Dropping the ropes, I looked at the deep ocean. I could not see anything for miles and miles. I was certain everything in this water could eat me if I don’t drown first. What other choice did I have? No one was coming to rescue me. I was on my own.
I ran to the end of the boat and jumped over the ledge.
18
Vincenzo
I stared at the dummy list. It checked out. This was not the list of operatives that they wanted but it was a list of government spies. Locking up, I walked to the door. My men were waiting in their cars. Lucas was not in the car. Rolling my eyes, I slipped in the passenger seat. Lucas always felt like he had to protect me. He was a stubborn bastard and one of my closest friends. If he did not get his ass back to the car, I was going to put a bullet in him.
My phone rang. It was an unknown number, but I recognized the international area code as being Italy.
“Talk.”
“Where are you.”
“Victor I’m coming as fast as I can. What happened you sound winded?” I saw Lucas coming to the car and I strapped on my seatbelt.
Lucas cranked the engine and the stereo came on blasting heavy metal rock. Pushing the button, I shut it off and bent my head down, trying to hear him.
“The sea doesn’t sound calm. It’s probably not a good idea to be out there in the dark with the sea uneasy.” Pulling the phone way from my ear, I put Victor on speaker and searched the weather conditions in the city. There was a storm heading his way.
“Get off the water there’s a storm heading your way.” Lucas jumped in the middle of the fifteen cars. We were not far from Luther’s private airstrip.
“This damn place is crawling with Salvatore’s men. I could do this if I did not have baggage. It’s dangerous and not ideal.”
“You got her. How is she? Did he...” I felt a prickling along the back of my neck as I envisioned Salvatore’s hands on her. My hands began to shake. I gripped the phone so hard my knuckles turned white.
I licked my lips. “Was she dressed when you got her?”
“Yes, she was dressed, and she had acquired a Glock. Will you stop worrying yourself over whether she was violated and get your ass on a plane?”
I released a breath I didn’t know I was holding. Tatiana was exceptionally beautiful, and it would stand to reason that any man would want to touch her, especially my enemies.
“We’re on a damn boat. She’s unconscious now, but she’s alive, and I’m trying to keep it that way.”
“We’re thirty minutes out from the airfield. I will be there before you know it. I got reinforcements so just lay low.”
“What the fuck are you doing?”
Splash.
“No!” I stared at the phone.
“I got to go. Call you if I can.”
“Tell me she didn’t jump off the boat into the sea with a storm bearing down on you.”
“You had to pick a difficult woman. Got to go, I am not dying tonight. I want to see my son be born.”
Click. Victor hung up the line. I told myself that he had it under control, but I could not focus. There were so many things working against them.
We arrived in Taormina Italy. I had called Victor’s phone so many times, I had filled up his voicemail. Ruben was waiting for us as soon as we got off the plane. I carried the duffle bag on my back and got into the car.
Lucas was silent as he drove down the street. “I’m sure he was able to get her and bring her back to the boat safely.”
Looking out at the sky, the storm had come and went. I hoped Victor was able to get Tatiana and him somewhere safe.
Lucas stopped at a red light. “Where do you want to go?”
“Take me to the safe house.” I tossed the phone in the cubby. Staring at it was not going to make Victor call me any quicker. I knew that he would call me when he could.
It took an hour to arrive at the safe house. After searching the house, my men went to work setting up the security cameras. Pouring myself a glass of rum, I took a sip. It had been fourteen hours since I heard from Victor. Walking into the office, I sat at my desk. It cannot be that hard to find Salvatore.
My phone rang. I picked it up on the first ring. “Hello.”
I sat forward plugging up my computer. Turning it on, I bent and let it do the retinal scan then I placed my left thumb on the scanner. It booted up.
“I’m sending you an address. Have Lucas come get me.”
What the hell was Victor up to? He didn’t find Tatiana and that is why he’s asking me to have Lucas get him.
“How is she?”
“Alive, stop stalling and have him come get me,”
“I’m coming.” I powered down the computer. I walked out the office and locked the door. Walking into the living room, I signaled Lucas and walked down the hall.
“No, she won’t stay alive if you show up. I will fill you in when I get there. Just trust me, and don’t come.”
“He’ll be there soon.” I hung up on Victor.
Lucas grabbed his coat. He crossed his arms over his chest. “Where do you need me to go?”
“We’re going to get him and Tatiana.”
Lucas eyed the door then looked at me. I raised an eyebrow. He knew better than to go against my orders.
“You got a problem, Lucas?” I followed him out the door. I closed the door quieter than I felt. It wouldn’t do any good to slam it shut. Lucas was already on my shit list and I can still change my mind and shoot him.
“I heard him say it was safer for her if you didn’t go.” Lucas slammed his car door and unlocked mine. He yanked his seatbelt over his chest and took out his weapon and sat it in the cubby.
“You’re already on my shit list. I wouldn’t push your luck.” I programmed the address in the navigation system. It said we were twenty minutes away, and I was glad.
“I haven’t done anything wrong, but you’ve been busting my balls lately.”
