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“Matteo, contact Loreto and tell him his sister has run off again,” I command. “Maybe he can use some of his resources to help track her down. I’ll—”
“I know where she is,” Rex says as he walks briskly through the door of my apartment. Rex is my best soldier, and the man who has frequently filled the empty place as an advisor ever since myconsiglierewas killed, a position I haven’t gotten around to filling again yet. He’s also one of only a handful of men who would be brazen enough to interrupt me while I’m talking. “She’s been captured by the Hell’s Devils.”
“How do you know?”
“Because Roman Gunther has requested a meeting with you.” He hands me a piece of paper. “This was stuck in the door outside,” he says as I read it.
My blood curdles as I crumble the paper and dig my nails into it so deeply that I almost draw blood from the palm of my hand. Roman Gunther is a cancer running rampant through the city. Ever since he took control of the biker gang and moved their headquarters to Brooklyn, he’s been planning something. I’m already furious that his gang trashed one of my restaurants, and now they’ve stolen a woman who’s rightfully mine. My authority is being challenged by this dredge on society, as well as my power and my patience.
“Just who does this asshole think he is?” I growl at my crew. Even Matteo, who is rarely surprised by anything, seems to be in disbelief that the Hell’s Devils would be so bold.
“This is two big strikes now,” Matteo warns. “If you don’t react with force, it’ll signal they’ve been able to shake you.”
He’s right, of course, and on a normal day I wouldn’t hesitate to send my entire crew into Brooklyn to simply lay waste to the Hell’s Devils. To hell with the consequences of it. But at current, I find myself in an unusually uncomfortable predicament, one I’ve never been in before. I’m actually worried about Lara. And the fact that it feels like a weakness is really pissing me off.
“Send word to Roman that I’ll agree to his meeting,” I grunt under my breath.
“What? You’re serious?” Matteo asks. Rex looks at me with the same wordless question on his lips. My entire crew appears visibly surprised by my hasty decision to appease the demands of a man that I should instead be immediately putting down.
“I have a plan,” I simply respond.
My response is sent and within an hour I have assembled a very small, tight group of my men to attend this meeting with me, including Loreto. “You don’t think it’ll raise a red flag to bring him along?” Rex asks as we prepare to head into Brooklyn.
“On the contrary,” I answer. “I want them to see that I have such an important member of the Giotti family on my side here. I’ve worked hard to align ourborgatawith the Giottis, and now it’s time to cash in on that favor. And as far as red flags are concerned, Roman would be smart to not attempt posturing against me further. Bringing Loreto along is a reminder not to push me.” I don’t showanyonemercy, and I sure as hell am not going to start with some biker piece of garbage. I fully intend to return to my place with Roman’s head in a box.
“The Hell’s Devils will back down,” I say as I get into the car with my men. Loreto walks up to join us and then the driver pulls away from my apartment to take us into Brooklyn. “Roman will hand over Lara and beg my forgiveness for having overly eager ambitions. Loreto will pull his sister out of there, Matteo and Rex will cut down any gang members that try to interfere, and then I will take care of Roman myself.”
When the four of us arrive at the Hell’s Devils clubhouse, Roman is standing there to greet us, alongside his road captain. The thing I pick up on most prominently is how cocky Roman is acting, even as he ushers us inside to talk with him. He shouldn’t be this arrogant and unafraid of me. Inside his meeting room, there are only a few gang members at the doors. We could easily take them out. His road captain looks old and slow, and I can tell by the way Loreto is sizing him up that he thinks the man is an easy target as well.
“I want territory in Hell’s Kitchen,” Roman demands as if my coming here is an appeasement to his wishes. “You can throw in the block your apartment building is on too. It’ll help to secure our business channels.”
Listening to him talk about “business channels” is laughable. The biker gang sticks to a grungier side of transactional dealings—heroin, porn, Russian guns, and a slew of other undesirable, lesser crimes that aren’t worth myborgatagetting their hands dirty with. The fact that he thinks he can sit here and demand things is astonishing and stupid, and I can’t help but laugh aloud at him.
