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Chapter Twenty
SALVATORE
Well fuck...this is an unexpected twist of events. I look down at the alert on my phone to see that some money has been wired to me from a foreign account, and I grunt in annoyance. Whoever the fuck this is must be serious about me killing Baptiste. It wasn’t like there aren’t plenty of people who want the guy dead, but now that I am married to his daughter, no matter how useless she has become, no one would dare try to get me to kill the guy. Well...almost no one.
This feels like a very personal threat, and I began to pace back and forth in the small room, picking at my lip nervously as I work through this in my head. I could just go ahead and get the job done and see what happens next with Andrei. It's not like I couldn’t easily get access to the man, but there are two people in my life that would be greatly hurt in some way by me murdering their father; my wife and my best friend. Neither of them may agree with his tactics or the way he treats them, but it doesn’t mean they want to see him die at my hands. This is so fucking complicated my brain feels scrambled.
If I kill Baptiste and it does lose me my wife and yet does nothing to get me Andrei or to keep Aria safe, then I am simply playing into the hands of the enemy. But if I don’t do it, I don’t know about anyone’s safety because this is one time that someone has managed to get a step ahead of me, and it is making me fucking furious.
The best I can do right now is involve someone that might give me some insight and just maybe understand the predicament I have been put into. At least Andrei did not specify I couldn’t tell anyone.
I instantly dial for Marcel and tell him to get his ass over quickly and safely because there’s a threat he needs to be aware of. I say no more, knowing it's best to talk in person. I also know with both Funars in my house, that my place will be the most likely target right now. Either, it will scare someone off because it is so well protected, or it will force this person to reveal themselves in order to get at Marcel and Aria. It is the best plan for the moment until I figure out our next move.
While I am waiting for him to arrive, I decide to go check on my wife. I know none of this can be easy for her, and I realize with chagrin that I was not acting like the loving husband I should have been earlier. I was being protective, but she has voiced to me more than once her fears about marrying a man in the killing business. She is afraid to be married to her father. She is afraid I will become him in my anger and never go back to caring for her as I should.
I find her on the couch, curled up in her pjs and holding a pillow as she looks at .her phone. "You just missed Isa," she says before I even fully make it into the room. She sounds angry and exasperated, but there is something about the way that she senses that I am in the room before I make it to her that makes me feel like I have finally gotten what I wanted. We are connected.
"I am sorry, mio dolce," I say, sitting down next to her and reaching out to stroke her cheek. She glares at me but doesn't make to move my hand. I take it as a good sign and try not to make light of how sexy she looks when she’s angry. "My first priority was your safety. I was angry that someone would dare to come after you like that, but I was also trying to figure out how to protect you both. This was what was best. Just hang tight. You know I will figure this out. Marcel is on his way to me now so we can work this out."
Her eyes light up at the mention of her oldest brother, and I can tell that as much as she loves being distanced from the cruelty and control of her father that she misses her family, especially Marcel. I will have to let them have their time even though I need him to help me out here.
***
"So, I am assuming this threat has to do with the fact that my brother is missing?" Marcel surmises as he sits across from me in my office. He made it here safely several hours ago, but I let him and Aria have some time before I made him come see me. It is a reprieve for both of them; a calm before the storm. I don’t know when I will be expected to kill Baptiste by or what they will threaten if I don’t do it. iI could be any time now.
"Yes, I believe this has everything to do with it. But I am going to have to ask you a tough question, Marcel. I need to know how much you trust Andrei. I need to know if there is ever anything he could be offered to make him betray you," I say, looking into his eyes so he knows just how serious this is. If anyone can and will tell me the truth, it is Marcel. He has never held back from me his opinions about his family members.
He scratches his head and sighs. "That is a hard question to answer, Sal, but I am sure that you have your reasons for asking. I, of course, do not believe that he would intentionally harm any of us or betray us without a good reason. But what is the reason that he would? Almost all of us have a price, and I can't say that he doesn't have one either. He has never been someone father has spent time on. What if whoever this is, is simply offering him something that father cannot or will not? I can't say he is specifically jealous of my position, but he has not made it a secret that he feels unhelpful."
I nod, taking it all in. So, it is still inconclusive whether or not Andrei called me of his own free will or in order to save his life. "You should know there is a threat against your father," I say, going in that direction instead. "Even if your brother is in on all of this, I would have to say there is a threat against him as well. So, I would be willing to bet the threat extends to you. Aria and Isabella were already being followed by someone when out shopping. They didn’t recognize him but said he had to be Romanian or Italian. Someone is making a move here, Marcel."
Marcel nods, and the stress is on him. "I would like to think that Andrei could handle himself if attacked, but then again, he has not received the attention I have, like I said, and that includes defenses. He is softer. Not a pussy or anything, but just softer. I think it's best we both sleep on it and stay close while we figure this out."
"Pick a room."
