“You don’t think the Martelli lawyer would give you her findings should something turn up?” Roman asks.
Lio shakes his head. “Allesandro helped make her, so her loyalty—and bank account—belong to him. The Amato one?”
Both Roman and I shrug. “Hard to say,” he answers. “Sinclair is enough of a troublemaker that he’d do it just to stir up trouble, but Dad is the one who paid for his schooling, and got his operation off the ground.”
“Then we need to either stay one step ahead of the LEOs, or make sure we’re extra safe, so as not to get caught. I’m fairly certain Sinclair will bail us out of trouble should we need him to, but we need to be cautious we don’t do anything that will draw Allesandro and Cristian’s attention. We don’t need them pointing the ‘I told you so’ finger at us,” I say glumly.
“Yeah,” Lio agrees. “So, we’ll use Ghost, the twins, Marcus, Keegan, and once Tennant is cleared, him too. This is when we really could have used Ignacio, but we’ll make do.”
“Joel can help with ground work as well. Tennant has him organizing the Amatos, along with one of my guys, Enzo, but if need be, we can leave Enzo in charge of that,” Roman tells him. “Tennant will want at least one of my bodyguards to stay here in the house with me, but they can take rotating shifts out in the field as well.”
“We still have eyes on the apartment building the cops have been using. We’re tagging all the faces that pass through, but there’s also the list Allesandro gave Marcus and Antonio,” Lio muses. “It was full of high-value targets. I don’t know what he was thinking, or doing with it, but I’m not sure we should aim so high. Yes, the Fire Chief panned out, as we found Luca there, but aside from the cops, judges, etcetera, on the list, the rest aren’t easy to get to.”
Roman reaches out for Lio’s hand again and freezes when his friend flinches. Carefully, Roman sets his hand down, and we both watch as Lio takes a deep breath, and is the first to initiate contact, setting his hand over Roman’s.
Everything that happened at dinner, and his reactions now…it looks more and more as if the worst actually came to pass. Ifeel sick to my stomach. I’ve been abused and tortured by the people who were supposed to love me. Cristian…he did what he did when I was held captive by him, but then I repaid the favor tenfold.
Whatever Allesandro did to Lio, though… Something tells me it wasn’t to turn the tables of the game. No, Lio’s responses to touch, the way he’s been holding himself since the night of the rescue… It all reminds me of the Hollis from just a few short years ago, before he started opening up to Tennant and Roman about his past. The one who doesn’t like to be touched, who still will flinch when someone gets too close in his personal space, or who will pull a knife if he’s surprised…
I don’t know what happened to the hacker, but I saw the file of the man who kidnapped Tennant in an attempt to get to Hollis, and…there are only a few conclusions one can come to with that knowledge.
I get why Antonio said and did what he did at dinner… I almost want to give him the okay to take Allesandro out…but Lio’s right, that type of choice can’t be on any one person, not in this Family.
Doesn’t mean I won’t take the opportunity myself, though, should it be presented…becauseno oneshould ever be violated like that.
Finding my voice amongst the chaos of my thoughts, I tell them, “Then we start small. Continue with the LEO angle, help Hollis and Leandro get what they need so they can work, and find the man behind the curtain.”
Roman snorts, but doesn’t call me out on myTheWizard of Ozreference, nodding his head in agreement. “Once we have a starting point, we can go from there. We know we’re looking at a female fed, and someone with higher connections—either another fed, or someone with clearance who can organize everything from a kidnapping to multiple fires, to arrests andraids. I don’t believe the woman is the mastermind. Not because she’s female, but because too many people have interacted with her; either in person or over the phone. This mastermind…they don’t want to be caught, they’re comfortable having other people do their bidding for them to prevent that.”
“Yes,” Lio agrees. “We’ll check out those we’ve already targeted, on a much smaller scale than before, working our way up, and we’ll go from there.”
“Sounds good. I know we’re all anxious to get started, but let’s reconvene in the morning and start handing out orders and tasks,” I tell them. “Besides, I think Antonio is busy tonight.”
Lio laughs. “Oh, yeah. He’s going to get his first real taste of what having a full-time dominant is like, I bet. I don’t know if I’m jealous or relieved someone is finally taking the brat in hand.”
“Both,” Roman says. “So that means you should probably go find Hollis. Let him help you through whatever it is you’re going through, and maybe it’ll get you some good sleep.”
“Yeah,” Lio agrees softly. “Maybe.”
If I thought he’d allow it, I’d hug the young man, because sitting across from him, I don’t see a fellow Boss right now, but someone who could be a second son, and all my instincts are screaming to take care of him. Since I can’t, I can only hope he goes to someone who is able to, because no one deserves to be alone with their demons. Not even those named Death.
Iturn the phone over in my hand, nervous about the call I’m going to make. Fuck knows I’m glad Doc managed to get me one so quickly, but it doesn’t make this easier on me. And hell, I’m surprised he even managed this. After everything that happened, I expected Hollis to shoot the idea down. He would have had every right to.
Shame fills me and my heart hurts. I have so much to apologize for with them.Fuck. But the first step I need to take is this call…
“Hello?”The suspicious voice calms me more than a shot of whiskey ever could.
“Hey, it’s me.”
“Luca. Fuck. Where the hell have you been?”the voice growls, and I cringe. Before I can answer, he’s already continuing.“You know what? It doesn’t matter. What matters isthat you get your ass back here. We’ve been worried, and don’t think this won’t end up with you on your knees taking your punishment like the good little boy we know you can be.”
“Is that our Boy?”The second voice washes over me, making me miss them both desperately.
“I’m sorry. I…fucked up.” I squeeze my eyes closed, desperately trying to hold back the sting of tears I feel.
“One moment, I’m putting you on speakerphone.”The rush of sound comes from a few muted screams in the background and I wince.Fuck. I interrupted torture time. I’m definitely not off to a good start.“Alright, we’re here. And yes, you did fuck up. You need to walk us through what happened, but first… Are you safe?”
Sighing, I smile weakly at the depth of caring in his voice. “Yeah, I am. Kind of. At least, I’m being treated so I can’t leave yet, but the doctor here is a good one.”
