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“Boss.” Gil steps into my line of sight, holding the handset. “It’s him.”
Inhaling a deep breath, I force back all my fury, all my anxiety, all my fear. I can’t show a trace of vulnerability or emotion. Not when I’m about to negotiate with the mad dog who has Emberly and her unborn child.
I take the phone and use my coldest, steadiest voice. “Galliano.”
“Roman, my boy,” he says. “So wonderful you’re finally taking my calls.”
“Cut the crap. What do you want?”
“Is this any way to speak to your cousin-in-law?” he drawls.
I flinch. Did Emberly tell him we were married or is that something he researched for himself? “Last time we talked, you were my stepfather.”
He chuckles. “My favorite cousin and I have recently become very close, if you catch my drift.”
He wouldn’t fucking dare. If he hurt her, I wouldn’t stop at burning down New Jersey. After razing his empire to ashes, I would feed that man his own entrails before putting him out of his misery.
“What do you want?” I ask again.
“A swap,” he says. “You have one hour to get to the slaughterhouse at 12th and Spruce, where you will offer me your life in exchange for Emberly’s and your son’s.”
I laugh, the sound bitter. “And walk into an ambush? How do I even know she’s even alive?”
“Since you enjoy surveillance so much, the phone I gave Mike has a camera app with a live feed to her room. I will release her as soon as you’re in my custody.
“Bullshit.”
He snorts. “Come alone or she dies. For every minute you’re late, Emberly will lose a finger.”
The phone goes dead.
“Fuck!”
“Boss?” Gil says.
The phone’s screen contains only four apps with icons I recognize. I click on the fifth, and the screen fills with a feed of Emberly running through an ostentatious bedroom.
“He’s got Emberly.” I show him the live feed.
Gil frowns. “Is there a microphone function?”
I click around the screen. “It’s just a camera.”
“What are you going to do?” he asks.
My gaze drops to the time on the phone. “We have an hour to find out where he’s keeping Emberly, otherwise I’ll have to swap my life for hers.”
“But it’s a trap,” a familiar voice says through a speaker.
“Sorry, boss.” Gil holds up his handset. “I group-called Cesare and Benito.”
“Good.” I run my fingers through my hair. “Galliano will want us to charge into New Jersey to rescue Emberly, so he can pick us off.”
“That’s what I’m thinking,” Benito says from the other line.
“We can’t let Roman hand himself over to that prick,” Cesare says.
“If it comes down to it, I will sacrifice myself for my wife and unborn child,” I say. “But I’m not going down without a fight.”
