Take Me Higher: (A Chicago Mafia Syndicate) (Castaletta Book 1)

by Ali Parker

  "He said he did." I picked up my phone as it buzzed. "He said that he took him out."

  "Lies." Marco shook his head. "I overheard them two years ago talking about it again, and Dad threw up the same threat. Freddy's dad isn't dead."

  "Then why hasn't he come for him?" I felt the room spin around me.

  "He doesn't know Freddy is his kid, Izzy. Dad's always pretended that he's his son. Hell, you didn't even know." He pointed to my phone. "Who is that? Answer it."

  I glanced down as the haze in front of me cleared a little. "It's Freddy."

  Marco grabbed the phone from me and answered it as I walked around the counter and dropped down into one of the seats nearest me. Dad had lied to me about killing Freddy's father? Or had he lied to Mom a few years back and Marco overheard that? Either way, something was horribly off.

  "Where the fuck are you? We're worried sick ab — " Marco stopped short and stiffened. "We're on our way. Hold tight."

  "What's wrong?" I stood up as the blood rushed from my face and left my cheeks tingling.

  "He said he's in deep shit."

  "Where is he?"

  "At the warehouse. Let's go." Marco tossed my phone to me and turned to run back out the front door. The drama just wasn't going to stop anytime soon.

  *

  Marco drove over to Freddy's as I sat in the passenger seat and imagined the worst possible. My little brother had OD'd and was probably seizing on the floor. Where I was upset with the situation my mother's infidelities had us in, it was nothing I could hold against my brother. He was still blood, and I was still willing to risk my life to save his.

  "Be careful, Izzy. You don't know — "

  "I don't care." I got out of the car and jogged to the large warehouse we rented just down from the shipping office. I pulled my gun from the back of my pants and pressed my code on the door. "Keep your eyes open."

  "I will, but he didn't sound like he was in danger from other people. He sounded like he was wigging the fuck out." Marco pulled out his gun and moved up beside me as we walked through the darkness in the large room filled with various assets we'd purchased over the years. The office sat at the very back of the room, and seeing the light on in the midst of the darkness helped to sooth my fears.

  "I'll deal with him if he's OD'ing. Just get ready to call an ambulance if needed." I tucked my gun back in my pants and walked in to find Freddy on his knees with tears streaking down his face as he vomited in the small office trash can.

  "Fuck. I'll be out here." Marco closed the door behind us and disappeared back into the darkness of the warehouse.

  "Hey. I'm here now." I moved down and brushed my hand over his back.

  "I can't do this anymore. I'm sorry. I needed a way out. I had to... I had — " He turned and vomited again.

  "It's okay. We'll fix it. Whatever it is." I got up and reached for a bottle of water from the fridge as Marco burst through the door.

  "Fuck me. We got problems out here. Text D, and tell him to get out here. Now." He turned and closed the door behind him.

  "What have you done?" I moved up beside Freddy and texted D as fast as I could before moving toward the door. Marco couldn't take on more than two or three people himself. From the panic on his face, it had to be a few more than that.

  "I told you I'm sorry."

  "Tell me what I'm walking into, Little Brother. Love me like I love you." I reached for the door and pulled my gun back out.

  "I stabbed Thomas Kallup. I'm sorry, Izzy. I'm so sorry, but he's dead."

  Chapter 27

  Demetri

  The pretty black-haired girl that had snuggled up to the front of me an hour or so later looked more and more like Izabella the more I drank.

  "Come upstairs with me. It's supposed to have spaces for couples to play around in." She pressed herself to the front of me and licked at her lips. "I wanna taste you. Don't deny me."

  "She's lovely." Edward stopped beside me and reached over to squeeze the girls chin. "If he doesn't want you, I do."

  "Fuck you." I glanced over at him and narrowed my eyes. "Don't you already have one of my women?"

  "Is that a joke?" He chuckled and turned to face the bar I had my back against. "Izabella wants one man in her life, and it ain't me."

  Izzy.

