Page 92 of His to Have
“Word’s already spread that you got a price on Isabella and Orlando’s heads.” Her voice floated through the other end of the speaker, and the distinct buzz of city traffic drifted in the background.
Bash was here but not for strategy. His business with me was more personal. Mostly about his sister, but updates about his father as well. However, at the sound of Isabella’s name he froze near the front entrance as he was leaving, his back muscles tensing through his shirt. Anytime her name came up, all hewanted was vengeance. But I couldn’t blame him. She had made herself an enemy.
Turning toward the table he tuned in. He listened intently.
“You want me to smoke out whoever’s still loyal to her?” Sophia rattled on.
“Yeah, but do it without making a lot of noise.”
She was silent for a minute, and I knew she was shaking her head in agreement.
“Anyone bite yet? On the bounty?” Keem cut in, asking from his position across the room with one eyebrow raised.
“Nah, not yet. But even if they don’t, I got eyes. Anybody thinking about hiding her? I’ll know.”
“How?” I asked curiously.
Sophia was good at planting people where they were needed. Good at concealing her motives, and great at getting results. I didn’t doubt her. But this was different. It wasn’t like Sophia could just waltz into the Vitale territory unnoticed. Or even make demands like anyone in her family would extend grace when I was openly and loudly looking for Gianni’s daughter.
"I got a few men posted up in the Bronx, Yonkers, and New Rochelle. Discreetly. If she even shows her face on any of her family’s turf. I’ll be the first to know. But I doubt she’s even back in the state. She’s been M.I.A. since the wedding.”
“I agree. She’s still in Atlanta. Laying low. She wouldn’t chance coming back to New York until she has secured whatever leverage she thinks she is going to get from Orlando.” I dragged my hands down my tired face. “She’s your friend Soph, where would she go? Who does she know down here?”
Sophia exhaled softly. “See that’s what I don’t know. She kept a lot of secrets. I didn’t even know she knew Bianca and Orlando. Let alone working with them. Apparently, I didn’t know myfriendat all.” I could hear the sarcasm in the word friend, but she continued. “We have a much bigger problem, though.”
“And what’s that?” I sighed, already feeling the vein in my forehead begin to throb. “What’s bigger than this bullshit with Isabella and Orlando?”
“Gianni,” she said flatly. “His grip on his family is slipping fast and it is affecting business. Two of his shipments that usually clear through our docks, they were late picking up. Payment was short last week. Of course, I handled it. Personally making a trip to one of his warehouses in your absence. But Teo.” She paused for a split second. “Without Gianni here to keep his men in check, they’re moving however the fuck they want. Some even think it’s okay to test the Donatelli name. It’s fucking with our money.”
My jawflexed just asmy personal cell buzzed in my pocket. I wasn'tintendingto answerit, but I hadn't talked to Yanna since I left her this morning anddidn'twanttomiss her call. While Sophiakept talkingabout docks and shortages, I glanced at my phone.
An unknown number.
And five words that nearly snatched all ofmybreath from my body.
404-555-2001:I got your precious Yanna.
It was as if my worst fears had come to pass.
“Sophia, I’ll hit you back.” I ended the call not even waiting for a response.
The words were haunting.
“The fuck...” I trailed, my eyelids blinking rapidly at the message, filling the pit of my stomach with a deep sense of dread.
Those five little words were enough to unravel me. But also bring out the monster inside of me.
I’d been a menace for the majority of my life. And even been a little more... unhinged this past week. Blood was on my hands, and I had no regrets.
But this is why I was hesitant to let Yanna roam freely. Orlando was still a threat I hadn’t neutralized. And Isabella was still hiding.
My thumb pressed against the green callback button before the murderous thoughts I had swirling in my head had a time to fully take shape. The line rang once, then twice, each ring seemingly longer than the last one. By the third ring, my rage had grown from a small simmer to a full-blown raging fire. I could feel my blood boiling, and my patience wearing thin with each passing second. When there was no answer my teeth ground so hard together that I almost cracked my bottom molars.
“FUCK!!”
My hand hit the table, damn near breaking it in half, and shifting the few items that lay scattered across its area.
Quickly I dialed Ayanna.
