Top Dog_A Mafia Romance

by Rye Hart

  “Please, he won’t let me go. He’ll kill me the second he knows I’ve talked to you guys. Bradshaw, man. Come on. We’ve worked together for years. Langley? We had a barbecue last weekend together. I met your girl!”

  “Yeah, and I told her to wash her hand real good after you shook it,” Langley said. “You stay here until we have orders for you. Otherwise, your ass is in jail, and you can bide your time until Stefano comes after you.”

  Johnson slumped down in his chair and Officer Lawrence walked out of the room. I knew she wasn’t happy, but it wasn’t my job to make her happy. I needed Johnson as bait to lure Stefano out. It was our best shot. And with Johnson’s confession, it lessened the opportunity for me to have to wear a wire. Hell, it lessened the possibility that I would have to be directly involved, in general. The police could run the sting, I could sit in the precinct and watch everything on the damn body cameras.

  Everything was rolling out perfectly.

  Then, my phone rang in my pocket.

  “Excuse me, Detective Conrad. I need to take this.”

  “Don’t take too long. We need to get a plan set before any of this gets back to Bianchi.”

  “You have my word. Give me a second,” I said. “Julia. What’s wrong?”

  And her frantic voice on the other end of the line had me dashing out of the precinct without another word said to anyone.

  CHAPTER 30

  JULIA

  “Matteo, what would you like for lunch honey?”

  “Peanut butter and jelly. With chips?”

  “You had that yesterday. You don’t want something different?” I asked.

  “Please?”

  “Ah, how can I resist you when you look so cute and use your manners?”

  I stood in the kitchen and began putting some lunch together for us. My mind was fraught with ideas on how to move against my uncle, and I was waiting for a call from Romeo. I’d sent him a message earlier that morning telling him I needed to talk at his earliest convenience. I hadn’t heard from him, so I assumed he was working on plans of his own. Which was fine. Us being able to fuse our plans together would ensure a much better outcome than if either of us were doing this alone. But the later in the afternoon it became, the more worried I grew that something was wrong.

  “What would you like to drink?” I asked.

  “Milk?”

  “Chocolate or regular?”

  “You guys have to get out of here now!”

  Enrico busted into the kitchen, wielding his firearm as his eyes grew wide. He rushed over to the table and picked up my son, throwing him over his shoulder. My plate clattered to the ground as I yelled after him, rushing to his side and trying to wrangle my son from him.

  “What are you doing? Let go of Matteo!”

  “You two have to get out of here and now,” Enrico said.

  “Let go of him. You're scaring him!” Was this some sort of trick? Part of Stefano’s plan?

  “Mommy. What’s wrong?” my son asked.

  “I don’t know, honey. Enrico, give me my son now!”

  Enrico dropped Matteo into my arms, and I cradled his terrified body in my arms.

  “Stefano knows,” Enrico said.

  My stomach dropped to my toes and my eyes widened.

  “What? How is that possible?” I asked.

  “The two of you need to go—now.”

  Enrico wrenched my arm toward the door, and I didn’t try to stop him. My mind was at a dead standstill. Stefano knew about my plans? How was that possible? I’d been careful. I’d been quick. I only talked to people I trusted. People I’d been around my entire life who had been loyal to my father and loyal to his wishes.

  “How did this happen?” I asked.

  “We don’t have time,” Enrico said. “Stefano’s on his way. The two of you need to get as far away from here as possible and quickly.”

  “Enrico, you’re hurting me. Stop.”

  “Get in the car and get out of here. Now,” he said.

  I was clinging to my crying son as he tossed me toward my car. I was torn. I didn’t know if I could trust Enrico. But the panic in his voice and his eyes was unmistakable. He tossed my keys toward me, and I opened the door, then got Matteo situated in his booster chair.

  “We need our things,” I said.

  “Where are they?” Enrico asked.

  “Our closets. Mine and Matteo’s. I uh—”

  I looked up into Enrico’s eyes. He nodded.

