“It’s just one evening,” she said.
Leo scoffed. “You wouldn’t understand. You think you’re so much better than us, just because you spend your time in a dark building staring at pretty pictures instead of doing the work to keep the organization thriving.”
“You guys don’t need my help for that.”
“Damn right, we don’t,” he agreed. “We’re doing just fine. Even have a new line of revenue coming in soon. Something big.”
“You do?”
She couldn’t help being curious. She knew that her dad already had his hands in drugs and weapons coming in and out of the city. What else was there? Something legitimate?
“Yep,” Leo replied, his chest puffed out with obvious pride. “I talked him into it, too.”
So, probablynotsomething legitimate.
“What is it?”
“Don’t act like you care. You just spend the money dad gives. You’re happy to benefit from the work, but we all know you’re too much of a spoiled princess to lift a finger yourself.”
Alessia swallowed back the snarky retort that came to mind. Leo was the one that benefited from the mafia. He had a status as a capo with a crew of foot soldiers at his command. He was the one that made big money from his illegal dealings.
She had a trust fund that she used to open the gallery, but she hadn’t taken a penny from her parents since. Part of distancing herself from this madness as much as possible was being financially independent.
But arguing with Leo was pointless. Besides, she was too intrigued by the secret he was just on the verge of letting slip.
“I think you’re all talk,” she said, knowing that she was taking a risk, poking the bear like this. Leo was volatile under the best of circumstances and completely unpredictable when he’d been drinking. “I don’t think there is any new form of business.”
“Tell that to the women that are bringing in the money,” he mumbled just as they reached the first guest bedroom.
“Women? You’re talking about prostitutes?”
Leo laughed, and the sound was chilling. “Prostitutes are willing.”
Alessia’s stomach dropped, and she stood there in shock as she watched Leo open the door to the bedroom and disappear inside. He couldn’t mean…
She swallowed thickly as bile rose up in her throat. Leo’s words could only point to one thing. Human trafficking.
How could they? Breaking the law was one thing. She wasn’t the type to get hung up on her father supplying illegal products to people that wanted them. But stealing women to sell to men that would likely treat them as sex slaves?
That was the most horrifying thing she could think of. How could her father do this? He was a bad man, but was there no line he wouldn’t cross?
She stood there, staring at Leo’s closed door for a long moment. Helaughedabout it. Any women they sold would endure unthinkable atrocities, and he thought it was funny. He was probably giddy about the amount of money they’d make.
She had to do something about this. She couldn’t look the other way like she’d done her whole life. First, she had to make sure it was true. Maybe Leo was lying, trying to freak her out. It wouldn’t be the worst thing he’d done to her.
But in her heart, she knew that it was probably true. Money and power mattered so much more than human lives to her father. The more she thought about it, the more certain she was that he’d do this.
So, she had to figure out how to stop him.
2
CONNOR
Connor ducked as a fist came flying toward his face. The cocky bastard that threw the punch lost his balance when he failed to land the blow. Taking advantage of that, Connor moved to the side and drove his elbow into the man’s ribs.
He let out a cry of pain and stumbled forward a few steps, nearly colliding with an unoccupied table nearby. The nightclub was crowded with people, but they’d all scrambled out of the way when this fight started, no one wanting to get caught up in the violence.
Even the bouncer stood off to the side, watching, but that was because Connor had already sent him a signal to stay back while he took care of this.
