Total pages in book: 80
Estimated words: 76501 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 383(@200wpm)___ 306(@250wpm)___ 255(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76501 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 383(@200wpm)___ 306(@250wpm)___ 255(@300wpm)
Fucking hell. I was so focused on my own family and the Greeks that I lost track of the Russians, and now that might be the end of me.
“I know some guys in LA I can call. They’re not exactly allies, but they’re friendly, and they’ll take some work if the money’s right. I’ll make the calls now. You stay right there.”
She grinds her jaw. “I can’t sit still, Luca, I’m freaking out.”
I go to her and pull her into a tight hug. I hold her hard and kiss her hair. “Keep it together. Your friend might need you.”
She nods against my chest. When I’m done, I pull away and make the call. The Cavallo family is a small West Coast operation, not very strong, mostly into money laundering and extortion. Their boss is a minor guy named Denny, and while I don’t like him and they don’t have a ton of muscle, they’re all I can get on short notice until I can fly more guys over myself.
It’ll have to be enough. Denny agrees to track down Adrienne and to make sure she’s safe, or at least to locate her if she isn’t, but the fucker charges me twice what they’re worth. “Cost of doing last-minute business, Luca, you know how it goes, and besides, there’s a good chance my guys are gonna get fuckin’ shot at. Gotta cover my bases, you get it.” The worthless fuck likely can’t do a damn thing, but Kacia would kill me if I balked at the deal, even though the price is straight up disrespectful. I agree and hang up.
Kacia’s sitting on the edge of the bed, hugging herself. Still no word from Giacomo or Adrienne. “We have to go talk to my father.”
“Why him?”
“I need to get this Greek deal hammered out before something can derail it.”
She shakes her head, tugging at her hair anxiously. “That doesn’t matter right now. Adrienne does.”
“Adrienne is a pawn to stop this alliance from happening.”
“Don’t talk about my friend like her life doesn’t matter.”
“To the Russians, it doesn’t.”
“And what about to you?”
I stare at her and a dozen thoughts mix in my head. What am I supposed to tell her? That I really, really care about her friend, even though I’ve never met the girl, and the fate of my Famiglia hangs in the balance? That a single life doesn’t fucking matter in the grand scheme, so long as Kacia is safe? I drop to my knees in front of her and take her hand in mine, stilling it for a moment.
“We have a chance here, Kacia. You and I. The Greek crime lords are disorganized and fighting each other right now, but we don’t know how long that’ll last. They’re weak, and we can exploit their weakness and turn it into a strength for everyone. We can flip a war that’s been going for a few years and turn it into something prosperous. You and I, Kacia. You and I can do it. But we have to go talk to my father and we have to be strong. Do you really want to pass up this chance? To do something good?”
She lets my words sink in. I can see the struggle play out in her mind: she wants to rush off to save Adrienne, but she knows how important this Greek alliance can be. Her people, her friend, her husband. Everything’s pulling her in a dozen different directions.
Finally, she nods. “We’ll talk to your father. But I’m going to keep trying Adrienne.”
“I’ll drive.”
Chapter 21
Kacia
His father’s house is filled with capos and soldiers. They’re lounging in the kitchen, in the hallways, some of them smoking, most of them drinking, all of them talking and laughing. A lot of the laughter stops when Luca leads me inside by the hand, and most of the eyes turn toward me, some of them dismissive, some of them curious. Several outright hostile.
The bastards have no idea what’s happening.
They’re acting like this is a normal day for them, like the world isn’t ending, when it feels like my world is crumbling in my hands like sand. If Adrienne gets hurt, if the Russians have her, I don’t know how I can live with myself. After my father, my brothers, Perico, everyone, how can I keep going if it’s Adrienne too?
And these bastards have no clue.
Luca greets several of the capos. He shakes hands, speaks in low tones. Pauses next to a young man with red-rimmed eyes and a big glass of whiskey in his hand and squeezes his shoulder. “I’m sorry, Chris. I’m really fucking sorry. He was a good guy.”
Chris nods mutely. “My brother,” he croaks as if saying it out loud might bring the man back to life.
Luca squeezes his shoulder again and we move on. More capos to speak with. Luca passes envelopes to several of them, although I don’t remember him setting those up. I’m sure they’re stuffed with cash. There are whispered condolences, some angry words about getting revenge, some macho bullshit. Mostly, I’m busy trying to keep my head from exploding. All I want to do is call Adrienne again because it’s the only thing I can do, but I can’t right now. Not until we’re done with this tour.