“Shit, this rough floor’s hurting my feet,” Fallon says.
“Where’s he going?” Abruptly, I remember the floorplans from the raid and realize there’s an exit that leads to the L train station.
I hate being down here and vow to never return. After we turn down another corridor, everything’s black in the distance, but I clearly hear boots thumping off the concrete, moving farther and farther away. Speculating about how unsafe it is for me to continue with Fallon in the dark when we don’t know what’s waiting at the end, I decide to return to the hallway where the cells are located, hoping that the party upstairs hasn’t been disturbed. However, when I turn around, I’m alone.
“Fallon?” I look left and right, wondering where the hell she’s gone to. “Fallon?”
Rushing back, it takes me forever until I find a familiar passageway – the cells. I get back there just in time as our guards are running about and Adriano and Luca are pushing through them to get to me.
Mercifully, I’m not alone anymore.
“Cam, are you okay?” Adriano cups my face, and I nod as he rubs my cheekbones tenderly and releases an anguished sigh.
“Oh my god. Are you?” I ask, seeing that his face and throat are covered in blood.
“Yeah, it’s not my blood.” He looks over my shoulder. “Where’s Fallon?”
“I have no idea. She was just with me, and then she was gone the next second. You have to go back with me.”
Panic blisters across Luca’s face. “Lead the way, Cam. Now!”
But before we can get going, Fallon appears and Luca rushes to her, meeting her halfway. “What happened? Are you hurt?”
He holds her at arm’s length, examining her for injuries.
“Where were you?” I question.
“I lost you. You were too fast.”
I frown because that’s obviously a lie since she was right behind me, but if I’m not mistaken, she sends me a pointed look telling me to drop it.
“I’m okay.” She holds up her finger. “Let me catch my breath.”
Adriano barks orders into his earpiece, “Is everything contained in the sex club?”
He signals something to Luca as we walk back, past Santino’s cell where I discover that Olek has been killed and soldiers are cleaning up the evidence.
“Did you get any of the members of the Ukrainian crew?” Adriano waits for the answer and then informs us, “Everything’s clear. Five extra guards remain down here. I want additional security on this floor the entire night.”
Luca and Adriano whisper back and forth, so I softly ask Fallon, “What really happened?”
“I’ll tell you upstairs,” she answers, piquing my interest even more.
We’re interrupted by Adriano, who pulls me into his side as we take the elevator up to the first floor and go behind the bar and upstairs to his office. The Halloween party is still going strong, and no one notices our disheveled state.
Adriano’s positively vibrating with rage as he holds me tightly to him, but we don’t have time to talk because he needs to take care of business first. Nonetheless, I’m afraid Olek was telling the truth when he said that Adriano had been forced to watch what they did to me.
When we reach the hallway to Adriano’s office, it’s filled with our guards.
“Bring me salt,” Adriano orders one of them as he enters the office that’s now occupied by three main guards, James, Carmine, Tez, Wade, Luca, Fallon, Adriano, and me.
One of the Ukrainians is bleeding from his thigh, sitting white-faced on the chair, and dead bodies are piled in the security room when I stop next to Fallon.
Adriano swings around and pins his men with a hard-edged glare that he’s honed to perfection over the years. “This is our first major party, and we get breached. This is unacceptable! Looks like I have to beef up the security detail, yet again. I thought I had a faultless system. I did pay a fortune for it, Wade.”
“You do have the best system. That wasn’t at fault here,” Wade defends in his gladiator attire. “The question is, how did the Ukrainians know about it? They had access codes, they had the knowledge to trigger the lock-down, and they came in via the L train station, so there has to be someone on the inside. You have a spy in here, so it’s not the system. They’ve been planning this for months. I contacted Henry, and he reset everything and lifted the walls within seconds – but they knew we’d override them.”
“And Olek was inside Santino’s cell and his men were inside this office, which means they somehow got duplicates of one of our fingerprints,” I add and mouth to Luca, “Serena.”
