Page 138 of Heartless Mafia Prince

Thirty minutes later, we met Ercole at our rendezvous point.

He jumped out of the truck; hands extended. “What the fuck happened back there?”

I bounced off the grill of the truck. “I’d say someone tried to kill us,” I barked.

We disposed of Luther’s body right before we met Ercole.

“Luther didn’t give us much information. He just said someone wanted to take over our territory. Whoever they held hostage was close to his heart. He was willing to die to keep them safe.”

“Yeah, he wasn’t budging,” Genn stated to my left.

“We’ve seen guys crack under less pressure. I thought he’d sing like a baby after his second arm got whacked off,” Agosto added.

“Shit,” Ercole turned and growled, giving us a view of his meaty neck. Looked like he bench pressed two people a day. The guy was built like a bodybuilder at six-one in height. He ran a hand over his short brown hair.

“All right, we’ll lay low tonight. We can’t risk being followed back to the villa.”

“Ercole, I agree. But remember who’s calling the shots.” I pointed at my chest. “Me.”

He raised his chin and his big eyes narrowed. “Yeah, yeah. Of course.”

After driving around for an hour making sure we weren’t being tailed, we settled into a hotel.

The guys and I sat around a square dining table, chowing down on mediocre burgers, fries, and soft drinks. I thought I’d be eating some of the best coconut shrimp right about now. Not a chance. Shit, tomorrow Ryah and I were supposed to spend time in a luxury suite. That was ruined by the Luther shit that hit the fan. The terrible turn of events meant I couldn’t see Ryah again on this trip. We had to keep her and her family safe.

“Ercole, you should’ve seen Rocco,” Agosto chuckled, slurping down his soda. “He was lethal with a sword.”

Our laughter filled the suite.

It wasn’t what I was accustomed to, but the motel would meet our needs.

I leaned back in the tropical print wicker chair, taking in the yellow walls. They reminded me of the color of the hospital room my mother held my little sister in when she was born. We each brought one change of clothes for the job. None of us thought we needed more. There was a small kitchen to the right. The white cabinets brightened the room. The bedrooms were down the hall. This was home for a few days. My eyes fell on the guys again. They were still giving Ercole the play-by-play

of how I eliminated Luther.

“Genn, I need you to talk to Art. Bring him up to speed. Ryah’s family needs his expertise.”

Art would put his military experience in high gear to protect the Contis.

Ercole’s face twisted at my words. Was he jealous of Ryah’s bodyguard?

My bodyguards only cared about getting the job done. Not who I favored more. My team had their own special skill set. They were both long distance shooters. They had great hacking abilities. So did I. The guys had a host of other great attributes that served the Andrisanis.

I’d mention to my dad about Ercole’s jealousy tendencies. He could tell his best friend about his bodyguard.

“Sure, no problem,” Genn stated.

“Tomorrow, I need you to return to the scene. Find out where they launched the missile from. I want to know who’s trying to kill us and force their way into our territory. If it’s war they want than it’s war, we’ll give them.”

“One of my ex-military buddies who’s local can help.”

“Sounds good.”

I peeked at the basic white wall clock. Shit, I had to turn our family’s lives upside down at ten o'clock at night. I ran my hands tightly over my hair. “Time to call the bosses,” I sighed.

Agosto pushed the satellite phone across the table toward me. Taking a deep breath, I dialed Luciano’s phone number.

I walked into the kitchen and hopped up on the counter. The guys dispersed from the table.

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