enough for today.”

  Always the voice of reason, Evelina thought.

  Abriella never hesitated to stick herself in a situation where women usually weren’t invited when it came to the mafia.

  “Yes, thank you, Ella,” Joel said as he stood from his seat.

  In one step, Theo had passed Evelina by and was standing toe to toe with Joel. A pin could have dropped on the other side of the restaurant and they would have heard it.

  “I heard we have a problem,” Theo said, taking his hands out of his pockets.

  It showed he had nothing. Not a gun or a weapon on hand. He hadn’t come with men, either, considering the outside of the restaurant was vacant of people.

  “We do,” Joel replied.

  “Well, you have a problem,” Theo said, chuckling. “Seems when I was being a gentleman and walking Evelina to her car because her enforcers are too useless and can’t keep track of her, someone wanted to use her as target practice.”

  Joel opened his mouth to speak, but Theo held up a hand, silencing the other man.

  “No, listen, Joel. Maybe it was me they wanted to use as target practice, I’m not sure. What I do know is that not one single bullet hit Eve’s car. It was almost like someone wanted her to be caught up in a drive-by just to rock the boat. Between the two of us, we know who likes to rock the boat, Joel.”

  Joel’s fists twitched at his sides. “What are you saying, DeLuca?”

  “I think you know damn well what I’m saying. The first thing you do when you get wind of a shooting is blame me. You want a fall guy. Someone else to pick up the crap you leave behind. If you’re looking for another way to mess with Riley Conti, look elsewhere from me. You won’t like what happens if you try to use me as your middle man on
your way to the top. I did that once, and look what you did to me.”

  “I—”

  “Don’t,” Theo interrupted sharply. “Don’t lie, don’t open your mouth and speak, and don’t even think whatever bullshit you’re getting ready to spit. I know better. Everybody else might be too busy shoving their heads up someone else’s ass, but I’m not, Trentini.”

  Joel took a step forward. “You know, huh?”

  “About the radio timer?” Theo asked.

  Evelina caught the corner of Theo’s profile as he grinned coldly.

  “Yeah, Joel, I know.”

  “Then maybe you ought to be a little more careful, Theo.”

  Theo let out a low, dark laugh. “You have no idea. None.”

  “Of how stupid it was of you to show up at this dinner inside Trentini territory?” Joel scoffed loudly. “Oh, I think I know.”

  “Keep tossing your threats. They’re always empty.”

  “Do you want to count on that?”

  “Hey,” Adriano said sharply, stepping in between the two men. “This isn’t the place or time for this. People are watching. We’re already on the news today, like Abriella said. Handle this another time.”

  Once again, Theo seemingly ignored Adriano’s warning.

  Theo pointed at Joel over Adriano’s shoulder. “Blame me for this—go on ahead and do it. Give the boss someone to come at while you sneak in from behind. You’re a fucking snake and you’ve always been slimy like one, too. This shooting has you marked all over it. If Riley Conti is too pussy-blind by the new broad he’s fucking to see what you did, then that’s on him, Joel. And he can suffer for his stupidity however the Outfit deems fit. But me and you? We’ll do this. Go on and come at me on the streets like any good made man would do to defend his territory, Joel. Put that mouth of yours to action and actually do something instead of talking about it. Give me a reason to put you down. I dare you. Come at me.”

  Joel barked out a laugh. “You don’t know what you’re asking for, DeLuca.”

  “I absolutely do. Unlike Dino, I’ll see you coming.”

  Adriano turned fast on his heel to face a stone-still Theo. Without a word, Theo nodded at Adriano and spun around to leave just as quietly as he had come. Just like that, the confrontation was over. Theo hadn’t even raised his voice. With a two finger wave over his shoulder, Theo disappeared back out the front door.

  Evelina finally took a breath.

  “Shit,” Adriano muttered under his breath, still watching the windows.

  Joel was already on the phone when the other women at the table finally decided to start moving again. Abriella pushed her plate aside and made a grab for the red wine. Alessa didn’t take her eyes off Adriano for a second, but the worry she must have felt wrote heavy lines across her brow.

  “Yeah,” Joel said into his phone, “what do you think?”

  A brief moment of silence passed.

  Even Adriano turned to stare at Joel with a blank expression.

  “Then that’s what we’ll do, boss,” Joel said. “He did this, so he asked for it … You’re right, nobody else had a reason.”

  Evelina didn’t know what to think. Not about Theo showing up at the dinner, or Joel’s strange conversation with who she suspected to be her father. Joel might have been Riley’s underboss, but the two weren’t friendly. They certainly spoke like they were now.

  When had Hell frozen over and how did she manage to miss it?

  Evelina slammed the door closed on her BMW and tightened her messenger bag over her shoulder. After a week with no car of her own and a driver taking her back and forth from school, she was glad to have her car back. The cops had released it after Riley made a few calls and cash was handed out.

  Frustrated, Evelina stared at her father’s large home from the driveway. She didn’t want to play nice with her new stepmother. Riley and his bride had finally gotten home from their honeymoon just a couple of days after the shooting. When her father invited her over to dinner that following Monday after Evelina’s classes were out, she’d wanted to say no. Riley didn’t offer the dinner like it was a suggestion, but rather, an order.

