by CJ Bishop
Flynn frowned—as did Caterina. What the hell did his dad know about her father?
“But, you know…you fuck with the big dogs, you get bitten.”
Caterina swallowed, her brow pinching with confusion. “I-I don’t what you’re talking about,” she whispered. “My father died in an accident.”
Terrell stared at her for a long, thoughtful moment. “Oh…” he murmured. “I see. They lied to you. But of course, that’s understandable, I suppose. Who would tell a little girl that her dead father had been a shady mobster who stuck his nose in where it didn’t belong…and got it cut off?” He smiled without humor and rubbed his thumb along one of her fingers. “Well, in his case, it was a finger instead of a nose.” He shrugged, a smug look on his face. “Semantics.”
CHAPTER 23
“Hearts Divided”
______________________________________________
An all-consuming numbness spread over Caterina’s mind and body. She couldn’t make sense of what this man was implying about her father. Maybe he’d been best friends with Lorenzo Santiago, but Salvatore De Luca had not been a mobster. She might have been young, but she would have known…wouldn’t she?
“I’ll give you a moment to absorb this new reality,” the man said. He sighed and shook his head. “Forgive my rudeness. I haven’t introduced myself. I’m Terrell Pisano.” He glanced at Flynn who stood silent and tense to Caterina’s left. “Your boyfriend’s father.”
Caterina lowered her eyes, refusing to look at Flynn. “He’s not my boyfriend.”
“That tone has got to sting, huh, son?”
Flynn didn’t answer, just glared at his father.
“Clearly, she knows enough about you to off-load your ass,” Terrell addressed Flynn. “But how much does she know?” He turned his focus to Caterina, though still speaking to his son. “Does she know that you deliberately picked her up because of who she was?”
“That’s not true,” Flynn said tightly. “I didn’t know who she was when I met her.”
“What do you mean who I was?” Caterina asked uneasily.
Terrell continued to hold her hand and she wished he would let go. “You’re the goddaughter of Lorenzo Santiago, are you not? Your father’s best friend…and more?” His face twitched unpleasantly.
More? What was he talking about? She frowned. “Lorenzo is my godfather, and they were close friends, but…what do you mean by more?”
Terrell waved it off. “Not important.”
Caterina glanced at Flynn. “Why would you care who I was?”
Riccardo and the other two men chuckled low and Terrell smiled. “Did he tell you about his mother? How she died?”
“Don’t do this,” Flynn murmured with a strain in his voice.
“Yes,” Caterina answered quietly. The story he’d told her—was it the truth? Or had he made it up to play on her sympathy and emotions?
“The man who killed his mother…” Terrell said. “…was Cruz Santiago.”
“What…?” Caterina breathed and looked quickly at Flynn.
“Gunned her down in cold blood,” Terrell went on. “An innocent, harmless woman.”
“No.” Caterina trembled. “I-I don’t believe you.” She pulled her hand free and hugged her stomach. “Cruz would not do that.” She looked again at Flynn. “He wouldn’t.”
“I saw the gunman,” Flynn whispered. “It was him.”
She stared at him as their conversation about his mother’s killer played through her head. Fear clutched her heart. “You…you hooked up with me so you could…so you could get close to Cruz and…” her throat constricted with hurt and anger. “…kill him?”
It was never about you. He didn’t want to keep seeing you because he felt something for “you”—he just wanted his foot in your family door.
Flynn slowly shook his head. “I didn’t know who you were when we hooked up,” he murmured. “I swear, I didn’t, Caterina.”
Her face hard, she whispered, “When did you figure it out?”
He rubbed his mouth. “Yesterday…when I went to your ex’s apartment. He thought I was one of your boys. He mentioned your family’s name.”
“Well, this is all quite dramatic and interesting,” Terrell said. “But now that we have the ball rolling, I have matters to attend to.” He smiled. “But by all means, continue your conversation. I’m sure it will…end well.”
The other men chuckled and left the room with Terrell.
