Page 10 of His Kind of Beautiful
Chapter Six
Leona groaned at the sound of a cell phone ringing, burrowing her head under the blanket in an attempt to stay asleep and ward off the unwanted intrusion. Tony began cursing, and she murmured a protest when he moved his body away from hers to answer the clanging intruder.
“What!”
Leona grinned at the grumpy terse sound of Tony’s voice. Apparently, her lover was not an early morning kind of guy.
“When?”
Leona froze. All the warm fuzzy feelings from moments before evaporated beneath the sound ofthatparticular tone. She’d heard Tony use it before and it was usually in the moments before he went to work. As an enforcer for the Carlisi family, he and others of his rank were often called upon to fight or bleed to protect what was theirs.
“We’re coming,” Tony said down the phone as he threw back the blankets on the bed and stood up. “Tell Sofia we’ll get him back. The Battaglias think they have a fucking cause for a blood debt to be paid, then they’ll fucking get one.”
Tony turned the light on next to the bed and Leona blinked a few times to adjust to it. “What’s happened?”
Tony looked at her and Leona inhaled sharply. His dark eyes were almost black now, and they held a deadly intent she’d only ever seen on one occasion. The night he killed Angelo Battaglia.
“Angelo’s brother has called for a blood debt to be paid,” Tony said, pulling his jeans on as he spoke. Leona scrambled from the bed, rushing to get dressed as well.
“How can he do that? You killing Angelo was in retaliation for your dad.”
Tony dragged his black long-sleeved shirt on over his head. “Yeah, well, apparently, his mother doesn’t see it that way, and she wants blood for blood for Angelo.”
Leona carefully watched Tony as he gathered the rest of his things. “There’s more to it than that. What else?”
Tony exhaled, placing his fists on his hips. “Gina Battaglia isn’t just calling for a blood debt, she wants someone in particular to pay for Angelo’s death.”
“Oh, my God, Tony, is she sending her people after you?” Leona moved quickly to stand in front of him, as if to protect him from the enemy she now knew was coming.
Tony pulled her into his arms and she knew something was terribly wrong from the way his body seemed to vibrate with tension. “Not just me,bellezza mia.You too.”
“Me?” She never knew her voice could go so high-pitched.
Tony nodded, pulling back to look her in the eye. “Yeah. She wants me dead, no surprises there. But that crazy bitch seems to think that you’re the only reason he was there that night in the first place. She believes you led him into a trap and she wants your blood in reparation, too.”
Leona shook her head in disbelief. “Had she ever met her son? He could never have been led anywhere by anyone.”
Tony pressed his lips to hers in a quick, sweet kiss. “Like I said, that woman is obviously as crazy as her son was. Crazy doesn’t fall far from the tree it’s born from, apparently.”
Leona frowned. Tony was trying to inject too much humor and calm into his tone, but she could tell he was anything but. They may have only been intimate the one time, but she realized she had watched him so much over the past two years, she could read him better than she ever knew.
“Tell me.”
Tony met her gaze, and she knew she was right. There was more. She waited, confident enough in his feelings for her to trust her with the truth.
Tony sighed. “They took Gino last night as collateral. The message they sent this morning was that we would get Gino back if they handed you or me over.”
For a moment, just a brief second in time, Leona thought that might actually be a possibility, but then she remembered what Tony had told her last night. She had to trust in his love for her. Tony was watching her very carefully, as if he suspected that perhaps her mind may move in that direction and her reaction would be as a result of that.
“Gavriil must have a plan? How is he going to get Gino back without putting us at risk?”
Tony’s smile lit the room. “Thank you,bellezza, for trusting in us. The plan is still coming together, but we have to get back to the city as soon as possible so that we are in a position to help. Gavriil has sent the chopper and it will be here any minute.”
Leona nodded, rushing to grab the rest of her things. Her family needed her and she would be there for all of them.
****
“Porca miseria!”
