Page 56 of King of the Bronx

“It’s been nice talking to you, but I have somewhere to be.”

I hung up before the man could respond. In the back of my head, I knew there was the possibility that they would kill Erica and run, but I had to hold out hope that the gang would stay still until I could reach them. I walked out of the apartment with Cole right on my heels.

“Call Tommy and give him the location. He’ll want to be involved,” I told Cole as we got into the elevator. I didn’t need a lot of men; one of my guys could take out half of the gang by himself.

“Got it, Boss.” Cole punched in Tommy’s number and pressed the phone to his ear. I took out my phone and called Giovanni. He picked up on the second ring.

“What’s up?”

“We found Erica. She’s across town. That low-level street gang took her,” I said.

Giovanni let out a whistle. “Damn, they have balls. How many men are you taking?”

“Four, including me. I’m calling in Tommy, and I got Cole.”

Giovanni was quiet on the other line. “That should be good. Go by the warehouse to pick up some weapons.”

“Got it. I’ll call you when I’m done.”

I slid into the Lamborghini with Cole when a thought popped into my head. I had one more person to call. Even though I wasn’t worried about this street gang, I knew Raven would kill me if I walked into something like this without talking to her. Before Raven, I never would have thought about my own safety in a situation like this. I lived for the action that came with being a capo, but now I had someone else to worry about. I promised Raven I’d get Erica back, but I’d also made a promise to myself that I’d keep Raven safe. I needed to be alive in order for that to happen.

*****

“We’re stopping by the warehouse. Grab whatever you need and an AK for the rest of us,” I told Cole. He’d want to use a sniper rifle.

“You worried they’ll try something crazy?” Cole asked.

I shook my head. “They’re in over their heads.”

I parked outside of the warehouse. Once Cole was inside, I called Raven.

“Hey,” her voice came over the speakers of the car. The sound was like a melody, and it instantly relaxed me. My shoulders dropped. I half-expected her to still be mad after our earlier talk.

“I’m on my way to get Erica,” I said.

“You found her! Where is she?!”

“Some people took her. I don’t have time to go into detail. I just want you to know that I’m on my way to get her.”

There was a moment of silence on the other line.

“Enzo…promise me you’ll be okay,” she said, her voice taking on a warning tone.

“You’ve been asking me to promise a lot,” I tried to joke, but she didn’t laugh. “I’m going to be fine. I’ll take care of this and then we can talk when I get home. I’m sorry about…all of this.”

Raven never really asked for my help, but I stepped in anyways, and I still wasn’t sure if I made her life better or worse by doing that.

“I’m sorry too. We’ll talk when you’re home safe.”

I didn’t miss the way she referred to my apartment as home. I hung up just as Cole came out of the warehouse with a gigantic black duffel bag slung over his shoulder. Disguising that many guns was a challenge, but it’s not like I was worried about the police. Cosa Nostra had most of the cops in our back pocket. Cole threw the guns in the back before getting in the passenger seat.

“You ready for this?” I asked him.

Cole nodded. “Always.”

*****

The address was for a hotel in the middle of the fucking city, which meant too many fucking witnesses.

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