Vendetta (WeHo Book 7)

by Sherryl Hancock

  “There she is!” Jacomo Falco called, smiling broadly at his daughter and grabbing her up in a bear hug. “And miss Savanna,” he said, moving to hug Savanna too.

  “Easy pop, don’t break her!” Lyric said, laughing.

  “She is too skinny!” Jacomo exclaimed, holding Savanna’s arms out to her sides, looking at her. “I bet the boys don’t like that!” Jacomo said, chuckling.

  Savanna and Lyric exchanged a look, Lyric rolled her eyes, shaking her head from behind her father. Lyric’s three brothers arrived shortly thereafter. Mario who was the youngest of the boys at thirty-three, classic tall dark and handsome described Mario perfectly, he was a patrol officer for the LAPD. Then there was Saldino, or Sal, the middle brother with sandy-brown hair like their mother’s had been and dark eyes. He was thirty-six, and already married with two kids. His wife was called Sara and their kids were both boys, who looked exactly like their father. Lastly, there was JJ, Jacomo Jr, the oldest at thirty-seven, he was well on his way to being a Lieutenant for the LAPD and a complete hound dog according to Lyric. His handsome looks and easy smile made him a real hit with the ladies. Jacomo was hoping that Savanna would be interested in either Mario or JJ, so he was always pleased when Lyric brought her to dinner.

  After dinner and a lot of good-natured ribbing, they all sat around the table having red wine that came from Falco vineyards in Sicily. It was a tradition that had been in place for many years. Lyric drank two glasses of the potent wine to gather her courage. Finally, she felt brave enough.

  “I have an announcement,” Lyric said, her eyes on Savanna.

  There was silence around the table, and every eye in the place was on her.

  “What is it Lirica?” Jacomo asked, using the Italian word for her name, which he often did.

  Lyric looked around at her family, her stomach in a huge knot, terrified that the smiling faces would soon turn to frowns or worse grimaces of disgust.

  “I’m in love,” she said then, her voice trembling.

  “What?” Jacomo asked. “You are in love with a boy that no one in the family has met?” he asked, his tone shocked.

  Lyric pressed her lips together, tears glazing her eyes. “You have met the person I’m in love with, Daddy,” she said, her tone soft.

  “What? When?” Jacomo asked, looking around at Lyric’s brothers to see if they knew who Lyric was talking about. They were all shaking their heads, looking as confused as he was.

  Lyric stood on unsteady legs, and stepped over to the chair Savanna sat in, putting her hand on Savanna’s shoulder, her look at her father pleading.

  Jacomo looked confused. He looked at Savanna and then back at Lyric.

  “What are you saying?” Jacomo asked his tone heavy.

  “I’m saying that I’m in love with Savanna,” Lyric said.

  “What!” Sal exploded. “Basta! This is not funny Lyric,” he said a frown on his lips.

  “Well, it’s a good thing I’m not joking then,” Lyric said, her look defiant.

  Sal’s mouth fell open then he stood and pulled his hand back, like he intended to hit Lyric. Savanna jumped to her feet, not about to watch that happen, but Lyric was faster, blocking her from interfering with an outstretched arm. She stared back at her brother, a challenge on her face.

  “Do it,” she growled. “But don’t think for a fucking second I won’t hit you back.”

  Sal gave a short sarcastic laugh.

  Lyric stared back at him, her look still openly defiant. “Try me,” she said, motioning to him with her fingertips.

  “Basta! Enough!” Jacomo said, taking control of the situation before his children came to blows. “Saladino, sit down!” he ordered, an order Sal complied with immediately. “Lyric, explain to me how this is possible.”

  Lyric looked over at Savanna, then moved to hold her chair for her until she was seated, then she sat back down. Jacomo took in the gallant gesture and glanced at his other sons, who were both watching their sister as well.

  “I don’t know how it’s possible, Dad,” Lyric said, her tone plaintive. “I just know that I love her,” she said, looking at Savanna, her eyes softening. “She’s my best friend and the very best thing in my life.”

  Jacomo looked at his daughter, his thoughts warring, but he could not deny how happy his daughter looked when he looked at Savanna.

  “And you?” he asked Savanna. “How do you feel about my Lirica?”

