Page 118 of Beautiful Desire

Me

I’m here. Moving in shortly. Be ready.

Not bothering to wait for a response, and not wanting Nero to catch me, I pocket my phone and wait for my instructions. He reemerges from the car and has a smarmy look on his face as he makes his way back over to me.

Holding out his hand, he shows me a Glock 45. “This is for you. I personally made sure it worked earlier and just loaded it with new ammo. I’ll give it to you when we’re closer.”

The hairs on the back of my neck stand up, and my breathing turns heavy as anger courses through my veins.

Hardening my features, I seethe at him with mounting rage, “If you hurt one hair on my daughter’s head—”

He cuts me off with a wave of his hand.

“So testy over a child you only just found out was yours mere hours ago. And don’t insult me. I’m not a baby killer. I would never do that. I would make sure she gets into a good home, though. A beautiful baby like that would go for a lot of money on the black market,” he says as he gives me a sickly smile.

At that, I lunge at him. His men see it coming and grab me from behind before I reach him, but not before I see him flinch.

“If you think you’re getting out of here alive, you’ve got another think coming,” I fume at him.

“Careful, dear cousin. It would only take a simple phone call to make sure you never see your preciousLilyever again. I would behave and do what I was told if I were you,” he taunts.

I need to tamp down my anger before I not only get myself killed, but have Lily separated from Elle forever. I push my shoulders back, and Nero’s men let go instantly.

Amateurs.

Nero wrangles his men and starts giving out orders. “Tino, your group is taking the south side of the building. Giulio, your team is on the north, and Frankie, your men are covering me. We’ll split up when we get closer to the warehouse. Keep your eyes open and stay hidden. We don’t want to alert them that we’re coming. Capisce?”

A chorus of, “Si, signore,” rings out, and just like a mini army, his soldiers do as he says, and we begin walking in the shadows toward Fabi’s warehouse.

As we start to walk, I feel the barrel of a gun touch the small of my back. Looking over my shoulder, I see one of Nero’s men behind me. He’s looking straight ahead, watching where we’re going and not paying me any attention. As I turn back around, I hear my cousin speak up.

“It’s to make sure you stay in line and don’t try to run off and do something stupid like warn Fabrizio,” he says, answering my unspoken question while arching a brow.

“Why would I do that? I want my daughter back. I think me being here proves I’m willing to do whatever it takes to make sure she’s returned safely to her mother.”

“We’ll see about that,” is all he says before focusing back up ahead.

As we approach the warehouse, Nero, his men, and I hang back next to a shipping container. Tino and Giulio’s teams split up, surveying the area as instructed while we wait for our signal. Once we get confirmation it’s all clear, the gun nudges me in my back.

“Can you call your goon off now, please? I don’t even have a weapon to harm you with,” I tell Nero.

“Stand down, soldier,” he says, and the gun is gone.

I go to take another step when my cousin’s arm shoots out in front of me, preventing that from happening. He opens his suit jacket, displaying his holster.

“I don’t trust you to not use this on me, so when we get inside, I’ll hand it to you. If you get yourself dead before that…well, that’s on you,” he says as he lowers his hand.

We make it to the side entrance, where Frankie and his men check to ensure we’re good to go.

As soon as they give us the signal, I hear Nero say to everyone, “Showtime!”

Three of his men open the door and enter ahead of us. Nero and I are next, followed by the rest of our “group.” We’ve come in the back of Fabi’s warehouse, where we see crate after crate of cocaine. I see some of Nero’s men’s eyes light up at the sight of the white powder, but none of them stray to take any.

This part of the building isn’t as well lit, so we have to be careful where we step. I see Tino and Giulio’s men up ahead in the middle, hiding behind some of the boxes containing the drugs. Making our way toward them, we finally hear voices and movement, letting us know we’re getting closer to the front where they’re at.

Tino and Giulio’s teams join us as we pass them, flanking us on both sides and making us look more powerful than we are. The voices get louder with every step we take and, before we know it, we see Fabi and his men unpacking their latest shipment.

Nero being…well, Nero…announces our arrival. Fabi’s men stop what they’re doing and grab their weapons, aiming them directly at us.

---