Caterina looked at Flynn then walked over to the fireplace and stood with her back to him. “So, when you said you wanted to keep seeing me,” she whispered with a tremor, despising the emotion knotting her throat, “it had nothing to do with me or…how you felt about me.” She swallowed thickly. “You just wanted to use me to get to Cruz.”
“I did want to keep seeing you…for you,” Flynn murmured, moving closer. “You’re special, Caterina, unlike any woman I’ve ever known.”
“But you still want to kill my brother, regardless what it would do to me.”
“He killed my mom, Caterina,” Flynn replied stiffly, his voice strained. “She was everything to me. Why should he get to live? She didn’t deserve to die…but he does.”
Caterina turned and stared at him, tears in her eyes. “I don’t believe he did it. I know him. He would never hurt an innocent woman.”
“I saw him, Caterina!” Flynn cried. “He was right there, next to her body, gun in hand.” He calmed a bit and shook his head. “I’m sorry, Caterina, I am. I don’t want to bring you grief or pain, but he made a conscious decision to shoot my mother. He sealed his own fate.”
Tears formed thicker. “You expect me to choose you over him? Just look the other way while you kill my brother just because you say he’s guilty?” Her throat worked and tears spilled over. “Fuck you. That is my family. Lorenzo is like a father to me and it would kill him to lose his son. So, don’t think for one fucking minute I’m going to take your side.”
“It would kill him to lose his son?” Flynn whispered heavily. “Like it killed a thirteen-year-old boy to lose his mother? At least he’s a grown man. I was a fucking kid.”
Caterina pursed her lips, tears streaming. “I’m sorry,” she murmured. “I’m sorry you lost her, Flynn, I really am. But unless Cruz confesses to me himself, I will never believe he’s guilty. And if you take him away from me, away from his father, and away from the man who loves him…you will seal your fate.”
She may have been shielded from the evidence of her family’s lifestyle, but she remained aware of what they were capable of. An attack on Cruz would set their entire mob on a course of vengeance. And likely bring in their friends from across the city to aid them in their retribution.
Her words didn’t seem to shock Flynn. “I know,” he said quietly. “I’m prepared for that.”
Why did you have to be the one my heart wanted? Caterina wondered with sudden anguish as, just looking at the man, brought back their time together—all the kisses, caresses…the love making and embraces. The quiet whispers—If there was woman who could make me fall…it would be you—in the middle of the night. Why did she have to be awake to hear that? She didn’t want to know that now. She didn’t want to know what could have been.
She turned away and stared into the fireplace at the low gas flame.
“I know this won’t mean anything to you,” Flynn murmured. “But I meant everything I said when we were together. I could’ve…” he faltered. “I could have fallen in love-”
“Shut up,” she whispered tightly. “Just…shut up. I don’t want to hear it. And you’re right.” She trembled. “None of it means anything to me.” With all her heart, she wanted that to be the truth. She wanted to be numb to him, numb to the recent memories they’d made together, numb to his phantom touch that lingered against her skin…the kiss she could still taste on her lips. And the consuming, overwhelming sensation of completeness that had enveloped her when he’d been inside her…each thrust claiming her for his ow
n…making her his own.
She blinked and shuddered when her body responded to the thoughts and memories. Even now, her heart and body ached for him to come to her, take her to that sweet place of ecstasy again…and away from this emerging nightmare.
•
“What’re we going to do about the cowboy and Egyptian?” Riccardo asked. He shook his head. “Those fuckers are bad news.”
Terrell nodded. “We’ll deal with them. Once we take out those two motherfuckers, and Cruz Santiago and his top guys, the rest will be easy pickings.”
“And the bosses?”
“They’ll be vulnerable once their heavyweights are disposed of,” Terrell said with confidence. “And the Sanitini men have a growing family that can be used against them. Let’s just focus on the big dogs. They’re the ones we have to worry about.”
