Vincenzo (Mafia Heat Book 1)

by Ella Jade

  “I did.”

  “When you realized what was going on, you happened to run into Vincenzo? How convenient.”

  “I’d never met him before. It was a coincidence.”

  “You found the only man who could keep you safe that night.”

  I found the only man I’d ever wanted.

  “You collided with two powerful families and you want me to believe it was an accident?”

  “I’m telling you the truth.” As absurd as it sounded.

  “You’d say anything to save your life but in the end I’m going to wait until the Marchellis show up and then the fun will begin.”

  “They’re not going to come for me.” As much as I wanted them to help me, they didn’t trust me either. “They think I’m working with you.”

  “Why would they think that?”

  “Because they don’t believe it was a coincidence I ran into Vincenzo that night either.” If I had told the truth from the beginning... “When they found out who I was, they really didn’t trust me.”

  “You’re not my father’s daughter.”

  “I want that to be true.”

  “My father has been with my mother for almost thirty years. They’re loyal to one another. He would never betray her.”

  “That may be true now but it wasn’t twenty-five years ago. My mother is Carlotta Rossi. Does that name mean anything to you?”

  While he thought for a moment, my pulse quickened. This whole plan could backfire if I didn’t make him understand who I was.

  “She was Tino Marchelli’s girlfriend back in the day. She was dating him when he was killed.” He cocked his head to the left. “If anything, you’re a Marchelli, not a Collandra.” He laughed. “If you’re fucking Vincenzo, he’s your cousin. That’s pretty sick.”

  “My mother was already pregnant with me when she started seeing Tino.” I hoped my information was accurate. “She was your father’s mistress first.”

  “You’re a lying bitch.” Lunging forward, he pinned me against the wall, holding my shoulders against the cool bricks. “I won’t let you spit on my family this way. You won’t disgrace us.”

  My chest rose and fell at a rapid pace but I kept eye contact with him. “I’m not lying.” I swallowed hard. “I didn’t want it to be true either but it is.”

  “No!” He grabbed my chin, keeping me still as he stared at me. His eyes narrowed as his lips turned into a snarl. I’d hit a nerve but I couldn’t stop now.

  “It’s true.” I remembered what Dominick said that night in the kitchen at the safe house. My eyes triggered something for him. Maybe that would be true for Franco. “Look at my eyes. What do you see?”

  “What?” He squeezed my face harder as he took a moment to look at me. “Sergio.” His tone was laced with disbelief. “It can’t be.”

  “Is that your brother?” Our brother?

  “Yes, but...” He shook his head. “No fucking way.”

  “Why don’t you let our father explain?”

  “Shut up!” He shoved me into the wall hard enough to make me fall to the floor. “You’re trying to get inside my head but it won’t work. You’re the reason they’re going to come right to me.”

  “They don’t care about me,” I pleaded with him because I wasn’t sure how much time I had left. “You need to call your father. You have to ask him why he paid my mother support while I was growing up. Why he put me through college.”

  “You wish.”

  His phone made a sound, alerting him to something. He took it out of his pocket and grinned. “Perfect.” He studied his screen. “It appears we have a guest.” He quickly exited the room. In his haste, he left the door open.

  I managed to stand, my legs weak and my body achy but I wasn’t giving up. Not today. It had been a long night and I hadn’t eaten since lunch yesterday. That seemed like such a long time ago. If he left the door open, it was an accident. I had to seize the opportunity. Even if I didn’t make it out, I had to try. I wasn’t going to make this easy for him.

  I hurried toward the door, taking a deep breath before I pushed on it and ran down the hall. I had no idea where I was headed but I wouldn’t stop until I saw the light of day. I continued to run. When I turned the corner, I smacked into a tall, hard, imposing form. He effortlessly caught me in his secure grasp. I gazed into his eyes, knowing it would all work out. We’d come full circle.

  “Oh, thank God.” I clung to him, breathing in his familiar scent.

  “Nadia.” Vincenzo held me tight. “Are you okay?”

  “I am now.”

