Page 99 of Day Shift

Luca laughed, a harsh sound that made the rest of us tense up. “Innocent? They were mafia, Anastasia. It’s part of the lifestyle. Elena understood the risks very well. Even though I married her ages ago, I came to realize that Elena only cared about Elena. She was trouble. I hadn’t trusted her in a long time, which is why I made sure she never found out about your ownership of the club.”

I cocked my head. Angel owned part of the club? I had assumed she merely worked there. But I kept my mouth shut, letting the conversation play out.

“I’ve watched you grow up, and I never understood how Viktor and Valentina could ship you off without caring about what happened to you,” Luca said. “Elena’s callous treatment toward you over the years pissed me off. I watched how hard you worked and what a good person you became, despite having no one to rely on.”

Luca’s tone softened slightly. “You will always be a Genovese, Anastasia. You, the club, and the guys from the club are now under the protection of the Genovese family.”

He paused, letting his words sink in. Then his voice took on a calculating edge. “I still want to develop an alliance with the Morettis against foreign interlopers, but I’m not sure where I stand with them now. We’ll have to see how all this plays out.”

Braxton and I frowned at each other. Lucian and Lachlan leaned back in their chairs, crossing their arms, while Nik stared impassively down at the phone. Angel glanced up at me, her eyes full of conflicting emotions. God, how I hated all of this for her.

Nik piped up, “Luca, you’re on speaker. How about you tell us why everything went down at the church as it did. Were Frankie and his family representing all the Morettis, or did they go rogue?”

Luca laughed. “Welcome to the family, boy. You saved your sister from an untimely death. I saw your guy rush the original shooter, who ended up taking out Frankie and Father Russo from the sacristy. We found the guy with a broken neck once things calmed down and our cleanup crew got to work.”

Everyone in the kitchen was taken aback. Lucian and I exchanged a shocked glance. The reality of how close Angel had come to getting shot hit me hard.

Angel started to freak out, her breaths coming fast and shallow. Lachlan stood up, giving me his seat. I wrapped my arm around Angel, holding her tightly.

Nik, his voice low and dangerous, said, “Most of my guys were placed on the outside, but a couple were inside, hidden and patrolling. One was in the passageway behind the sanctuary, another locked inside the confessional, peeking through the slats. The one in the back must have seen the guy enter the sacristy. The only reason my guy would have taken action is if he saw a gun raised at my sister. His sole purpose was to protect Ana. So, tell me, who the fuck would have done that? And how the hell do you expect me to believe you knew nothing about it?”

Braxton, noticing Nik’s agitation, rested a hand on his shoulder to keep him from straining his wounded leg. Luca’s tone turned colder. “Don’t push my generosity too far, Nikolai. The only reason you’re protected by the Genovese family is because you’re Anastasia’s brother and because I’ve always liked her. We haven’t identified the original shooter yet though, so I can’t tell you if he was sent by Viktor, Frankie or one of the Morettis. Regardless, we know someone wanted to kill Anastasia.” Luca’s voice carried a warning.

“After your guy caused the shooter to kill Frankie and Father Russo, all hell broke loose. The Morettis’ men shot at Elena and me, which then caused my men to take them out. We had planned our positions within the church just in case something like that happened.”

He paused before adding, “Even though it had only been a couple of days since Anastasia warned me about Viktor’s plot, I got word that others suspected the same. The Morettis may have found out that Anastasia was not only Russian but Viktor Volkov’s daughter. The Morettis hate the Russians. A source told me the marriage contract between Frankie and Anastasia was the idea of Frankie’s immediate family. I suspect they wanted to take over the Moretti organization, kill the leaders, and install Frankie as the boss. Frankie’s position as CFO meant he had all the secret financial details about every member of the Moretti family and their fortunes. I already knew that Frankie was greedy, but I just found out that he’d been using his knowledge to manipulate some of the people in the organization to feed his gambling habit.”

The kitchen fell silent. Angel’s hand trembled in mine, but she stiffened her back, bracing herself against Luca’s words. I tightened my hold on her, silently vowing to protect her from whatever came next.

Luca’s voice crackled through the speaker. “Frankie was likely turned by Viktor, lured into betraying his own family. Elena herself might have found Frankie and thought he would be an easy patsy for Viktor. Perhaps I didn’t know my wife as well as i thought. She might have had higher ambitions all along. Maybe it happened after she had miscarriage after miscarriage and we grew apart. I don’t know.”

Nik whistled, shaking his head. “Well, damn. I had doubts about Frankie’s loyalties but didn’t have any proof. When you agreed to the marriage contract for Ana, I assumed you’d vetted Frankie and were on board with the plan. I guess we all make mistakes.”

“You’d better watch your smart mouth, Nikolai,” Luca spat, his anger flaring. “I’d be glad to put you in the ground alongside your aunt.”

Angel jumped in. “Luca, Nik, didn’t mean any disrespect. He’s in pain from the gunshot wound and is just being protective of me.”

Nik scowled. “Apologies, Luca. Ana is all that matters to me. What’s your plan for Viktor, Valentina, and the Volkovi Notchi?”

“They’re no longer your concern.” Luca’s voice was icy cold.

Nik pressed on. “As long as they’re a danger to Anastasia, they are my concern.”

Luca chuckled. “I have to give it to you, boy. You don’t frighten easily, and your loyalty to your sister is commendable. Bottom line, you both need to get out of town and stay far away for a while. As long as I control Viktor and Valentina, and you don’t try to take over the reins of the Volkovi Notchi, there shouldn’t be any trouble for you and your sister. If your people see that you’re loyal to me, and Viktor does what I tell him, then an alliance can be worked out, even if it’s at gunpoint. If I kill Viktor, there will be a power vacuum you’d have to be strong enough to fill. But from what I’ve learned about you, you’re not interested in your father’s syndicate. You don’t have the stomach for human trafficking and some of his other proclivities. Not that I do either, but I can control that sort of thing in my region. It’s one reason our family wants to rid the city of all the outside scum.”

Nik sighed in relief. “That’s good to hear, and you’re right. I don’t want any part of my father’s business.”

“Then we have a gentleman’s agreement,” Luca said. “I’ll make sure my brother Antonio knows you’ll be a loyal soldier as long as Anastasia is safe. As for the Morettis, I can’t speak for them. Right now, they have to be pretty sore about someone taking out Frankie and causing the death of an entire family within their organization. You know how this game works. I can take one of my own out at any time, but if someone else causes harm to any of my family, then there will be consequences.”

The room was heavy with the implications of Luca’s words. Nik and Luca continued their exchange, but my mind was already spinning, strategizing the next steps we needed to take to ensure Angel’s safety.

Finally, Luca let out a heavy breath. “You two need to lie low for a while until I see how this is all going to shake out.”

“I understand fully,” Nik said. “You leave me alone and I leave you alone. And by lying low, how low do you mean?”

“Stay out of the Northeast and, of course, Russia,” Luca said, as if it should be obvious.

Angel, who’d been quietly listening, jumped up and shouted, “But what about the club? I own a big chunk of it, and I’m the business manager. I can’t just walk away. I don’t want to walk away.”

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