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“You’re pulling out of that school. Now that Nico knows who you are and what you’ve been doing, it's too dangerous to have you so close.” My uncle’s tone was firm and filled with finality. He honestly thought I would be leaving school. He was in for a shock.
“I’m not leaving school. There’s no point in running. Besides, we might be able to spin this to work in our favor. I don’t see Gio letting someone like me run around his town and not pulling them in to meet with him at the very least. We wanted me to get close to him. This is a way to see that happen. Nico will haul me in, and that will give me the time with Gio I need to take him out.”
I didn’t mention that I wouldn’t be doing anything the first time I met with Gio other than getting answers to my questions. It hadn’t passed my notice that my uncle still hadn’t answered my question.
“Who gave you the information about the girls?” I wasn’t going to let up. I was thankful for everything he’d done throughout my life to help, but now was the time for us to face the music. We’d been wasting the last few months of our lives. We can’t get that time back, but we can make someone pay for fucking with us.
“It’s one of the informants I have watching the Valentinos. He’s part of the lower rung of their organization, but he’s close enough to hear and see things that are going on. He’s also been eager to go out of his way to sniff out information he thought would be helpful to me.”
He might’ve been giving him information, but that didn’t mean it was good information. The guy sounded like the type of person to do whatever was necessary to please whoever would be the most beneficial to him. For some reason he thought my uncle was that person. The information was bad, and it had led me on a merry little chase for too fucking long. I didn’t want to take my anger out on my uncle, but after everything that’s happened, every small little thing I’d discovered over the last few months, were making me second guess the small amount of trust I have in the man. He hadn’t even taken the time to find a way to verify the information before bringing it to me.
“I want him. Jasper can gather intel on him. I want to know who he is and why he thought it would be a good idea to give us bad information. I’ve already mentioned how much time I’ve wasted. The only way I’m going to get over that is if someone pays for that fuck up. He’ll do just fine for that.”
I could tell that Uncle Tony wanted to argue with me, but I wasn’t having any of it. I was done with the conversation, and the look of irritation on Santiago’s face showed he was just as done as I was.
“We need to go over what’s going to happen in the next few weeks. If you’re staying in school, you return in two weeks. We need to get some groundwork done in that time. I have a feeling that Nico will be coming after you. Not only will it be an order from his father, but it will be on principle. You’ve been making a fool of him and his boys since arriving in Chicago. Then you get stolen away from them. They’ll be out for blood. Keeping your distance for a little while would be in your best interest, I think. Setting up your groundwork for your future plans would be the best use of your time.”
Santiago sipped from his crystal glass as he stared at me. It was almost as if he was waiting to see how I would react to him giving me orders. They weren’t suggestions. They were definitely orders from a mafia don to someone he saw as one of his soldiers. He would soon learn that I wasn’t his to direct.
We had the same goal, but that was the only thing we had in common.
It also didn’t bother me one way or another what he wanted. He was wanting to know what I had planned for the next few weeks so that he would be able to steer me in the direction that would best serve him. He was going to be so pissed when he realized there wasn’t anything he could do or say to make me do his bidding.
“I don’t think you should stay at the apartment. I have to go away on business, and I don’t like the thought of you being alone at the mercy of Nico.”
“I’m not leaving my home. They’ll get to me no matter where I’m at. I agree they’ll be pissed with everything that has been going on and then with what happened at the warehouse. I can’t hide and I refuse to run. We’ve come too far in these plans for it to end like this. Gio still needs to pay for what he did to my parents. He killed them, and I’m going to make him pay for it.”
I still couldn’t remember everything that happened at the docks, but I was frustrated about it. I was shot. I was sporting the wounds from Dante cutting me with that knife. I had been discovered by Nico and his boys. Every plan I had laid out at the start of all this was now garbage. It wasn’t as if they were working out the way I’d thought they would to begin with.
It was time to sit down and do that groundwork Santiago spoke about. I needed to figure out what I was going to do about what Nico knew, how I was going to move forward from here to get close to Gio, and what I was going to do with these feelings I’ve developed for all the Valentino boys.
I wasn’t supposed to have any kind of feelings for them. They were a means to an end. A way for me to get closer to the head of the Valentino crime family. Instead, they evoked emotions in me that I didn’t let anyone bring out in me. Jasper has been my best friend for so long, and even he didn’t get to see my true emotions most of the time.
Emotions were best left buried beneath the hard shell I wrapped around myself so that I was able to do the things that needed to be done. Things that ate away at my soul and made my heart bleed when no one was looking.
I couldn’t allow myself to feel the things Nico, Dante, Cole, and Enzo made me feel, but I also didn’t see myself being able to shut them off either. Whenever they were close, those feelings came bubbling to the surface.
“I’ll keep you posted about everything that’s going on with me and my plans. Thank you for sending your boys to help Jasper.” I pushed myself up slowly from the couch. Jasper moved faster and acted as if he was going to help me. We both knew I was in more pain that I was letting on, but I still shot him a scathing look.
I was grateful for him wanting to help me, but I didn’t want it here in front of Santiago, his men, and my uncle. He could baby me all he wanted once we left this condo.
“I can no longer stand by my word to keep Dom and Angel away from you. Nico already knows you aren’t a friend to him, so there’s no reason to keep you separated from my men when they could help you. They will stick close to watch your back.”
I had a feeling this conversation was coming, and I didn’t have the energy or the patience at the moment to argue with him. A simple nod was all I gave him as I made my way towards the door. I’d make sure that Angel and Dom understood where I stood on this idea. Nico might know who I am, but he didn’t know about my association with Santiago and his crew.
I wanted it to stay that way.
