by Lisa Cardiff
“Did you hear what he said? I’m sick of these Russian pricks. We don’t need them.”
Anatolyi pushed forward. “Yeah? Cover your ears and run back to your mama for another meatball, you little pansy.”
“Shut the fuck up, both of you.” I dragged Anatolyi behind me before we ended up in a street brawl rather than concentrating on finding Carmela. “We don’t have time for this. You can meet up later to trade insults. Right now, we have shit to do. Anatolyi, tell us what you know.”
“Not much. Renzo has been holed up in his mom’s home for the past two weeks and—”
“He lives with his mom?” I interrupted.
“Not normally, but after Alesio cut him off, he moved into her house. She lives in Florida pretty much all year and only comes home for the holidays. Other than a woman visitor, he keeps to himself. Her car’s in the driveway tonight.”
“What’s her name?”
He smirked, sliding his hand down the side of his neck. “Well, ya see, that’s exactly why I don’t get why you brought them here.”
“Spit it out, Anatolyi,” I snarled, my patience dwindling with every passing second.
“Gemma DeAngelo.” He cocked a brow. “Does her name ring any bells?”
Gian stepped forward. “Gemma DeAngelo? As in Nico’s sister?”
Anatolyi snickered. “Ding. Ding. We have a winner.”
“Fuck.” Gian tugged at his collar. “This is not good.”
“What’s the deal with Gemma?” I demanded.
Gian snorted. “There’s a lot wrong with that chick. For starters, she’s the one who started the war between the Trassatos and the DiTonnos.”
“Wait, so Renzo was telling the truth?”
“I don’t know everything, but apparently, Gemma gave Marco DiTonno an ultimatum to marry her. When he didn’t bite, she pulled some bullshit with Rocco, trying to make Marco jealous. She ended up pregnant, and Rocco and Marco both ended up dead.”
“Does Carmela know this?”
“Some. I didn’t want to go into the details. There wasn’t any point.”
“Why the fuck not?” I roared. “Your sister spent years pining after a man who cheated on her. Maybe you should’ve released her from the guilt years ago.”
Gian rubbed the back of his neck and stared down the tree-lined street. “I don’t know. Initially, I didn’t want to dump another bomb on her. As time passed, I decided it was better to bury whatever happened right along with Rocco. He adored my sister, but I think the pressure of the situation got to him. The guys teased him about his inexperience and being pussy whipped. His need for respect got the better of him.”
What a weak son of a bitch. I never cheated on Laney. She was my first, and for years, I thought she’d be my last. Her betrayal put me in a dark place. I made up for lost time and opportunities, screwing women like it was my job, not caring who I hurt in the process. I got it in my head that I could fuck away the memory of her because everything about our relationship turned my stomach.
“Is the kid Rocco’s?”
Gian shrugged, his eyes glittering with a thinly disguised rage. “Don’t know, and it doesn’t change a damn thing. Either way, I don’t want her anywhere near my sister. She’s a vindictive bitch, and if she’s teamed up with Renzo, I will end her. I don’t care who her brother is.”
“Agreed.” I didn’t like dragging women down in the shit with us, but I wouldn’t hold back tonight. Freeing Carmela was my one and only priority. Failing wasn’t an option. I didn’t care who I had to destroy to make it happen.
“The clock’s ticking. We need to get moving,” Anatolyi said.
“You guys go in the front, and we’ll go around back,” I said, finishing loading my guns.
Gian pulled out his gun. “Tony, take your car and go to Nico’s house.”
“What for?”
“I want to make sure he’s on the up and up. You don’t have to say anything. Just shoot the shit with him, make sure he doesn’t leave, and listen to his phone calls.”
“Got it.” Tony opened the car door. “What about Emilia?”
“Drop her off at her dad’s. I’ll let him deal with her.”
CHAPTER
THIRTY-TWO
Carmela
“Your friends?” I pried my knees apart, wedging the barrel between my legs. Although it wouldn’t be a clean shot, it didn’t matter. I wanted to get out of here, not kill her.
“Don’t worry.” Her chapped lips spread across her hollow face and she looked more than a little insane. “You’re already acquainted with them.”
