Page 37 of Operation Wolf: Eli
CHAPTER 20
Olivia
“AH, MISS GIORDANO. RIGHTon time.”
I shuddered in disgust as the mobster took me gently by the elbow with one gloved hand, placing the other at the small of my back. A man in his early forties with crow’s-feet and graying temples, he’d been waiting for me at the gate along with a handful of other soldiers to ensure I didn’t try to make an escape. By his demeanor and the way the others showed deference to him, I knew he was the capo of this particular unit, but I didn’t know his name or what he specialized in.
“I don’t believe we’ve been acquainted,” I answered icily as I allowed him to lead me to the pickup terminal where two black SUVs were waiting for us.
The very sight of the large, menacing vehicles took me back to the car accident where I’d broken my ribs. It had been less than two months since that incident, since Eli and I escaped those awful people, but it felt as though it were yesterday. Yet here I was, back in their clutches, heading straight for the doom Eli had been trying to protect me from.
Shit. Shit. Shit. I feel like a damn ass.
“My apologies, Miss Giordano,” he said as he opened the door for me. “My associates know me as Caesar.”
Caesar. I recognized the name. He dealt mainly in chop shops and prostitution, with an occasional side of gambling just for fun.
“Decided to venture down from the Heights, did you?” I sneered as I got into the car. “Get away from your chop shops and whores for a little while?”
Caesar bared his teeth in a feral grin. “I wouldn’t worry too much about me right now, Miss Giordano,” he said, gesturing to one of the men sitting in the row of seats behind me.
I screamed as a burlap sack was shoved over the top of my head, and I began to struggle in earnest as someone else slipped zip ties around my wrists and ankles, but it was no use.
“I would really start worrying about yourself.”
“You’re taking me to my father, aren’t you?” I screamed as a seat belt was strapped down over me. “Shit. Aren’t you?”
The definitive slam of the door was my only answer.
* * *
Nearly an hour passed before the SUV finally came to a halt. I squirmed in my seat, nearly beside myself with dread and anxiety, wanting desperately to know what was beyond the burlap sack covering my field of vision. I’d cursed myself roundly the entire ride for not trusting Eli, for not staying put with him instead of rushing headlong into danger like this. It was a stupid move fueled by high emotions and loyalty to my dad.
How did I know that Eli didn’t have some kind of master plan to make all of this shit go away? Fuck! I didn’t even have the damn faith in him to find out.
Shit! What the fuck was I thinking?
But on the other hand, if Eli had had a way of solving this whole mess, he wouldn’t have dragged me off into the middle of nowhere to begin with.
“We’re here, Miss Giordano.”
I heard the squeak of the door as it opened and blinked in the dim light as the burlap sack was ripped off my head, revealing a smiling Caesar waiting for me on the other side.
“Untie her hands and feet,” he ordered to the soldier seated next to me. “I don’t want to have to carry her ass inside. But watch her.”
“Where are we?” I asked, peering out the open door.
We were parked in an empty lot outside what looked like an abandoned warehouse. An old, factory-like building with boarded-up windows covered in graffiti. I imagined a decent earthquake would send it crumbling into dust.
“Exactly where you asked us to take you,” he said, grabbing me by the elbow and hauling me out of the vehicle with much less consideration than he’d given me at the airport. “To see your father.”
“He’s in here?” I asked in disbelief. A mixture of fear and elation set my stomach churning, and I took a deep breath to try to steady myself. “In this decrepit place?”
“What? You thought Mr. Carideo was going to invite him into his living room for tea with his wife?” Caesar scoffed. Then he gave me a shove between the shoulder blades that sent me stumbling forward. “Come on now. Let’s get inside. We don’t have all night.”
The inside of the warehouse was dark and vast, the lower floor empty except for some rusting machinery scattered across the space. Dim light came from the upper floors, and it was in that direction where we headed, Caesar pushing me up a creaky metal staircase. With my heart in my throat, I tried to go slowly, but they urged me on, clearly impatient to deliver their package—me.
“Hey, boss!” Caesar called out jovially from behind me as my feet clattered on the wooden flooring.
