Page 134 of Toxic

I cross my arms. "We're not ignoring protocol on this."

Gianni shakes his head. "Fine. Tell Papà. I'm still handling this my way."

I groan. "Jesus. What's gotten into you?"

Gianni clenches his jaw.

There's a loud knock, and the door opens. Papà steps inside.

"Are your ears burning?" I ask.

He grinds his molars, assessing both Gianni and me.

"I have an issue to deal with, so if you could speed this up," Gianni states.

Papà shoots daggers at him with his gaze. "I already took care of it."

Gianni's face falls. "How did you even know about it?"

Papà sniffs hard. "I know everything. It's my job."

"I was going to take care of it," Gianni claims.

Papà points to the chairs. "Sit."

My brother and I obey, and Papà sits next to me. Tension fills the air as he assesses us. I work hard not to squirm in my seat, aware he's about to drop some sort of bomb on us. He finally informs us, "Leo stopped the shipment."

Relief fills me. Leo roams the sea, several miles from the port. He has a crew of men and is there to intercept shipments when needed. I ask, "What was on it?"

Disgust fills my father's face. "Women."

The blood drains from my cheeks, running straight to my toes.

"Jesus," Gianni mutters.

Papà nods. "Yeah. Now we've got a bigger problem."

Gianni and I exchange a glance.

"Where are they?" he questions.

Papà taps his fingers on the wooden desk. "Leo's men took over the ship. They took care of the crew, and I instructed him to bring Sam here."

"Once again, we missed out on the fun," Gianni sneers.

Papà inhales slowly, not happy with Gianni's sarcasm. He points to him. "This is your territory. It has Abruzzo written all over it."

More silence hangs in the air. Papà's right. It's a direct attack on Gianni. He's pissed off the Abruzzos too many times.

Papà continues, "Our contacts confirm the FBI was raiding our dock tonight."

I close my eyes, wishing this would all go away. The Abruzzos are heavy into human trafficking. One surefire way to end up in a cell forever is to get caught in it. Death would be an easier option than living in prison for the rest of your life. I blurt out, "Where are the women going?"

Papà slowly shakes his head. "I don't know yet. Leo's waiting for orders in international waters, but we need to figure this out."

"I'll take care of it," Gianni claims.

"How?" Papà questions.

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