Nico

by Sarah Castille

  Stunned, Nico looked up to see Vito with his gun pointed where Luca had been standing seconds ago.

  Dante drew a weapon from beneath his jacket as Nico dropped to his knees with Luca in his arms.

  “It’s you or me. And I choose me.”

  *

  Stay calm. Stay calm.

  Mia ran through the casino with Kat, her phone plastered to her ear. “Where is he, Jules?”

  “I’m looking. I’m looking. He’s got one serious security system here. There are cameras everywhere. And so many people. How do you find just one person in all this?”

  “The system is so sophisticated they can track individual people, but we don’t have time to figure it out.” She weaved in and out of the crowds, trying not to bump into anyone. “Try his office.”

  “Found it. There’s no one there.”

  Mia’s heart pounded, and she forced herself to slow down. Running wasn’t going to get her anywhere if she didn’t know where she was going.

  “How about the back hallways, restrooms, or the alley outside? No one is going to whack him in the middle of a crowd.”

  “There are too many cameras showing too many things. You need a team of people to find him,” Jules said.

  A team. Led by an ass-pinching guard loyal to Nico.

  “We’re going to the control room. Keep looking.” Mia waved for Kat to follow, and she headed for the control room. The last time she’d been there, she’d been trying to evade detection. Now, she didn’t care if the whole damn world saw her.

  “Louis.” She banged on the steel security door. “It’s Mia. Let me in.”

  The door opened, just a crack, and then wider. Louis stared at Mia and his eyes widened. “Jesus. The knife woman.” He tried to push the door closed, but Mia stuck her foot in the crack and pushed her way through. “That’s Mrs. Toscani to you. And I’m not here to cause trouble. I’m trying to find Nico. He’s somewhere in the casino, and he’s in trouble.”

  Louis glanced back at the sea of monitors behind him. “I can’t let you in. This is a secure area.”

  “Are you kidding me? You let me in when I was dressed as a go-go dancer.”

  Louis’s lips pressed together. “I paid a big price for that. I still got fucking bruises.”

  “Nico beat you?”

  His face turned stony. “I don’t talk business with the ladies.”

  Ah. That’s right. She was a “lady.” But not just any lady. She was a Mafia queen. “You go by the name Mikey Muscles, isn’t that right?”

  Louis gave her a wary look. “Yeah.”

  “Well, Mikey Muscles, your capo’s wife is telling you to let her in. Do you really want him to find out you told me no? He might have beat you before, but that will be nothing compared to what he’ll do to you when I tell him you refused to let me in. And when he’s done with you, if there’s anything left, it will be my turn. The knife I stabbed you with isn’t my only weapon.”

  “Fuck.” He opened the door. “Now it’s like I got two fucking bosses.”

  “You’re badass,” Kat whispered as she reached for the door. “I want to be just like you.”

  “Leave it open,” Louis directed. “I don’t want anyone saying I was alone in a room with the boss’s wife.”

  After wasting five minutes searching for Nico, Mia threw up her hands. “Where is he? What kind of system is this? I thought you could track a person from the minute they come into the casino.”

  “We can.” Louis scratched his head. “But he’s not here.”

  “He is here. I hacked his phone.” Mia held up her phone with the little blue dot on the screen showing Nico somewhere in the building.

  “What about these screens?” Kat pointed to six blank monitors. “What do those usually show?”

  “High-stakes room. The casino manager, Vito, told me to turn them off on Mr. Toscani’s orders.”

  Mia frowned. “Why?”

  “I don’t ask why,” Louis said. “I just do.”

  “He must be in there. Turn them on.”

  Louis hesitated. “If Vito or Mr. Toscani find out…”

  “Now.”

  He pushed a few buttons and Mia stared at the screens as they flickered on. A gasp from behind startled her. And then she heard a familiar chuckle. “I think you should listen to the nice security guard. You don’t want to get him in trouble.”

  Mia spun around, and her heart dropped into her stomach. Rev had an arm around Kat’s waist and a gun pressed to her temple.

  “You.” He lifted his chin toward Louis as he moved with Kat along the wall. “Close and lock the door. Then get down on the floor. Hands where I can see them.”

