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Alessio
Ilift my chin in greeting to Stefan and move through the club toward the back. It’s early yet, and the staff are getting ready to open in a few hours. But Dante called me twenty minutes ago and told me I had to get my ass here. He sounded urgent. When the boss calls, I go wherever he needs me to.
I was supposed to read Anthony a story this evening. He already picked his favorite and wanted me to read it to him. But when Dante rang, that plan went out the window. Thankfully, both Anthony and Gabriella understood, and I’ll be home whenever I can be.
Our talk last week brought us a fuck of a lot closer. Gabby knows about my childhood—well, the bare bones of it. I will not subject her to any more of it. Matteo Bianchi is dead. The fucker is six feet under and no longer in control of anyone. But she was right, we aren’t our parents, and I’m sure as fuck not Matteo. My kid means more to me than anything. I’d fucking die to protect him, to protect Gabby. My father would have pushed us in front of a bullet if it meant saving his own fucking life.
I know more about what Gabriella went through with Joe being her father and allowing that bitch of a wife of his to dictatehow and when he got to spend time with his daughter. That’s beyond fucked up, and I’m glad the man finally had enough and forged a relationship with his daughter. One I know has grown in strength since she moved here from Spain. I also know the pain she went through while losing her mother. Something I can’t relate to. When my parents died, it only brought relief that I’d no longer have to put up with their bullshit.
Gabby is the only person in my life who has cared for me without having to. She’s the one person who looks at me like I’m not a fuck up. I’ve made plenty of mistakes in my life, but Gabriella doesn’t see me as that person.
I push the door open to Dante’s office and come to a halt. My eyes darken, and rage takes over.
“Alessio,” the bastard says. His heavily Russian-accented voice just further pisses me off.
“What the fuck are you doing here?” I snarl.
“Alessio, sit down,” Dante says. “Nikolai is here as he needs our help.”
I shoot my brother a dark look. He can’t be fucking serious?
“Maksim has been kidnapped. We have no idea who or why he’s been snatched. Lena is ready to tear the world down to find her grandfather,” he growls. “You are the only ones Lena trusts to help us.”
I scoff. “Why’s that?”
He shrugs, seemingly not happy that his wife puts trust in us. “She said you are good men. You could have killed her after what I did, but you didn’t. I must admit, I reacted out of anger and paid the price by losing my men.”
“You're lucky that's all you lost,” I growl. There’s no fucking way he gets to waltz in here and ask for our help. No fucking way.
“Okay,” Dante begins, his eyes narrowed slightly. “Today we push aside what happened to deal with this. What do you know?” he questions Nikolai.
“Maksim’s car was attacked. His men were killed, and he’s been taken,” Nikolai explains. “By the time we discovered this, he was gone for over an hour.”
Dante’s face is grim. “Which means they’ve already killed him, or they’ve got him holed up somewhere.”
I shake my head. This is a clusterfuck. The last thing I want to do is work with Nikolai, but Maksim is a fair man. He’s always been welcoming, and I owe the man to try and help find him. “If they wanted him dead, they’d have done so when they attacked the car. No, they’ve got him stashed somewhere. Question is: why?”
“Money or power,” Dante says.
It always comes down to those two things.
“So we need to find out who wants Maksim’s power or money,” I sigh. “I’d put my money on it being whoever the fuck tried to set Maksim up for the shootout in Dynamite.”
My cell rings, and I pull it from my pocket. Gabriella’s name flashes on the screen.
“Mama, I’m going to have to call you back—” I say, but I stop speaking when I hear a loud crash. My gaze goes to my brother, and the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.
“Ales,” she says quietly, almost as if she’s afraid to speak.
Fuck. What the fuck is going on?
I’m up on my feet, Dante doing the same.
“Baby, talk to me.” I’m fucking terrified right now. Is she okay? What’s happening?
“Move, bitch,” I hear someone snarl.
The cell is snatched from my hand.