“Oh yeah?”
“Renzo DiTonno and Gemma DeAngelo. You know them, right?”
“Sure, but I don’t know what they have to do with me being here.”
“I’ll let them explain.”
“What about you? Why are you here?”
“Ya know, I can see what he sees in you,” she said, cocking her head to the side and her heavy eyelids drooping. “I remember the first time he saw you. We were at a restaurant celebrating moving in together. He couldn’t take his eyes off you. He tried to hide his attraction to you, but I knew him too well for that. I made him pay for looking at you.” Her voice dropped, almost like a confession, and she inched closer to me. “If you weren’t so pretty, I’d bet Kon wouldn’t like you so much. He’d want me back.”
“Kon?” I choked out, fear spiking in my veins. “What does Kon have to do with this?”
“Didn’t he tell you about me?” I shook my head. “Are you sure? I’m Lanelle. He calls me Laney, though. We were supposed to be married by now. He still loves me, and once you’re out of the way, everything will go back to the way it should be.”
She raised her eyebrows. “And not only for me, but for Gemma and Renzo too.”
“I still don’t understand what’s going on.”
“I like to think of it as divine intervention.” She tapped the knife against her leg. “But here it goes. I met Gemma in rehab. Gemma dated Renzo’s brother. We all hate you.”
“Why?”
“Enough talking. Let’s go. They’re waiting for us.”
I could shoot her and hope I found a way out of here or I could follow her and plead for my life. I had seconds to make up my mind, and I chose to fight. I aimed the gun as best I could between my knees and squeezed the trigger.
The recoil knocked me back and I collided with the concrete wall. My teeth clacked together and I nipped the tip of my tongue. Coppery blood filled my mouth. The gunshot merged with her scream, making my ears ring. Laney dropped to her knees, holding her shin. Blood spilled down her leg.
Pain radiating down my spine, I scrambled to my feet and ran, leaping over Laney’s prone form and swerving around the corner. A narrow staircase with wooden steps was at the end of the hall. Before I mounted the first step, arms circled my waist, dragging me to the floor from behind. My shoulder bounced against the concrete, and the gun spun out of my hand.
I rolled onto my stomach to get to my feet. The second I raised my hips, a knee jammed into my back and someone stretched my arms out over my head, pinning them to the floor.
“I’m not going to kill you,” a man said. If Laney were telling the truth, it was Renzo. “Not yet anyway. I have a little payback in mind first.”
My vision danced and tilted until I brought Renzo DiTonno’s twisted features into focus. He was leaning over me, his face inches from mine. He smelled like old cigarettes and stale beer.
“Do you know how Gian killed my brother?” he snarled, his lips curled up and spittle spraying my face.
“No,” I whispered, my voice strained from holding back the gag.
He grabbed a chunk of my hair with his free hand and yanked my head up like he wanted to rip it from my torso. “He had his goons beat him until he couldn’t move. Then they tossed him in his car and lit it on fire with my brother locked inside. It was a slow, painful death, and yours will be too.”
I spat on his face. “Fuck
you. I didn’t have anything to do with that. You’re just a whiny finnochino taking this out on me since you’re not man enough to face my brother.”
He smacked my forehead against the concrete. White stars burst behind my eyes, and I pinched them closed so I didn’t cry. I refused to give him the satisfaction. If I was going to die today, I’d go down with my dignity intact, fighting every step of the way. I was done being a victim, swinging whatever way fate pushed me.
“That’s where you’re wrong. I see it as an eye for an eye. Gian killed my brother so I’m gonna kill his sister. Poetic justice, don’t ya think?”
CHAPTER
THIRTY-THREE
Konstantin
We didn’t make it halfway up the front sidewalk before a gunshot rang out. I charged, the plan we made forgotten. My gun drawn, I kicked the door open, and splinters of wood showered the tiled entry.
I paused inside the door, listening, analyzing, and searching for clues. The house was filled with floral covered furniture. It smelled of rotten food and cigarettes. Pizza boxes covered the glossy coffee table.
Screams and shouts carried up the staircase from the basement.
“Downstairs!” Gian yelled, rushing past me.
