Santi held up his hand. “I do not need to hear excuses, Benito. I need to see loyalty. From everyone, but most especially from you and yours.”
His gaze sharpened on Benito, his glare turning lethal.
The Slayer was showing his face.
“Understand me, you are now leader of the Espositos, which means you are now responsible for the actions of every person who bears your last name. And if I get even a whiff of anymore treasonous agendas from a single Esposito, I will wipe out your whole goddamn side of the family. I’m sick and fucking tired of your ilk causing me so many problems. I’d do away with all of you if you didn’t have Gabbiano blood running in your veins. But I will not hesitate to do just that if there is any more talk of betrayal. Do I make myself clear?”
Benito clamped his mouth shut, simply nodding his answer.
Addressing the rest of the room, Santi said, “Let that be a lesson to all of you. The selfish acts of one man have impacted all of us and our interests. When one of you makes an enemy, that enemy targets all of us.”
“What of the Niners situation, Santi?” the Mancini boss asked. “Are they still demanding payment for what Stefano owed them?”
The SUV was silent as a tomb as we listened to Santi explain the threats the Niners had been making against several family members, particularly Benito. Santi didn’t want to go to war with the gang if it could be avoided. Due to their strong numbers across the city, they would make useful allies but troublesome foes. Basically, they needed them on their side.
“The families would have a goddamn army under their command if that happens,” Luka said gravely. “We don’t need them getting too chummy with the Niners.”
“Have you heard much about their new leader?” Dad turned to ask all of us.
Rome’s expression was hard. “I didn’t know there was a new guy. What about him?”
“From what I’ve heard, he wants the Niners to keep to themselves. He doesn’t seem interested in teaming up with anyone. Considering how Stefano screwed them over, I can understand his reasoning.”
We focused back on the screen as Santi changed gears.
“I also know you are all anxious over your new leadership,” he said, pride edging into his voice. “I have been reluctant to announce this before today.” He held out his arm toward his nephew, who moved to stand next to him. “But I am both pleased and honored to say that Dominic is prepared to step into his role as your new boss.”
“The fuck?” Nico spat.
When I caught Dad’s eye, he didn’t appear as shocked by this as we did.
Clearly, everyone in that room had been taken off-guard. There were murmurs of disapproval and uncertainty and definitely frowns of displeasure. The Ferraro and Esposito bosses looked particularly angry.
And where the hell was Vinnie?
His absence didn’t make any sense. His second-in-command was present, but to have a summit without the D’Angelo boss in attendance? That just didn’t happen.
“With all due respect, Santi,” the Ferraro boss spoke up, “your nephew is not directly affiliated with our New York syndicate. We have soldiers here who have been unquestionably loyal to Cosa Nostra for many years. I think we can all agree that we would feel more comfortable with someone from our own network.”
Santi grinned. “I thought you might say that.”
He nodded to one of his guards who stood at the back of the circle. When the guard stepped to the side, two people walked past him and through the hanging meats to move into the middle of the circle.
Vinnie and Roxy.
“Jesus Christ,” I blurted out, shooting forward in my seat. “What the fuck is going on? Why is she in that room?”
My father was suddenly watching me closely, and I realized what I’d just done. That was too extreme of a reaction for two old friends who hadn’t seen each other in five years.
But it was more than appropriate for two people who’d had their tongues down each other’s throats. Two people who were in a relationship…of sorts.
I didn’t care what Roxy said—she belonged to me. Period.
And I needed to get her out of that fucking building.
“Seriously,” I yelled to no one in particular. “Why is she in that goddamn room?”
Turning my gaze back to the screen, I watched in stunned silence as Vinnie cautiously led his daughter inside the circle next to Santi and Dominic. She looked like a spooked deer, her wide eyes flitting nervously around the room, as if preparing for an attack. She clearly didn’t have a clue why she was there. Vinnie didn’t look much better, his eyes downcast, his shoulders slumped in what I could only discern as shame.
