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The waiting isthe worst part of all of this. There, in Nero’s penthouse, we’re like caged animals all waiting to know our fate. Nero and his guys have been in the office for hours, no doubt trying to work out how to get Una back, while I’m here trying to get Anna back. We’re each working to selfish needs while knowing that the women we love would sacrifice everything for each other.
The office door bursts open and Nero walks out looking like he’s about to end the world as we know it.
“Una called,” he says through gritted teeth.
“What did she say?”
He glances at me, his expression ice-cold. “Goodbye. So now we do things the old-fashioned way.”
I lift a brow. “What did you have in mind?”
A slow, wicked smile pulls at his lips. “Blood, war, carnage. We’ll bring the Russians to their knees. Let’s see how long they keep hold of two women when their women are dying, and their businesses are crippled.”
A sense of relief rises in my chest, a spark of hope chasing away the helplessness that I’ve been feeling ever since Anna was taken. Action I can do. Waiting I cannot. But I have to give Una a chance. She sacrificed herself for her sister, and even though I have no faith that the Russian will stay true to his word and release her, I have to give it a second. Don’t I? The problem is, Nero is looking at me like he’s ready to set the world on fire and laugh as he watches it burn. I know the feeling well, and I know what he’s capable of.
“What do you need?” I ask.
He takes a tin from his pocket, removing a cigarette and placing it between his lips. His lighter clicks, the flame dancing over the end of the cigarette before the scent of smoke wafts around me. “I need you to take down their business. All of their drugs come from Mexico.”
I scrub a hand over my jaw. “They deal with several cartels.”
“Then do what you have to in order to cease their supply.”
I nod hesitantly. “What about their guns?”
His lips twitch, though any trace of humor is completely absent from his expression. This is the Nero Verdi that even the Italians are terrified of. He carries a certain madness that’s so very unpredictable. “They buy from the Arabs. I have a man there.”
“Get me the times and places of the shipments and my men will handle it.” Subtly, my men will handle it subtly. If I’m careful, I can work this to my advantage. I can have zero culpability. Nero will cause enough problems that they’ll be focused on him, and as such, they’ll assume that any missing drugs or guns are due to him. I just want to get my girl and get out, but Nero and I are bound in this situation just as surely as the two sisters we’re fighting for. We have been since the moment he asked me to take Anna, perhaps even long before then. He did kill my father for me, after all, and that kind of favor brings with it an unbreakable loyalty.
He inhales a deep breath. “Good. Gio?” His guy appears like a ghost. “Get me some C4. Lots of it. New York is about to witness the biggest Russian barbeque it’s ever seen.”
Yes, madness, thinly disguised as genius, that’s what Nero Verdi is.
Standing up, I leave the room with Samuel falling into step beside me. “Give it three days and then make contact with Nicholai Ivanov.”
I hate to wait that long. Each minute feels like the lowering of an axe towards Anna’s exposed neck, but I have to give Una a chance. She went there for a trade. There’s no incentive for him to be honorable about this. However, if I jump the gun too soon, I’ll be handing him the use of my port when he may have released her anyway. Three days is as long as I’m willing to give it but beyond that…well, fuck business. This has gone far beyond that. I don’t care about a port anymore.
She’s all that matters.