  “Good girl. I know. I’ve got them. Crank up the damn car and get ready. Because once these bags are in your trunk, you’re out of here. Do you hear me?”

  I nodded breathlessly and ducked into the car. My son was rubbing tears from his eyes as his hands shook. I felt terrible. Guilty beyond belief. This wasn’t the life I’d promised him. I promised him happiness and butterflies and safety. And now? We were running for our lives. Enrico ran out of the house with our bags grasped firmly in his hands and his gun protruding from the belt of his pants. I opened the trunk and he threw everything in, then shut the door and came around to me.

  I sensed Enrico wanted to tell me something, but two black SUVs came to a screeching halt at the back end of the house.

  “We’re out of time,” Enrico said as he cocked his gun. “Get out of here.”

  “Get in with us,” I said.

  “No. I have to hold them off so the two of you can get out of sight. Now go!”

  “Enrico! Please!”

  I reached for his wrist and tugged at him. I needed him to get in the car. To stay with Matteo and me. It didn’t matter to me that he was in love with me. It didn’t matter to me that he ultimately answered to Stefano because of his position. I trusted Enrico. It was clear he only wanted what was best for myself and Matteo. We would be safe with him. Protected, until we could get to Romeo and figure all of this out. Enrico was my best friend. The man that had been there for the birth of my son. “Please,” I said breathlessly as tears sprang to my eyes.

  “You need to get Matteo out of here,” he said as he removed my hand from his wrist. “And Julia?”

  “Yes?” I asked, tears streaming down my face.

  “All I ever wanted was to do the right thing by you. I love you, Julia.”

  He reached his hand through the window and cupped my cheek, allowing the heat of his touch to linger on my skin. He brushed one of my tears away, and I committed him to memory because I knew this was it.

  I knew I wouldn’t see him again after this.

  “Now go,” he said. “Get Matteo out of here!”

  Enrico drew his gun and began marching toward the house. He fired shot after shot at the SUVs as men came charging out of all sides of the vehicles. The sounds broke me from my fear-based paralysis and I threw the car into reverse. I jammed the gas pedal down to the floor as I blocked out Matteo’s gut-wrenching sobs. The tires of the car squealed as I charged down the driveway, my hand wrapped around the passenger seat and my eyes torn away from Enrico.

  The gunshots made me sick, and I knew if I looked back I’d see him lying on the ground.

  I got to the end of the driveway and careened the car around. I shifted gears and chanced a look back, my eyes taking in the terrible sight before me. I watched as Enrico’s arms shot out beside him, his gun clattering to the pavement. He dropped to his knees as men approached him from all sides.

  “No!” I exclaimed. “Enrico!”

  Then I watched the men turn their guns toward my car.

  I tore down the road, driving as fast as I could. I looked behind me before I turned a corner and saw one of the SUVs pull out onto the road. I dodged traffic and weaved in and out of cars, but the SUV had no issues plowing through the people I was trying to avoid. Matteo was sobbing in the backseat. My heart was breaking.

  Enrico.

  They killed my best friend, and now they were after my son and me.

  The SUV was gaining on me. I watched as another followed chase from the alleyway. I was outnumbered,
and their vehicles were faster than mine. I slammed down onto the gas pedal and ran through a red light as my hand dug into my pocket.

  I pulled out my phone and hit the number “1,” then sent the call out to Romeo.

  “Julia. What’s wrong?”

  “Stefano knows, Romeo!”

  A gunshot fired past my car forced me down into an alleyway.

  “Julia, where are you?”

  “They killed Enrico,” I said as tears flowed down my face. “Matteo’s in the backseat. They’re coming for us. He’s coming for us.”

  “Listen to me. I need you to tell me where you are.”

  “They have guns. I don’t have any guns. Matteo is so scared, Romeo. What am I supposed to do?”

  “Look around you,” he said. “Tell me what you see?”

  I whipped around a corner and dumped back out into the street after crashing into some trash cans.

