This is why Serena kept hanging around; she was being instructed by Medlov.
“But, unfortunately, you’re smarter than Serena and played the game a little better than she did, which led me to plan B.” He pauses, making sure I’m listening closely. “There’s a bounty on Adriano Montesi’s head, courtesy of our late friend, Fat Sal, who actually asked me to eliminate Adriano right before his own death and put me in charge of releasing the money. It’s one hundred thousand dollars in cash, which isn’t much to me but is a fortune for most hunters. I won’t offer the bounty, provided you convince Adriano to sell Club 7 to me.”
I snort as a response. “You think that scares me? Offer the bounty...”
A smile tilts his lips, a knowing smile that makes my insides twist into a knot. “Somehow, I knew that wouldn’t persuade you. Perhaps the threat of prison will?”
I frown, not knowing where he’s going with this.
“Interesting fact is that when we took Rosalia earlier tonight, Olek found a man named Santino in one of your cells.”
“So?”
His brows hit his hairline. “So you don’t know that Santino is FBI?”
I don’t flinch and calmly retort, “Yes, I do.”
“Oh, this is fun,” he jokes. “Well, meeting Santino led to plan C, which is the current plan – for your information. See, even the Syndicate is bound to make a mistake at one point. And your mistake was Santino because”—he flashes me a black, rectangular device that looks like a USB stick—“I have, here in my hands, the only piece of evidence available that ties someone to the Syndicate. And that someone is you. Santino had been recording your conversations for months on a nifty little gadget that your team never discovered on him, but we found some interesting things.”
Sweat forms on my palms.
“This is a recording of you talking to Santino. Of you admitting, on tape, that you’re part of the Chicago Syndicate. No one has ever obtained hard proof like that about any of the Syndicate’s members.”
I swallow through my dry throat as the situation becomes more problematic with every word he speaks.
“To sum it all up for you, since you have a really bewildered look on your face: I want you to tell Adriano to sell me that club. And you’ll make it happen or else this wonderful, incriminating tape I found will go to the DA, and not the DA that works for the Syndicate. No, the one that isn’t in the pocket of the Mafia. So you see, Camilla, the Syndicate has finally met its match and must choose to sell me the club or you will go to prison. And I swear to god, I’ll kill you if Adriano double-crosses me. Your choice. I personally like to believe that Adriano Montesi would move heaven and earth to prevent you from being locked up.”
“So this was the plan all along? The commotion you caused at Club 7 earlier tonight, where your men died, was just a ruse to confuse us? You purposely let your men get killed?”
“Ah, well, you sacrifice a few for the greater good.”
Medlov’s plan is much bigger than what I anticipated. Starting with turning that recording over to the authorities, his plan sets in motion retaliation that could bring us down like a house of cards. I failed Adriano; this is what he warned me about. I should’ve never talked to Santino, because then, this wouldn’t be happening.
“So why am I still here if you need me to talk to Adriano?”
“Don’t play stupid. You know that I need him to be vulnerable. And without you, he’s just that. I only let him leave here tonight because I want him to suffer for a few hours. Then he’ll be more inclined to sell, just to have his precious Cam back.”
So I only have a few hours to get my hands on that device.
CHAPTER 26
Adriano
I grimace as Marc Calderone, the Syndicate’s doctor who’s also James’s brother, prods my shoulder to get the bullet out while I lie on my stomach on a stretcher in his house in the Loop. He has a surgery room prepped for incidents like this.
“Fuck!” I shout.
“Well, you didn’t want anesthesia,” Marc reprimands.
“Because I can’t be out at the moment. Hurry and give me some painkillers.”
“Got it.” He shows me tweezers holding the bloody bullet before clanking it onto the tray. Then he starts cleaning and dressing the wound.
It hurts like a motherfucker, but my thoughts are primarily with Cam.
“Luca, give me an update,” I request.
“No trace has been found of her in Wicker Park. All roads are being watched, and Wade even had road blocks set up, so Medlov can’t get out of the Loop with her.” Concern threads his words.
