Page 25 of Ludovico's Vengeance

I stand in front of him pondering his statement for several minutes. He becomes more anxious the longer I remain unmoving and silent. His already ghostly white skin pales even more when I step back to allow Michael access again.

“The thing is, even if Mateo and Frederico have forced you, I know for a fact that you aren't married.” I bark out as I fight laughter, “Besides, if you were in fact uninterested in this lifestyle, you would have been in contact as soon as word got out that I had taken over for my grandfather.”

The fear that had been in his eyes dissipates as quickly as it came, replaced by rage. I snort when he tries to fight the restraints and nod to Michael who has been waiting for an all clear. He lifts his blade to the man’s throat before he leans in, obscuring my view and murmuring the threat that usually does it for these pieces of shit. Just like clockwork, he sings like a canary.

“All I know is that Frederico went to Barone a few years ago. Word on the street, at the time, was that Ludovico was losing power. I don't know anything else, I swear!” The admission comes out in a breathy sob.

The confession has me pause as I consider his words. Part of the paperwork I found did give a hint to that. However, by the look in the man’s eyes, he has no other information. I shrug and give the signal to Michael who pulls his gun from his holster and pulls the trigger. A loud shot rings through the small space as the man slumps over. His brain matter and skull fragments blown onto the wall behind him.

Michael’s call to the cleanup crew is swift; by the time he's changed and thrown his clothes in the incinerator, they're already here. I have no idea how they do it, but they're fast as fuck. We leave them to it and head back to the car where Milo is on watch. As soon as I slide into the front passenger seat, he shoots me the goofiest grin.

“The fuck is wrong with your face?” I glance between him and Michael who looks just as concerned.

Milo chuckles at our reaction.

“Nina is out of the house with Vanna.” His tone is that of a proud father. Given that he's the one who quite literally rescued her from the hell she was in and saw first-hand just how sheltered and frightened she was in those first precious moments, I'm not surprised. Although, the fact that she's out without me has my heart stuttering in my chest.

My vision blurs to a red haze as I point for him to drive.

“Get me to wherever the fuck they are, now.” I demand.

Milo doesn’t move but I feel his eyes on me.

“Johnny, man — she's got Vanna and her two men with them.” He tries to soothe the panic by reassuring me of her safety, which isn't doing a goddamn thing. “They're at a bookstore. They're fine.”

“Drive.” I repeat through a guttural growl.

The last time she was out, someone was such a dick to her that she couldn't function for hours. There's no way I'm going to allow that to fucking happen again. I have to be there for her, to protect her.

I step through the front door of Under the Cover to find my mother leaning against the counter speaking with an employee who looks bored out of their mind. My mother eyes me the moment I enter, and she’s got a shit eating grin splitting her face. She's proud of herself. Oh, we'll be talking later. Even if I'm proud of the woman who made such huge progress today, I don't like that I wasn't made aware of this outing before it happened.

It only takes a moment for my eyes to land on my woman. She's dressed in a pair of jeans that make her ass look even better than usual. Seriously, I could bounce a quarter off that perfect peach. She has a black leather jacket draped over her arm, I can see the lower half of her back with the short purple top she's wearing. Fuck, barely anything is exposed, and yet, I would kill for a moment alone with her.

There's another woman whose arm is wrapped tight around Nina's shoulder; her bright pink hair bounces around frantically in her ponytail as she talks with her hands. She steps away from Nina to move to the counter, I take that as my moment to swoop in and wrap my arms around Nina's chest. I just nearly miss the collection of books in her hand. She stiffens for a second, until I speak softly against her ear.

“You look good enough to eat, Short Stack.” My words calm her and she melts into me.

The woman with pink hair walks back to Nina who is still in my arms and takes the stack from her.

“Thanks, Brittany.” Nina's appreciation seems to be deeper than for the books. I'm going to have some questions about that later.

Before Brittany walks away she says loud enough for both of us to hear, “Tink, you are for sure going to be graduating sooner than you think.” The pink haired woman winks at me before she disappears behind the counter to ring up the books.

My mother is off to the side having a hushed conversation with Milo which only serves as a point of contention, so I do my best to ignore them. Michael is at the counter with his wallet out before I can make a move.

Brittany's eyes roam up Michael's body as soon as she realizes it's someone new at the counter. Her eyes flicker with mischief as her mouth opens.

“Well hello there, Daddy.” Her voice is full of lust.

Michael’s face flames at the forwardness of the young woman. She’s so close to Nina’s age I choke back a laugh, burying my face in Nina’s neck as I direct her outside with me.

We've spent the last twenty-four hours combing through every piece of paperwork that Frederico left in this house. I'm exhausted and infuriated. I lift my head to see Milo going line by line on the current stack in front of him. Michael lets himself back in my office with a fresh round of coffee. The fragrance of Mrs. D's dark roast fills the room and a jolt of energy hits before I even get my first sip. Milo snorts when I leap from my seat to grab a cup. The steaming liquid hits my tongue, and I flinch at the heat. I don't even care, it's doing its job of waking me up. Bring on the pain.

“I don't understand why the money that is supposed to be allocated to help those coming into the city for a better life legally and safely has dwindled so much.” I groan through gritted teeth. “This was agreed upon years ago, back when Frederico started accepting payment from the corrupt fucks at City Hall for protection from anyone digging into their extracurricular activities.” My tired eyes rake through another page of data, and I let out a long huff. All of these numbers and words are blurring together.

Everything points to Barone, as it has since we began this wild fucking goose chase. The math isn't mathing because how he became so entwined with our business, illegitimate and legal ventures alike, doesn't make sense. There's no fucking way that millions of dollars a year are going out for drug distribution. We should be in the goddamn black tenfold with how much cocaine and heroin go for on the streets.

The more time we spend trying to figure out when it happened and what started it, the angrier I feel. Anger radiates through me as I re-read the same line for the third goddamn time.

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