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“I’ll do it.”
I stopped him, holding my hand out. “No. I have no idea what he’s up to. Let me find out, then I can go to Lorenzo with it.”
Raf shook his head as he pulled his hand down his face, either trying to wake himself up or frustrated at my words. Or maybe it was both. “He won’t be happy, Romeo.”
“I know.” There was nothing else I could say to that because I knew he wouldn’t, but it was what it was. I had to do this, for Bailey. I had to bring this fucker down, and I’d do it by any means necessary.
“Fine,” Raf huffed out. “Is Bailey awake?”
“Yeah.” I heard her footsteps upstairs. “She knows you’re down here, so just…just behave, okay?”
“Me?” His brows shot high on his forehead, an innocent look plastered over his face just like when we were kids. He always got away with everything when he gave an adult that look, the fucker. “I always behave, I’m a fuckin’ angel, big bro.”
I snorted, not able to help the grin I flashed at him. “Yeah, and I’m the damn pope.” I smacked him on the side of his head in the way that only big brothers could do to little brothers. “If I’m not back by midnight, call Lorenzo.”
The jokes were gone, replaced with a seriousness that we were both used to. Things like this happened all the time with organizations like ours. An organization that we’d grown up in. It was part of us, just like the blood that runs through our veins.
“See you later, big bro,” he called after me as I spun and headed to the front door. I didn’t answer him, not able to find the words because although I’d given him a cutoff time for when to call Lorenzo, I had no idea what I was stepping into.
The night was starting to make way to day by the time I was in my car and halfway to the meeting point. The closer I got, the more I recognized the neighborhood. I pulled up to an overly familiar site. It had only been months since Dante and I had been sitting in a car, watching people unload from this very dock. We’d been shot at and Dante had lost his shit big-time, nearly beating one of Gio’s men to death. Luckily, the guy hadn’t remembered a single thing and Lorenzo had taken care of him. Gio probably thought he was dead. He wasn’t though, he was living in luxury in another country with a brand-spanking-new life.
Us though, we were stuck here, trying to make the best of what we were born into. Not Gio though, Gio was making the worst outcome possible.
“Romeo!” His arms opened wide with a grin on his face as the sun rose behind him. He looked like the damn cat who got the cream. “How’s your package treating you?” He slapped me on the back in greeting, his height only an inch or two below mine. “She doing her job right?” His brows bounced up and down, clearly signaling what he really meant with his words.
“Yeah, she’s…” I paused, my own grin lifting at my lips. I was playing a part, a part I could easily switch into without a second thought. “Doing a good job.” I backed up a step, hating being so close to this piece of shit. “You taught her well.”
He winked, the move so damn sleazy that it made my stomach turn. “I did. I enjoyed teaching her though.” He adjusted himself, and fuck me, the rage that flashed through me could have killed me if I didn’t keep a lid on it. He was turned on at the thought of what he did to her—what he took away from her.
My breaths became ragged, a voice in the back of my mind reminding me that I’d taken from her too. I wasn’t any better than him…
I was though. I’d done it to save her. And I’d spend every single fuckin’ day trying to make it up to her. She may have told me that she forgave me, but I wouldneverforgive myself.
I couldn’t think about Bailey around him—couldn’t talk about her to him, not without wanting to stab him in the goddamn eye. A change of subject was needed if I was going to get through this with Gio—whatever the hellthiswas.
I stared out ahead of me, taking in all the men moving boxes from one place to another, working quickly and efficiently, all in silence. The stamp on the side of the boxes clearly said FUOMO, and I remembered seeing it back when Dante and I were spying. “What’s that mean?” I asked, pointing at it, hoping he wouldn’t notice how I’d changed the subject away from Bailey.
Hopefully Gio was in a sharing kind of mood, and I figured because he thought he had one over on me, he might me. I’d bought merchandise off of him, so now he thought he held something over me. Stupid fucker.
“Ahh.” He took a step toward the box, waving me to come with him. The stones crunched beneath my boots, letting people know that we were coming closer. They carried on taking things off the shipment and loading it into trucks, packing as many boxes in as they could.
The closer we got, the more I saw of the box. It was made of wood, several holes in the side and on top, almost like they were so something could breathe…wait, what the fuck? It hit me like a freight train, causing me to stumble to the side. Gio didn’t notice though, his gleeful attention way too focused on the prizes in front of him.
“This was why I invited you here,” he started, keeping his gaze locked on the box in front of us. “I have many facets to my business,” he told me, his tone different now. “As you know, I like to partake in some auctions.” He snapped his attention to me, a knowing look on his ugly fuckin’ face. “But I like to…hmm…how should I say…” He stilled, tapping his finger on his chin. “I like to trade goods for rewards too.”
“Goods?” I asked, almost afraid of him telling me the truth that I already fuckin’ knew.
This was so much worse than I ever thought.
“I was kept in a cage. So many cages in one warehouse. So many people.”
Bailey’s words slammed through my mind, causing my anger to boil over, threatening to take me and everything around me with it.
“Lift the lid,” Gio said, bouncing up and down on the spot like a kid who had been given twenty dollars to spend in a candy store. His excitement was unreal and all it did was make me want to explode on him. I couldn’t yet though. I was here for a reason: to get the intel we needed to go to The Enterprise with.
The man moving the box to a truck suddenly stopped, not looking over at us as he grabbed a crowbar and opened the top of the box. Gio stepped forward, staring down into it, and although every single part of me didn’t want to look, I had to. I had to know what was in there.
“For Use Of Men Only,” Gio said as I stopped at the edge of the box. “That’s what it means.”
