Page 64 of His Vow
“Yes,” I reply, my brow creasing with concern. I’ve never heard my youngest brother sound so serious. He’s always been thedon’t give two fucksbrother and has worn that title proudly.
“Good, put me on speaker.”
Placing my cell on the table, I click it onto speaker. “It’s Nico,” I add for Gio’s benefit.
He nods sharply. “This better be fucking good news.” Gio’s tone is harsh and filled with the same level of frustration I’m feeling, not that Nico is to blame. But we’ve run out of leads, and he might be our last chance to find some answers. Whoever was behind my beating is definitely the person or people behind the stolen money from the company accounts and products from the Port of Naples.
I need to find out who’s responsible so I can return to Lucia. It’s been a week since I saw her in the hospital, and the recovery from my injuries is less painful than us being apart.
“It’s definitely not good news.” Nico’s voice sounds even more brittle coming through the speaker.
“Honestly, any news at this point would help. I’m sick of waiting for something to happen,” I say, all the frustration and pain over this last week leaking through my words.
My wife needs to be back safely in my bed beside me. Although she’s still so angry with me for handing her over to her father that it may not be as easy as that. But her anger, I can fix. Her being hurt because of my company would be terrifying.
“Go ahead, we’re both listening,” Gio encourages.
“It’s Bruno.”
“Fuck!” I yell, slamming my hand down on the table.
Gio glares at me. “What’s Bruno?” he asks. Gio is a man who deals in cold, hard facts, so it doesn’t surprise me he’s asking for more clarification from Nico.
For me, I don’t need anything more. The puzzle pieces just slotted into place. My gut was warning me there was more behind him showing up at the wedding party. Hatred oozed from him that night.
But the mistake I made was thinking it was only me he hated. It turns out his hatred was aimed at all of us, the family and the company.
Anger rushes through my body, and I push up from my chair, sending it careering into the wall behind me, where it hits with a thump and dislodges some of the plaster. I don’t give a fuck, because I want to break shit right now. And if my body wasn’t still so messed up from Bruno’s hired help, I’d be on my way to his house to really fuck him up.
“That fucking worthless piece of shit. He got someone else to do his dirty work because he was too gutless to face me himself.”
“Calm down,” Gio urges, but I can’t. Nobody gets away with threatening my wife and unborn child.
I start pacing the length of the room, needing the activity to let off steam, or I really will break something. A sharp pain in my chest slows my pace. While the bruises are slowly fading to a myriad of colors, the ribs are going to take longer, and I shouldn’t be making sudden movements. But I’m so fucking angry.
Nico’s voice interrupts the wild thoughts of revenge filling my head. “Ant, if it makes you feel any better,a worthless piece of shitis exactly what Bruno is right now. He’s racked up some serious debt at the casinos in Macau, and that’s made the 14K Triad, who run the operations, very angry.”
Stopping, I stare down at my cell, then back up at Gio. His eyes have narrowed into dark gray slits as he leans onto his white-knuckled fists, which are braced against the table.
“Let’s add ‘fucking stupid’ to the list of our cousin’s accomplishments. When he’s got himself mixed up with both the Chinese and Italian Mafia, he must have a death wish,” Gio grinds out.
Maybe he wants to fuck Bruno up too.
“But what are we going to do about him?” Nico asks.
“Cut off his funds and Naples’s connections, then give his address to the Chinese Mafia when they come looking for their money,” I suggest, not a shred of sympathy for the fucker.
Nico’s laughter roars through the speaker while Gio glares at me.
“He got himself involved in this mess. Let him find his own way out of it,” I add.
“I don’t disagree,” Gio says. “But we have to think about the impact on the company. We don’t want this to be made public, or the losses to the business could be double.”
“He can’t be allowed to get away with this,” I growl.
“He won’t. I give you my word.”
It’s all I need because Gio would never break a promise to one of his brothers. He drops his gaze back to the cell. “Nico, can you meet me in Naples tomorrow? I might need some assistance from your Italian connections to deal with the situation at the port.”