At the top of the steps, I froze in my tracks. Renzo had Carmela pinned against the wall at the bottom of the stairs and another woman who I assumed was Gemma was leaning against the wall with her arms folded. The part that shook me to the core was seeing Laney curled in a ball with blood dripping down her leg, her face contorted in pain.
Anatolyi nudged my back. “Move.”
I couldn’t. Seeing Laney there was like seeing a ghost.
“Kon,” Laney mumbled, her voice trembling and tears streaming down her face. “Thank God you’re here. I knew you’d come for me.”
Renzo whirled around, forcing Carmela in front of him like a human shield. He had a knife pressed to her throat. Her dark hair was tangled and blood dripped from her hairline to her chin. My breath stalled like someone had hit me in the gut with a two by four.
“Put the safety on your guns and drop ’em on the floor,” Renzo barked.
“No way, man. That’s not gonna happen!” Anatolyi shouted behind me. “Don’t listen to him, Kon. He’s high as a fucking kite. All of them are. Look at them. They’re bugging out. This won’t end well.”
“Do it or I’ll slit her fucking throat,” Renzo growled, flexing the arm holding the knife. Carmela squeezed her eyes closed, a whimper falling from her mouth.
“Do it,” I said, without turning around. With one hand raised, I bent at my knees and placed the gun on the step next to my feet, my gaze glued to the sharp point digging into Carmela’s long neck. I heard the clank of Gian, Sal, and Anatolyi’s guns banging against the wooden treads.
“Now kick them down the stairs.”
Four guns somersaulted down the steps, sliding to a stop against the baseboard near Laney. I still had no clue how she ended up here. Had Renzo and Gemma kidnapped her too? I didn’t need any more guilt on my head where she was concerned.
“Kon, I need you. Help me,” Laney gasped, holding one blood-covered hand out to me.
“Don’t listen to her, Kon. She’s using again. Look at her,” Anatolyi hissed.
Anatolyi was right. Laney’s pupils were like saucers and I could barely see her blue irises. Her hair was greasy and her clothes looked as if she’d been wearing them for days. Shit, she’d relapsed…again. Who the hell was taking care of her kid?
“What do you want, Renzo?” I said, zeroing in on him and Carmela. Laney was a lost cause. She had been for years.
A bitter cackle erupted from his lips. “Whaddaya think I want?”
“I don’t know, tell me.”
“I want my brother back, but that’s not gonna happen, is it?”
“I didn’t have anything to do with your brother’s death and neither did Carmela.”
“Her brother did. Gian had him knocked off, and then you fucked me over. Alesio thinks you’re more valuable to the family, so he took me to the carpet. He broke me like I meant nothing. What a fucking joke. My brother and I busted our asses for people who turned their backs on us, and for what? Money. Do you know what that feels like? Family. Loyalty. Honor. It’s all a bunch of bullshit.”
“What does that have to do with her or me?” I shook my head. “Alesio is his own man, and so is Gian.”
“It has everything to do with her!” he roared, his lips curling over his yellowed teeth and his bloodshot eyes bulging out of his head.
“Your brother killed a made man, Renzo.” Gian stepped in front of me, his hands raised in surrender. “You know how things work. He knew how things worked. We roughed him up. He didn’t try to fight us. He understood his duty.”
“You mean, you beat the shit out of him and set his car on fire.”
“Christ, Renzo. Don’t be a cafone.” Gian scrubbed a hand down his face, the vein at his temple jumping. “We didn’t have anything to do with the fire. His car was leaking gas and he tossed a cigarette underneath before he got inside, and it exploded. We gave him a pass. Nobody wanted him dead. We were sending him a message. That’s it.”
“No. No!” Spit flew from his mouth and his face was beet red. “You’re lying.”
“No. I’m not. Look at the fucking police report. Ask Alesio. Ask anyone. Hell, ask Gemma.” Gian pointed a finger at her. “She knows the truth.”
“Gemma?” Renzo said, uncertainty leaking from his voice. “What’s he saying? Do you know what he’s talking about?”