  “I’m so sorry I left you alone.” He stepped back, looking me over before running his fingers through my hair and bringing my face to his. “I never should have done that.” He kissed me softly, pressing his mouth to mine. “Please forgive me.”

  Relief momentarily filled me until I remembered where we were. “We can discuss it later.” Taking his hand, I tugged him down the hall. “We have to get out of here.”

  “And spoil all my fun?” Franco stepped out of the shadows, brandishing his gun. “Sorry to interrupt your reunion but that’s as far as it’s going to get.”

  Vincenzo moved in front of me, shielding me from Franco’s menacing expression. “Franco,” he said. “It’s in your best interest to let us walk out of here.”

  “Where are your brothers?”

  “On their way.” Vincenzo tightened his hold on my hand. “They’ll be more amicable if we’re already outside when they get here.”

  “Why would they send you in alone?” His cold, threatening laugh flowed throughout the loft. “Something doesn’t add up. Nothing has added up since this woman came into our lives.”

  “We’re leaving.” As Vincenzo moved toward the stairs, Franco cocked the gun. My heart rate increased. “You don’t want to do that.” Vincenzo’s voice was calm and steady. “There are some wars that can’t be won. If you pull that trigger, you won’t make it out of here alive. Dominick will guarantee that.”

  “I’m willing to take my chances.” He raised the gun, pointing it at Vincenzo’s head.

  “No!” I got in between them. “Don’t do this. Call your father. He’ll confirm what I told you.”

  “Say it one more time and you’ll be sorry!” Franco screamed. “You’re not my sister.”

  It all happened so quickly. Dominick and Gianni came up the steps in a blur. Vincenzo pushed me out of the way and the next thing I remembered was a single gunshot echoing through the loft. The clicking, the spark, the commotion. Vincenzo grabbed hold of me and dropped to the floor, covering me with his body. A rush of blood spilled between us. My hands trembled and my body shook as I tried to process what had occurred. I didn’t feel any pain. I looked down but it wasn’t me who had been hit.

  No!

  Chapter Twenty-one

  VINCENZO

  I Wouldn’t Change A Thing About Us

  The pain pierced through my shoulder but it wasn’t as unbearable as I would have imagined it to be. I was conscious and fully aware of what was going on around me. My brothers were here and defusing the situation. What was gut wrenching was the expression on Nadia’s face when we hit the floor. There was only one shot fired, so I knew she wasn’t hit. She was going to be fine.

  “Vincenzo!” she cried out. “This is all my fault.”

  “I need you to apply pressure.” I managed a smile as I reached for her hands, winching when I moved. “Please.”

  “I don’t want to hurt you,” she said. “I don’t know what to do. How to help.”

  “Just do it!” Gianni yelled as he pointed his gun at Franco’s man who had made it up the stairs when the gun went off. “Do you want him to bleed to death?”

  Nadia pressed her shaky hands against my wounded shoulder and whispered, “I’m sorry.”

  “It’s okay.” I placed my palm to her cheek. “You’re doing great. I think it just grazed me.”

  “Drop your gun.” Dominick shouted at Franco. The barrel of my brother’s
gun was positioned at Franco’s temple. “Get on your knees.”

  Franco did what he was ordered to do but what choice did he have? Dom kicked the gun in Gianni’s direction. Nadia gasped when she realized what Dominick was about to do.

  “I can be tolerant,” Dominick said. “But when you come after my family, I lose my patience. You shot my brother.”

  My vision blurred but I saw Franco close his eyes as Dominick moved to stand behind him, his gun pointed at the back of Franco’s head.

  “Dom.” My voice was raspy. “Don’t.”

  “Vincenzo,” he said. “Can you stand?”

  “I think so.” It would be a task considering the amount of blood I seemed to be losing.

  “I need you and Nadia to walk out of here and let Gianni and I handle this.”

  “No.” I couldn’t let him do this. Not in my name. “We can call the police. You could hand him over to his father or any of the other families for justice. You do not have to take responsibility for this. You don’t need his blood on your hands. You have options.”

