[Made Men 6] The Root of All Evil

by Dixie Lynn Dwyer

  “Hey.” She reached back to caress where he’d spanked her.

  “I love giving you a good spanking more, so move it, woman,” he scolded.

  She hurried out of the room. Andreas laughed, and so did Giuseppe. Dominick exhaled.

  “We can’t fight it either, Dominick. She’s incredible,” Andreas said.

  They all agreed and got ready for the dinner party at Club Merchant.

  Chapter 13

  “We need to talk. Now,” Fedarro said to Dominick, Andreas, and Giuseppe.

  Dominick looked toward Train and Brew, who were standing nearby. He caught their attention, pointed at his eyes, and then at Giada, indicating for them to watch over her, and both men nodded. They all headed out of the main area where it was less crowded and to one of the rooms.

  “What’s going on?” Andreas asked as Fedarro and Mateus joined them.

  “Vinny called. He was checking on a potential problem with one of the guys we count on to watch the truck shipments when a trailer pulled in he didn’t recognize. Anyway, Vinny had Morano’s guy Corrano with him, and then they were going to head here afterward, but when he started asking about the shipment, the guy there got all nervous and tried blowing it off,” Fedarro stated.

  “So what was in it? He found out right?” Dominick asked.

  “Women.”

  “What?” Giuseppe asked.

  “A fucking trailer of women. Some looked half dead from malnourishment, others battered and, Vinny said, definitely raped. Like sex slaves of some shit. Trafficking women is bad, evil, dirty business that we’ve avoided and helped destroy in our area. This is serious.”

  “What the fuck?” Dominick raised his voice with his hands on his hips and began to pace.

  “I know. This is fucking bad. We couldn’t exactly call the cops because of the other things we have there, but either someone is planting them for us to get busted or we didn’t really have full control of that operation there. Vinny thinks the latter,” Mateus stated.

  “Why? That’s been a warehouse of ours for years,” Giuseppe added.

  “Exactly, and when Vinny started questioning the guy, he rambled on about getting paid on the side, and some big shot from out of the country, Cuba or some shit, paid him and a few other men to do these shipments,” Mateus told them.

  “This could have landed all of us in fucking jail,” Dominick said to them, and they all agreed.

  “Where are the women now? Vinny got them help? Someplace safe?” Andreas asked.

  “Adelina had a hookup in the NYPD. They’re all at the hospital after the truck was reported sitting in an abandoned parking lot, a few blocks away from the ER,” Mateus said, and Dominick exhaled.

  “Are you thinking it was Calvarro? We know he’s dabbled in sex trafficking for years. Could be he was trying to continue that business since we took the importing stuff out from under him or wanted to get us busted? I’m thinking either one is fucking unacceptable. He’s a problem,” Dominick stated.

  “He’s a serious problem, so much so that I’ve heard from Dmitri, who heard from Nicolai, that there’s buzz of some fucking asshole making deals, finagling shit to take us out,” Fedarro told him.

  “Take us out? Who the fuck would that be?” Dominick asked.

  “Don’t know, but we need to figure this shit out fast and decide what to do about Calvarro. At this point any of our enemies could strike and blindside us. We don’t know who set out to destroy this operation and joint deal, but we’d better figure it out fast, or it could be disastrous,” Fedarro said to him.

  “Agreed. Maybe we need to up the security guys and pull in more seasoned military men from Blood Line Securities instead of the regulars. Every shipment in and out needs to be verified and checked before it even enters the gates of all the warehouses,” Andreas said to them.

  “Agreed. It’s going to take extra time but will be well worth it. I’d say watch yourselves and keep your eyes and ears open. Someone wants this deal, our business destroyed. That isn’t going to happen,” Fedarro said firmly.

  Dominick swallowed hard. His gut clenched. Who was initiating this attack on them, and why?

  * * * *

  Giada glanced down at her cell phone and saw that it was Uncle Les calling. She walked from the room to the hallway and answered. “Hello?”

  “Giada, I need a favor.”