I narrowed my eyes at Lucas. Jerking my seatbelt, I pulled on it to give myself more room. “You disobeyed a direct order. You were supposed to kill Ginevra Esposito but instead, you are acting like a man in love.”
“Your orders were to kill Christian, and I did. You didn’t say anything about killing his daughter.”
Scowling, I chewed on my lip. “They’re our enemies, or did you forget that the moment you laid eyes on her face?”
“I respect her. My personal life is none of your business.”
“You don’t have a personal life. Your life and every aspect of it is the family’s business. What you did put me in a position, and you know it. If it were anyone else who did this, they would be dead.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t think.” Lucas ran his hand through his hair.
“You’re fucking right you didn’t think.” I stared out the window. Lucas was not depressed anymore. He was back among the land of the living. I was not happy that it took an Esposito to get him there, but it is what it is. She belonged to him now.
He had better not make me regret this shit. Women had a way of causing all kinds of problems. That shit better not happen with her.
We pulled up to a bowling alley. I double-checked the address in my hand with the address on the side of the building. I expected him to be at a house or hideaway, not a bowling alley. The place was packed, so we pulled out the parking lot and drove around the back.
Lucas turned off the engine. “We don’t know what the situation is inside. This could be a trap. Let me go in.”
I looked out the window at the back of the building, this didn’t make sense, and how Victor was talking didn’t make sense. I tossed him the Kevlar vest and put on my own.
“No, we’re going together, or you can sit in the car if you like.” I opened the door and pulled out my assault rifle. Placing the extra ammo in my pockets, I walked to the back door.
“I’m not the only one that has lost their head over a female,” mumbled Lucas.
“What did you say?” My ears twitched.
>
“Let’s do this boss.”
I opened the door and moved down the hallway. The first room had a man making out with a busty blonde girl.
I cleared my throat. They saw the gun and put their hands up. I jerked my head toward the door, and they ran out the backdoor. Passing the next door, a man ran to get his gun. I shot him in the head. Lucas covered our rear and I went in the room and searched it. There was a pile of money in a black duffel bag and a couple bags of cocaine.
Where is Tatiana?
Before I got to the open door a man walked out and fired. The bullets hit me in the chest, and I fired five shots. I grunted in pain but kept moving down the hall. My flesh felt like it was on fire, but I continued. There were two doors at the end of the hall. I held up my hand signaling Lucas to hold. Taking a quarter out my pocket, I moved behind the wall. When Lucas was safely behind the wall on the other side, I tossed the quarter at the end of the hall toward the door on the right.
Gunfire rang out. When it ceased. Lucas stepped out and fired two shots. His aim was true, and the man dropped with two holes in his forehead. A man popped out from the door on the left, and I shot him before he could shoot Lucas.
We checked both rooms and they were empty. Turning the corner, we went down to the lower level.
Coming up on the first door, I heard voices. Holding my hand up, I signaled to Lucas that there were at least four guys in the room. On the count of three, we open-fired into the room. I shot three men and Lucas shot two, but there was one man that we had not planned on being there. He rolled under the table and picked up a gun and fired at us.
Lucas and I were leaning against either side of the wall. When the man stopped shooting, I leaned my gun in the room and fired. I could not aim, so I was firing blindly, just long enough for Lucas to get there and take the shot. He fired two shots and then nodded at me. A quick search of the room provided no clues and there was no sign of Victor or Tatiana.
The last door was at the end of the hallway a man opened the door and tossed a grenade. Lucas and I scattered into the nearest rooms. I went left and he went right. A second later, the grenade exploded and the building shook.
Looking at my watch, I scrambled to my feet. We had been here for over an hour shooting up the place. Whoever was holding Tatiana could have escaped by now. The door opened again, and another grenade was tossed near us. I ran into the hall and tossed the grenade back at the room.
I ducked back in the room. The grenade exploded. I looked out. The door had been blown off and several dead bodies were lying near the door. Running, I hopped over the dead bodies at the door firing several shots and I rolled into a ball near some boxes.
A man was firing at us while two men ran dragging Tatiana with them. I fired several shots at the man’s ankle. He bent low to touch his foot and I shot him in the head. Lucas ran inside the room, taking off after Tatianna. I shot all the men that were hiding as I tried to close the distance between Lucas and me. He was ahead of me now and wasn’t covering his back because he trusted me to do it.
Victor burst through the side door. “He was wearing a mask, but I saw the scar over his eye. That was the only way I knew it was him. “You never listen.”
I ran after Lucas, leaving Victor to cover both of our backs. I heard him firing several shots behind me, but I did not turn to see the bodies drop. Rounding the corner, I saw the men guiding her to the car. She was kicking and clawing. He backhanded her to the ground and put the gun to her forehead.
She lifted her hands in the air. He grabbed a handful of her hair and flung her into the car. I aimed and took the shot. His brains splattered all over the car window. Tatiana let out a high-pitched scream.
A man popped out from the shadows, stabbing Lucas in the shoulder, as he moved to the side firing his gun. The man dove into the driver’s seat and drove off with Tatiana in the car.
Running to Lucas, I pulled the knife from his shoulder. The wound did not look serious, but it was deep.
Lucas tore his shirt and I wound it tight around the wound stemming his bleeding. “Let’s get out of here.