“We need to talk to Serena.”
“All done, Adriano,” Marc says, so I sit up.
“Thanks.”
“Take these painkillers.” He hands me two pills and a cup of water, which I down. Then he leaves and returns with a clean dress shirt for me to wear.
“Let’s go, Luca.”
“Adriano, come back tomorrow so I can check to see how you’re healing,” Marc states.
“Yeah, okay,” I answer absentmindedly and charge out.
***
Luca doesn’t lose sight of me for a second as I storm inside the cell holding Serena, who’s sitting on a bed.
She startles when she sees my thunderous expression and that I’m carrying my gun in hand.
“I’ve been lenient with you so far because we’re old friends, but now I have a big problem, so you will tell me what you and Medlov planned and for how long.”
Serena opens her mouth, but I press the barrel of my gun to her temple.
“And don’t even think about lying. I talked to Medlov, you bitch. And I know that you met with him this morning.” The secret meeting Cam and Wade followed Serena to in Chinatown.
Her eyes betray her guilt, and I have my confirmation.
“Speak! I’m not a patient man.” I push my piece into her forehead. “Cam is missing! So don’t think I won’t kill you. It was Medlov you talked to this morning in Chinatown, wasn’t it?”
“Yes.” She sneers at me, realizing that her coy act isn’t going to work with me anymore, and she finally bares her teeth. “Why are you so enraged, Adriano? Because Cam’s missing or because a Ukrainian bested you? You and she have this so-called epic love, but it was so simple for me to stir up trouble between you two.”
“The bitch comes out to play,” I hiss.
“When all that lust is gone? What do you and she even have?”
I disregard her attempt to change the subject and refuse to answer, because Serena is not worthy of a response. She could never comprehend the tie I have to Cam. It’s something words can’t express. Something I’ve never had with another woman. It’s the most real thing I’ve ever felt in my entire life. She’s bleeding through my veins. She’s a part of my soul. She belongs to me.
“The only reason I’m not putting a bullet in your head right now is because that’s Cam’s prerogative. You’re fucking stupid. Medlov only used you to get into my system. What was your plan?”
“He wanted me to find a window of opportunity for him to capture Cam. And now, I don’t know what’s happened since you’ve kept me locked up.”
“Adriano, she’s of no use,” Luca interrupts. “James and the team are back in your office.”
I make a scoffing sound and stride out. Every passing second of this night makes me more restless, and I’m becoming increasingly high strung as different scenarios blaze across my brain.
Dove sei, amore mio? Where are you, my love?
***
Riled up like I’ve never been before, I’m in my office, pacing in front of my desk. I press the button on my phone to check the time; it’s three a.m. now, and the Halloween party is dying down. Several Capi and guards, Carmine, James, and Luca are all victims of my stressed mood. For three hours, I’ve been in the unknown regarding Cam’s whereabouts.
“So all of this was just to get Cam?” James asks Luca.
“We think so,” Luca replies. “At leas
t, it appears that way.” Then he looks at me, encouraging me to address the men.
“The lack of communication in this group is fucking infuriating. Cam has been taken because of our stupidity. At least tell me you got me what I asked for?”
I ordered my team to capture Maxim’s family because I need leverage when I interrogate him. Medlov’s underboss, Maxim, who broke into my office earlier tonight, is my only chance to uncover information quickly since he’s the one Ukrainian I have in my custody.
“Yes. His wife and toddler are right outside the door,” James answers.
“Bring them in. And someone get Maxim from his cell downstairs.” I set my weapon on my desk as the door opens, and a black-haired woman with a pale complexion joins us, clutching her toddler with curls to her chest.
“Take the child,” I say to Luca.
“No! No! Who are you?” Two tiny pleats appear between her brows.
“Take the kid,” I repeat.
She scoots backward against a soldier, who grasps her shoulders while Luca calmly pries the child from her arms and disappears into the security room.
“If you hurt my child, my husband will kill you. I’ll kill you, Italian,” she yells with a meaningful undertone.