  She felt the hand on her shoulder. It was Brew. “I’m okay, Brew. Just taking the call in here where it’s quieter.”

  “Who is it?” he asked.

  “Uncle Les.” She rolled her eyes. “Let me take this back here, okay?”

  “Whatever.” Brew walked down the hall to the entryway and stood guard. She stepped to the side right out of sight of him.

  “What’s going on? I’m at a party right now.”

  “I know. Club Merchant. I’m in a jam. Any way I can get a hundred dollars from you?”

  “A hundred? For what?”

  “I kind of made a bet, and well, I need a hundred to cover things.”

  “I’m at a party, Uncle Les.”

  “I know. You don’t have to leave the party. Just meet me.”

  “Where?” she asked, looking around her.

  “The exit door by the ladies’ room.”

  She looked back to where Brew was. He was going to be pissed and so were her men if they knew that Uncle Les had asked her for money. He never seemed to have any and always asked her for help. The man was obsessed with making it big and doing it fast. His life was a mess. He’d never really accomplished anything because his focus was always money, money, money, the next big deal, a way to hit it big.

  “This is the last time, Uncle Les.”

  “Okay. I promise. Just come to the exit door—alone.”

  He didn’t have to worry about that. She wouldn’t have Brew come with her and then tell her men she’d given her uncle a hundred dollars and then hear them reprimand her and get upset. They already didn’t like her uncle.

  She hurried down the hallway and to the exit door. She pulled the money from her purse and then opened the door. The second it opened, Uncle Les pulled her out and took her hand.

  “What are you doing?” she demanded.

  “Saving you. Making things right. We’re going to be rich, Giada, rich, and you’ll be well taken care of. He can’t wait to make you his. He doesn’t even care about your indiscretions.”

  “Have you been drinking? What in God’s name are you—”

  She felt the prick to her neck, turned, and saw some big, very tan man standing there. He caught her and lifted her up into his arms as her body went numb.

  “Move,” he said.

  An SUV pulled up slowly, quietly and they took her into the back seat, Uncle Les, too.

  “Stop!” she heard Brew yell, and then gunfire went off around her. She screamed out for help but couldn’t move.

  “No. No please don’t do this. Brew, help me!” she screamed and saw the back door to Merchant shove open, and men, Train and others, run out firing their weapons. One of the men taking her got hit as the doors closed and the SUV sped off.

  She felt the tears roll down her cheeks as she stared at Uncle Les, who now looked a little scared. He tapped her hand.

  “It’s the right thing to do. To save you, Giada. You’ll see.”

  * * * *

  “I want everyone on this. Everyone!” Dominick yelled as they all gathered around the back room at Club Merchant.

  “Her own fucking uncle was in on whatever the fuck is happening. That asshole. I didn’t like him from the start,” Brew said as he sat in the chair and Collin Fiorre took care of the flesh wound Brew had gotten as the men who’d taken Giada fired upon him.

  “We’re checking out all the places we can for the guy that Train shot. He’ll need serious medical attention,” Royce told them.

  “I want that guy from the warehouse brought in for questioning. This has something to do with Giada being taken, as well. Someone, Calvarro or so
meone else, is behind this,” Dominick said to them.

  “Agreed. We can try to push and put the word out, too, on this. Everything we can, Dominick,” Fedarro said to him.

  “What do we have to go by from the guy at the warehouse?” Andreas asked.

  “He said the guy who offered him and others money was Cuban or something. Not from around here,” Mateus said to them.

  Andreas looked at Royce. “We have to do everything we can to find her, and since we don’t know who is behind this, we need to backtrack and investigate all angles, aspects, everything. I’m thinking all this shit started happening around the takeover of the cigar industry, importing and exporting. Plus, we got involved with Giada, and Calvarro’s cousins just happened to be starting investment in her bank. I want a full investigation on them, too. I want every single client she has been in contact with, every appointment with every potential client in the last year.”

