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We walked the last few blocks to the Met and rolled into the opera house. The whole gala was in full swing in the lobby with the patrons milling around and moving toward their seats.
The Terranovas guided us to a private room off to one side. Medical teams appeared out of nowhere and started buzzing around me. They insisted on cutting my jacket off, and then the agony hit when they unfastened the Velcro on my vest.
Leo migrated to my side, but he couldn’t get very close with the medical crew working on him too. “Don’t worry, man. We’ll get her back.”
“Why didn’t they strike at the place Romeo told you?” Don Vincenzo asked. “He must have sold us out.”
“He didn’t sell us out,” I growled. “It’s obvious. Don Marco set him up to feed us wrong information. He did it to prove Romeo was disloyal to his own family. Now, not only do they have Gia, they’ll probably kill Romeo to punish him for being a traitor.”
“Forget Romeo,” Cesare countered. “We need a plan to get Gia back.”
I started to say something and roared in agony when one of the medics tried to pat down my ribs. “Get the fuck away from me!”
“Easy, man,” Leo told me. “Let them take care of you. You’re in bad shape.”
I bared my teeth at him, but before I could say anything else, a hush fell over the room. The security guys parted, and three older men in immaculate suits strolled in.
I bit my lip and submitted to the medics as the top Italian dons entered. They only gazed at all the chaos going on. They didn’t act like this was at all out of the ordinary. Of course, it wasn’t. They saw plenty of this in Italy.
They halted in front of Leo and Don Vincenzo. “Is everything under control, Consigliere?” one of them asked in perfect English.
“Unfortunately not, Don Guiseppe. A rival family just attacked us on the street outside and kidnapped Don Alonzo’s daughter. I’m afraid I’ll have to postpone our meeting until I can get her back.”
“Of course. We’re at your disposal.” Don Guiseppe Cattaneo’s casual eye traced the room. He took in all the injuries and the security guys talking into their walkie-talkies. “Let me know if we can offer any assistance.”
“We were just discussing…” Leo began when some of the Terranova’s crew came over and started talking to him.
“The chopper is airborne, Consigliere. Our recon team tracked the Neccis to the Park Avenue rendezvous. The Neccis are taking Miss Leone to their headquarters building.”
“Load up all our guys, and get ready to take the place. Don Vincenzo and I will be with you shortly.”
Leo and Don Vincenzo started to turn away. I had to stand there and let the medics stop the bleeding in my arm and shoulder where I took two bullets, but no way in hell was I going to stand around and let the fucking Neccis get away with this.
I waited just long enough for the medics to finish. I set off to follow Leo when Don Guiseppe stopped me. He held out his hand, took mine, and pressed it between both of his. “Niccolò… Niccolò Greco!”
I blinked at him. “Uh… Yes, Don Guiseppe?”
He burst into a huge grin that lit up his whole face. “You don’t have to call me ‘don,’ my dear boy. You’re more highly ranked than I am.”
My jaw dropped. I couldn’t think of anything to say. The other two dons came over and started talking very fast in Italian.
Leo elbowed through the crowd. “What’s going on?”
“It’s Don Edoardo Greco’s son!” Don Giovanni D’Angelo exclaimed in a thick Italian accent. “We thought we had lost him forever!” He grabbed my hand and kissed my knuckles, even though I was still holding my sidearm. “Padrino! How wonderful to find you at last!”
I glanced over at Leo still blinking in stupid shock. “Uh… What the hell are they talking about?”
He frowned at me and then at the Italians. “This… You think Nicky is Don Edoardo Greco’s son?”
“He is! He is!” Don Giovanni waved up and down in front of my face. “He’s an exact copy of his father.”
“I would recognize you anywhere.” Don Guiseppe brought my hand to his lips too. “We’re entirely at your service, Padrino.”
“Padrino! I can’t be!” I looked back at Leo. “Tell them. Tell them I’m nobody. This is all a giant mistake.”
“It’s no mistake, Padrino.” Don Guiseppe pressed my hand again, and his eyes brimmed with tears. “We’ve kept your inheritance safe for you, but we had almost given up on ever finding you. What a happy chance to find you here.”
“I don’t have any…”