“Don’t fucking lie, Gemma. This has to end. You need to stop stirring up shit. Your brother’s gonna cut you off again when he hears about this. Then where will you be? Renzo can’t help you. He’s shacked up with his parents and you don’t have a job.”
Her face blanched. “There’s nothing to tell. I’m leaving.”
She took two steps, and Gian flattened her against the wall. “You’re not going anywhere. You abducted my sister.”
“I didn’t have anything to do with this. Laney and Renzo came up with the plan. They did everything. I told them to dump her ass on the street, but no, they wouldn’t listen. Ask Ava. She knows the truth. She didn’t want anything to do with it, so she took off.”
“I don’t give a shit how it happened. You could’ve called Dominick or me, but you didn’t.” He rammed his fist into the wall. “Now tell Renzo we didn’t have anything to do with the car fire.”
“Screw you, Gian,” she hissed.
“Tell the fucking truth for once in your life or I’ll make sure you don’t walk out of this basement alive. Think about what that would do to your son. He’s already lost one parent. Do you want to make it two?”
She lifted her head, her eyes narrowed, and her whole body shaking. “Fine. I lied. I lied about the damn whole thing. Is that what you wanted to hear?”
“The fuck?” Renzo growled. “How could you? I trusted you. I love your son like he’s my own. I took care of you. I’ve been paying your rent, buying your food.”
“I’m not stupid. I know this looks bad, but don’t hate me. I need you in my life. Marco’s son needs you. Please.”
Renzo’s hand dropped from Carmela’s neck, the knife dangling from his fingers. Carmela took off, bolting toward me and crashing into my chest. I gathered her into my arms and inhaled her lemon scent. For the first time in hours, my muscles unwound. God, I needed this woman. I needed her more than my next breath, and I didn’t give a shit what her brother or her uncle thought, I was keeping her.
“Why, Gemma?” Renzo said sounding utterly lost. “Why would you do that to me? I tore apart my life over a fucking lie.”
“I don’t know. I can’t explain it.”
“Your lies ruined my life. I think you owe me an explanation,” he volleyed back, sliding to the floor with his back against the wall and his knees bent.
She rubbed her eyes. “You were so mad at me for starting that fight between Rocco and Marco, and putting
Marco in that position. It eats me up to think I put this all in motion by hooking up with Rocco. He was so drunk that night, and he had no fucking clue what he was doing. I took advantage of him. I pulled him out into that alley to bait Marco, and he kept calling me Carmela the whole time. Marco followed me out and my world fell apart. I never meant for that to happen.”
A harsh breath exploded from Carmela’s body, and I tightened my arms around her.
“That doesn’t explain why you lied!” Renzo shouted, waving his arms like he was losing his mind.
“I didn’t have any choice. Everybody abandoned me when I needed them the most. I was fucking pregnant. My brother had disowned me. Marco hadn’t talked to me since the night he shot Rocco. He was dead a few days later. I didn’t have a dollar to my name, and there you were grieving over Marco exactly like me. If I couldn’t have Marco in my life, I needed you, so I blamed the Trassatos and convinced you everyone was covering up the truth. You welcomed us into your life and focused all your anger on them, not me. My son and I were safe.”
“What does this have to do with Carmela?” Gian roared.
Gemma licked her lips. “When I found out my brother wanted to marry Carmela, I lost it. She reminded me of what I did and what I could never have. Rocco and I had a history, but once I realized I could never shake the Trassatos’ hold on him, I moved on, and Renzo was there to catch me. But God, I hated her. I still do, and unlike my brother, Renzo stood by me and hated her and her family right along with me.”
Carmela’s sobs escalated with every confession until her body shook uncontrollably. I pulled her closer, pressing kisses to the top of her head.
“Get Carmela out of here, Kon,” Gian barked, snapping his fingers in my direction. “She doesn’t need to hear any of this. I’ll take it from here.”
I looped my hands under Carmela’s legs and cradled her body against mine. “Come on, solnyshka, I’m gonna take you home. You’re safe now.”
“Kon, I was so scared. When he had that knife pressed to my neck, I thought I was going to die, and all I could think about was how much I wanted to live for you. For us,” she whispered.