But Santi looked like a proud papa as he placed his hand on Roxy’s shoulder.
She jerked back, her head snapping around to her father, waiting for his explanation.
He offered none.
My disgust for the man grew.
Santi then placed his hand on Roxy’s lower back and pushed her gently, but insistently, toward Dominic. The younger man’s spine straightened, his chin tipping up in satisfaction.
Oh, I fucking hated the bastard on sight.
“I thought some of you might be wary of a Gabbiano stepping in,” Santi said, smiling, “which is why our two syndicates will become joined through the most unbreakable bond. One that will reinforce trust between our families.”
My heart hammered an erratic beat inside my chest as a dark thundercloud of a migraine formed at the back of my skull.
Santi held up Dominic’s and Roxy’s hands in both of his. Roxy looked too shell-shocked to pull away.
“For the Gabbianos and the D’Angelos will soon and forever be bound through sacred matrimony.”
A mere second passed as his damning words registered and my entire world came crashing down over my head.
Then I exploded.
“Motherfucker!”
I started kicking the floorboard in a rage, bellowing incomprehensible words. Dad grabbed the tablet from me before I could throw it against the windshield and shatter it. I felt Luka’s arms try to hold me down from behind, but I fought him off.
“Ace, man, calm down!”
Marriage?
MARRIAGE?! To a Gabbiano?
“Goddammit! Why the fuck didn’t she tell me about this?”
“Look at her, bro,” Rome shouted, pointing at the screen. “She just found out about this, too. I can’t believe Vinnie isn’t interceding.”
“No shit,” Nico muttered. “He’s just standing there, letting it happen.”
“He knew,” I snapped. “He fucking knew about this, probably arranged the whole thing. He’s selling his daughter into bondage in order to get back into the Gabbiano’s good graces. That son of a bitch.”
“You don’t know that’s what’s going on, Alessandro,” Dad chided. “Vinnie isn’t a complete fool. I’ve never known him to act without first meticulously planning his every move.”
“Yeah, so that the outcome will benefit him,” I yelled. “He didn’t drag her back to New York to keep her safe. He dragged her back to barter her off.”
Roxy looked like she was on the verge of losing her shit, until Santi leaned over and whispered something in her ear. Her face paled at his words, and her mouth snapped shut.
I about went nuclear.
She wasn’t even being manipulated—she was being straight-up controlled and I was fucking outraged. I had never felt such seething hatred in all my life. I didn’t even know where to focus all of it because there were multiple targets.
Vinnie, Santi, and Dominic.
I needed to make each one of them bleed. Make them hurt.
“Uh, we might have bigger problems right now,” Nico said, glancing out the back window. “Looks like we’ve got company.”
We all turned around just as a group of men dressed in black with balaclavas covering their faces charged toward the plant’s entrance.
“Niners,” Rome stated.
And they were all ca
rrying weapons.
“Fucking shit,” Luka hissed.
“We have to get her out of there,” I rushed out, already moving into action.
“Didn’t need to be said.” This from Rome.
He and Luka both grabbed the guns they had holstered on, pulling the slides back to chamber rounds because God knew they never carried unloaded weapons.
They would have made the decision to go in after Roxy even if I hadn’t been in the car because she was an innocent. And in our opinion, she was the only one in that room who mattered, who was actually worth saving. Dad probably gave a small shit about Vinnie, but I sure as hell didn’t.
“Glove compartment,” Dad ordered to me.
Wordlessly, I opened the compartment and handed him the .45 while I locked and loaded the .22. Though these were just backup weapons. There was no way we’d have come anywhere near this summit without first arming ourselves.
“Nico, you packed?” Dad asked over his shoulder.
A snick came from the very back seat. “Yeah, I’m good.”
Before we could all pile out of the vehicle, a pop pop pop came over the tablet speakers.
The group of Niners had just opened fire and were spraying the room with bullets.
