AllFreeNovel
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I jog toward the caravan of trucks hidden off to the side of the warehouse. There are no other cars in sight, and for a second, I doubt my location. Throat tight, I stare back at my iPhone. Google Maps confirms I’m in the right spot…
A loud, blaring sound jolts me from my moment of panic, and I stab the Accept button. “Yeah?”
“Nico! Where the fuck are you? Duke just called. Don’t play his game. Get out of wherever you are now. You can’t take Cap down on your own.”
I let out a breath. “Dad, I’ve got this. I can’t leave now. He has…he has Shaye.”
“Shaye? Why in the hell—?”
“Don’t ask. I can’t get into it now, but I have to get her out. We’re in Bayonne. He’s holding her at some abandoned warehouse. My guys just showed up. So did Ivanov and his crew. This ends tonight. On my terms. If I wait, they’ll hurt her. Or worse. I won’t let that happen.”
Max walks toward me, but I hold out my hand, signaling for him to stop. He adjusts his cap and looks away, giving me the privacy I need for this next part. The final part.
Out of the corner of my eye, I see the Russian contingent pile out of the trucks, moving stealthily around, arming themselves for the unknown. My voice drops. “Listen, you were worried about what might happen to me if I stayed focused on my businesses and never prove that I deserve my position as the underboss. I know you think if I back away, it’ll make you vulnerable, too. But tonight I’m gonna make sure they all know my place in this organization and how I’ll do what I need to protect it. And they’re gonna see firsthand what will happen to anyone who tries to cross us. I have to do it, Dad. Without you.”
My dad lets out a deep sigh after an excruciatingly long minute. “Okay, son. Do what you need to do. I’ll have the doc on standby.”
The doc. That’s assuming there are wounds that can be healed after this decimation. “Dad, you’ve gotta call Tony. He needs to know but has to stand down. He’s already caused enough damage.”
I can almost hear the wheels turning in my father’s head. I know he’s had plenty bottled up for the past few years, but none of that matters right now. The first order of business is letting his old friend know that his daughter is tied up in an abandoned warehouse with a gun pointed to her temple. “I’ll take care of it.” As much as he despises that cocksucker, nobody wants to be the bearer of this news.
I click off the phone and motion for Max to join me before we approach the Russians. Viktor hops out of one of the cabs and nods to me. Two Ford Expeditions roll into the overgrown weeds and Duke jumps out, followed by two other soldiers. “The club’s on quiet lock-down as a precaution. Nobody comes in or goes out.” he murmurs once he approaches. “I called in more security. They’re waiting on your word.”
“We need to handle this fast and quietly. We don’t know who else is out there right now. They could be watching every location, and we have to assume they are.”
Viktor lights a cigarette and blows a stream of smoke into the freezing night air. “What’s the plan, Nico?”
“I’m going in alone. It’s me they’re after.” I rake a hand through my hair, sweat pebbling on the back of my neck despite the wind chill making the temperatures well below zero.
“They’ll slit your throat before you can make it inside the building.” Max rolls his eyes. “This isn’t exactly your thing, Mr. CEO. You need us with you.”
I know I’m in over my head here, which is why I called in my associates. But I also know if I storm that place with my horde, Shaye is as good as dead. So, I need to play this smart. I point at Viktor and his hulking guys. “Look, you guys clear the perimeter. His guys will be waiting. I’m going in.” I nod at Max. “You’re with me.”
An unsettling smile curls the corners of his lips. “Let’s get these fuckers,” he growls, crouching low to the ground and running toward the dilapidated building that looks as though it can crumble down around us at any given second. I follow him, my chest feeling like someone is jumping around on it. In fucking cleats. “Max,” I hiss. “You’ve got to fall back a little. We don’t know who he has inside.”
“Screw that, bro. That bastard has my sister in there. We’re taking him and his whole crew out.”
I know what I have to do, but I’ll be damned if I know how this will all play out. And if they don’t kill us on sight, Christ only knows what they have in store for the people who iced them out and cost them millions. It ain’t gonna be pretty. I just hope that doc has actual work to do when this is all over, and by real work, I’m not talking about a body bag pickup and an autopsy.
The overgrown weeds camouflage us as we near the entrance. At least, I think it’s the entrance. It looks like some kind of ominous cavern that is damn close to swallowing us whole.
My pulse is about ready to explode out of my neck as we creep a few steps closer. A thin stream of smoke billows around a chain link fence a few feet ahead of us, and the sound of a sinister laugh pierces the air. I point and Max nods, pulling out his gun and attaching the silencer. No need to alert the enemy that we’re here to get back our girl.
I follow close behind as he inches toward the low rumbling. I don’t even know if he looked before he took those two close-range shots. The men hit the ground with a loud thump before I could even identify them. Hell, for all Max knew, they may have been on our side.
But discretion has never been Max’s thing. It’s one of the reasons why he’s with me right now. As panicked as I am that he’s going to make the wrong move with Cappodamo, he’s the only one I trust to have my back.
He grins at me and salutes. “What’s next, boss?’
After checking both directions to make sure there aren’t more goons lurking, I grab his arm and hustle him into the dark and dank building. I push him against a wall. “Follow my lead with Cappodamo, okay? I know you’re gonna want to pump him with lead, but try to restrain yourself.”
“I’m just your backup bitch, huh? You’re leading this charge, the guy who wears BOSS Black to grab a sub from the deli? The one who doesn’t do anything with his hands except lift weights and finger chicks?”
I grab both sides of his coat and back him against a wall. “You’re going to have to trust me. I know what I’m doing.” The truth is, I have no fucking clue, and Max can see right through me. But I’m the target here, and it’s up to me to end this war. I look around, squinting in the darkness. A sliver of light comes from the corner of the expansive space. Looks like some kind of hallway. She has to be close.
“Your little power play is gonna get us all killed. These guys don’t do reason and logic. They do death. You get that?”
I clamp a hand over his mouth. “I appreciate your concerns, and I’ll take them into consideration. Now shut the fuck up, and let’s find Shaye.”
Pulling away my hand, he says, “You don’t even know how many guys he has in there, dumbass. Besides, it’s my sister he’s got. I should be the one to—"
A loud screech, followed by a whimper, reverberates between the concrete walls. My heart plunges into my gut with the realization that it’s Shaye and that they’re inflicting some kind of torture on her. The pictures were bad enough, but hearing her tearfully plead for her life from the bowels of this sewer? Adrenaline courses through me, fueling me with rage and I swallow hard, my fingers digging into my clenched palm. “You’re not doing a fucking thing. This asshole is mine.” I spin around, my pulse throbbing against my throat as another cry echoes in the depths.
Cold fingers snake around my wrist, yanking me back around. “You’re not going to stop me. Let go of my fucking arm, Ma—"
Rocco’s narrowed eyes stare back at me. “I’m going in first. So just shut the fuck up, okay?”