  Louis did as directed and dropped to his knees, hands in the air.

  Kat opened her mouth as if to scream and Rev tightened his grip around her. “I know you’re surprised to see me, kitty cat, but don’t make a fuss. After all, we don’t want to cause a commotion. People might get hurt.”

  TWENTY-SEVEN

  Ben checked his text from Kat as he raced into the casino. She hadn’t told him where in the casino they were headed, and given the sheer size of the place, it was going to be impossible to find her or Nico without some help.

  He sent a quick text to Mikey Muscles and headed over to the control room. He would need back-up and Mikey could provide it. He could also help Ben find Nico before it was too late.

  He couldn’t believe he was doing this. If Nico had any reservations about who Ben was, he would have none after this evening was done. And yet Ben couldn’t just sit around when he knew there was a chance to save him. Nico had given Ben the closest thing he’d had to a family. He’d given Ben his trust and his friendship. He’s had Ben’s back countless times, and he’d given Ben countless opportunities. In return, Ben had betrayed him. He figured he owed Nico at least this favor. And he was an officer of the law. He couldn’t stand by when a crime was about to be committed.

  He pulled up outside the door to the control room and peered through the window. Jesus Christ. There was fucking Gabe. And Mia, looking like she wanted to rip out his throat. And sweet, innocent Kat, with a goddamned gun to her head.

  A surge of protective anger roared through his head. Gabe seemed to have no issue involving innocents in his crimes. Ben was momentarily overcome with regret for not pulling the trigger when he had the chance. But Gabe was now facing life in prison for the drug stash they’d found at Ginger’s house. Justice would be served, and Ben’s conscience would be clean.

  Now, though, Kat was in danger. Not only that, Nico was somewhere in the casino with Vito, who he’d figured for Daisy’s silver man—a Cordano and a traitor. He didn’t know if Vito had the contract on Nico, but he was a threat, and Ben wasn’t going to let Nico down.

  He reached inside his jacket. Christ. If Gabe gave him even the hint of a reason, this time he wouldn’t hesitate to shoot the bastard down.

  “Police.” He banged on the door. “Open up.” He slammed Jack’s badge against the window—he’d handed his in when he went undercover—and held his weapon ready. “I know it’s you, Gabe. You’re already facing time for the drugs. You want to add murder to your rap sheet? You’ll never see the fucking sun again.”

  A few people looked down the hallway at him with mild interest, but for the most part people just passed by. Ben marveled at how they could be so blind to what was going on, but then, that was just a testament to the success of Nico’s casino. He kept the customers so distracted with the music and the noise, the lights, the alcohol, and the games, they couldn’t see a real show when it was staring them in the face.

  He heard a deep voice, and then Mia pulled open the door, her face white, eyes wide in a silent plea. Gabe still had Kat at gunpoint. Louis was down on the floor.

  Gabe’s face rippled with amusement. “So, you are a cop.”

  “And you’re a criminal. We found your heroin stash. You’re facing a lot of time for drug offenses and maybe even Ginger’s death, too, if she overdose
d from the same shit you put in my daughter’s toys. And if that stuff was tainted, there are twenty-four other deaths that might be added to your list of crimes.”

  Ben was prepared for anything, but not the shock or the pain that flickered across Gabe’s face.

  Gabe dropped his arm, releasing Kat. “Ginger’s dead?”

  Mia reached over and pulled Kat to her side. Taking advantage of Gabe’s distraction, she slipped out the door, pulling Kat behind her.

  “Yeah, she’s dead.” Ben’s gaze flicked to Mikey Muscles who was slowly pushing himself to his feet. “Because of people like you who make it easy for addicts like her.”

  “I couldn’t stop her.” Gabe’s shoulders slumped, defeated. “She started before she met me, and there was nothing I could do. I got into it because of her. So she wouldn’t buy shit product from the streets.”

  “Give Mikey the gun.” He needed to find Nico and make sure Kat and Mia were safe, but he couldn’t leave until he made sure Gabe was no longer a threat.

  Gabe drew in a ragged breath and handed Mikey the gun. Ben tossed Mikey the cuffs Jack had given him, along with the badge, after he’d received Kat’s text and told Jack he needed to be a cop again for a few hours to save a friend. “Secure him and call 911. Where’s Nico?”