Roxy!
“Fuck! NO!”
I burst out of the car without looking back to see if the others followed.
I watched in horror as chaos erupted in the back room of the meat processing plant I had been unwittingly herded to. Men were diving for cover, chairs were flipped over, tables upended, and clouds of smoke from the gunfire obscured my vision.
My God.
It looked like a battle zone.
And I was standing at ground zero, frozen with terror.
Counting was not going to help me here.
I snapped out of my daze when something hot whizzed past my face.
A bullet.
Holy shit. People are literally trying to kill each other in here.
I needed to move my ass now.
A big hand grabbed my upper arm and yanked painfully hard. I looked up to see Papà’s sharp gaze darting over the room, shooting at targets I couldn’t see with the pistol in his other hand. He yelled something at me as he led us over to the wall where a heavy wooden table had been overturned, but I couldn’t hear a word over the pandemonium engulfing us. Putting his hand on my head, he shoved me down behind the table and placed his body as much in front of mine as he could. He continued to shoot at the black-clothed men who had burst into the room with their automatic weapons.
The mafia, in general, seemed to be their target.
And it didn’t appear to matter who of us got killed.
I felt like I needed a gun, too, but it wasn’t like I walked around with a concealed weapon in my purse at all times. Mace would have been useless in a gun fight.
I could barely see or hear anything, but I did notice when something went flying through the air, emitting a stream of smoke. This smoke was different from the kind the gun powder produced. It was white and thick and reminded me of a…smoke bomb? It grew so heavy after a while that I couldn’t even see Papà, who was crouched right next to me.
All of a sudden, a dark form emerged from the smoke and snatched me from my position on the floor. I immediately started clawing and kicking. I’d be damned if I was going to get kidnapped without a fight. This guy was strong, though. He didn’t budge an inch.
“Roxy, stop! It’s me!”
Some of the smoke cleared, allowing me to see my attacker’s face.
I stopped fighting.
“Ace.” Thank God.
“We have to get out of here now.”
He hauled me forward, dodging the hanging meats and scattered debris. Gunfire was still going off behind us. Men were shouting expletives and moaning in pain. I just prayed we didn’t step on any bodies.
“Wait!” I pulled on Ace’s arm. “Where’s Papà? We have to go back for him!”
“We’ve got him,” Ace shouted over his shoulder. “He’s okay.”
Trusting he was telling the truth, I ran at full-speed behind him, my hand tightly clasped in his. All I could see through the smoke was Ace’s back, but I knew we weren’t going in the same direction that Papà and I had entered through. I figured all the bosses and the Gabbianos would have made for the exit like rats abandoning a sinking ship. So, I was surprised when we didn’t run into anyone else trying to escape the bullets.
Had the Niners blocked all the exits? If so, how were we able to make it outside without any problems?
Ace kicked the door to the street open, a plume of smoke trailing us as we sprinted to a black SUV waiting in the alley. Throwing open the back door, he shoved me inside the vehicle just before diving in himself.
“Drive!” Ace yelled. “Go, go, go!”
Tires screeched as Luka slammed on the accelerator and peeled away from the plant.
My eyes flew to the passenger seat to see another hulking, tattooed man with a beard, his features similar to Luka’s. That must have been Rome. And the one sitting on my other side with the golden-brown hair that was pulled back into a man-bun must have been Nico. I hadn’t seen these men in years, but Gia had showed me pictures the night at O’Malley’s. Plus, each brother was distinctive in his own way.
The vehicle careened down the street as Luka took sharp turn after sharp turn, driving at dangerous speeds until he deemed that we’d apparently put enough distance between us and the warzone. Then he let up on the gas slightly. Night had fallen sometime while I’d been inside the plant, dropping a curtain of blackness over the sky.
“Where’s Papà?” I demanded from Ace. “You said he was okay.”
“He drove off in his own car,” Rome answered tersely. “Our father is with him. They’re both unharmed.”
