Page 52 of Cruelest Vow

The tone had been the same as I remembered, only there were no tears of despair any longer, only snarls of anger, words sputtered like vomit.

“Kill the motherfucker.”

The motherfucker he was talking about was just happened to be his third cousin. Luis Garza was nothing more than a hired thug for his uncle, the smaller Italian syndicate more of a nuisance in the world of crime than anything. The fact Mattia had acted so nervous meant he’d been going behind his father’s back making deals. It would seem I’d need to clean up his mess as well. The man had been coddled too much, treated like a prince. I couldn’t remember the last time he’d gotten his hands dirty with anything.

“I’m curious,”I’d told him, enjoying the moment of his unraveling.“What did he do?”

“Does it matter? Just do it.”

“You seem to forget who you work for.”

“I’m my father’s son.”

“And so am I.”My booming voice had stopped him, but his heavy breathing had remained. Maybe his entire precious world was about ready to be destroyed around him. What had he gotten himself into now?

“I need your help. Okay? Luis sold me out. Five million gone. Poof.”

“That will cost you.” What concerned me even more was that it could set off a chain of events that could add fuel to the embers that were already burning. I didn’t like the odds of handling the situation for him.

“Fuck you, D’Artagnan. Just do it.”

Then he’d hung up the phone. I’d stared out at the city for a few minutes, trying to control my anger as I thought about his request. If I didn’t, there could be fallout, including jeopardizing the plan I’d set in motion of taking full control of the DeLuca empire. I had to weigh the odds of acting on his request.

I’d stood on the balcony calculating what was in my best interest long enough to control my feelings of rage.

Then I’d returned to the woman that kept the fire burning. Lucia was far too intelligent, starting to put too many pieces together. At least our heightened level of passion had taken over for a good portion of the night. That wouldn’t always be the case.

I moved around the building, heading to the entrance of the warehouse Mattia had mentioned. I needed to see for myself whether the shipment of Ecstasy was housed inside. Drugs were a dangerous operation all the way around. The business of selling them was also not something I planned on continuing. However, if what Mattia had told me was true, the situation would need to be rectified.

That didn’t mean I was instantly going to target Luis. Family was family; going against each other while the Five Families in Italy were prepared to take the lead was in no one’s best interest. Prudency was necessary. However, if Mattia wasn’t lying then there was a real but off chance the Garza family was in bed with the Romanos. That wasn’t farfetched by any stretch of the imagination.

If the marriage between Antonio Romano and Lucia was to be consummated and there was an alliance between all three families, then other syndicates in both New York and Italy would suffer tremendous loss.

My instinct was already kicking in. I’d need to find out what was going on while being extremely cautious. The weapon in both hands, I moved to the door, checking the parking lot one last time. The location was far removed from the city, the area frequented by criminals of every walk of life. I’d waited, counting the number of men who left the building. Discovery would take going inside. I headed toward the door, checking the handle. As expected, the door was locked. After taking another glance around me, a single shot destroyed the lock.

I moved to the side, pushing the door open, waiting before slipping inside. The wide-open space was lined with containers. From where I was standing, I could see numbers inked on several of them, a clear indication they’d been shipped from another location. It appeared they’d yet to be opened.

As soon as I took a step inside, the instinct kicked in as before. I swung around but it was already too late. Soldiers moved from behind the crates, all with weapons in their hands. I’d walked into a trap.

The brutal hit sliced across the back of my neck was from a weapon. As I crumpled to the floor, the lights immediately started to dim.

Mattia…

* * *

Ping. Ping. Ping.

The noise echoed in my ears, the sounds exacerbated. The act of opening my eyes was painful, anguish shooting up the back of my neck.

“Yeah, the fucker took the bait just like you said he would.”

The voice wasn’t one I recognized, the thick New York accent making it difficult to process what he was saying. When I shifted, I realized my arms were tied behind me, rope digging into the skin around my wrists. Without lifting my head, I struggled but managed to open my eyelids. Bright light assaulted my senses. Wincing, I blinked to try to focus.

“What do you want me to do with him?” the same person asked.

By shifting a couple of inches, I was able to see the man as he paced the floor only twenty yards in front of me, a phone in his hand. Other soldiers were in close proximity, all with guns remaining in their hands. Fuck.

The asshole on the phone laughed. “Yeah, we can play with him. Nah. We’ll toss him in the river. Nothing will be left.”

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