Victor walked outside. “If you had just stayed home, I could’ve gotten her out of here before they arrived but now, he has her.” He ran a hand through his hair and turned on his heel.
“Who took her?” The hair on my head lifted. Images of the man pressing the gun into her face had me growling,
“Sergi probably. He stormed Salvatore’s place to get her, but she was not there. Salvatore is trying to keep Tatiana.”
Two hours and thirty stitches later, Lucas was almost as good as new. Victor was seething. He always was quiet around me when he wanted to curse me out but knew he couldn’t.
Lucas grabbed a clean shirt and tossed his bloody one in the trash.
“You good?”
He nodded. “Yes, it’s just a few stitches.”
Walking out the room, I headed to my office. I was not surprised to see Victor walk in. Closing the door, I took off my jacket.
He punched me in the face. “I almost died tonight, not once but three damn times. I don’t mind dying for you, but I mind dying for no reason.”
I rubbed my jaw. “I didn’t plan to shoot up the place.”
Victor went to sit down in the chair. “You don’t get it. The list Sergi has was given to him from the inside. My cover was blown tonight.”
Frowning, I walked over to my desk and sat down. “There was a man that got away tonight, and he saw my face. If the government finds out, I am dead. That is the risk I was willing to take, but I have a family now. All you had to do was stay home and let me handle it.”
“If I had stayed, the man still would have seen your face.”
“True, but now he can tie me to you. Now my wife and kid are in danger because I’m vulnerable and easy to find.”
“Do you know who the man was?”
“No, and his fingerprints weren’t in any database which means he’s probably a spook. I just don’t know which country owns him.”
This was worse than I thought. Closing my eyes, I tried to think about how I could repair the damage I’ve caused. There was no other solution. Victor would have to disappear and leave everything behind.
I ran my hand over my face. “I have an account in the Cayman Islands. You have to get your wife and disappear.”
“Fuck you, Vincenzo. My wife is pregnant, and she is not leaving the country with a high-risk pregnancy. I tried that already and she left me.”
What the fuck? Mafia wives understand the game coming into the marriage. There is no leaving or divorcing no matter how bad the marriage gets. It is a union for life, however long that life may be.
Standing up I walked over to the bar and grabbed two glasses. I poured him some wine and me some. He looked like he was lost at sea.
I handed him the glass. “What do you want to do?”
He shook his head. “I haven’t finished telling you all that you screwed up,”
I held up my hand. “I get it. Let’s talk about how I can fix it.”
Victor laughed a humorless laugh. “You don’t get it. If I am right, Tatiana is lost to you forever. The person behind the treason will make sure she is used to destroy you. You have no choice but to walk away from her, or they will kill you then her.”
“Fuck that shit. I will go to war with all of them. I won’t stop until she’s mine.”
“That is what they are counting on.”
19
Tatiana
I stared at the man sitting next to me. His eyes are black like his soul. His finger rested on the trigger and the barrel is still pressed against the back of my skull. If we hit a speed bump, I am dead. Larry and Greg were right. I did not know Sergi. Bending my head, I grieved the loss of family, my life, and my innocence. It is hard facing the fact that I am about to die but it’s harder knowing that my only family never loved me.
I cannot believe Vincenzo came. I cannot believe I fought against the man, and he had a gun to my h
ead. When will this nightmare end?
Leaning my head back, I close my eyes, as a sense of numbness surrounds me. The car pulled off the highway and made a sharp turn into a neighborhood. There are a bunch of villas several miles apart with acres of land. The amber streetlights cast a magical glow on the villas. This is a beautiful place.
This is the end of the road for me, and yet I do not feel anything. I’m shocked. As I look back on my life, and the experiences that made me who I am, I realize love and loyalty are the only things that really matter. If I had a chance to do things differently, I would spend time finding a loving and loyal person who loved and cherished me. I spent time sacrificing for a career and this whole time, the government rewards treasonous people who sold the country out. Wiping my tears, I am thankful that the shadows hide my pain. They can take my life, but I will not give them my pain.
The car turned right and drove up the long, paved driveway to the majestic villa. When the drive ceased.
The man pressed the gun deeper into my skull. “Get out. If you try another stunt like you did back there, you die.”
Opening the door, I slid out. I followed them inside. I did not flinch when the front door was locked behind me. The men led me through the great room, passed the kitchen and down to the basement. The man with the gun kicked me in the small of my back and I toppled down the rest of the steps. Blood dripped from my lip, as I got up and turned the corner.
Sergi was sitting at the table sipping wine with Salvatore. There was a big bottle of wine, and Sergi was cutting white powder with a credit card, before bending down, and snorting it. My mouth hung open.
Salvatore smiled. “You didn’t know your brother likes cocaine?” There is not a drug he wouldn’t take, or he hasn’t tried. He’s very adventurous, but I guess you didn’t know that.”
I shrugged. “Just kill me already. Why the long-drawn-out game? Do it already and be done.” Turning away from them, I heard a man behind me. I see the man, who lust for my blood. My lips curl upward, and I know this is coming to an end.
Taken by Vincenzo Page 12