  “I love her more than I’ve ever loved anyone in my life,” Savanna said without hesitation, her eyes shining.

  Jacomo picked up his wine, draining the glass and pouring another.

  “We’re getting married, pop,” Lyric said then, causing him to pour more into his glass. Lyric looked on, amused. “And we’re adopting Cody too.”

  Jacomo looked surprised. “Then we will need to meet this child,” he said, nodding.

  “We can do that,” Lyric said, her eyes going to her brothers. “But I’m not bringing her here if there’s even the slightest chance of any kind of negative reaction.”

  JJ and Mario both held their hands up, shaking their heads.

  “Got no problem with that, baby sis,” Mario said.

  “Me either, Lyr,”JJ said.

  Lyric’s eyes fell on Sal then. “What about you?” she asked, her tone sharp.

  Sal looked back at her, his lips twitching in consideration. “I would never treat a child badly.”

  “Well, she’s going to be my child, and I’ll kill anyone that tries to hurt her. She’s had enough pain her life,” Lyric said, her tone strong.

  “Lirica, no threats,” Jacomo said, his tone chiding.

  The following week, Savanna and Lyric brought Cody to the house. She was expectedly nervous even though Savanna and Lyric had done everything they could to calm her down. Her nervousness caused her to be even more shy than she usually was. As they walked into the house, Lyric saw that her father and brothers were all dressed in suits. Jacomo stepped forward, looking at Cody, his brown eyes kind.

  “Dad, this is Cody,” Lyric said. “Cody, this is my father, Jacomo Falco.”

  Cody extended a hand that shook like a leaf in a stiff wind. Jacomo reached out his big hands, enclosing Cody’s hand in his. He then leaned down and kissed her on the cheek.

  “Pleased to meet you piccolo,” he said very softly then.

  Cody looked back at him, her eyes wide. “What is a piccolo?” she asked him.

  “It’s Italian for ‘little one,’ ” he told her.

  “You’re Italian?” Cody asked Lyric, surprised by that.

  Lyric grinned. “Yep, we’re Sicilian.”

  “Which is the best kind of Italian,” Mario said, winking at Cody.

  Cody grinned, liking Mario immediately.

  “That’s Mario,” Lyric said. “He’s the youngest of the boys.”

  Mario stepped forward, going down to one knee, taking Cody’s hand and kissing it gallantly.

  “Incantata,” he said to her.

  Cody widened her eyes “Which means…” she said already recognizing Italian.

  “Enchanted,” Mario said, winking at her again.

  “Incantata,” Cody repeated, her accent perfect.

  “A Sicilian in the making,” Mario said, grinning.

  “Move,” JJ said then, pushing his brother aside with a laugh. He bent down putting his face close to Cody’s. “I’m JJ,” he said, smiling at her.

  “What do the Js stand for?” Cody asked, already finding her confidence with these men.

  “Jacomo Junior,” JJ said, winking at her. “But you can call me uncle.”

  “Uncle?” Cody queried, looking back at Lyric.

  Lyric nodded. “Yeah, these three will be your uncles, Code.”

  Cody looked back at them as JJ stepped back. It was obvious she was trying to assimilate this information. Then her eyes fell on Saldino and she stared at him, blinking a couple of times. She could see that he was less excited about the prospect of a niece. She�
��d heard Lyric and Savanna talking about one of Lyric’s brothers being more difficult than the others, she imagined that this was the one.

  Gathering her courage, she took a couple of steps to walk up to Saldino, and extended her hand to him. “I’m Cody,” she said, her eyes looking directly up into his, searching his face.

  Saldino looked surprised by her action then he looked down at her extended hand, and saw how it was shaking, even though she was trying to be brave. Looking back at her eyes then, he could see the fear of rejection in them, it screamed out at him and touched his heart in a way he’d never thought was possible. He shook his head slowly, and actually saw Lyric tense, then he leaned down, and took the girl into his arms gently, hugging her to him.

  “I’m your uncle Sal,” he said softly to her, feeling her arms wrap around his neck.

  In that moment, Sal became her favorite uncle.

  “Cody,” Sal called to her from the door to the atrium. He nodded toward the waiting room.