  Mikey snapped the cuffs around Gabe’s wrists and looked up at the screens. “High-stakes room. And you’d better get there fast.”

  Heart pounding, Ben ran through the casino, hitting the sliding doors marking the entrance to the high-stakes area at a run.

  He had only just stepped inside when he heard a scream.

  Fuck. Was he too late?

  TWENTY-EIGHT

  “He’s dead. Oh. My. God, Jules. He’s dead.”

  Mia gasped for breath as she took in the scene in front of her. Nico on the floor with Luca on top of him. And blood. So much blood.

  “I was too late. I want to die,” she whispered into the phone, staring in disbelief at Dante with a gun in his hand and Vito standing only a short distance away.

  “Don’t go all Romeo and Juliet on me,” Jules warned. Mia had called her after they left the control room to check that Nico was still in the building. The security monitors had shown bodies on the floor, but she couldn’t make out faces. “Are you safe? If not get out of there.”

  Mia dropped the phone and took a step toward Nico, but Kat’s firm hands pulled her back.

  “Dante!” Kat turned on their brother, her face a mask of rage. “How could you do this?”

  “The same way I did it to his father. The same way I hurt you.” Dante’s voice was thick with self-loathing. “My fate was sealed the first time I pulled the trigger. I wanted Papà to be proud of me, but I didn’t realize the cost was going to be my soul. Once you cross that line, there’s no going back. Once you make a wrong choice, you just keep sinking until you are in the pit of Hell.”

  Mia caught movement out of the corner of her eye. Nico’s hand slid beneath his jacket. Relief flooded through her. She shoved Kat behind her and took a step back.

  “Don’t move.” Dante lifted his gun and pointed at Mia. “Nico wasn’t the only problem Papà asked us to take care of tonight.”

  “Us?”

  “Vito, Rev, and me. He didn’t trust me to handle it alone. He didn’t trust me with anything. He said you would have made a better son.” He spat on the floor, his nose wrinkled in disgust. “You were supposed to be waiting for me in his office, handcuffed to a chair so you couldn’t get away. After you challenged him tonight, he decided Kat would be a better choice to marry Tony. She’s does what she’s told. She knows how to behave. You just cause too many problems. You never fucking listen. You never do what you’re told. You would have been one hell of a hard wife to manage.” He squeezed his eyes shut, his face contorted in agony. “Addio, mia sorella.”

  “No.” Nico rolled and fired his gun.

  Kat screamed. Dante staggered back, his hand to his chest. Vito pulled the trigger, his bullet missing Nico by only an inch. Big Joe burst into the room and fired, dropping Vito to the floor with one clean shot to the head.

  “Mia!” Jules shouted over the phone. “Mia!”

  Mia dropped to her knees and picked up the phone. “I’m okay. Kat’s okay, and Nico, too. But Dante … Oh God, Jules. Dante is dead.”

  *

  “Park over there.” Nico leaned over the seat and directed Big Joe down a dusty road on the Nevada border. “Turn off the lights.”

  Big Joe pulled the car to a stop. A full moon had risen behind them as they drove out of Vegas, casting a faint silvery glow through the ebony night. Beautiful. Nico made a mental note to come to the desert at night sometime when he wasn’t planning to whack someone or dump a body.

  Mikey Muscles turned on his powerful torch and placed it on the hood of the vehicle as Nico and Frankie exited the car. Frankie opened Big Joe’s door and ushered him out with a wave of his gun.

  “On your knees.” Nico rounded the car and motioned Big Joe down. “Hands behind your head.”

  Big Joe dropped to his knees in front of Nico. He appeared neither afraid nor angry, but calm and resigned. Nico cursed the fates that had put this man he admired and respected on the wrong side of the law.

  “Three years you were with me. Ten with my family.” Nico gritted his teeth, his emotions still raw from finding out the truth. “I gave you my friendship. My trust. My respect. And you betrayed me. You would have known this day was coming.”

  “I did.”