Riccardo wasn’t as cock sure about that as Terrell. The old school bosses weren’t to be taken lightly, yet Terrell seemed to think they would be sitting ducks without the others. He wondered if Terrell was setting himself up for defeat by underestimating his enemy. The man was arrogant and far too self-assured, in Riccardo’s opinion. A narcissistic bastard as Flynn liked to call him. He wasn’t so sure the younger man was wrong about that.
“We’ll get Cruz,” Terrell said. “And use him to trap the cowboy, then the Egyptian, and so on. Cruz and the cowboy are tight, like brothers. Catch one, and the other will surrender to ensure his safety. Bait and catch, the oldest trick in the book and still works like a fucking charm.”
“And what if Flynn gets a case of conscience where the woman is concerned?”
Terrell lit a cigarette and took a long drag, releasing the smoke through his nose. “If he decides to ride for their brand,” he murmured. “He’ll go down with the rest of them. If it comes to that…” he sucked another drag off the cigarette. “Don’t hesitate to put a bullet in his brain.” He huffed. “What a fucking disappointment he turned out to be.”
•
“Why was he making implications about my father?” Caterina shifted gears on Flynn, steering away from their interactions of the last couple nights. “My dad wasn’t a part of this life. Just because he was close friends with Lorenzo Santiago didn’t mean he was caught up in illegal matters. He was a computer programmer and took care of the systems of a few small companies, that’s all.”
Flynn knew nothing of her father. He had no idea if what his dad said was true or not. “I don’t know about any of that,” he murmured. “I hadn’t even heard of your father until you told me about him.”
Caterina turned and faced him, eyes damp, furious. “He wasn’t murdered. Lorenzo would have told me. He died in a car accident.” Uncertainty shadowed her eyes, though. And fear—that she had been deceived by the people she now called her family.
“Like I said,” Flynn repeated. “I don’t know anything about your father. I don’t know if my dad does, either, or if he was just making that shit up just to mess with you. He’s a dick, so it’s anyone’s guess.”
Caterina looked him up and down, a quiet remorse in her eyes. Whether she was sorry for what they’d done together—or that it was now over—he couldn’t tell. “Maybe you and he aren’t so different,” she mumbled and turned her back to him again.
“Maybe not,” Flynn whispered. “I’d like to think we were worlds apart, though. The last thing I want to be—is him.”
Caterina faced him again, fresh tears rising. “So, why are you following in his footsteps? Why are you letting him do this? If your mother really loved you, do you think she would want you to kill someone to avenge her death? It isn’t going to bring her back, Flynn.”
Flynn stared at her, his vision blurred, distorted. “What if it’s true?” he whispered.
Caterina frowned. “What?”
“What if your father was murdered? And you find out the one who killed him is still out there, walking around free.” He stared at her. “Wouldn’t you want him to meet the same fate he brought upon your father? Wouldn’t you want him to pay for the pain and anguish he put you through by taking your father from you when you were just twelve?” His throat worked and tears welled. “The honest fucking truth, Caterina—wouldn’t you?”
CHAPTER 24
“Wild Card”
______________________________________________
“What does this guy want with Caterina?” Tension and concern strained Rodriguez’s voice. The other men appeared equally worried about Flynn or Terrell Pisano’s intentions.
Cruz addressed them. “Look, we don’t know that anything has happened to Caterina as of right now. For the time being, she’s simply not answering her phone. It doesn’t mean she’s in trouble. But it’s my guess she went to talk to Flynn Pisano, and that in itself puts her in danger.”
“So, what do we do?” Matteo asked. The young man wore his heart on his sleeve and was more susceptible to his emotions than the other men. Cruz didn’t view that as a weakness, but rather one of his strengths; he cared about his own—a lot. “Do we just have to sit and wait for something to happen? What if Caterina doesn’t come home? How do we find her?”
“There isn’t much we can do at the moment,” Cruz said, hating the reality of their situation. “Like I said, we don’t know if she’s in trouble.”