  “I can assist with that. Her boss, Davis, would know. Maybe Royce can find Monterro Spain. He was fired after what happened with Giada. He could have gotten paid to ensure it was Giada who worked with Alajandro and Toro, if this is all connected to Calvarro,” Brew added.

  ‘We’ll get on it now, Andreas,” Royce said, and he and Train exited the room.

  Dominick looked at Andreas and Giuseppe as the others made plans and started doing their thing to find Giada and quickly.

  “We’ll find her, and when we do, whoever is responsible will go down,” Fedarro promised him, and Dominick nodded.

  His worry was for Giada. She was petite, feminine, and from the surveillance tapes, it looked as if they’d drugged her.

  “Whoever did this might have known her capabilities with martial arts and self-defense. They drugged her immediately,” Dominick stated.

  “Definitely why they did it, which leads back to Alajandro, Toro, and Calvarro,” Andreas said.

  “Grab them and bring them in for questioning, too,” Giuseppe stated firmly.

  Then Dominick’s cell phone rang. He looked at it and then up at everyone as he answered. “Dmitri?”

  “Tell me what you need. Where you are with this?”

  “Nowhere. We’re banging our heads together wondering where this is coming from.” He explained where they were and about dealing with Calvarro and his cousins.

  “I can find out exactly where those women were taken from and who was behind that shipment,” Dmitri told him.

  “You can?” he asked, shocked.

  “I will look into that. I’m sending Andriy, Paulo, and Hadeon there. They should arrive in a few hours. They will be of great use to you.”

  “Thank you, Dmitri. We appreciate your help in this.”

  “Rayanna is concerned for Giada. Anything you need we will help with.”

  “Thank you, and we’ll keep you posted,” Dominick stated and ended the call. “Dmitri is sending Hadeon, Paulo and Andriy.”

  “Good. We’ll need them. They have resources we don’t. Anyone can have her and take her anywhere,” Giuseppe said.

  “Uncle Les’s house. Let me grab some guys and head there to look around and see if he left any indication of his plan. Maybe we’ll get lucky.” Andreas headed out of the room.

  “Who wants to go along for a ride to Cha Cha Cabana with Giuseppe and me? We want answers, and we want them now,” Dominick said.

  Fedarro and Mateus nodded. “We’ll get things ready,” Fedarro said, and they prepared to confront Calvarro and find out what he knew about Giada’s abduction.

  He was prepared to do what was necessary to get the fucker to talk.

  * * * *

  Giada was conscious, but she couldn’t move a muscle. She was petrified at the situation, not knowing what was happening, who these men were, and how her uncle could be part of this. She listened as Uncle Les spoke to the men.

  “What are we doing next? Where’s the money? Are you taking her to Cuba?” he rambled on.

  “Just shut up,” one of the men yelled at him. He was facing forward, holding a large gun, some semiautomatic type of rifle in his arms, and it leaned against his shoulder.

  “I was told I would get money for bringing her to you. He said he would take care of her and make it so the Coglonie men would never get their hands on her again.”

  “You’ll get your money. That’s what you wanted from the start—money,” he snapped at Uncle Les.

  She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Her uncle had sold her out, helped to abduct her. Who was in charge of this? What was it about? She thought of Calvarro, Alajandro, and Toro. Were they a part of this?

  She thought about her men and about Brew and Train. She shouldn’t have walked to the door without Brew. Her men were going to be angry with her. How stupid was she? She had to realize that they were made men, men with enemies who wanted to hurt them, hell, hurt people important to them. That was why her men demanded the control they did over her. Was it too late? Would she ever see them again? She cried more.

  “This wasn’t the deal,” Uncle Les said.

  The SUV stopped short. She nearly rolled off the seat, but the guy with the gun held her thigh in place. She couldn’t even feel that either. She just saw his hand go there. It was the craziest sensation.

  The door opened, and another man, one with a beard and pissed-off look, pulled Uncle Les from the vehicle. She looked and heard the exchange of words.

  “He promised me money!” Uncle Les yelled.

  “You’ll get it once you complete the other part of the plan.”