  “You got anything to say?” He hoped Big Joe had something to say. Betraying Cosa Nostra was one of the most grievous of crimes, punishable by the harshest of punishments to deter anyone who thought of betraying the mob.

  “Yeah.” Big Joe swallowed hard. “It has been an honor. If there is another life after this one, I hope we meet again as friends.”

  “You’re not gonna beg for mercy?” Frankie asked.

  “No. I did you wrong,” Big Joe said, directing his words to Nico. “I may not have given up any information about you or the closest members of your crew—and the bosses we were really after were killed by an unknown assailant at Vincenzo’s—but there will still be a lot of people going to jail because of me.”

  “Including a few Cordanos.” Mikey Muscles—now a Big Joe supporter after Big Joe saved his life in the control room—shot Nico a pleading look. “Don’t forget that. The Cordanos are gonna be no more because of him.”

  Big Joe had been instrumental in the arrest of Don Cordano, and many of his capos and crew. Although the don was still nominal boss of the Cordano family, running his operations from his jail cell, his power was greatly diminished. Because of Mia’s quick thinking, he had been unable to hide his money when he got wind of his impending arrest for his involvement with the drug trafficking operation he operated with the help of Rev and Vito. Nor was he able to make bail. Now, the remaining Cordano capos were fighting among themselves over who should take his place if he was slapped with a lifelong sentence, and the family was tearing itself apart.

  “We know who killed my uncle and Don Falzone.” Nico folded his arms. “Dante was responsible for the massacre at Vincenzo’s. He had Rev—you knew him as Gabe—drive him back to the restaurant that night after they dropped off Mia and her father. From what Rev told Mikey Muscles before the cops came to take him away, it was a spur-of-the-moment thing. Dante told Rev he was just going to take out Don Toscani and Don Falzone so the Cordanos could take control of the city. But Rev knew him pretty well. Gambling was an escape for him because he felt trapped in the mob. He said Dante cared about Mia and couldn’t stand the thought of her being married to Tony Crackers. He figured Dante thought that if he whacked everyone—his father, Tony, Don Toscani and all the witnesses—he could save Mia and be free. That’s why Mia wasn’t harmed and how the murder weapon wound up so far away. Rev said they wiped it down and tossed it from the car.”

  “It’s a fucking hard life you chose to live,” Big Joe said.
r />   “It’s a life I love.” And it was a life that was going to see new challenges. After losing the capos’ vote to Tony by a margin of three to two, Nico had broken with the family and declared himself boss of a new Toscani faction, starting a vicious civil war. But it was the only way to save the Las Vegas Toscanis from the same fate as had befallen every Cosa Nostra family who had become involved in the drug trade.

  It was a war he believed he could win. At Mia’s suggestion, Nico had contacted the Scozzaris with a proposal that would allow both families to save face, only to discover that Rosa’s father had been dreading the day Nico called on him to honor the agreement. Rosa Scozzari was not, in fact, interested in coming over to America to marry him, and her father didn’t want to lose her. Overjoyed by the termination of the agreement, the Scozzaris offered Nico their support in the form of soldiers and connections as he sought to establish his new faction in Las Vegas.

  Big Joe gave a bitter laugh. “It’s crazy, but I loved the life, too.”

  “Fuck.” Frankie’s head jerked around. “Someone’s coming down the highway. Kill the light.”

  Mikey Muscles turned off the flashlight, and they watched a lone pair of headlights speed down the main road in the distance. But instead of continuing down the highway, the lights turned down the gravel road and headed toward them.

  “Cristo mio. Someone knows we’re here.” Frankie and Mikey Muscles crouched behind the open doors of the vehicle, weapons drawn. Nico directed Big Joe to put his hands behind his head and lie facedown in the sand while he waited with his weapon on the other side of the vehicle.

  The car pulled to a stop on the road, and the driver stepped out, a slender shadow in the glare of the headlights.

  “Stop. Stop. Don’t do this.” Waving her hands, Kat ran toward them, almost unrecognizable in tight jeans, black boots, and a leather jacket. “Please. Please.” She stopped short when she saw Big Joe lying in the sand. “Oh. My. God. No. Nico. How could you?”

  “I didn’t,” Nico said, bemused as he rounded the vehicle. “Not yet.”