  “Apartments. A pizza shop. So many people running. There are two black SUVs following me. Ah!”

  Gunshots hit the back end of my car, shattering the brake lights.

  “Julia!”

  “Romeo, they’re going to kill us,” I said trying not to scream.

  “What streets are you passing?” he asked.

  My eyes fluttered out the window, but I was going too quickly to clock them.

  “I don’t know. I don’t know, Romeo. I’m going too fast. Central Park!”

  “What?”

  “I just went past Central Park.”

  “Okay. Good girl. Here’s what I want you to do. I want you to keep away from those SUVs as much as you can. Keep your cell phone on and hide it away. I’m coming for you. Do you hear me?”

  My tires squealed as I came around a corner hot. The road was a one-way street—I was going the wrong way. I blew my horn while Matteo’s sobs turned to shrieks, and my heart shattered into a million pieces when I took a look at his face in the rearview mirror.

  He was petrified.

  “Julia!”

  “Yes?” I asked breathlessly.

  “I’m going to hang up the call, but don’t you dare turn off your phone. Stay away from those SUVs. Give me ten minutes. I’ll be there with you. I’ll rescue you.”

  “Romeo please help us!”

  More bullets whizzed by my car, shattering my side windows and forcing me down another alleyway. I crashed through a gate and tried to keep control of the car. I could feel it scraping against the brick buildings before we dumped onto a back road.

  “Okay,” I said. “Okay. Ten minutes.”

  CHAPTER 31

  ROMEO

  I barreled out of the police precinct and ran for my car. Fuck whatever the hell it was they were doing. Stefano already knew. None of what I’d originally planned would work. The love of my life and my son were in trouble, which meant they took priority above all else. I jumped into my car and cranked it up, speeding out of the parking lot before anyone could catch up to me. I got on the road toward Central Park and opened my phone, then pulled up an application I had hoped I wouldn’t need.

  It was an application I’d paid for when I took over my father’s seat. It allowed me to enter a cell phone number and lock onto the location of that cell signal. I’d never had to use it. I didn’t have a reason to. I wasn’t going to micromanage people like my father had. If they double-crossed me or tried to undermine me, I fired them. Simple as that. And if they wanted to go work for a competitor of some sort, then I’d do what had to be done to silence them so they couldn’t trade secrets.

  It was the cost of trying to do business like this legally.

  I entered Julia’s phone number as I drove around the city. I had to get within five miles of her car to have an accurate cell signal. The outright terror in Julia’s voice kept echoing off the corners of my mind. Matteo had been crying so hard I could hear him in the background. My son. My baby boy. The light of my life. He was terrified. And his mother was racing around town with no way to protect themselves if Stefano’s goons caught them.

  I knew what Stefano was capable of. The torture he would easily dole out. People thought we removed fingernails and busted knees, but that was the old school way. That was the way my grandfather did things. But not Stefano. He was much worse. He played with his food. Played his psychological games. He wouldn't hesitate to slowly kill my son in front of Julia’s eyes and allow her to wallow in the pain. The misery of her life without Matteo.

  I had to get to them.

  I had to save them.

  I raced past Central Park and gritted my teeth. I needed a fucking signal. I needed to figure out where the hell in the city she was. I drove down back roads and alleyways, trying to get a fix on her cell signal. Trying to figure out where a panicked woman would drive next. The honking of horns was distracting, and every time I raced around a corner, I prayed a police officer didn’t clock my speed.

  But the screeching of tires in the distance caught my ear.

  I whipped my car around in the middle of the road and clipped a minivan in the process. I raced in the opposite direction, driving as quickly toward the sound of squealing tires as I could. The crunching of metal sounded in the distance, and the closer I got the better the signal became. The second I blew past Central Park again and came around the corner to head back into downtown, the cell signal locked. The blinking red dot that showed me Julia’s location was on my phone.

  And I was only four miles out.

