Page 1 of Under His Embrace

1

FRANCO

Going back to A&J’s Deli wasn’t how I wanted to spend my morning, but I couldn’t get out of the duty to follow up with this latest incident.

I was there most of the day before, when I walked through the shot-up deli with Tony, the capo who reported to me in this district of the Constella territory. He was convinced this shooting was just one more attack from the Giovanni Family, but I knew better than to assume anything could be that cut and dry. Regardless of the fact that Stefan Giovanni had teamed up with Reaper at the Devil’s Brothers MC. Those collaborators wanted to end us. It was no secret they wanted to see us to ruin, to death. Every struggle for power among syndicated crime Families included a goal of completely eradicating their rivals.

“I don’t know why youwouldn’tthink Stefan was behind this,” Liam Gray said as he walked through the clutter and mess the Constella soldiers were still cleaning up. A select few had gone through to take pictures and collect evidence before cleanup could begin. We operated as our own system of law, and while the process of treating this like a crime scene was similar to what the NYPD did, we were faster and kept everything in-house.

Because whoever decided to shoot up this deli owned by Dante Constella would also answer to our form of “policing”.

They wouldn’t get away with it—whether it was the Giovannis, the Devil’s Brothers, or someone else. Dante hadn’t risen to power and maintained it without making many enemies over the years. Whoever shot A&J’s Deli up, killing all but one employee, would be caught and justice would prevail.Ourbrand of justice. The Constella way.

“Okay,” I told the former military man who’d become our best shot. And someone more like a friend than an employee, a friend I hadn’t realized I needed. “Tell me, new guy,” I mocked, “why do you think this would be the work of Stefan Giovanni?”

“Because we’ve been hearing rumors about his trying to attack again,” Liam replied. He didn’t take his critical scrutiny off the deli shop space as he spoke, alwayson. “At that wedding we attended, you confirmed that rumors were running rife that Stefan was plotting something and planning to try to attack us.”

I almost smiled at how easily Liam saidus. He’d fit right in, but he wasn’t only a new recruit and specialized soldier. He was also marrying into the family by proposing to Eva.

“I agree. I recall those rumors, but they might just be that—rumors, perhaps intended to throw us off.”

Liam crossed his arms, surveying the damage of the cover business that wouldn’t be in operation anytime soon. Probably never again. The building would be better off demolished and rebuilt as something new with all the bloodshed and destruction.

“All right. Let’s say this isn’t the work of the Giovannis. If they were spreading rumors to throw us off and confuse us, who would’ve done this?” Liam raised his brows expectantly.

“Not the MC,” I replied. Blindly shooting up a place was more the bikers’ style, but they would make sure we knew that they’d done it. The Devil’s Brothers would want all the glory. They’dgloat in attacking the Constellas and would want to rub it in our faces. So far, they hadn’t said a damn thing.

Between the two, we dealt with a lot of strife. Stefan and Reaper were the two leaders who should come to mind, but I wasn’t certain that was what we were dealing with here. “Stefan has been in hiding since he tried to kidnap Nina and Tessa,” I told Liam. That had happened right before Liam came into our fold. “And Reaper’s dealing with your killing his connection to the governor,” I reminded him. Liam had taken out their connection for immunity from the law just twenty-four hours ago, and Reaper was insanely pissed off.

“You don’t think Reaper could’ve ordered this attack in retaliation to our killing Oscar Morelli?” he asked.

I shook my head. It was another simple assumption, but it didn’t add up.

“No, man.” Tony approached, slipping his phone into his pocket. He was here to help supervise, but as he was still recovering from an illness, I was in charge. “The surveillance feed shows them coming in here and firing ten minutes prior to when you took your shot at the governor’s assistant.”

“It can’t be payback for that kill,” I told Liam.

“Then who are you thinking?” he asked.

I shrugged, not wanting this to spread too far. I had my guesses and ideas, but until I had proof or clues, I didn’t want to start any gossip.

“I just sent you the tracking info you requested,” Tony said on his way out to speak with more soldiers out front. “The surveillance feeds tracked the car the employee took, confirming they jumped into the A&J van.”

I wasn’t surprised. The deli was shot up and their “company” van was missing. I’d asked for the confirmation that the sole survivor—and witness—took that van. And it seemed that I was correct in that guess.

I narrowed my eyes. “But you still can’t find any employee records?”

The capo shook his head and coughed, still getting over a nasty round of pneumonia from the winter season. “No. I think it’s gotta be a new hire because the paperwork hasn't been filed anywhere yet.”

“Eh. That’s not saying much, though.” A&J’s Deli was a cover business. In the basement level, drugs were packaged for distribution. Since it was such a small shop, the legitimate business end ran with a similar under-the-table mentality. Records weren’t diligently kept here. Our bookkeepers were thorough, but even from their end, they couldn’t tell us who was being paid as the deli’s new employee.

A very recent hire. What a shitty way to start a job.

“The cameras picked up on the employee running out the back, though.” Tony coughed again. “And other cameras followed and tracked the car they jumped into to flee.”

Liam furrowed his brow. “No plates or license to track?”

Tony shook his head. “No. It was a rental, tied to the family. During the day, Manny and Suzie used it for delivering meats for the deli, but at night, the crew in the basement would take the decals off and use it for delivering product.”

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