Page 68 of Little Dove

“No sign of Giovanni or any of his sons?” Massimo asks.

“Nothing yet. Though if he’s in bed with the Russians, I can’t see that he’d be interested in dealing with Esposito,” Zeno answers. “I’ve been tracking him, and there’s no chatter. The men watching the house haven’t reported anything, either.”

“Doesn’t mean he doesn’t have another way out,” Alessio points out grimly.

“Would your father meet them both, or is he setting up an ambush?” Pietro asks Dante, his expression hard. It’s no secret that Pietro does not like Gregorio Esposito. The bad blood between them has extended for decades, but none of us, probably not even our father, knows why or what caused it..

“I don’t consider him my father,” Dante says coolly. “He’s a fucking snake, so he could very well be setting up for the twoof them to fight it out for his own sick pleasure. He’ll back the winner. Or perhaps Marco sees an opportunity to finally get rid of his father, since he hasn’t left the house until now.”

“It seems too fucking obvious,” Massimo argues, frowning. “Why wait this long to kill him? I know he’s backed by the Irish, but this seems like a fool's mission.”

“Or they’ve decided to settle their differences, and Marco is hoping to join up with his father again,” I suggest.

“No,” Nico says with a firm shake of his head. “Leonardo will never allow it. To allow Marco or Sebastian back into the fold would show him as weak. He’s more likely to kill him on sight, and Marco knows it.”

“Was Sebastian with him?” I ask.

Dante shakes his head. “No. None of our men have seen him, not even out with the soldiers.”

“Antonio is much the same with Leonardo,” Urso agrees. “He sent Dario to Europe after Sienna, but not him.”

“I want to know where Marco ends up,” Pietro scowls. “Aurelio, have our men help Nico’s to get as much information as possible. There’s something going on here, and I don’t fucking like it.”

“With them all pairing up with other people outside of their own family, it gives them access to other technologies and options that we don’t have,” Alessio chimes in grimly. “And it’s been too fucking quiet since Lazaro and Amara got back.”

Dante’s phone chimes, and he curses quietly. “That’s our informant in Gallo’s camp. He wants a meeting as soon as possible. Has some info that we’re going to want to hear.”

“Set it up for half an hour from now at the library, same as before,” Nico orders.

“Alessio, you and Lazaro go with him,” Pietro orders. “Get any important information back to us as soon as possible. The faster we move, the faster we figure out what the hell is going on.My gut is telling me it’s nothing good. The rest of you, figure out where the hell Marco is going, and what Giovanni and his men are up to. We can’t trust that this isn’t some kind of set up.”

Everyone’s moving, and despite the scowl on Nico’s face, he doesn’t argue. We head for the door while Dante calls for a car and I call for backup. “Two or three cars?” I ask Dante.

“Two,” Nico answers briskly. “And we’re leaving here quietly. I don’t want any of the others seeing us leave. Dante, SUVs only, we’ll be in one, and the men can be in the other. Only enough to offer protection, not enough to show our hand.”

“Already done,” Dante answers. “Eion will meet us there as requested.”

“Won’t Seamus notice him gone?” I ask curiously as Nico puts his hand on a scanner at the end of the hall, and a door to our left opens with a barely audible click. We walk through, and we’re met with a set of stairs that descend into pitch-black darkness. The moment the door shuts behind us, the room fills with light, and I see the platform at the bottom. “You doing some of that Bat fucker shit down here, Armani?” I ask curiously as we start our descent.

“Bat fucker shit,” Dante replies, snickering. “You mean Batman?”

“That’s what I fucking said, didn’t I?” I snap at him. “This fucking place has so many tunnels and secret entrances and exits that I wouldn’t be surprised.”

“He has a point,” Dante agrees after a second, with a smirk at Nico. “Could be your new nickname.” Nico doesn’t grace that with an answer, but if looks could kill, Dante would be riddled with bullet holes already.

“Back to my question, won’t Seamus notice him gone?” I ask again.

“Possibly, but he’s one of the few with Seamus’s trust, and has freedom most don’t,” Nico answers. “And if he does, he already knows the danger he’s in and he doesn’t care.”

“Why is he turning on Seamus?” he finally asks.

“He raped and killed his wife,” Nico says simply. “The man loved her more than his own life, and more than his own children from the sounds of things, since I’ve already warned him he’s put their lives on the line too.”

Before now, I might have thought that a fucking stupid move, but after Amara, yeah, I get it. “His sons are young?”

“No, grown, but barely. They also feel the same, according to him, but who the fuck knows. He’s aware of the risk, and that’s not my concern. I want his information and I’m going to use it to get what I want,” Nico says simply as we reach the bottom and enter a large garage full of vehicles. Most of them are sturdy cars, trucks and SUVs, with a few sportier ones in the mix.

Four soldiers are already waiting beside running SUVs in front of a wide garage door. I recognize two of them as Davide, and the former soldier, Caesar. Davide, I don’t have much respect for, but Caesar, we’ll see. The final two men are our own.

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