“She is.” The cowboy and Egyptian entered the room and approached Cruz and Sanchez. Clint handed Cruz a cell phone.
“What’s this?”
“Carter’s phone,” Clint said. “A text came in a short while ago.”
Cruz looked at the device; the text was still open. ‘Shit’s about to go down. We got the Santiago woman and the boss is ready to set the trap. Get your ass back here now.’ Cruz felt sick. If they touched Caterina, he would rip them limb from limb.
Sanchez took the phone and read the text aloud.
“What kind of trap?” Matteo asked anxiously. “They won’t hurt her…will they?”
Cruz looked at Clint; the cowboy was not convinced of that. And neither was Cruz. Terrell Pisano was not playing games, and the Albanians were not known for their compassion or mercy. Caterina would be safe for as long as she was useful to them. Once she was no longer necessary, she could very well become collateral damage in this little war Terrell intended to start.
“Does he really think he can take down two families?” Dominic asked. The guy was typically a man of few words, but in extreme instances he had no problem finding his voice. “They tried it before and practically got wiped out. What makes them think this time will be any different?”
“The guy Clint and Cochise grabbed,” Cruz said. “He told us that their boss had learned from his last mistake and was making a new plan.”
“What kind of plan, do you think?” Rodriguez asked.
The nightmare surfaced in Cruz’s mind; bait and trap. That’s how that sadistic bastard had gotten his hands on the cowboy, and once he had Clint…acquiring the cowboy’s boyfriend, Axel, had been a cinch—because there had been no way in hell Axel was going to stand back and let the fucker kill Clint. And that’s when the real-life nightmare began for Clint as he’d watched helplessly while the motherfucker had nearly beaten Axel to death…simply to torture and break Clint.
Cruz glanced at Sanchez; would this situation ultimately bring his own nightmares to life? In the dreams, it was Cruz watching helplessly as Sanchez was beaten to death. If Terrell Pisano got a hold of Cruz, nothing in heaven or hell could stop Sanchez from coming for him. And he had a sick feeling that Pisano would take great pleasure in torture. They couldn’t let this fucker get as far as that other bastard had with Clint—because it wasn’t only Cruz he would be after.
“He’s going to use the girl as bait,” Clint stated bluntly, answering for Cruz, “to catch Cruz. Then he’ll use him as bait to trap Sanchez, myself, and Cochise. The rest of you, he will control under the threat of killing us if you resist. Most likely, he will try to set a few of you against Cruz’s father and our bosses as well. And inside j
ob is easier than sending in a stranger. This fucker intends to take out the top dogs first, hoping to send the rest into chaos and confusion. Those of you who refuse to join him at that point, he would kill.”
The men stared at the cowboy, startled by the simplicity with which he’d detailed the enemy’s plans.
“Will it work?” Matteo swallowed unsteadily. “If he already has Caterina, what’s to stop him?”
“I’ve played this game before,” the cowboy murmured with a cool tone. “Two things I learned. First, when you’re playing with a hustler, you don’t go into it without a few cards up your sleeve. Second, in every game…there is always a wild card.”
Cruz looked at him. “Wild card?”
“In the last game I played,” Clint said. “It was Colton. In this one…”
He has a son…but they don’t see eye to eye.
“Flynn Pisano,” Cruz murmured. How close had he and Caterina become in the last couple days? Close enough for him to defy his father in favor of helping her? “It’s a long shot.”
Clint nodded. “True. But sometimes it’s the long shots that pay off the most.”
•
“I’m a gracious host,” Terrell told Caterina as he led her from the living room and down the long, narrow hallway to a furnished bedroom. “I provide acceptable accommodations for my guests.” He smiled when Caterina looked around the room. “What did you expect—that I would chain you in a cold, dank dungeon?”
Caterina wouldn’t have been shocked if he had. He played the “gentleman” persona, but it was just a mask. The monster underneath was easily detectible. Not so easy with the son, though. Nothing about Flynn had sent up red flags or fired warning shots. He’d fooled her from the start.