Page 92 of Tainted Love

Dante

Without Lucy, there’s no way we can get inside the casino by walking in the front door. Lilah and Elijah weren’t kidding when they mentioned the new security put in place to keep people like us out. During my employment with the family, you could walk right in and be frisked inside. Now, no one even gets within a few feet of the front door without a full-body scan and a quick check for tattoos.

Marty Zappia is inside. I’m sure of it. It’s Friday night in Chicago. For six months, I watched Marty waltz inside that casino every Friday night at nine-thirty. He’d get a glass of scotch from the bar, offer his father a quick hello in his office upstairs, and then he’d plant himself at the poker table until three. I’ll admit, he was a good player. More often than not, he’d take the whole damn table down. Decent men like Terrance Vaughn sat there every weekend only to be bled dry by an entitled brat. Mortgages wasted, savings account swindled. And Marty did nothing but smile.

That ends tonight.

The Zappia tunnels are the best-kept secret of the family. I spent months trying to figure it out, knowing that if the Russians passed on the Snake Eyes master file, the family would immediately go underground. We wouldn’t be able to contain the leak after that.

There’s one way in the casino’s back door and only blood members of the Zappia family know how to find it.

So, I need to find myself a damn Zappia.

The alleyway behind Enzo’s Fine Italian reeks of week-old trash and dried blood. There’s more than one reason why Enzo built his restaurant at this location. Sure, it’s a quick stroll away from several theaters and other entertainment venues but it also has a secluded and mostly covered alleyway — perfect for the occasional physical interrogation of anyone who owes him something.

The irony will strike him eventually.

The back-exit swings open and two heavy men step out first before Enzo does. Big, black coats. Greased hair. A tire of blubber wrapped around them both. Intimidation is their sole purpose.

They’ll go down fast.

“Enzo!”

They all look up at me standing in the center of the alleyway, about a dozen feet shy of the exit. The brutes puff up immediately, ready for a fight, but Enzo’s tanned face turns white.

“Hart…” he mutters, falling even further behind their thick shoulders. “What, uh… what brings you back to Chicago?”

“I need to have a chat with your little brother.”

“Marty?” he asks from the corner of his mouth. “What for?”

“So I can blow his fucking brains out.”

Enzo blinks and laughs. “Over what? That whore you brought in here? Get over it. She’s dead. Fuck off.”

I step forward, keeping their focus on me. “Enzo, I’m going to kill your bodyguards,” I begin. “Then, you’re going to take me to the casino where you’ll lead me in through the tunnels. Bring Marty to me and I’ll let you walk out alive.”

“Talk all you want, Hart.” He titters. “I find it really fucking entertaining.”

I smile. “I’m not talking to entertain you, Enzo. I’m talking to give them enough time to get behind you.”

“What?”

Enzo spins around as Lilah and Elijah fire their silenced pistols, striking each of the bodyguards in the back of the head. Blood sprays on Enzo’s face from both directions and he falls back against the exit door. The rotund idiots tumble to their knees and fall into a cuddling embrace on the rank ground before bleeding out through their temples.

“Jesus Christ!”

I draw my Glock and step forward to point it at his face. “Do I need to recap the plan, Enzo?”

He shakes his head and his thick cheeks slide around on his face. “No, sir!” he shouts, his jittery voice echoing off the walls. “Get you into the casino. I can do that. No problem!”

I stand up and stash my gun in my belt. “Get up.”

Enzo crawls to his knees and pushes off the ground, wiping the sticky trash off his legs as he stands. He eyes Elijah, but his gaze eventually falls on Lilah and they stay on her with confusion.

“I wouldn’t stare,” I warn him, watching Lilah’s eyes harden with annoyance.

He twitches in my direction and Elijah shoves him forward, grinning at his twin.

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