Page 89 of Day Shift

“Thanks, Gabriel,” Julian said, grabbing a doughnut. “You and your sugar addiction keeping us wired.”

Gabriel smirked. “You’re welcome. Just don’t complain when you’re bouncing off the walls.”

We all grabbed doughnuts and espressos and headed upstairs to the office.

Once we were gathered around the conference table, Lachlan set up a whiteboard, explaining how he’d spent the last few days diving deep into the tangled mess that was the New York mafia.

He stood by the board with a marker in hand, his eyes scanning his notes. “All right, here’s what I’ve managed to figure out so far,” he said. “I’ve dug into everything you told me, cross-referenced it with what I know about the families, and filled in the gaps with some good old-fashioned common sense. I don’t have all the specifics, and I can’t be sure about every detail, but based on what we’ve got, this is the most logical conclusion I see. I’ve tried to look at all the angles and haven’t been able to come up with any other plausible explanations for what’s happening.”

He drew three circles and labeled them Volkov, Genovese, and Moretti, overlapping them in the center, where he wrote the word wedding. “Here’s how I see it: Viktor Volkov, your biological father, is playing the long game. He sent you to America to be adopted by Elena and Luca Genovese. The plan was to raise you as an American socialite, then marry you into the Moretti or some other influential mafia family to create a powerful alliance…which is where Frankie Moretti comes into the picture. From what you’ve told us, Viktor’s always been about dominance, control, and expanding his empire. He’s never been one to let family ties get in the way of his ambitions. I think the plan to have you adopted by Luca and Elena was just the beginning. Viktor’s been setting this up for years, with the ultimate goal of taking over the New York mafia territory.”

Lachlan frowned slightly, his gaze intense as he studied each of us. “I don’t have all the facts, but it seems clear that Viktor wants to merge the Volkov, Genovese, and Moretti families under his rule. He needs you, Ana, to solidify the alliance with the Moretti family through this marriage to Frankie. But here’s where it gets tricky: I think that Viktor doesn’t just want to marry you off. He wants to eliminate the current leaders of both the Genovese and Moretti families. And by eliminate, I mean he wants to kill them and install himself as the kingpin of New York’s mafia scene. He’s already put a contract out on Conan and his brothers because they pushed him out of Tacoma and bit into his US operations.”

Conan’s jaw tightened, and I could tell anger was simmering just below the surface.

“So, Viktor’s plan,” Lachlan went on, “is to marry you to Frankie, use that alliance to kill Tomaso Moretti, the current Moretti boss, and then kill Frankie once he’s in charge. This way, he takes over the Moretti family. Frankie Moretti thinks he’s in league with Viktor to become the new boss of the Moretti family while Viktor takes over the Genovese organization. He doesn’t know that Viktor’s planning to take him out too. Frankie’s just a pawn in Viktor’s game, and he’s too blinded by his ambition to see it.”

I shook my head, breaking out into a cold sweat. “And what about Luca?”

Lachlan then turned to the circle that represented the Genovese family. “Luca’s in a tight spot. He’s been playing along with Viktor and Elena’s plan, but he’s not blind, and he seems to be considering Ana’s warning, based on what he told her at the rehearsal dinner. My guess is, he’s catching on to Viktor’s real intentions. Luca agreed years ago with the marriage idea to secure alliances against other crime families and foreign threats,” Lachlan said, taking a breath. “My guess is, he didn’t realize Viktor’s full intentions or Elena’s part in this. He wants to protect his family and his territory, and luckily, he’s also fond of you, Ana. Even though he might not be looking to start a war, he’ll still do whatever it takes to secure his position. While he might not want to take out Viktor outright, he must be getting wary.”

Braxton chimed in, “So let me make sure I’ve got this straight. Frankie thinks he’s working with Viktor to take out the Genovese family, not realizing Viktor plans to kill him too, and Luca is getting wise to it all.”