  “Nadia,” Dominick calmly said her name. “Help him stand. Get him downstairs so he can get medical attention.”

  Nadia looked to me for instruction. Her expression frantic and afraid.

  “I’m not leaving here without my brothers.” My voice was firm. “I’ll bleed to death before I walk away and let you ruin your life.”

  “My path is not your burden,” Dom shouted. “This scum doesn’t deserve to breathe. He shot you.”

  “I didn’t mean to,” Franco said. “You came up the stairs so fast, guns blazing. I didn’t mean to shoot. I wasn’t thinking clearly.”

  “Shut up!” Dominick yelled. “What about that ambush on the street yesterday? Did you mean that? You tried to kill Vincenzo and for that, you can’t be shown any mercy.”

  “I don’t want you to avenge me.” I pushed myself off the floor, clenching my teeth as I rose. Nadia stood with me, holding me steady as I inched toward Dominick. The pool of blood at my feet proved how much I’d already lost. My soaked shirt indicated how much I was still losing.

  “What are you doing?” My brother spat out. “You’re bleeding. You have to go.”

  “Not without you.”

  “Vince,” Gianni said. “Stay out of this.”

  “No.” I held Dominick’s gaze, willing him to hear me. My head too woozy to think as fast as I usually could. I didn’t have much time before I passed out. “This won’t be a random job. If you pull that trigger there will be consequences you can’t come back from. Dad will never get out. Mom could lose you and Gianni. The families will be divided. It will take years to sort out. That’s not the plan.”

  “What do you expect me to do?” he asked. “Let him get away with it?”

  “Hand him over to Antonio,” I suggested. “Let him handle this. Franco went against his wishes when he came after us. He’ll be dealt with. If you kill him, you’ll put all of us in the middle.”

  Dominick tightened his grip on his gun, pondering my words.

  “Think of Gia,” I whispered. “Don’t you want a safer life for her?”

  “Fuck!” Dominick lowered his gun when I mentioned his daughter. If he had a weakness, she would be it. “You have my brother to thank for this.” He hit Franco on the back of the head, causing him to slump forward.

  Gianni shoved the guard he was holding toward the stairs. “Go tell your boss he should come and collect his son.”

  The man stared at him in what I could only assume was shock that they were letting them go.

  “Go!” Gianni shouted. “Before I change my mind.”

  The guard hurried down the steps, falling once he got to the bottom. His footsteps moved fast as he ran out of the warehouse. Once he was out of sight, I fell to the floor. My legs unable to support me and my head too light to focus.

  “Vincenzo!” Nadia joined me on the hot, dirty floor. “We need to call for help.”

  Gianni took out his cell as Dominick knelt next to me.

  “I’ll get an ambulance,” Gianni said. “We’ll move Vince outside and say it was a random shooting. He got caught in the crossfire. Dominick, we’ll have to leave him.”

  “I’m not leaving him.” Dominick applied pressure to my shoulder, examining me. “You’ve lost a lot of blood but it doesn’t look that bad. You’re going to be okay.”

  Opening my eyes, I saw a shadow standing over Dominick. When I focused, I realized it was Franco. “What the hell?” I murmured.

  “What?” Dom asked. “We’ll get you help.”

  “Dominick!” I called out but my voice was too weak to create much alarm. “Behind.. you.”

  “Franco!” Nadia yelled as Gianni dropped his phone.

  Before anyone could react, the second gunshot of the night rang out. Franco fell to the floor, releasing his gun and grasping his thigh. We all looked in the direction of the staircase. My father calmly placed his gun back in the waistband of his pants and came toward us.

  “Thanks,” Dominick whispered.

  My dad nodded as Antonio tended to Franco.

  “What were you thinking?” Antonio asked his son. “Why would you do this?”

  “I was protecting our family.” Franco winced. “Why are you siding with them?”

  My father crouched down beside me. “You’ve been hit.” He shook his head in disgust. “You shouldn’t have been here.”