  She nodded, stubbing out her cigarette and walked toward him. Sal looked at this girl that had been his niece for eight years; he’d seen a lot of changes in her. She’d grown into a confident, strong young woman, and he didn’t think he could be more proud of her. He was worried that she was so calm at that point, knowing how desperately she loved Lyric. He stayed close to her as they walked into the waiting room. The doctor was just coming out.

  Cody moved to stand with Savanna, her arm around her mother’s shoulders. She felt Savanna leaning heavily on her. Gritting her teeth she forced herself to stay calm, she needed to be here for Savanna, she knew that was what Lyric would want.

  “Your wife is out of surgery, we did the best we could to repair the damage caused by the bullets. There was severe damage, I’m afraid,” he said, his tone somber. “And your wife has slipped into a coma.” He shook his head. “I’m sorry to say that I don’t believe she will recover.”

  Savanna collapsed then, and Cody caught her as she passed out. JJ picked her up and carried her over to one of the couches, even as the doctor called a nurse.

  He looked at Cody as she turned back to him. “I’m really sorry,” he told her. “I wish I had better news.”

  Cody nodded, feeling like her world was spinning off its axis and there was nothing she could do to stop it. She stumbled blindly to the main hospital door, panting with the effort to control her emotions. She got outside and remembered that she didn’t have her car with her. She ran out to the street and hailed a cab.

  An hour later, a frantic McKenna walked into the house calling Cody’s name. Jet had called her when Cody left the hospital.

  She found Cody sitting on her bed; the room was dead silent, it was eerie. Cody was sitting with her knees up to her chest, her arms draped over them. It was obvious she had been drinking; there was an empty bottle of tequila on the floor.

  “Cody?” McKenna queried softly.

  Cody was staring at a spot on the bed, but McKenna was pretty sure she wasn’t seeing anything. She climbed onto the bed and knelt in front of Cody’s knees. She then moved closer, between Cody’s parted legs, taking Cody’s face in her hands. Cody’s eyes shifted to hers then, and suddenly it was like she was seeing her for the first time. In what seemed like slow motioned, Cody crumpled against her and started sobbing. McKenna held her, her heart breaking as Cody cried hysterically, holding onto her like she was drowning in her sorrow. McKenna did everything she could to calm her.

  Cody suddenly began panting, gasping for breath, and McKenna knew she was having a panic attack.

  “Breathe, babe, you have to breathe…” McKenna told her, her lips to Cody’s ear. “You have to breathe, baby… You have to take it slow…”

  Cody shook her head, still breathing in shallow breaths.

  McKenna took her face in her hands again. “Baby, listen to me,” she said, her face an inch from Cody’s. “You have to breathe slow,” she said, her tone stern. “Slow down, Cody, slow down…” she said, over and over again until she saw Cody’s breathing easing.

  “They killed her,” Cody said, her tone devastated. “They killed her…” she said, her breath becoming ragged again. “Oh God… they killed her….” she said, fresh tears starting again.

  McKenna spent hours that night going between holding Cody and trying to calm her down. Cody finally fell into an exhausted sleep, and McKenna lay on the bed holding her, with her own tears sliding down her temples.

  The next morning, McKenna got out of bed carefully, trying not to wake Cody. She called and talked to Jet who had stayed at the hospital.

  “How is Savanna?” McKenna asked.

  “Catatonic,” Jet said. “This is so awful, McKenna,” she said, her tone sad. “If Lyric dies, we’ll lose Cody, you have to know that.”

  “That’s what I’m afraid of, yes,” McKenna said, knowing it was true. “What do they think Lyric’s chances are?”

  “Slim to none,” Jet said, the answer making her sick to her stomach.

  “Oh God…” McKenna said. “What can I do?”

  “Just hold onto Cody tight,” Jet said. “That’s all you can do right now.”

  “Should I bring her there?” McKenna asked.

  “If she’s up to it,” Jet said. “If nothing else, she needs to say goodbye,” Jet said, her voice breaking on the last word.

  McKenna had tears in her eyes immediately at hearing it. She hung up with Jet a few moments later. Walking back into the bedroom, she looked at Cody lying on the bed. Tears slid silently down her cheeks as she imagined how Cody would react if Lyric died. She knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that they’d lose Cody too.

