Page 12 of Ice
The door opened to reveal Gino and Joey, both underbosses who had been a part of the Barbati organization since Antonio took the reins. They also gave him the most push back, aside from Dom, but at least these two assholes stayed in line.
“What’s going on, gentlemen?”
They shut the door with a soft click and stood with their arms crossed over their chests. Vinny watched as Gino’s gaze swept the room, probably looking for fragments of Antonio anywhere. He wasn’t going to find any. Vinny specifically picked this office because Antonio spent the least amount of time here. He wanted something he could call his own that wouldn’t remind his subordinates of who used to be in charge.
“Were you going to tell us she was home?” Gino asked, his eyes narrowing on Vinny.
The ‘she’ in question was Sofia, and no, he had zero intention of saying anything about her homecoming. If he had it his way, she’d be dead and a distant memory already, and he wouldn’t have to deal with what her homecoming meant for his seat of power.
“I wasn’t aware that I had to report anything to either of you. Besides, she hasn’t reached out to me, has she reached out to any of you?” Vinny questioned, fishing for information. If she’d been in touch with any of them, he’d know for sure what she was after.
Gino and Joey shook their heads. “You know this belongs to her, should she decide to take it.” Gino’s lips pulled back into a smug smirk. Vinny was sure if the asshole could chop off his head and hand it to her as a welcome home present, he would.
Vinny shrugged. “She’s a woman and she’s mixed. The streets won’t accept her. But we can cross that bridge when we get there.” Vinny slowly rose from his seat. “And just in case you need reminding, you work for me, your loyalty is mine.”
“Our loyalty is to the Barbati’s.” Gino growled before walking out the door with Joey.
Vinny slammed his fist into the table, praying his phone would fucking ring already. He needed Sofia dealt with. The whispering of her return would start a chain reaction among those still loyal to the Barbati name.
He wasn’t a praying man, but he prayed for her death. He prayed by the end of the night, she’d have a bullet in her chest and the Barbati name would be nothing more than a footnote in a history book.
Sofia and Dom headed out of Tres Bellas with Otto on their heels. Otto was still on the fence about working with them, but he wasn’t against them yet either. His loyalty was hanging on the fact that Sofia could keep his younger sister, Natalya, safe.
Gianna was making arrangements to bring her home. The college she was in was about to go on a break, so it wouldn’t look too suspicious if she booked a flight home to spend time with her family.
It would be easier for Sofia to keep an eye on her if she was within reach. She was going to have to stash Natalya somewhere until they took care of Bruno and the illegal activities going on at Tres Bellas. Sofia had the perfect stash house too, she just wasn’t sure Otto would be on board with it.
The sound of car tires squealing had both Dom and Otto reaching for their guns. The same black SUV from the airport attack came barreling down the block. Sofia cursed, annoyed the asshole’s gunning for her head didn’t have the decency to at least switch up cars or change their attack tactics.
She reached for her own gun. “Everyone down, now!” she barked out to the bystanders still standing outside waiting to get into the club.
She watched Otto put his index finger and thumb in his mouth, letting out a series of short whistles. All at once guys stepped off the line and came out of parked cars with their guns drawn. Even the bouncer at the door stepped up beside them.
The first set of gunshots came from the SUV, but they were quickly silenced by the screams of the bystanders and the bullets Otto and his men were letting off. Dom quickly wrapped an arm around Sofia’s waist, pushing her behind him.
“Don’t fight me, Saffi,” he whispered to her, concern lacing his voice.
She saw that Otto caught onto the nickname with the slight twist of his lips, and it made her want to smack Dom upside his head.
As quickly as the gunfire erupted was as quickly as it died down. The SUV slammed into parked cars, and Sofia stepped around Dom with her gun pointed at the SUV. She, Dom, and Otto’s men quickly surrounded the car guns drawn. The driver’s side and back seat window were open.
The sound of someone choking brought Sofia’s attention to the back seat. The guy had a bullet wound to his neck and was choking on his own blood. He wasn’t going to be useful to them, and Sofia put two bullets in his head, putting him out of his misery.
“These look like anyone either of you know?” she addressed both Dom and Otto, knowing they’d have a better chance at identifying who these shitty killers belonged to.
Otto shook his head. Dom put on a pair of gloves and reached into the car to push the driver’s head back against the seat. He checked for a pulse but couldn’t find one. The guy was dead, and thanks to the blood pouring out of his skull and broken nose, Dom was having a hard time placing what set he belonged to.
This looked like the same SUV from this morning’s attack, and while there was no proof that Vinny was behind the hit, it didn’t take a genius to piece it together. Vinny had the most to lose with Sofia being back.
Dom shook his head. “Nope.” The sounds of sirens were heard in the distance, and he cursed, knowing they had to get out of there ASAP. There was no way the cops were going to let Sofia go a second time, not now that the body count went up.
“You guys need to get out of here.” Otto stated like he was reading his mind. “My guys are all security for the club. The cops are gonna push, but we’re good.” He held out his hand for Sofia’s gun. “Going to be hard to explain why our friend in the back has a bullet in his head that doesn’t match any of ours.”
Sofia handed him the gun. “I’m going to take this as your allegiance.”
Otto grunted. “For now. Either one of my sisters gets hurt, I don’t give a fuck who you are.” His gaze shot past her to Dom. “Or who’s on your team. I will kill you.”
Dom growled low in his throat. Sofia laughed, placing her hand on Dom, hoping it would let him know to chill out. “Don’t threaten me with a good time.” She winked. “We’ll be in touch.”
