Page 11 of Rise
“This happened while you are the boss,” she states. “On your watch, Antonio. That means it’s your responsibility to make it right.”
“I know it's my fault.”
“Find out how this happened.”
“We did,” I tell her. “It wasthe Pinuccis.”
“No. They give information to somebody. Do you know who?”
“Not yet.”
“But you finish Lorenzo… did he talk? Did he tell you anything before you finish him?”
“He didn’t,” I answer somewhat truthfully. But it’s a half lie. The real truth is I didn’t question him. My men did, for about three hours after they found him and took him to one of our warehousesto question him before I arrived. Not me. I couldn’t. I didn’t give him a chance to shed any light on Natalia’s kidnapping, her condition, or her whereabouts. I was so fucking mad when I made it inside the warehouse where they were keeping him. I couldn’t even look at him. My vision went blurry, my body went numb, and only one part of me swung into action.
My dominant hand.
Burninghot fingers took my handgun out of the holster, lifted the safety, aimed and squeezed a shot to that fucker’s head and one to his heart for double-crossing this family before I could see straight. The only way to learn what the Pinuccis know is to find Cristiano.
“I’ll find Cristiano,” I promise solemnly. “Whatever it takes.”
“I will keep talking to Mauro. But you, you have to doyour job. Call in every favor that is owed to my son. Pay off whoever you need to pay off. Just find him. Then find my Natalia.”
“I will.”
“She has to be alive. My Natalia is out there. She is alone, and I know that she has to be wondering why we don’t find her yet. So do it fast,” she warns me.
Folding my arms across my chest, I give her a sincere nod. “I will.”
Shetakes another few steps in my direction and rests a hand on my folded forearm. “And after Cristiano tells you everything he knows… make sure you finish him too.”
“Trust me. I'm going to make that piece of scum pay for this. For all of it.”
“You make sure he suffers. Then make sure everyone inside and outside this organization know about it.” She squeezes my forearm a little. “Peoplesay my husband was ruthless but just. Cruel and cold, but fair. But that is why they would not dare to cross him. He knew. That is why he had his rules. Lead by example. Take every chance to send a message so that everyone knows how far he was willing to go. The time to be fair is finished. This is the time for justice.”
“I'm going to fix this, Mrs. Romano. I promise. I’ll find her.”
I take stock of all the fallout we’re faced with since the day the boss left. Vinny’s here in the clinic ICU fighting for his life, the other two men who were with him are dead, and Natalia is somewhere out there. I've used up resources and worked with so many leads and we still can’t find her. It's like the girl fell off the face of the Earth.
