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“Yes, Sir. I wasn’t thinking clearly.” He immediately answered, his eyes never meeting mine in submission.
“I don’t give a fuck about what you want or even what you think you deserve. I want you to tell me what they are up to and why. RIGHT NOW!” I released his neck and twisted the handles of both knives, watching Gio’s face turn red as he screamed in agony again. “Start talking, or we are done, and I’m dumping you on their doorstep.”
“They promised me all of that,” he panted. “I just had to drug you and make Mrs. Battaglia see you with another woman. They want to separate the two of you. For some reason, they don’t want to hurt her. But they want her away from you. Far away. I don’t know why.” Finally, he reluctantly confessed, his voice faltering from the pain.
“Good boy,” I said, slapping him twice on the face as I said the words as if he were a dog. “Now tell me who gave the notes to Francesca.”
“I don’t know. I don’t know anything about any notes.” He quickly clipped, his pupils steady as he denied knowing anything.
“What else did you feed them, Gio?”
“Just some basic information. Where you live, the cars you drive, the location of the club.”
“Basic fucking information?” I roared, standing up abruptly, making the chair behind me tip over and fall back. “You compromised our whole fucking setup! Just basic information…”
“That’s all I know, I swear. Please don’t let my family get hurt!”
“Your family shouldn’t pay for the stupidity born into their bloodline. But you, Gio? You should have fucking known better.”
“I know. They got to me. They threatened me.”
“Nel sangue siamo nati,” In blood we’re born, I started, talking above his pathetic excuses and pleas for mercy, “Nel sangue moriremo.” In blood we die.
With the words of the Òmerta spoken, I drew my gun and shot him in the head.
Chapter 24
Matt
“Max, lose our rides into the Hudson and get us new ones,” I said, tossing him the keys to my beloved Diavel motorcycle. There’s no way I will let any one of my guys drive a fucking hot wheel. “The car parked at my apartment, too. Get whatever my wife likes. It will help keep the heat off our backs for a while. Jimmy, get the cops to change their routes. I want them passing by the club every fifteen minutes. Let’s use their numbers in our favor. James and Mike, dump the body where the Yakuza will find it, and stab these two notes into his chest so they know where he came from, and framing them for his death in case the police find him first. Liam, you have to find another place to stay with Jamie. I’m sure your apartment is compromised, too. We will do the same,” I said, turning to Francesca, who acknowledged my words with a small nod.
There was a shadow of remorse hidden behind her beautiful, raven eyes, but at least we both knew the truth now.
Francesca finally saw the real me.
The good mixed with the ugly, right here in this basement, and yet there was still admiration and longing in her gaze despite the guilt I saw. It was clear in the way she was looking at me that everything she just witnessed didn’t so much as dent whatever she thought about me. The smirk of satisfaction that she had on her face couldn’t be faked even if she tried.
Pissed didn’t even graze the state that I was in at the moment. Our protection was severely compromised with the information Gio handed to the fucking Yakuza, and that was reason enough to have me boiling.
Worse, Francesca was vulnerable, and their target was pointed solely at her back.
I still couldn't understand why they wanted her, and now this new piece of information just puzzled me further. They wanted her unharmed. That was not the norm for the Yakuza unless they wanted to sell her off. Over my fucking dead body.
Once we were finally home, we carefully swept through the apartment, securing every room, making sure everything was in place and safe, only slightly relaxing once we were done. We would ditch this place by the day after tomorrow at the latest.
I needed to figure out the best place to move to and pull some strings to make it happen right away.
I asked Max to pick up dinner for us before he came for his shift of surveillance duty. Of course, he had to get Chinese, his favorite. He would eat that shit every day of the week if he could. Sweet and sour shrimp and chicken chop suey. Even I already knew his order.
Francesca ate in total silence, which wasn’t normal for the fiery wife I had, while Max and I discussed living arrangements. I had him help out with Alison, too. Just to be on the safe side.
She wouldn’t like the idea, so I had him look and find something appropriate for my baby sister and tell her she was moving on the same day. My guys would help box and ship her stuff to her new apartment. No questions because I knew she’d try to turn it into a debate even when there was no damn room for discussion.
I could feel the weight of Francesca’s stare on me as soon as Max disappeared behind the elevator doors. She’d been bottling up whatever she had to say since the basement at Dea Tacita.
Slowly, I turned and walked straight towards her, sliding my hands under her raven mane and grasping her neck and jaw with both of my palms so that she was forced to look into my eyes.
“What’s wrong, Gattina? Tell me.” I demanded.
