Page 36 of Blood and Penance
“Oh my God!” My hands cover my mouth and fall to my knees. Gianni squats beside me and wraps his arms around me. “He’s gone!”
“I’ve got men searching for him, Phoenix,” Lorenzo says. “We’ll find him and when we do, everyone involved will pay. I promise you that. No one fucks with the Puglisi’s and gets away with it.”
“What about, Seraphina?” Gianni asks because I can’t even form the words to ask about anyone when my son is gone. Not even my sister. “Is she alright?”
Lio hates my sister because she isn’t a fan of his. She calls him out on his bullshit and never gives him any of the respect he thinks he deserves because he’s Lio D’Amico. For a long time, I tried to keep the peace between the two, but it got to the point where I would visit her instead of her coming to visit Giancarlo and me. While my sister had been right about Lio, I knew it would put a target on her back. I just believed I had taken the necessary precautions to keep her and Giancarlo safe.
“She’s alive,” Lorenzo says. “We're going to transport her."
“I want to see my sister.”
Gianni helps me stand and we make our way toward the house. As soon as we make it through the iron gate, which is only a short distance from the house, a black Mercedes barrels toward us.
Gianni pulls a gun from the back of his waistband and pushes me behind him, so his body is shielding me. Lorenzo and his men also pull their guns, aiming them at the black Mercedes slamming on brakes just in front of the gate.
Gianni’s shoulders sag in relief and he lowers the gun when Sergio jumps out of the car. “Where is she!” Sergio shouts as he tries to get by Lorenzo’s men who stop him. “You have one second to take your fucking hands off me.”
Lorenzo nods to his men, and they let go of him. “Where is she?” Sergio repeats.
Gianni and Lorenzo look at one another with their brows drawn together in confusion.
“Where’s who?” Gianni asks.
“Seraphina,” Sergio says. His voice is no longer calm, but frantic. “I’ve been calling her, and she’s not picking up.”
“Why the fuck are you calling my sister, Sergio?”
He glares at me. “Because she’s fucking mine!” he shouts.
“What the hell did you do?” Gianni asks.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Gianni
God, please forgive me for my sins. Forgive me for the darkness I’m about to descend into.
Right now, I’m trying not to kill my brother, so I shove my hands deep inside the pockets of my black slacks. “Where’s Giancarlo?” I ask, trying to keep my voice as calm as possible.
I don’t want to show Phoenix the man I became once I walked out of her life, but what comes next depends on how my brother’s answers.
While at first, I thought maybe this had been an attack by Lio D’Amico, Sergio showing up and looking for Seraphina made everything clearer to me. I don’t know what his relationshipis with Seraphina, and I don’t care. She obviously trusted him enough to tell him about this place, and I’m sure he told our father. It’s the only explanation that fits because Phoenix had found a remote home in a well-concealed spot where neither she nor Giancarlo could be found unless someone opened their mouth.
“Where’s Seraphina?” he asks as he tries to push past Lorenzo’s guards who are blocking his way.
They grab him as he struggles to get free. “Let him go,” I order.
They look at Lorenzo, he nods, and they let Sergio go.
Lorenzo isn’t like my other brothers. Of course, he follows my father, but he’s also his own man. He obeys my father when it suits him. It’s the reason Giovanni hasn’t named him his successor when he’ll be a more suitable choice than Sergio, Dante, or me. Lorenzo’s independence makes him the perfect candidate to be Don, but Giovanni only sees him as a hinderance because he doesn’t give him blind loyalty.
This is my fault. Even though he’s dealing with his own mess, I should have called him for help instead of Sergio.
I leave Phoenix’s side and calmly walks toward Sergio. His body stiffens when I raise my gun and aim it at my brother’s face—right between his eyes. He tries to mask his fear, but he can’t. Not from me.
“Gianni…”
Lorenzo calls my name, but I ignore him. Sergio should have known better than to put my child in danger. He’s seen me at my worst. I guess since he’s my brother he thinks it will protect him from me.