  Steeling her nerves, Evelina walked across the paved walkway and up the front steps. She used her own key to unlock the door. Kicking her shoes off and tossing her coat and bag in the closet, Evelina followed the smell of food cooking in the kitchen.

  Sadly, the old vintage-styled Victorian home no longer felt familiar to Evelina. It had been this way ever since her mother died. Nothing about the home felt … well, like home. It was even worse now that Courtney had taken up residence in the place.

  “I’m here,” Evelina said the moment she walked into the kitchen.

  Courtney, with her bottle blonde hair and her big blue eyes, faced Evelina. Courtney scowled, but quickly replaced it with a fake smile and a flighty wave of her jeweled fingers. One of those rings in particular, Evelina recognized. It happened to be her mother’s.

  It was another thing for Evelina to put on her list of why she disliked this spoiled, young woman. Courtney didn’t mind that the jewelry she wore was once a woman’s who had been married to the girl’s husband for over twenty years, or the fact he had two children, both of whom were close to Courtney’s age.

  No, the girl just liked things. Flashy things, pretty things, sparkly things. Any kind of thing.

  Evelina had to swallow back the rising bile as she thought about the fact her father had been messing around with Courtney for some while. Long before Mia had even been killed. Courtney was nothing more than a mistress who had won her man’s last name by default.

  Mia had been a much stronger and better woman than this one would ever be. Evelina sincerely hoped her father realized that.

  “Hello there, Eve,” Courtney said, still smiling far too wide for it to be true. Turning back to the cook who was busy checking the items in the oven, Courtney gestured at the gray-haired woman. “Corrine is just finishing up some things and we’ll be able to eat.”

  “That’s fine.” Evelina didn’t have much of an appetite whenever she was around Courtney anyway. “Where’s my father?”

  “Busy and you shouldn’t bother him. Riley gets testy when people interrupt him while he’s busy in his office. You know that.”

  “I’m aware. I just wondered where he was.”

  “Did Rhonda let you in?” Courtney asked. “I didn’t hear the doorbell.”

  “No, I let myself in.”

  Courtney slapped the counter with her palm. The woman eyed Evelina like she was the stupidest thing to grace her presence.

  “See, this is what I keep telling your father about,” Courtney said.

  “I beg your pardon?”

  “This—you letting yourself in! You don’t live here, Eve. You’re old enough to know that it’s rude to just walk on in to someone’s home without even shouting a hello when you enter. Come on, you know this.”

  Evelina arched a brow and bit her inner cheek to keep from spewing all the vile things she thought Courtney needed to hear. “I didn’t realize I had to hand over the keys to my childhood home just because my father married a new woman.”

  Courtney’s cheeks pinked. “What did you just say to me?”

  “We both know you’re not deaf and I didn’t mumble.”

  Ouch. Even Evelina had to admit, there was a hell of a lot of bark in her tone.

  “Where do you get off—”

  Corrine dropped a steaming glass casserole to the counter, interrupting the two women’s glaring contest. “Mrs. Conti, the food is ready. Please let your husband know.”

  “Yes,” Evelina said, letting her tone ooze with false sweetness. “Go let my father know his daughter is here to have supper with him, Mrs. Conti.”

  Huffing under her breath, Courtney stormed from the kitchen. Evelina let the woman’s anger and attitude bounce off her. It wasn’t the first time the two had words with one another and it surely wouldn’t be the last.

  Corrine waved Ev
elina over and gave her a piece of peanut butter fudge from the glass center piece that held a dozen different sweet treats. “Here, a gift for your bravery.”

  Evelina snorted indelicately. “There’s nothing brave about honesty, auntie.”

  The cook had always been close to the Conti children. For as long as Evelina could remember, Corrine worked in their home. She’d helped the kids with homework, cleaned their faces, and sometimes stayed long after supper was served just to spend more time with them.

  “My God, you are working on her nerves something awful,” Corrine said with a quiet laugh. “Be careful, or you’ll find yourself under your father’s wrath.”

  Evelina shrugged. “I didn’t do anything.”

  “Sadly, that’s true. But it doesn’t change the fact your father has eyes for her and everything she says is golden to him right now, my Eve.” Corrine offered Evelina another sly smile as she added, “And I know Courtney is a very … special young lady, but she does keep your father’s attention diverted to her instead of the things you’re doing.”

  “You’re not actually defending her, are you?” Evelina asked.

  Corrine scoffed. “God, no. She is rotten on her good days, but she has a way with Riley’s temper. I like not having to deal with that when I’m working. Did your brother not want to come?”

  “He had work to do.”

  “What about Alessa?”

  Evelina passed Corrine a look. “What about her?”

  “Yeah, never mind. Riley doesn’t treat her particularly well, does he?”

  “That’s putting it mildly. He treats her like garbage, and she won’t spend a second near him when Adriano isn’t there to put Dad in his place. I don’t blame her.”

  Corrine frowned. “Me, neither. She doesn’t deserve that, poor girl.”

  No, Alessa certainly didn’t.

  “Maybe he’ll ease up after the baby comes,” Corrine suggested.

  “Maybe,” Evelina echoed.

  “Let’s eat!”

  Riley’s shout echoed through the house followed by high feminine laughter, and the low chuckles of another man. Nobody said a thing about someone else joining them for dinner.