“Exactly.” Lachlan nodded. “Frankie is a greedy bastard. He wants to take over the Moretti family but doesn’t know Viktor plans to use him and then dispose of him. Viktor obviously wants the Moretti and Genovese territories for himself. And Frankie, who is just a tool, doesn’t realize he’s already marked for death. It’s the only conclusion that makes sense to me.”

“And what about the wedding?” I asked, dreading the answer.

Lachlan circled the word on the board. “The wedding is a tinderbox waiting for a spark. All the key players will be there—Tomaso Moretti, Luca, Viktor—and all the highest leaders. It’s a setup for a bloodbath. I suspect Viktor’s planning to make his move then.”

Conan clenched a fist on the table. “We need to get Angel out of here, but she says running isn’t an option; they’d find us and kill us.”

“Agreed,” Lachlan said. “But we need some sort of plan. Maybe we can use this against them. If we can get to Luca and make him see the full picture, he might help us take down Viktor and Frankie.”

“I already tried warning him, like I told you,” I said, “but he said I still had to marry Frankie. That he couldn’t disrespect the Moretti family by reneging on the contract. I don’t think he’s going to change his mind about that. But at the rehearsal dinner, he did tell me in confidence that he was going to take care of everything, and that I should trust him. But that was it. Nothing specific, so who knows? And last night, he sent me a text instructing me to be at his house by noon today, where I’m to stay until we leave for the wedding tomorrow.” Leaning back in my chair, I sighed. This was hopeless. I just wanted to live life on my terms, but that didn’t seem possible at this point.

Conan, staring a hole into the bottom of his cup, drew slow circles around its edge, frowning hard but not saying anything. At this point, I knew him well enough to surmise that he was contemplating doing something but didn’t want to share it with me because he figured I would object.

Lachlan placed his fists on the table and leaned in, meeting my eyes. “I don’t have all the answers, but based on everything you’ve told me and what I’ve found, this thing is going down at the wedding. We need a plan, and we need it now. Let’s figure out how to turn their scheming against them and get you out of this, Ana.”

I turned to Conan. “What are you thinking?”

“I don’t trust Luca. He’s an arrogant asshole that only does what’s in his own best interests.” Conan said this in such a grim way that it made me wonder if he’d met the man.

“They’re all that way,” I said. “We just have to work around them the best we can.”

I wished I hadn’t brought this nightmare into Conan’s life. What Braxton had said about him always being laid back and carefree haunted me. I wondered if I’d ever get to know that side of him.

Braxton leaned back in his chair, a grin spreading across his face. “Lachlan, you must have some Irish mobster blood in you to figure all this out.”

I stood up and started pacing around the office, biting my thumbnail. Suddenly, an idea struck me. “I know the layout of St. Peter’s Church well. Catholic weddings follow the same routine because they rely on tradition and rote memorization. We need to go along with the wedding plans like we don’t suspect anything.”

The guys watched me as I paced. “The bridal party uses one of the rooms in the back of the church to get dressed. It even has a large full-length mirror and a vanity for doing your makeup.” I pulled out my phone, showing them some pictures I’d taken at a friend’s wedding there last summer. “I’ll wear biker shorts, a white tank top, and white sneakers while I’m getting ready and keep them on under my dress so I can quickly take it off and be ready to run. Frankie is short and hates when I wear anything but flats, so no one will think twice about it.”

I paused while showing them some more pictures from inside the church. “I’ll be ready to walk down the aisle with Uncle Luca. Just as the bridesmaids start their way to the front of the church from the side hallway, I’ll fake that I need to throw up from nerves. I’ll tell the girls I’ll be there in a minute, but instead, I’ll bolt to the back door, throw off the dress, and run out. You need to have a car waiting for me and subdue anyone at the back. We’ll leave the church and let the families figure out who wants to kill whom without me in the middle.”

The guys exchanged uneasy looks.

“You can’t be seen, and you have to stay undercover, no matter what happens,” I said. “I can’t do this if I think any of you will play the hero and come charging into the church.”

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