“Ah, so you do know who I am and what this is about. Then let me inform you that I have your husband. His little invasion of my club earlier tonight didn’t end well for him.”
She gasps and promptly ceases struggling. “What?!”
“I have your husband.”
She’s distracted by Luca, who returns alone.
“What did you do with my child? And where’s Maxim?”
“Well, Medlov and Maxim took something of value from me – my girlfriend, so I returned the favor by capturing you.” I unhurriedly unbutton my sleeves. “Now, we can do this the easy way or the hard way.” I catch her eyes and start rolling up one of my sleeves to the elbow. “Where is Camilla Guillermo?”
“I have no idea,” she retorts.
“But you didn’t flinch at all when I said I have your husband, so please don’t insult me by playing ignorant.”
My office door opens, and Maxim is pushed inside with his hands cuffed in front of him.
“Oh my god, Maxim...” His wife sobs when she’s confronted with his injured state. His thigh has been bandaged over his shredded, bloodied pants.
Maxim’s expression hardens, and he stalks forward but is held back by James. “Let her go! She’s innocent.”
“No one is innocent.” Drumming my fingers against my biceps, I say to Luca, “Plastic?”
“I think we’ll need it,” he replies threateningly and instructs a guard to fetch it from the security room.
“What do you want?” Maxim’s tone is hesitant.
“Now you want to talk?” I finish my other sleeve and leisurely lean back as emotions battle inside me. “It’s too late. You take one of mine; I take your entire family. I warned you not to cross me!”
“Fuck you!” the wife yells. “You probably deserved it.”
“You’re making it quite easy for me to torture you,” I hiss at her.
“Don’t touch her, Montesi.” Maxim attempts to break free, but James smashes the butt of his gun against the back of his head, causing him to sway dizzily.
“I only want to hear the location of where Cam’s being held coming out of your mouth, Maxim,” I comment as a guard hands me a roll of blue plastic, which Luca and I spread out in the shape of a square on the floor.
Then I retrieve my gun from my desk and fists his wife’s hair, forcing her onto her knees in the center of the plastic rug, not thinking about the excruciating pain in my shoulder.
“Ow!” Her hands fly to mine, but I control her easily.
“Yakiv will kill Camilla if you hurt any of us.” Maxim’s face is completely ashen.
Forcefully, I release her as one of my guards takes my position, and I move to Maxim in two long steps and hit him with my fist, knocking him back against James, who holds him upright.
“Don’t you fucking dare threaten Cam again! I’ve been patient so far, but you’re pushing me. Where’s Cam?”
He licks the blood from his lips. “I’ll never tell. You’re not going to kill a woman.”
Slowly, I tilt my head to the side, eyes boring into his. “Execute her.”
His brows hit his hairline. “Nooo!”
I turn sideways, and the guard centers the barrel of his gun on her temple and pulls the trigger. Her body sags to the ground. Then I spin around as Maxim shouts profanities while sobbing, but my next statement has him gaping at me in astonishment.
“Your child is next,” I whisper.
“You fucking bastard! You’re lying.” His head whips around, trying to locate his daughter.
I stroll into the security room and pick up the toddler, who surprises me by placing her tiny arms around my neck and gleaming widely.
Damn, she’s innocent.
However, I’m over the brink of sanity; rational thoughts are being overridden by my fear. And I return to Maxim.
“Please don’t hurt my child,” he begs, observing her with terror.
My gun is dangling in my hand while I cuddle his kid. “Then speak. Tell me where Cam is, because I’m positive that your boss has her.” I look him straight in the eye. “You underestimate the lengths I would go to in order to find Cam.”
The baby smiles and coos, and I smile back to make her feel at ease, as if nothing out of the ordinary is going on.
“Okay...okay!” Maxim says in a rush. “If he has Camilla, then she’s probably being held at his estate.”
I immediately glance at Luca with an I told you so expression.
“Don’t hurt my baby. Please! You’re fucking insane!”