  At the hospital, Jet was busy texting every contact she had. She wanted to know who had pulled the trigger on Lyric Falco, and she was leaning hard on every informant she had, threatening everything she could think of to get the information she needed. She was damned if someone was going to take out someone like Lyric Falco and get away with it. She looked over to where Savanna sat, she was leaning against Lyric’s father staring unseeing at the floor. Her father, Edward, finally made it to the hospital, having been in New York when he’d heard the news about his daughter-in-law. He walked over to where Savanna sat, took her into his arms and she began crying hysterically again.

  Savanna was sure she was living in a nightmare and that eventually she’d wake up to Lyric’s face telling her it was just a bad dream. This couldn’t really be happening, Lyric was fine, she was just not home yet… No they were at the hospital… Why were they here again? No, it wasn’t for Lyric, it was for something else… It couldn’t be for Lyric… They were going on vacation… They were going to Sicily, Lyric was taking her there…

  A little while later, they told Lyric’s family that they could see her. She was still in a coma with no signs of recovery. Jacomo Falco supported Savanna on one side and Edward supported her on the other as they walked to the room where Lyric lay hooked up to machines. Savanna stumbled when she saw Lyric, reaching out blindly as Mario caught her. He helped her over to the chair near the bed and sat her down. Savanna was breathing heavily, her eyes glassy.

  Mario, Saldino, and JJ all leaned down, one by one and kissed their baby sister’s cheek. Savanna had begun crying softly, tears sliding down her cheeks. The men left, they couldn’t handle seeing their sister so broken. Edward hugged Savanna, telling her he’d be just outside. Jacomo was the last to leave. He leaned down to kiss both of Lyric’s cheeks, talking to her softly in Italian, tears on his own cheeks as he hugged Savanna.

  Savanna sat in the room, looking at Lyric and feeling like she was dying inside with every beep of the monitors. She cried until there just weren’t anymore tears, then she sat, concentrating on her breathing, knowing she needed to breathe. Every so often she would close her eyes slowly and a tear would escape Then she would open them again and stare at the floor, just trying to remember to breathe.

  When Cody woke up that morning, she saw McKenna lying on the bed next to her. For a second she f
orgot about what was happening, and then it hit her again and she closed her eyes against the agony that crashed back in.

  McKenna reached her hand out, touching Cody’s cheek, wanting desperately to take the pain away for her, but knowing there was no way to do that.

  “I need to go back to the hospital,” Cody said after a few minutes. “I need to go…” she said, moving to sit up.

  “Okay,” McKenna said, “but you need to eat something, Cody.”

  “No,” Cody said, shaking her head as she got up and pulled her jeans on. “I need to go now.”

  “Cody…” McKenna said, her voice tentative.

  Cody whirled around. “I’m going, so either you’re coming or you’re not,” she said, and headed for the door, picking up her keys as she did.

  “Cody!” McKenna exclaimed, jumping up and trying to throw on pants and go after Cody at the same time.

  She got to the garage just as Cody’s Ninja screeched out of the driveway.

  “Damnit!” McKenna yelled.

  After closing the garage door, she walked back into the house and called for a Lyft driver. It took her another hour to get to the hospital. As she walked through the hospital door, a man approached her and grabbed her arm, she felt something hard stuck against her side.

  “Just come with me, juerita…” he said, his Mexican accent clear.

  McKenna glanced around at the people in the hospital.

  “Say anything and you’ll be the next one dead,” he told her in a growl.

  McKenna nodded and walked with the man. They got into a car that sped off.

  Cody walked into the room Lyric was in, seeing Savanna sitting in the chair looking completely spaced out. She walked over to Savanna and leaned down to hug her.

  “Mom?” she queried.

  Savanna’s eyes suddenly focused on Cody. She drew in a deep breath and the tears started all over again. Cody held her in her arms, feeling her heart torn out by her mother’s complete devastation.

  “I can’t live without her…” Savanna said. “She’s my life, Cody… She’s my life… I can’t live without her… Oh God, Cody…” she exclaimed, crying harder. “I can’t, I can’t…”