And Luca acknowledges my suspicion by affirming, “Get Serena. She’s the only outsider who’s been working at the club.”
“That fucking bitch!” Adriano roars and goes to his captive, who’s apparently named Maxim. “What was your plan, Maxim?”
A bowl of salt is delivered by one of the guards.
Maxim takes a deep breath, and his words are slow. “You’re out of your league, Italian.”
“Do not pretend to be some great evil I should be shivering over,” Adriano mocks dryly, dipping his hand into the bowl and letting the salt fall between his fingers. Then he takes his knife that was on his desk and slices open Maxim’s pant leg in one fluid motion, exposing his bleeding thigh wound. “What. Was. Your. Plan?”
It’s dead silent as we all watch Adriano playing with the salt while eying it. The calm before the storm. His contained fury about to be set free.
At once and aggressively, he scrubs a generous amount of salt into Maxim’s wound, making him thrash and cry out in pain. “We are the new authority here, and you’ll never leave this place alive, because you hurt my Cam. You thought you were so tough ordering your man to touch her. But no one lives after touching what’s mine.” Adriano drops his knife, pins down Maxim’s arms with one of his, and grabs more salt, forcefully rubbing it into the wound. As Maxim wails and slurs, Adriano yanks his hair and hits him in the eye with a thunderous groan. “What was your fucking plan?”
Suddenly, the door is opened, and Serena’s brought in with her wrists secured behind her back.
“Ah, just in time for the show.” Adriano glances at me and nods, giving me the signal to take my role as Capo.
Grabbing her hair, I shove her forward to stand next to Maxim. “Why are you working with the Ukrainians?”
“What?” she shrieks as I tighten my fist in her hair.
“Someone helped the Ukrainians get access to the underground floor and our security system. And it just so happens to have occurred on the same day that you tried to kiss Adriano.”
“Why would I help the Ukrainians when it would mean no more work for my girls?” Serena retorts.
A statement that has me quiet because there’s truth in it. This entire plan of the Ukrainians makes no sense to me, so I tilt my head to Adriano.
Then Serena addresses Adriano, “There are over fifty guards working here. I can’t be your only suspect? And my girls have it good here. Why would I want to lose that?”
“Since you care so much about your girls,” Adriano replies. “I’ll give you one chance to live. Tez will take you downstairs to your girls now, and you will order them to sign with us; tell them that you’re taking a leave and they’ll be well protected by us.”
If she does this, Adriano has solved one problem easily, and Serena’s frightened expression tells me she’ll give in.
Luca has lost all patience by this point – he probably wants to be alone with Fallon, just like I want to talk to Adriano about what he actually saw since he’s so on edge.
“Or...”—Luca snatches his gun and points it at Serena—“I could also murder you right now, Serena. I don’t care about the damn sex club or your girls. Cam has been assaulted. Fallon was in danger! Choose now!”
Adriano finally releases a weakened Maxim, who’s in agony, and stares at Serena, waiting for her to respond.
“Fine, I’ll talk to them. I have no business with th
e Ukrainians. And then you’ll release me?”
“You have my word,” Luca vows and lies.
“Tez, watch her every move,” Adriano tells him, and he says to his brother, “Carmine, you assist Tez with the papers.”
“Do we just continue to go through the club to get to the underground? Isn’t that dangerous with so many people around?” Carmine asks as Tez tugs Serena with him.
“Godammit, I need a direct route from this office to the underground floor,” Adriano states. “And we need to brick over that route that leads to the train station.”
“There’s an elevator shaft that passes this office, but it’s inactive and the door’s behind the drywall,” one of the guards explains.
“Well, fix it. I need the elevator from the underground to also stop here, with only limited access, of course. Figure it out with Tez. Get me a direct path that takes me from this office to the underground without my having to walk through the dance club.” And he turns back to Carmine. “So yes, just walk behind the bar with her.”
They hurry her out.
“Serena’s involved, somehow, someway,” Luca declares.