I ignore his pathetic pleas. “Which estate? The mansion in Ukrainian Village?”
“Yes. That’s the one.”
“Where in that mansion does he hold captives?”
“T-there are rooms on the second floor that have mirrored windows, and there are also cottages on the estate.”
“Where are the cottages?”
“Behind the garden in a small forest.”
“How many guards are posted at that estate in total?”
He glances at his baby and confesses with gritted teeth, “Seventy-five.”
Fuck, that’s an army.
“Why did he take Cam?” I ask.
“He knows Cam is important, and he wants to buy Club 7. He wants you out of this area.”
“Why?”
“He was supposed to get Club 7 when Sal died.”
“But how can Cam help him?” Luca adds.
“She’s the most valuable leverage he could have against you.”
He’s not telling the entire story, but I have enough intel for now. “I believe it’s time the Ukrainians learn how insane I truly am. Because I vow to you that I’ll eliminate each and every one of you.” I smirk at his toddler. “But not the innocent.” And I hand her over to another soldier. “Return the child home safely. And take two girls with you to help.”
“What if no one’s there?” the soldier inquires.
Luca replies, “Then you take her to an orphanage.”
“Yes, sir.”
Maxim’s quiet as his stare follows his daughter out of the room.
“That was the last time you’ll ever see your child,” I explain to Maxim cruelly, and I tell my team, “Clean up the body, and take any Ukrainians you catch to the warehouse. They’ll be killed there.” Then I address Maxim again, “Medlov wanted a war? He’s going to get a war.”
Right before the members of the Syndicate disbar, I can’t refrain from reproving my men. “By the way, my Capi and guards, don’t think you’re indispensable. If we don’t get Cam back soon, I’ll replace all of you. Get out of my sight!”
They rustle around and set off through the now-empty dance club to dispose of the body.
James, Luca, Carmine, and I are left, and I agitatedly
light a cigarette. The smoke burns down my throat to my lungs as I drop down into my desk chair. Exhaustion pulls at me, but I shake it off because I can’t waste a second.
“I need to know the layout of that estate,” I start, but James cuts me off.
“And then what? We have nada, not enough soldiers working right at this moment to attack that mansion.” He leans forward opposite me with both palms on my desk. “What the fuck happened? I made you Capo crimine because I thought you could protect her.”
I take a drag of the cig and place it in the ashtray. “Don’t—”
“Don’t what?” James waves his hands in the air in pure annoyance and rounds the desk, so I surge to my feet. “You were supposed to keep her safe!” And he grabs my collar.
“Remember your rank! I am your boss,” I retort.
Both of us have lost grip on our emotions as our angry stares clash.
“Stop this.” Luca forces us apart, pressing a palm against both of our chests. “Fighting one another is not helping Cam at all. We don’t have much time. James, stand down. And Adriano, for fuck’s sake, breathe. You haven’t taken a normal breath since we left Ukrainian Village.”
I reclaim my seat and lean my elbows on the desk, dropping my head in my hands and running them through my hair. A calming breath is out of reach. “Where’s Wade?”
“He’s on the way,” Carmine answers. “Why?”
“Is anyone else wondering why Wade’s doing so much for us? He’s an associate, but we treat him like a member, and he’s kept up-to-date about us at all times nowadays. I want to make him a first Capo. We can use his connections as long as he agrees to stay in the CIA; however, the CIA can’t know he’s defected to us. I need to expand the team anyway, and he’s a good fit. This will save me and Luca a lot of work. Wade is authoritative and influential and can instruct the captains.”
“Good choice. I trust him, and we need his connections on a government level. The liaison can only aid us, provided he isn’t playing us.” Luca pins me with a questioning gaze.
“He’s not. He’s mentioned in passing how he has grievances with his employer. It was probably a hint.”
“I vote to bring him in right now,” Carmine advises. “Maybe he has the means to get us into that mansion. Henry and Wade work well together.”
For Cam (Chicago Syndicate Book 4) Page 18
