Page 43 of The Taker

For now, I have to get tough, because I need him here with me. His sister needs him. Every second counts, because even though it isn’t confirmed yet, this is the exact kind of shit Ronan would do. I know he has her.

Now we need to mitigate the damage and hopefully get her back in one piece. Death isn’t the worst thing that can happen to Julia.

“We’re going to see Don Vettore.”

Leo stays on my lap, his breathing labored. I pick him up and take him to the car, using Gio as a driver so I can sit in the backseat with him. The ride to myZio’sis quiet. I’m so absorbed in responding to texts from the school and getting a game plan together that Leo’s small, quiet voice startles me slightly.

“I met Don Vettore before.” Leo’s eyes are so far away, even though he’s sitting next to me. “After my mother left, I ran out ofmoney in a couple of months. I couldn’t pay the rent and we had no food in the house…”

I put an arm around him, stroking the outside of his thigh with my fingertips, waiting for him to continue.

“I told the landlord the truth, because I didn’t know what else to do. I had no plan. He told me we’d talk about it the next day, but instead of him knocking on my door, it was Don Vettore. Your uncle paid for my apartment. He gave me a job. He saidla famigliatakes care of each other, even in death.”

Leo’s file is engraved in my mind, so I knew what myZiodid for him. It didn’t surprise me in the least. He was a fair, compassionate man who took care of everyone. Hopefully, he’d be able to help us find Julia before it was too late.

“Do you think he’ll really be able to help?” he asks.

“Yes, lionheart. I know he will. Everything will be okay, I promise.”

I had no business making him such a promise. Ronan is a rabid dog backed into a corner right now. We have the Brass Bruisers by the throat, and he’ll do anything to loosen the grip. Resorting to kidnapping Leo’s sister is the least of what he’s capable of. But I’ll promise him anything if it will keep him here with me, instead of wherever he goes when he’s spiraling like this.

One of Don Vettore’s top guards, Gabriele, meets us in the foyer and takes us to the sitting room outside his office. My uncle rises from his favorite chair in the corner of the room, across from his garden outback, and meets us.

“Mio figlio.” He hugs me. Don Vettore is the embodiment ofla famiglia. After my parents were murdered, he took me under his wing and into his family as his own, not as his nephew. He called me son ever since. And to be perfectly honest, he was more of a father to me than my own ever was.

He, his wife Bella, and Maddie are the only people I hug. And now Leo, too. That little brat wriggled his way into my heart, and I never stood a chance.

MyZiotakes one look at Leo and senses how distressed he is. He frowns as he puts a firm hand on his shoulder to comfort him. “It’s good to see you again, Leonardo, despite the current circumstances. Let’s all go into my office.”

His office is tastefully decorated, with rich cherry mahogany furniture and warm beige walls. His desk is pure marble imported from the Apuan Alps. Despite how superfluous it is, it works in the space. He closes the door and sits behind it.

“So given the note and the break in at your penthouse, I think it’s safe to say Ronan’s gang of miscreants is targeting Leo,” he starts.

“Yes. They know he’s important to me. The note made it clear.” I tell him.

“It made it clear that they have allies, too. The little street gang who tried to infringe on our stronghold at the ports has a big, bad backer. They think they can take outNueva Notte,” MyZiorumbles. “This isn’t the first time someone has tried this, it won’t be the last.”

“If that dumb fuck was smart, he would have just sold me his part of the dock. The Brass Bruisers could have gone legit with the money we paid them. None of this would be happening and he’d at least have his life. Now I’m going to make sure he’s pig food,” I grit out, trying to hold onto my anger.

My phone beeps. I check it immediately, in case it’s news about Julia.

Unknown number: Video attachment

The video is taken in daylight, on a street a few blocks down from Julia and Lucy’s school. I recognize the food cart she and ayoung man walk past from our trip this morning. That must be Michael. He seems like a stereotypical high school bad boy. His tie is loose, and he has an eyebrow piercing. I can barely see it under his mop of obviously dyed black hair.

Ew…he’s an emo one, for fuck’s sake. He’s not good enough for her in the least. Explains the awful music she listens to.

The video isn’t security footage. The angle is straight on instead of from a high vantage point pointing down. And the quality isn’t nearly grainy enough. This was filmed with a smartphone.

Julia and Michael stop at the cart, and she points to something on the menu board. He talks to the cart purveyor, then goes into his back pocket, presumably to get his wallet. Two large men dressed in black come from the alley next to them. One grabs Julia, and the other knocks Michael out with a club.

They didn’t stand a chance.

Leo gasps as the one man drags her into a car.Fuck. I should have left the room. He didn’t need to see that.

“You need to see this,” I tell myZioas I hand him the phone, so he can watch the video.

He reads my mind. “They took her to a secondary location.”

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