  "Not right now, sweetheart. Maybe later." I untangled myself from the girl and turned toward the bar as I tried to shake off the haze of lust that sat over me. I was seconds from taking her upstairs and pushing her to her knees to fulfill her naughty promises. I'd have hated myself afterward.

  "That was dumb." Edward took a long sip of his beer and lifted the bottle toward me. "To the woman I love and the man she loves instead of me."

  I hit my bottle against his. "I think it might be a lot easier if she didn't love me."

  "Cause you're a jackass with no heart?" He asked and gave me a cheeky grin.

  "You're both jackasses." Daniel's voice surprised me a little.

  I moved over as he took the space between me and Edward.

  "What are you up to tonight?" I turned to look at my cousin.

  "Just trying to get drunk and laid. I see you guys are doing a horrible job of it, so no lessons to be learned here, right?" He laughed, and Edward turned toward the dance floor.

  "I'm going to find the sexy little number that Demetri just rejected. Surely she needs someone to help her feel better. You know what they say is good for that." He walked off, laughing.

  "What do they say is good for that?" Daniel asked me before motioning for the bartender to come our way.

  "Dick." I chuckled and finished my beer. "I'm done for the night. The opening went well, and we got a few pictures for the paper so you guys could make fun of us. I'm headed back to the apartment. I'll catch up with you later this weekend."

  "Naw, man. I just got here. Stay with me." He pressed his shoulder against mine. "Tell me what's going on so I can help. You know my shit's running smoothly right now. I have a new buyer for the silencer that my boys just developed." He smiled, showing all his teeth. "You should see this fucking thing. You gotta come out to the range with me soon."

  "I need to. You're right." I pulled my phone from my pocket, checking for anything from Izzy and finding nothing. "I'm going to get your help on a few things, but first I need to try and deal with Freddy. The poor kid has fucked up for the last time."

  "Oh, that sucks." Daniel took a drink of his beer and shook his head. "I can't imagine having to talk to Joe about anything right now. The motherfucker looks like a zombie."

  "He's pretty numb. I guess we all are." I slipped my phone in my pocket and turned back toward the crowd, pressing my back against the bar top. "You know much about the syndicate in Cali?"

  "Cooper's syndicate?" He turned and took another sip of his beer. "We have a connection with Rodney, their guns dealer, but I don't know much more than that."

  "Isn't Cooper an old fucker? Like older than Joe?" I let my eyes move across the floor until I found Edward and the girl I'd had wrapped around me dry humping on the floor. It was almost comical. The guy had the exact same taste in women as I did, which was going to prove to be a thorn in my side until I finally killed him. I could make it look like an accident. The thought caused my heart to flutter.

  "He's a few years older than Joe, but you're thinking of Terrance. He's not running the show anymore. He turned it over to his oldest son, Adam. I don't know much about the guy other than he's in his early thirties."

  "Must be a smart cat to already be Don of such a large syndicate." I glanced over at my cousin.

  "No clue. We can send someone out there to check it out, though I would suggest Izzy. She would be welcomed much quicker than we would." He snorted. "We'd probably get the same warm welcome that any asshole from another syndicate would get in our city."

  "You calling me an asshole? You're hurting my feeling."

  "The only feeling you have?" He laughed again and popped me in the chest. "I'm going to find a piece of ass
. It gets lonely not having a girl."

  "Find you a good wholesome one that Aunt Velma would love. You know... one that wants to suck you off on the third floor." I winked at him and laughed as he gave me a look and walked into the crowd.

  My mom's oldest sister was straightlaced to a T. There was no way my cousin Daniel was bringing home anyone that didn't look like a preacher's daughter. Whether she was or not would be an entirely different story.

  "You wanna dance?" A soft, sweet voice from beside me caught my attention.

  "Yeah, sure." I sat my beer down and took her hand to lead her onto the dance floor. She couldn't have been much over twenty, if even that. Her long blonde hair was in braids on either side of her pretty face, and her dress was sleeveless and tight. She was looking for a fuck by the way she was dressed, but it wasn't happening. She wasn't even close to my kind of girl, but then again no one was.

