Tomas held up his hands. “Stop shooting. I’ve brought the Salvadori heir.”
More shouts and screams sounded from the Jeep, and Axe watched in horror as two thugs frog-marched his father up the hill. Scabby, who was bleeding from his side, and Ivan were dragged and thrown into a pile at Tomas’s feet.
Tomas glared at one of the guards. “Adolfo, I’ve brought these prisoners for Capo. I want to see my daughter, Leanna.”
“She’s on her way,” Adolfo said. He spoke into his shoulder mic, and the automatic gate opened.
Axe grimaced at his father, and his father pursed his lips, saying only one word, “Omertà.”
Keep quiet.
* * *
The motorcycles dropped Leanna and Gabriel at an airfield, and the next thing she knew, she was strapped into the back seat of a helicopter.
“I don’t know if I like this,” Leanna said. “I’ve never been in one of these things.”
“Nothing to it,” Gabriel said, trying to sound brave. “Carmelita texted me and said she’s been up and back a bunch of times. She lives in a mansion at the top of the mountains.”
“She texted you?” Leanna asked. “Why didn’t you say anything earlier?”
“I’m supposed to pretend she went to the migrant caravan,” Gabriel said. “There are people who want to kidnap her.”
“I’m sure her father will keep her safe,” Leanna said. “Why did he have her living in your neighborhood instead of in his mansion?”
“I don’t know,” Gabriel said. “Maybe her dad was busy.”
More like he didn’t know she existed until recently. Leanna’s heart thumped at the thought she was about to meet a daughter she thought was dead.
“What is she like? Tell me. I’m so nervous about meeting her,” Leanna said, rubbing her hands which had turned cold.
“She’s the nicest girl in the world,” Gabriel said, looking wistful. “She loves her cat. I’m taking care of him for her.”
“What do you guys do together?” she asked.
“We watch anime and play video games. Her mother won’t let her ride bikes, so she stays home and makes pillows and stuffed animals,” he said.
Didn’t sound like a girl using birth control pills.
“Does she have any friends?” Leanna asked.
“Just a cousin who’s rich,” Gabriel said. “I don’t get to visit when she comes around.”
“Why’s that?” Leanna clapped her hands over her ears as the helicopter’s blades whirred.
Gabriel shouted something, but she couldn’t hear his answer. Her stomach dropped, and she closed her eyes when the chopper lifted off faster than an express elevator in a fancy hotel.
The beauty of the landscape below was overwhelming. The city was vast and spread out, surrounded by jagged ridges of green mountains. The helicopter raced toward one of the craggy mountain peaks.
Leanna gaped at the gorgeous estates nestled on the ridges of the switchbacks. Even though her stomach twisted and turned, she gaped at the lifestyle her daughter would live now that her father had found her.
Could she figure out a way to convince Joshua to share custody? But Joshua never liked to share. Poor girl, did she know Ana and Eduardo were dead?
Leanna tried to visualize herself as Joshua Cano. Powerful, but lonely. Everything was about him, how things affected him, what people did to him, and whether he got his needs met.
What did he want with Carmelita?
Adoration. A daughter to lord over. Someone to pass his greatness on to. Maybe he wanted to train her to be a boss. He’d spoil her as long as she toed the line. She’d have to be obedient.