I frowned.
Had Papà known I was safe before he’d driven off? I mean, he’d protected me back there, but had he panicked and abandoned me in the end?
Seeming to sense my distress, Ace leaned over. “He knew you were with us. He didn’t leave your side until I forced him to go with our father.”
Once the python had loosened its grip around my throat, I nodded. “Thank you. For getting us out. But why were you there in the first place?”
“I could ask you the same question.”
I inched back a little at his chilly expression. What the hell had I done? I hadn’t volunteered to be shot at.
“Papà said he had something to show me. I didn’t know where we were going, or else I never would have gotten in the car.”
Ace’s eyes narrowed to slits. “And I suppose you didn’t know about your engagement to Dominic Gabbiano either?”
I didn’t immediately respond because I was suddenly wary of his reaction to hearing the truth. No, it hadn’t been the first time I’d heard about it. Dominic had taken care of that the night at Panache. I just hadn’t expected to be blind-sided by an announcement at a mafia summit. And I’d thought the matter had been settled earlier in the music room with Papà. I’d thought that had been the end of it—I wouldn’t need to worry about it again.
I certainly never would have predicted that he’d be cold enough to shepherd his only daughter straight to her doom.
I guess I was wrong.
Very wrong.
“You did,” Ace said, his tone one of disbelief. “Are you fucking kidding me, Rox?”
I flinched.
Okay, he didn’t have to yell at me.
“Ace, ease up, man,” Nico said. His subsequent grunt drew my attention.
“Oh, my God, you’re bleeding!”
Nico scowled, his hand shooting up to the thin slash on his neck that was trickling blood. “One of those Niner cocksuckers pulled a knife. It’s not deep.”
“No, but it still needs to be bandaged,” I said. “Is there a first aid kit in here?”
Luka jerked his thumb over his shoulder. “Behind your seat.”
I reached back and found the small bag
tucked between a toolbox and a thermal blanket. Appreciating the distraction, I pulled out antiseptic wipes, gauze pads, butterfly strips, bandages, tape, and Neosporin.
“You know what you’re doing?” Nico asked, his voice more teasing than serious.
I raised an eyebrow as I tore open a wipe packet. “I’m going to be a doctor. Cleaning a cut is something they cover on your first day. Would you rather one of your brothers do it?”
He smirked, waving me on. “Please continue, Dr. D’Angelo. It’s nice to see you again, by the way. You’re looking good.”
Ace shot forward to glower at his brother. “Fuck off, bro.”
Nico laughed, shaking his head. “So damn easy.”
Ignoring their squabbling, I finished wiping away the blood and went to work on pulling the cut together with the butterfly strips before covering it with the gauze and bandage. But the distraction only lasted for so long.
“Answer me, Rox,” Ace demanded. “Why didn’t you tell me about the fucking engagement?”
“You think I was happy when I heard about this?” I snapped. “You think I actually want to marry him?”
“When you heard? How long have you known about it?”
I swallowed. “Dominic told me the night I went over to your place.”
A deep “V” formed between his eyebrows. “You said you had dinner with your father that night.”
I was wringing a piece of tape around my fingers so tight I was losing circulation. “I did. But Santi and Dominic were there, too.”
Ace’s eyes widened to the size of golf balls. “Why the hell didn’t you tell me that? Especially once you found out about this ludicrous scheme?”
“I didn’t actually think they would try to enforce it,” I cried. “Papà said he and Santi just thought Dominic and I had a lot in common and they wanted us to meet. I thought it was more about them trying to set us up. I didn’t think Papà would actually go through with trying to force me into an arranged marriage!”
And now that I did know that, the man was dead to me.
He’d lied, he’d plotted, and he’d tricked me. I was done with him. If he actually thought he could force me to marry a man I didn’t love and didn’t want, he had no idea the kind of fight he would get in return.
Scars and Sins (Brooklyn Brothers Book 2) Page 14