  She turned and put her back against my chest, rubbing her ass over me as she rolled her hips to the music. I pressed a hand to her stomach and held her against me, letting the music help to dissolve some of the tension building up inside of me. Maybe taking a woman to my bed was a good idea. It had been more than six months because the last time had been a fucking disaster. I'd called the poor girl Izzy three times before she’d slapped me and walked out. If I decided to give it a go again, I'd just call the girl baby or sweetheart. No trying to get her damned name right. She wouldn't be around for more than a night anyway.

  "Hey. Answer your goddamned phone." Edward popped me in the arm, and by the look on his face, I knew something was wrong.

  "What's going on?" I moved off the floor, leaving the girl to fend for herself.

  "I don't know, but I'm getting a 911 buzz from Izzy." He ran his fingers through his hair. "I'll grab Daniel. Meet us at the front, and let’s get to wherever she is."

  "Shit." I sat my beer down on a random table and jogged to the front as I pulled my phone out. The text message had come in five minutes before and simply said that they were in deep shit and to bring everyone and their guns to the warehouse.

  "Bring everyone?" I glanced over my shoulder as Daniel and Edward piled out of the club. "You guys packing heat?"

  "Fuck yes." Daniel pointed across the street. "My car is over there. It will be a tight squeeze, but it's fucking fast."

  "Let's go." I ran across the street, dodging cars and trying not to have my life end before it really began. We made it to his Mustang, and Edward climbed into the cramped back seat without saying a word.

  "Where are we going, and what the fuck is going on?" Daniel pulled out of the parking lot and headed east as I pointed.

  "To the warehouse. Izzy said they were in deep shit and that we needed to get there fast. I'm sure it has everything to do with Freddy, but he's not really a threat."

  "Who is the threat then?" Edward asked.

  "The Kallup boys are." I buckled up and prayed like hell that we would get there before anything really bad went down. I knew a little about Thomas but couldn't really remember him being the type to start anything. Had Izzy started something with them because of Freddy? Surely finding out that they'd put a noose around her brother's neck would have caused her to have some type of off-the-wall reaction.

  "You think someone is there besides our family?" Daniel glanced over as he hit the gas and took off down the freeway.

  "I don't know. Izzy wouldn't have called us and told us to bring weapons if not." I ran my fingers through my hair and checked my phone again. "Just fucking hurry."

  "I'm going as fast as I can, buddy. We'll be there in three minutes flat if we don't get pulled over." Daniel flipped on his flashers and pressed the gas harder, shooting the car forward.

  "You don't think the Kallup boys are there with weapons, do you? Who is with Izzy tonight?" Edward leaned up into the front seat.

  I bit my tongue to keep from lashing out. I didn't know any more than anyone else did.

  "I don't know anything, guys. I know what you know. Just get us there, and let's figure this shit out." I dropped my hands into my lap, jumped out of the car before Daniel had put it in park. "Get your guns out, but be smart. One shot gets fired, and everything goes to hell in a handbasket."

  We walked into find Izzy and Marco standing near the office with their guns drawn.

  Seven of Thomas Kallup’s boys stood across from them with Thomas up front, looking as mean as the last time I'd seen him.

  And the bastard was pointing his gun right at my girl.

  Chapter 28

  Izabella

  "Give me Freddy now, and I'll let you and your brother go, pretty girl," Thomas barked for the third time.

  Marco and I weren't backing down, but I'd decided two minutes after walking out and lifting my gun into the bastard's face that he wasn't going to do anything to hurt us if we didn't fire first. We played by the rules — an eye for an eye — so technically they were owed Freddy for the death they'd suffered.

  Too bad I was a rule breaker.

  "Fuck you, Kallup. You're not getting near my little brother." I narrowed my eyes and took a step toward him, keeping my gun pointed directly on him. "You'd be smart to turn around and walk out of here before my Underboss shows up. He's a big guy with a shitty attitude."

  "That hurts, Izzy." D's voice caused relief to flood through me.