Adriano scowls at Maxim, and he instructs his second guard, “Tend to his wounds, but make it hurt. Keep him alive in the security room until the club has closed down, then lock him up in Santino’s old cell downstairs. Lastly, find out who his family is.”
“Y-you can kill me, but there’s a back-up plan, Montesi,” Maxim stutters as he’s being dragged up and cries from the pain, but Adriano ignores him.
“Why would they go on this suicide mission? We’re missing something vital,” Luca muses aloud as the guard closes the security door.
As I evaluate the faces left in the room, I suddenly remember that I haven’t seen the guard that was with Fallon, Rosalia, and me. “Where are Rosalia and the guard that was downstairs with us?”
“Rosalia?” James questions. “Isn’t she already gone?”
“No. She was with us in the underground. We got separated when the walls closed down,” I answer.
James calls Rosalia. “No answer.” Then Alessa next. “Is Rosalia with you?” He shakes his head.
“Check the camera feeds to see if she’s anywhere in the building,” Adriano advises James, who goes into the security room, and he focuses on me next. “And what were you doing down there?”
“Nothing. We wanted to see how the sex club was decorated for Halloween.”
“And again, you get into trouble.”
“But that’s not our fault,” I speak calmly because he isn’t mad about that; he’s furious I got hurt. “Normally, it wouldn’t have been a problem. You didn’t forbid us to go to the sex club. We were curious.”
He grunts, not conceding but also not arguing, and scrubs the dried up blood off his beard. “Fuck! I need to wash this off!”
James barges back into the office toward Adriano. “Rosalia’s missing.”
“Something else is at play here,” Wade intervenes. “They use this kind of force with other people they work with, and their scare tactics usually work. Everyone is afraid of them; it’s unprecedented for them to be this reckless and just kidnap a random person after leaving their own people to die here.”
“I made contact with Yakiv Medlov,” Fallon abruptly announces.
All our gazes whip to Fallon.
“What?” Luca practically shouts. “When? And why didn’t you mention that right away?”
“Because you would’ve run after Medlov, and there was an ambush waiting for you at the L station. He had it all planned out. You two needed to contain the club, and I couldn’t risk you going after him in all your anger because of what they did to Cam and me.”
Smart move, Fallon.
“There was some kind of uproar at the station,” Wade adds. “Henry informed me. He said that a lot of police officers were waiting at the station because of some kind of commotion.”
“What the hell did Medlov say to you?” Luca’s completely perturbed by Fallon’s admission.
“I think the plan was to get to one of the members. I don’t know how Santino is involved. I lost Cam, and when I turned around, Medlov was standing there just staring at me, and then he gave me this card”—she takes a black business card from her pocket—“and said I must call him when I find out. Only I can call him; he won’t communicate if anyone else contacts him.”
“Find out what?” Luca asks, annoyance growing with every word Fallon speaks.
“I don’t know, but I think he meant when I found out Rosalia’s missing,” she replies.
“Fallon doesn’t become involved.” Luca steps in front of her.
But she steps around him. “Fallon can decide for herself. Normally, I wouldn’t want to get involved, but we’re talking about Rosa here. If I can help, I will.”
Luca spins her around, aiming a glare at her that most men would cower under, but she attempts to persuade him. “Luca, it’s just a phone call.”
“We need to act fast,” James tells Adriano.
“It’s Luca’s choice,” Adriano says.
Fallon lifts a brow and rests her palm on Luca’s chest, whispering something to him, which helps, since he evidently calms and gives the go-ahead to Adriano. “Fine. Let her make the call.”
Adriano takes the card and Fallon’s phone from her, entering the number and putting it on speaker.
“Fallon,” Medlov answers intimately.
“Medlov, I believe you have something of ours?”
“Very clever, Fallon.”
Luca’s seething while she smartly ignores him and plays along.
“Where’s Rosalia?”
“She’s safe with me,” Medlov replies.