  The red dot began to move. I moved in tandem with it. I raced down back alleys to try and get closer. At the very least, to not lose the signal I’d found. The car was moving at top speed toward the outside of the city. Toward the warehouse district that sat along the water. My stomach fell to the floor. They were no longer trying to outrun someone.

  Because someone had already taken them.

  Stefano had my family.

  That was his signature. Always at the docks by the water. That was another reason why it would’ve been so easy to pin this all on him. But I was way past that plan. I kept ignoring phone calls from both Bradshaw and Langley, hoping they wouldn’t interrupt the signal I’d locked onto. I kept drawing closer the faster I went. The red dot stopped moving at the edge of the docks. I was close. Within two miles of where that car was.

  My only hope was that this wasn’t a distraction.

  I slowed my car down as I went through the busted gate that led to the abandoned warehouses. I was in the right place. My head was on a swivel as my car approached the red dot on my phone. I was practically on top of them but frustrated that I couldn't see anything.

  “Come on,” I said. “Where are you?”

  I shoved my phone into my pocket and began looking around. I drove up and down the lengths of abandoned containers, hoping I would see something, anything that gave away where my family was. My heart slammed against my chest, and it was hard to breathe. Panic was rushing through my veins as my hands gripped the steering wheel. I turned and rode down the last aisle of abandoned containers and hope slowly began to fade.

  Until I saw it.

  Julia’s car.

  I parked behind it and jumped out, racing over to the driver’s side. I peeked into the car and saw the ripped seat belts, but they were nowhere in sight. Julia and Matteo were gone. Already in the grasp of Stefano.

  Then, my phone rang in my pocket.

  I looked around the docks as I pulled it from my pants. I held it to my ear, knowing exactly who was calling. I gritted my teeth as I answered the call. I could hear Julia’s muffled cries.

  “Hello, Romeo. How nice of you to pick up.”

  “What do you want, Stefano?”

  “You screwed up my plans,” he said.

  “You did that yourself the second you thought you could take over my business,” I said.

  “But that doesn’t explain Julia’s sins, now does it?”

  I heard Matteo sobbing in the background, and it broke my heart.

  “What do you want?” I asked again.

>   “I want you to know how wonderfully well-connected I am. I’ve been planning this for years, Romeo. And my brother almost messed it up for me. Wanting to reach out and seek peace with your father. It was sickening. My brother ran the most ruthless crime syndicate in the city! Then he weakened when he had a grandson.”

  “That’s what children do to men who have hearts,” I said.

  “And I’m counting on you to have one. I know you broke Johnson. And he’ll pay in his own right. Everyone has to pay for the sins they commit.”

  “If you lay a finger on them, I’ll slaughter everyone in your regime.”

  “I’m having a hard time not taking out my ungrateful niece and her snotty son.”

  “I swear to hell if you touch them—”

  “You’ll what? Take me out? You had your chance twice to do that, and you didn’t. You wanted to play the long game, but there’s a problem with that plan.”

  “What?” I asked.

  “You’re trying to use legality with a man who has no use for it.”

  I heard a gunshot go off and Matteo screamed. Julia cried out, yelling for Stefano to stop. The problem was, I couldn't hear the gunshots. I couldn't hear Julia screaming or Matteo crying anywhere near me.

  The car had been a decoy.

  They weren’t on the docks.

  “Don’t hurt them,” I said.

  “Are you going to say ‘please’?”

  “Will you let them go if I do?”

  “No,” he said. “But I will let them go if you give me what I want.”

  “Name your price,” I said.

  “I want control of every illicit business the Martine family has. The legal ones too, in fact. I want it all, Romeo. You don’t deserve it. Your father never did. I almost had my brother convinced to take it all from you sorry sacks of shit until you knocked up my niece. That boy changed everything, but they won’t stand in my way.”

  Another gunshot popped off. Julia shrieked.

  “Stop it!” I roared. “I’ll give you what you want! It’s yours!”

  The silence on the other end of the line was frightening. Then, a chuckle graced my ear.