  “What other part of the plan?” Uncle Les demanded to know.

  “The part where you die knowing that you sold your niece out for money to her men’s enemies and now her freedom is over.”

  She heard the shot from the gun, and Uncle Les fell backward. The guy got back into the SUV.

  “Asshole,” he said, and they sped off.

  They shot her uncle. They promised him money, and he sold her out to them?

  “Don’t cry, Giada,” the one guy said to her, but she couldn’t move to see him. “Money is the route to all evil. He got what was coming to him.”

  She closed her eyes and prayed that her men would find her. She couldn’t believe this. Who were these men? Where were they taking her? How could her uncle have done this? She cried until exhaustion or the high of whatever they’d given her had kicked in.

  * * * *

  “Do you believe this? Look at all this stuff. Her uncle has been monitoring her every move. Keeping track of her schedule, the route she takes to work. Everything,” Logic said to Andreas.

  They were looking through the place but had come up with nothing but his surveillance of Giada. Andreas felt sick. “I didn’t like that guy from the moment he came into the hospital and demanded we leave her.”

  “He has a short fuse, Andreas. We saw his reaction at Giada’s apartment that night when you guys were providing protection. He nearly lost it then. Whoever took her knew that he would be easily manipulated.”

  “Yet she wanted to forgive him, keep him in her life as the only family she has, and he backstabs her? Sells her out? For what?” Andreas asked.

  “Money, probably,” Sunny said as he dumped over a garbage bag filled with overdue bills.

  “Damn. That would make a person do something evil and stupid,” Logic said as he looked at the bills.

  “His own niece, though?” Sunny added and shook his head.

  Andreas’s cell phone rang. “Adelina, what’s going on? Got anything for me?” Andreas asked and looked at Sunny. “When and where? … So they’ll let us know? … Great, thank you.” He disconnected the call. “Uncle Les was found a few blocks from the airport. He’s been shot and isn’t coherent. Fedarro is bringing him to a special location to question him. She said that he isn’t going to make it, but they’re hoping to keep him alive long enough to get names.”

  “Good. The son of a bitch should die a miserable death for what he did,” Sunny said.

  “We should head
out of here. Anything from Brew yet, Logic?” Andreas asked.

  “No.”

  “Where the hell is that guy they questioned about the delivery the other night? How come they can’t find him?” Andreas asked, hoping he could get his hands on that guy and get something concrete that could help.

  “Either he’s in hiding or whoever is operating this situation took him out,” Logic said.

  Andreas hoped not. They had no leads, and time just kept ticking away.

  * * * *

  “I need her cleaned up and ready for my cousin to arrive. You’re over a day late.”

  “We had some trouble at the airport and needed to divert the plane as a precaution. Apparently her uncle’s body was found by some men working for the Costanza family.”

  “I thought we said to kill her uncle.”

  “You said make him suffer for selling out Giada. We did. Shot him in a spot that would cause major internal bleeding. I’m surprised he was alive when they found him.”

  “If he talks, then we have less time to enjoy fucking with the Coglonies. Get the staff to clean her up and put her in something my cousin will love her in.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  * * * *

  Giada felt the very warm air against her skin. She blinked her eyes open and squinted at the sunlight coming through from the sliding doors that were wide open. She heard sounds that reminded her of a tropical place, and she went to move, felt how difficult it was, and moaned. She looked down at her hands, arms, and body. She was dressed in a strapless romper in blue. There was beading along the top and the skirt short with beading along the bottom. She felt sick to her stomach. Someone had undressed her and put her in this. Had they touched her? Raped her? She tried to focus on how her body felt.

  She tried moving and, in doing so, fell from the bed onto the floor. She cried out. The noise was loud as she hit the wooden flooring. She heard heavy footsteps and was trying to push herself up off the floor when the door opened.

  “Shit. You need to be on the bed and looking perfect, not bruised up. He won’t be happy,” the guy said in annoyance. He lifted her into his arms and placed her back onto the bed. He fixed the skirt of the romper.