“You want to speak to her,” Adriano mouths and gestures.
“I want to speak to Rosalia,” Fallon says.
“Say hi,” we hear Medlov order Rosalia.
James stands next to Fallon with a restless expression on his normally controlled face, afraid his daughter might be hurt.
“Hello...” Rosalia’s hesitant voice sounds small.
Wade inches closer too, and now we all huddle around Adriano’s desk.
“Rosalia, are you okay? Did he hurt you?” Fallon demands in a rush.
“I-I’m fine.”
“That’s enough,” Medlov says into the receiver.
“What do you want?” Fallon asks without any direction from Adriano or Luca.
“My men failed their mission, so I want to give Rosalia back to you. But I only want to meet with you present, Fallon.”
“Why me?”
“Because I want the voice of reason to be there to control the men.” Fallon catches my eye, and Adriano notices it, arching his brow at me in question.
“To show goodwill, I will give Rosalia back to you. Midnight. Wicker Park. I’ll text the address to this phone.” And he hangs up.
“Send soldiers to Wicker Park,” Adriano instructs the last guard left in his office. “Contact Henry and tell him to find the license numbers of Medlov’s vehicles and locate them.”
“What kind of mind game is this?” James reflects. “First, they come in, start a war, and then take one of us just to give her back? Fallon needs maximum protection before going in.”
“Fallon’s not going,” Luca’s interrupts with an inflexible tone.
“What was that look, ladies?” Adriano’s attention shifts from me to Fallon, not missing anything.
“He must have been spying on us in the dance club, because Cam and I joked about me being the voice of reason,” Fallon replies honestly.
“So Medlov was inside the club spying on you, Fallon?” Luca asks her.
“Apparently. Or one of his men overheard our conversation and informed Medlov.”
“What the fuck?” Luca forcefully stashes his gun back into his waistband.
Fallon and I are both stunned by Luca’s intensity.
“Jesus Christ, I need a cigarette.” Adriano slides open his drawer and lights
a smoke. “What’s his fascination with Fallon?”
“I don’t know, but I don’t like it one bit,” Luca snarls.
“Then what do you suggest?’ Fallon crosses her arms over her chest.
“I suggest you stay out of it, like usual. What the hell were you thinking getting tangled up in this?” He braces his neck roughly.
“This was bound to happen someday. You can’t keep me out of it anymore.” Fallon stands her ground admirably.
I want to intervene because I know exactly how they feel, but Adriano signals me not to, silently telling me to wait.
“Should we leave?” I whisper.
“No. Luca’s going to explode soon. We need to be here when it happens.”
“Why?”
Adriano looks down his nose at me. “Because Fallon’s going through with it.”
“My daughter has been taken,” James intrudes on Fallon and Luca’s dispute.
“My wife will not be bait!” Luca towers over James.
“She won’t be bait. She’ll just be the leader of the meet, with our instructions and all of us there to protect her.”
“I said no.”
“Luca, I decide whether or not I’m going, not you.” Fallon attempts to overrule him.
Uh-oh.
Luca directs a chilling stare at her. “Fallon, stop talking.”
“Luca, listen to me! We’re losing valuable time here.” Fallon’s patience is running thin too.
Adriano dramatically blows out a ring of smoke. “Dobbiamo darci tutti una calmata.” Everyone needs to calm down. And he places his cig in the ashtray, standing opposite Luca. “I get that you’re worried.”
“I’m not worried. This isn’t happening,” Luca relays, unyielding.
“If she can get us to Rosalia, we need to do it.”
In a split-second, Luca lunges forward and grabs Adriano’s collar, crashing him against the wall. “I’m not risking my wife’s life. You, of all people, should understand that.”
“Oh my god, Luca. Stop it!” Fallon tries to tug him back, but Adriano holds up his hands, palms facing us.
“It’s fine, Fallon.” And he asks Luca calmly, “Then what should we do?”
For Cam (Chicago Syndicate Book 4) Page 14