  “I’m sorry.” I squeezed Nadia’s hand. “I had to come for her.”

  “Let’s get him outside,” my father instructed. “I’ll call our guy at the station. I want Vincenzo kept out of all of this.” He looked to Antonio. “I hit him in the leg on purpose. I didn’t have to.”

  “I know.” Antonio stared at Nadia, eyeing her up as he spoke to my dad. “I have a doctor who can handle this.”

  “He shot my son and would have taken out Dominick.” My father stood. “There won’t be any second chances. For either of you.”

  My brothers lifted me and helped me down the steps but once we got to the bottom, Nadia glanced upstairs. She hesitated, so I stopped.

  “Do you want to stay with them?” I asked.

  “What?” She looked at me with alarm in her expression. “No.”

  “We can arrange a meeting for you and Antonio,” Dominick offered. “When you’re ready.”

  “After tonight I may never be ready.” She sighed as we continued outside. “This was all a little too much.”

  I wondered how much was too much. “Does that include me?”

  Before she could answer, Tommy rushed toward me. Relief washed over his hardened face but I could tell he was pissed.

  “Uh oh!” Gianni held me steady. “You’re in trouble.”

  “Tommy.” I smiled through the stinging pain in my shoulder. “I borrowed the car.”

  “It’s your car.” He ran his hand through his hair. “Don’t ever do that to me again.” He carefully hugged me. “I’m glad you’re okay.”

  “Thank you.” The sounds of the sirens in the distance alerted us that help was on the way. “You two should go,” I said to my brothers. “You don’t need to be involved in this.”

  “Dad will handle it.” Dominick helped me sit on the step in front of the warehouse as I trembled. My body was going into shock. “We’re not leaving you.”

  There was no arguing with him. I didn’t have the energy but I wished they would go. Once the police arrived, they would have a field day with my brothers and father. They were always looking for a reason to bring them in for questioning. Antonio and Franco were probably already long gone through the back door. Now my family would be left with the consequences of all of our actions.

  Nadia sat down next to me, taking my hand in her blood stained one. Resting her head on my good shoulder, she said, “I won’t leave you either.”

  A COUPLE HOURS LATER, I sat in a private room in the hospital. They weren’t releasing me until tomorrow as a precaution. My mother made so much noise about how t
hey should treat me, they were afraid to let me go home. They kept me comfortable with pain meds but I was restless. My mother and Nadia hovered over me, so I convinced them to go get coffee. Nadia was exhausted. I’d have to get Tommy to take her home. She’d need a new guard.

  Dominick tapped on the door. “Can I come in?”

  “You’re back from the station already?” I glanced at my watch. “That was fast.”

  “Yeah, well, somehow Santino made that happen.”

  “Really?”

  “He has a knack for criminal defense.”

  “I know.”

  “Dad’s not going to like it.” Dominick rolled his eyes. “That’s a problem for another day.”

  “Do you think there will ever be a time when we don’t have these problems?” I asked. “Maybe the Marchellis could be normal business people?”

  “Wouldn’t that be something?”

  “You could be,” I suggested. “The construction company is so successful. All of your dealings are legal. I’m your attorney, I know.”

  “You’re a better man than I’ll ever be. Don’t you put yourself in that situation again, Harvard. Do you understand?”

  “You’re not as bad as you believe. You could have killed Antonio’s oldest son but you didn’t.”

  “If he would have killed you the outcome would not have been so good. He’d be dead and we’d be at war.”

  “I’m sorry I put myself in danger but glad you and Gianni were right behind me.”

  “You really like this woman, huh?”

  “Very much.”

  “Then I’ll let this time slide but if you ever do anything that stupid again, I’ll kill you myself.”

  “I love you too.”

  “I’m serious, Vince.” He took a deep breath. “When that gun went off and you hit the floor... fuck!”

  “I’m okay.”

  “I know,” he muttered. “I know.”

  “Can I come in?” Nadia stood in the doorway, looking worn. Even with no makeup and the slight circles under her eyes, she was still the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen.