The Vengeful Queen: A Mafia Romance (The Hale Mafia Book 2)

by BL Mute

  “I have a plan, but I have to be careful. If he finds out I’m talking to you…” She trails off, and I swear I can hear a soft sob. “Just give me a couple of weeks, okay? I’ll text you an address. Promise you’ll meet me there when I say no matter what.”

  “I promise.”

  Before I can add anything else, she’s already talking in a hushed whisper. “I have to go. Just remember when I text, you come. We have to be very precise with the timing, okay?”

  “I got it, Charlie. Don’t—” The call disconnects before I can finish.

  I exhale a breath, then shove my phone back into my pocket.

  “She sounded scared,” David remarks.

  “I know. And if she’s scared, it has to be bad. She isn’t easily spooked by things.”

  “Maybe you were right. Maybe she’s exactly who you think.”

  I side-eye him as we slide into the car. “She is.”

  He doesn’t dare say another word, and I’m glad. At this point, after being blindsided by Sebastian, the argument with David, and now worrying about Charlie, I’m a ticking fucking time bomb ready to explode.

  I hang up the phone with Cameron and slip it back into my pocket. “Now call Sloan.” I look to Julius.

  He just stares at me with a blank expression.

  “Did I fucking stutter? Go. Call. Sloan.” He grins as he exits the office.

  “Man, I don’t know who this new badass bitch is, but I think I love her,” Lucas laughs from his seat.

  I groan internally. Not the right words to use, dumbass.

  I give Teddy a warning look. “Don’t you dare, you hear me?” I tap the gun in my hand on my thigh lightly.

  He bites his lip and smiles wickedly. “Whatever you say, Charlotte.”

  I let out a heavy loud breath. “Lucas, go sleep off the rest of the booze. I’ll get you when we need you.”

  He opens his mouth to argue, but Carl talks before he or I have the chance. “Just do what she says, Luke. I don’t want to have to call Dr. Kelly tonight because of your stupid mouth. I have no doubts she’ll shoot you in your foot or something.”

  Lucas looks to me like he’s expecting me to correct Carl, tell him I won’t shoot him, but the truth is, I probably would. Nothing life-threatening, but definitely something to shut him up. I’m so sick of all of the fighting.

  When all I do is raise an eyebrow at him, he laughs and stands. “Whatever you say, old man.” Then he leaves the office too.

  Suddenly, with almost everyone gone, I feel awkward. Teddy’s eyes are on me like he’s watching his prey, waiting for me to make the next move. I know he’s pissed with how I’ve handled shit tonight, but what is he going to do? What was I supposed to do? If no one else wants to figure out something solid, then I’ll be the one to do it. This is what he trained me for.

  “He’ll be here in less than five minutes,” Julius announces when he walks back in, and I’m thankful all of the attention is off me.

  “Great.” I stuff my gun in the back of my jeans and pull my shirt over it before walking to the door. When I look back and see the guys just standing there, I rub my eyes. “Well, are you all coming or not? There is more to this plan than calling Cameron.”

  As soon as we make it to the bottom of the stairs, Sloan knocks on the door. I walk to the door and open it. “Come on in, Chief. We need to talk.” I close the door as he steps inside.

  “What’s going on?” Uneasiness shines bright in his eyes as I turn to him.

  “Everything is fine right now, but in a couple of weeks things will change.”

  He glances to Teddy, Carl, and Julius, then back to me. “What are you planning, Charlie?”

  I give him a weak smile. I’m not sure if I just don’t want to say because once I say it everything will become real, or if I really want to protect him in a way. Maybe both. “I can’t tell you everything, Chief. I just need you to be on standby, and I need a little help.”

  The hurt that splashes onto his face is the one of a hurt father, and it doesn’t surprise me. The chief has always been around, always watching, protecting, helping guide me onto the right path. But I can’t risk him not agreeing. What I’m doing isn’t like me, but it needs to be done.

  “What kind of help?” He hooks his thumbs into his belt, then looks down.

  “I need to find any information I can on the ATF agent.”

  He nods. “Lucky for you I’ve been keeping an eye on him. He’s been too caught up watching you all that he hasn’t thought to watch his back.” He pulls a small notepad from his breast pocket and jots a few lines down. “As far as I can tell, this is where he’s staying. I don’t know much more than that other than his name. I can try and dig for more if you need it.”

  I shake my head. “Don’t worry about it right now. This will do.”

  I go to take the small slip of paper from him, but he doesn’t let go right away. “You need to be careful, kid.”

  “I will.” I smile.

  He lets go and pulls me into a hug. “If you need anything, call me. I love you like you’re my own, Charlie. Don’t think I won’t help you.”

  I close my eyes and suck in a breath. His aftershave reminds me of my dad. A spicy wintergreen smell with a sweet hint, and I revel in it. I’ve been so caught up with all of the shit with Teddy, I almost lost sight of what I want. I didn’t come here for any other reason than to figure out my father’s murder, and I’m doing just that now. I can’t let him down when I’ve come this close so far.

  He lets me go and gives me one last look before walking out the door. When he’s gone, all of the guys’ eyes are back on me, and Teddy is the first to speak. “Tell me the plan.”

  I clear the thoughts of my dad and try to tell myself I’m doing this for him. I mean, I am, but sometimes I question how much of it is for him and how much of it is for me. For the men I love.

  “Emil will go down for the murders,” I state flatly. “And Sloan will handle Andrew. We need to get them all at the place Emil is holding our stuff together.”

  “Murders?” Julius asks.

  I nod. “Cameron will come, I know he will. I just pray he brings David along. I’m going to end all of this. Emil has always been a snake, I can feel it, so this is a way to get rid of him too.”

  “You realize what will happen if we fuck with Emil?” Carl asks from beside Teddy.

  I don’t need to answer his question. I do know what will happen, but I’m hoping we can find something bigger on him. Something that will turn his own people against him.

  “A fucking war will ensue. Something bigger than what we’re dealing with now,” Teddy answers.

  “I know, but you have to take risks in life. I want to go where he’s keeping our supply before this goes down. He’s keeping files there. It was a reckless move on his part, but I bet we can find something in there to end the war before it even begins.”

  “How?” Julius asks.

  “Blackmail. If he doesn’t cooperate, we’ll take whatever we find to the feds. I won’t fuck around on a small scale. This will be too big for Sloan.”

  “And what about his people? The ones loyal to him?” Teddy asks.

  “Either we pay them off or blackmail them too. Everyone in this town has a price, and lucky for us, we have the funds.”

  Teddy shakes his head and steps toward me. “I don’t think you’ve thought this through enough, Monkshood.” He reaches for my face, but I slap his hand away.

  “I’ve thought about it enough to know it’ll work. And you lost the right to call me that the moment you entered my body without my consent. Don’t try and use your good looks, pleading eyes, or my fucked-up love for you as a way to persuade me. I’m done waiting around for you to handle shit. We’re doing this my way, and my way only. If you don’t like it, go back to wherever the fuck you’ve been hiding out at.”

  All of the words flow from my mouth effortlessly. Almost too effortlessly. I’ve kept everything I’ve wanted to say to myself because som
etimes I don’t even know what to believe. I love Teddy, but I don’t. I love Lucas, but it’s wrong. I’m hurt, but I don’t want to be seen as weak. Everything in my mind is so damn conflicting.

  When his eyes go the slightest bit wider and his mouth opens to speak, I cut him off. “I’m done protecting everyone’s feelings, Teddy. You wanted me to be like you, so here I am. Not one of you have done anything to protect my feelings or taken into consideration how I would feel about something, you just do it. Consider this as me returning the favor.”

  A glint of appreciation flashes over his face. “You’ve become so much more than I ever could have imagined.”

  I want to get lost in his comment. To hug him and sob into his chest because the feeling of acceptance from him makes me want to forget everything he’s done. But I can’t. I won’t. The only thing that would do is show him it’s okay that he hurt me when it isn’t. Fuck all of these conflicting feelings.

  I shake my head, brushing off his comment. “We need to go tonight, then we can go pay Andrew a visit. I want to make sure we have everything in place and ready before things go down.”

  “Emil doesn’t know I’m back, so I’ll stay here and keep an eye on Lucas. Take Carl and Julius with you.”

  “No, Carl will stay here to watch Lucas and you. I’ll take Julius. The less bodies, the better. I don’t want to draw suspicion if someone sees us.”

  Teddy chuckles. “Fine. Let me know what you find.”

  He walks away without another word as Carl follows. I watch him disappear into the kitchen before looking at Julius. “Let’s handle this, Jules.”

  He smiles. “Can’t say I agree with this plan, but I’m ready to crack some skulls, so let’s do it.”

  We slip into my old GTO. Everything is quiet when we pull out of the drive and start down the road. The sun is finally setting, so everything has a dusty hue to it, but in a way it’s nice. Relaxing.

  I shift into fourth gear when we hit the highway and try to start a conversation with Julius. I’ve been itching to dive deeper into everything with Lucas, and now is the perfect time to bring it up. “So, Lucas does this often?”

  He looks to me, then away before throwing his long leg on the dash, stretching out as much as he can. “Not often, just when he gets too wrapped up in his own mind. One of the traits he inherited from good old dad, I guess.”

  I wring my hands around the steering wheel, trying to alleviate some of the sweat building on my palms.

  “You wouldn’t think it, but he cares about things a lot. Sometimes too much. He takes other people’s problems and makes them his own until he’s to the point of madness.”

  “So, it was me, then?” I ask, already knowing the answer.

  He flashes me a sad smile. “Everything Lucas does is on him. He’s a big boy and can make his own decisions, so don’t think you drove him into a bender. Were you a factor on his mind? I’m sure, but there’s more to it than that.”

  “More to it how?”

  He stares out the windshield as he talks. “When we were younger, it was always us cleaning up the messes my dad made. Taking care of mom when he beat her, lying to the cops and people at school about the bruises all over us… Basically, from the moment we were old enough to make our own decisions, Lucas deemed himself a fixer. He hasn’t said it, and he probably doesn’t even realize it, but his actions speak volumes.

  “It doesn’t matter who it is or what they’ve done, if Lucas feels indebted to them because they give him something, he makes it his mission to fix whatever they fuck up. My dad kept a roof over our heads somehow until…” He trails off for a moment. “He fed us, you know, all the shit a parent should do, and because of that no matter how badly he treated us, Lucas always stuck up for him in a sense. When he was finally out of the picture and Teddy took us in, he did the same thing.”

  I nod in understanding. “Then why do you do it?”

  He looks at me with a smile. “I do it because I love my brother. It’s always going to be him and I. He’s the one person I know will never leave me no matter what bad things I do. I don’t always agree with him, but that doesn’t matter. If he needs me, I’ll be there. Love is a powerful fucking motivator.”

  I mull his words over in my mind, and boy is he right. After all, everything I’m doing now is because I love my dad. I haven’t left the house because I know the boys need me. I love each and every one of them in different ways.

  “I get that.”

  “I know you do, Flower. It’s one of the reasons I love you too.”

  I give him a smile as we turn onto the road we need. Knowing Lucas has Julius makes me happy because until I work out my feelings, I think he needs that. Of course, it’s said that twins share a special bond, but I think what Julius and Lucas have is more than that.

  I pull into the drive and watch the overgrown grass sway in the light breeze. It doesn’t look like anyone is here which makes me feel a little better about doing this. “Let’s go, Jules. Whatever we can find on big clients, finances, anything—we will make it work. The bigger the better.” He nods as we exit the car.

  When we make it to the door of the shop, I pull the key Desi gave me from my bag and unlock it. We step inside and flip the switch by the door. Fluorescent lights buzz to life and beam down from the ceiling, illuminating everything we need to see.

  I walk to the corner and check our supply, making sure everything I left is still there before I throw my bag onto a crate and start pulling open the filing cabinets closest to me.

  For hours we go through numerous files containing nothing more than names, but nothing incriminating. I’m ready to give up hope—scratch my entire plan—but Julius finally finds something. “Look at this!” he exclaims, walking across the shop.

  I take the file from his hands and start reading over it. Big names from our town are all over the first page, which isn’t much, but when I turn to the next page, my jaw drops. Screenshots of conversations, pictures of women and young girls bloody and naked, and contracts are all neatly in order.

  “This can’t be right.” I look to Julius and see the anger growing in his eyes.

  “Well, there’s no mistake. It’s legit. Look at the usernames and signatures on the contracts.” He points to the printed text bubbles from an online chat room, then to Emil Garcia below it, etched in perfect cursive.

  “Teddy said all of his girls were willing. That he takes good care of them…” I meet his eyes again and plead with them for him to tell me this isn’t true.

  “You and I both know sometimes people lie and aren’t who they say.”

  My heart sinks because I know he’s talking about Teddy. I knew who Teddy was when I agreed to help him, but I didn’t know the extent, I guess. I never thought he could be so terrible to me of all people—someone he swore to love.

  “We have to find them, Jules. We have to get them out. I fucking knew something was up with Emil.”

  He nods, then takes the file back. His eyes land on a picture of a woman with blonde hair. She can’t be more than my age. Her arms and legs are bound to a dirty bed, her mouth gagged with a dirty cloth. Shivers run down my spine seeing it and knowing she isn’t there of her own will.

  I step beside him and flip the page back to the chat room screenshots, needing something to look at other than the haunting blue eyes of the blonde woman. It’s a site I’ve never seen, but it’s clear from how they’re speaking that the anonymous user is purchasing the girl.

  Diablo: I promise she’ll put up a good fight. She broke my man’s nose when we took her, so be prepared. Payment is due upfront.

  “This is disgusting,” Julius whispers.

  “I know. But why would he leave it here?”

  Julius shakes his head. “His whole spiel of keeping important files was a bluff obviously since there isn’t shit here. This one looked like it fell out of a drawer and down the back. I don’t think he knows this is in here.”

  I nod. “Well, let’s keep it that way. Don�
��t say anything about this to anyone, you hear me? If Teddy asks, I’ll handle it. I want to keep this shit quiet before we use it. I don’t want Emil to see us coming.”

  “Okay.” He nods. “But Charlie, do you know what this means?”

  I grab my bag and take the file before stuffing it inside. “What?”

  “This is more than a war.”

  We lock eyes for a moment. Thoughts race through my head, and I have no doubts they’re doing the same in his head.

  “I know.”

  Before we got home last night, I drilled it into Julius’s head to keep his mouth shut. It isn’t like it’s a hard request considering he barely talks anyway, but I had to voice it. I want to figure things out and try to gather more information. With what we’re doing now, the only ones at stake are us. When we try and take down Emil, there are more people involved. Completely innocent people. I don’t want to get them hurt in the crossfire, so a more solid plan is needed.

  I push around the food on my plate. Sleep didn’t come last night. My mind kept racing with every scenario possible for what we are planning, and then the faces of all of the woman and girls in the pictures wouldn’t go away either. It crushes me to think they’re having to experience what I went through but so much worse.

  “You full?” Julius asks.

  All day we’ve all done nothing but hang around the house. I needed to try and recoup after last night. I didn’t want to go to Andrew’s place right away. “No, but I’m done.”

  He glances to the door to make sure no one is approaching, then leans over the counter. “It’s going to be okay, Flower. We’ll figure it out. But I feel we should tell Teddy. He knows Emil better than us and could probably help.”

  “What if he already knows about it and hasn’t done anything this whole time?” I ask, finally voicing the first concern that popped into my mind last night after seeing the file.

  “I don’t think he would stay quiet about something like that.”

  I level my eyes with his. “You said it yourself, sometimes people lie and aren’t who we think.” I throw his words back at him.