  "This ain't your fight." Thomas glanced over toward D but kept his gun on me. "All we want is what's due us. The little fucker killed my brother tonight for no good reason. He's ours."

  "He was already yours from what I understand." D moved up beside me, and Edward and Daniel took a spot on the other side of Marco. "You really thought would could pick off the weakest link and hope for the best?"

  "No clue what you're talking about, asshole. Your drug man came to us. We're not turning away favors from Joe Castaletta. That don't sit well with my boss." He shrugged and wagged his gun at D. "You might want to get your story straight."

  "That's a fucking lie." I took another step toward Thomas, wanting to put a hole between his blue eyes and stop the sound of his voice before it grated on another nerve. "He would never do that."

  Thomas laughed and shrugged. "Believe what you want. I have every call he made on recording. Seems he found out that someone was after your mama."

  "No." I shook my head as Marco moved up closer to me.

  "What are you talking about?" my brother asked. "What did Freddy know?"

  "He said that your mother had some information on a rat in your camp, but the funny thing is... Freddy is the only rat I knew of in the Castaletta house. He called us. Said he needed help to cover his tracks." He shrugged.

  "Freddy said he killed you tonight too, so I'm really thinking that taking his word for anything isn’t a good bet." I rolled my shoulders. "’Cause here you stand, looking pretty good for a dead man."

  "Like what you see? There's plenty of room in my camp for you, Izabella." He rolled his tongue when pronouncing my name and caused my stomach to sour.

  "Say one more thing to her, and I'll take your fucking head off." Demetri moved in front of us, and as much as I wanted to look at him, I knew better. The Kallup boys had grown up since I'd seen them last. They didn't look like common thugs but something far worse. Was someone from California pulling their strings? Had my father overlooked the importance of figuring out if his old friend, Cooper, was working with them to take us out? They certainly had motive in what happened years before with Zach, Thomas's oldest brother.

  "Put your guns down, boys." Thomas called back to his gang. "We're not going to shoot anyone tonight. We're not that stupid."

  I put my gun down too but kept a tight grip on it and moved up beside D. "You're not getting my brother. You can go fuck yourself if you think you are."

  "You need to watch your mouth, little girl. You're playing in a room of men who get turned on at the thought of a woman who speaks with such a loose tongue." He cocked his head to the side and smiled.

  D moved too fast for
anyone of us to stop him and pulled the trigger on his gun, blowing a hole in the floor right beside Thomas's foot.

  Everyone had their guns in the air again as Thomas let out a loud laugh.

  "Damn. I'm thinking the enforcer is sleeping with the Underboss of the Castaletta crew. Take note, boys. This pretty woman might be off the market." He tucked his gun in the back of his pants and pointed back toward the office. "That fucker killed my twin brother tonight. We're not done here. Not by a long shot."

  "We're done tonight though. Turn around, and walk out of here before we mop the floor with your corpses." D twisted his wrist and lifted his arm again. "Don't fuck with me. I'm looking for a reason to take every one of you out for what you've done."

  "What we've done?" He laughed and turned away from us as if he didn't have a care in world. "Check the boy's story, Demetri. He came to us. You've got a rat in your camp, and you're fucking welcome for us helping to uncover it. I'll collect — "

  "Shut the fuck up, and get out." D let off another shot, and the boys around Thomas yelped and ran out as he walked languidly to the door.

  "You had your chance to kill me. Too bad you didn't take it." He slipped out of the door as D let off another shot.

  "What the fuck was that?" Edward moved up to me and pulled me into a tight hug. "Have you and Marco lost your damned minds? Why would you come out here to face seven of them when there was only two of you?"

  I turned my gaze up to focus on D as he turned to face us. "They wanted Freddy. I'm not letting that happen."

  "You might not have a choice in the matter if he keeps lashing out at them." D turned to Marco. "Did he really kill a Kallup tonight, or was Thomas making shit up?"

  "No. He really did kill one of them." Marco wrapped one arm around his waist and let out a long sigh. "He's going to get himself killed too. They won't be satisfied with getting a warning from you. You and I both know that this isn't how this shit works."