“Those belong to myborgata. You seem to think you’re some sort of wolf instead of the domesticated dog you really are. I could wipe out your entire gang in a day, and after these last couple of stunts, you’re lucky I haven’t done so.”
“Why are you here, then, talking with me instead of making good on your threat?” he asks with a sly smile. “Is it perhaps because I have something that you want—agirl, maybe?”
I can feel the muscles in my jaw tighten, and I resist the urge to pull my piece from its holster and blow his brains out. His taunt will not be forgotten. I intend to make good on my threat. “Hand over your hostage,” I snarl at him. “I have the full weight of the Giottiborgatabehind me, as well as my own crew who could easily destroy your gang ourselves. Unless you want to lose your new position of authority faster than you got it, I suggest you give Lara back and pray to God I don’t find a single hair on her head out of place.” I try not to let my emotions bleed into my tone. Feelings are a weakness here, and I want Roman to see that I have no weaknesses.
But instead of cowering like I expect him to, Roman laughs. “What the fuck is he laughing about?” Rex whispers next to me. I don’t answer him because I don’t have the first clue what Roman could find funny about this.
“Do you think you’re the only one in this room who can make alliances with crime families?” Roman asks with a wicked grin that shows he has a canine missing. “Times are changing, Christian, and everyone wants power and wealth these days, even if they have to stretch out of their comfort zone to get it.” He motions for one of his men to open the door and let someone else inside. “Some crime families are now willing to think outside of the box in order to get what they want, and that can lead to some interestingalliances for people like me.”
When the door opens, I turn to see none other than Valentino Ricci. “Dad?” Loreto asks in shock. There’s no love lost between them, but it’s clear that Loreto can’t believe his father has betrayed his own family. “Why, you disgusting piece of—”
I reach my hand over to calm Loreto before he stands up and lunges at his father with a drawn weapon, not because I want to stop the fight from erupting but becauseIwant to take the first shot. I am beyond enraged. I pull my gun and shoot the two bikers standing at the doors in one swift motion. Neither has time to return a shot before their bodies hit the floor. Matteo manages to take out Roman’s road captain with an accurately aimed dagger thrown to the chest, and Loreto jumps over the table to get at his father just as I point my gun at Roman.
I would’ve taken him out in a clean shot if Valentino hadn’t managed to grab Loreto by the shoulder and toss his weight against me. Regardless, I still managed to injure him. Let that be the first and only warning shot the bastard gets. Valentino gets away too, and Loreto is seething mad about it.
“There will come a time for you to take revenge on him,” I say to keep Loreto from chasing after his father. “Now is not it. We need to find your sister and get out of here before the rest of the Hell’s Devils rush in here and outnumber us.”
Rex looks around at the violent spree I just initiated as he pulls his knife out from the neck of the biker who had opened the door to let Valentino in. He wipes the bloodied blade on his sleeve and shakes his head. “Well, we’ve sure got a war on our hands now,” he says.
“I don’t care about that right now,” I say as I step over the fallen bodies and quickly search the nearby rooms until I find Lara. I grab her, ignoring the startled look on her face and the questions that spill out of her mouth when she sees both me and her brother coated in blood splatter. Then, we race back to the car and my driver takes off just as I start to hear the stirrings of the bikers realizing what has happened. A moment longer and we wouldn’t have been able to hold our own against them all. The Hell’s Devils are no match in size for myborgata, but the four of us would definitely have been outnumbered here. Now there’s a new problem, because even though the biker gang isn’t big enough or strong enough to challenge my crew, they are if they have the help of the Ricci crime family supporting them.
When we get back to my place, I need a moment to think. Everything has happened quickly, and I need a drink and some time to assess the conflict that we’re now facing. “Where are you taking me?” Lara asks as I pull her alongside me down the hallway and all the way back to her bedroom.
I don’t answer her. Instead, I call to one of my men. “Rex, post a soldier outside her bedroom door,” I shout out. “And get me a second man to post inside her room as well.”
