“He’s right, better to learn now than to find yourself in a situation where you need to know and you don’t.” He moves over to another crate and pops it open. This one contains more serious-looking artillery. “Occasionally we will bring in heavy artillery, such as anti-aircraft missiles and launchers, mortars, grenade launchers, and heavy machine guns if we are contracted by a privatized army outfit, but it’s too easy for these things to end up in a terrorist’s hands, and we don’t like to involve ourselves in that, so if we don’t know who is contracting us, we won’t do business with them.”
“This is similar to what was stolen in the raid the other night, when we lost all of our men. Luckily it was only one crate, but where they have gone is anyone’s guess. TheCosa Nostrarefuses to help foreign terrorists, and we actively work against those scum invading our cities. The Mexican Cartel is not as scrupulous about who they sell to. Hopefully when we find the mole, they can tell us where the weapons went and we can retrieve them.” Uncle Mickey, who had been quiet up until now, has lost all of his teasing demeanor, and I can see the lethal man he must be to retain his position as Dad’s right-hand man.
“Thank you, Tony. While I show Victoria a few more things, please see that a variety of weapons are placed in the booth at the shooting range.”
Tony quickly agrees, and we leave him to pick things out as we walk in the direction of several doors that lead out of the garage.
Before we leave, though, I notice something at the other end of the cavernous room. “What’s that?” I ask, pointing to what looks like a large set of doors.
“That’s the tunnel leading out of here. Everyone here will leave that way. It avoids any suspicion that people coming and going above would cause,” Gio explains, throwing an arm over my shoulders. “I’ve got to say, sis, you’re taking this better than I thought you would. It’s almost like it was meant to be.” He’s grinning, and I can’t help but grin too.
“I know I should be more shocked than I am, but to be honest, I’m just excited,” I tell him. “I think I might be broken beyond repair,” I admit quietly, my grin dropping as I look down at my feet.
He squeezes my shoulder. “Don’t be like that. Don’t let that bitch win. You are going to be a phoenix rising from the ashes, and your flames are going to scorch the earth of everyone who has crossed you. This I am sure of.”
Shrugging, I glance back at the huge tunnel doors. A semi could fit through them. “No wonder people always think no one lives here or it’s a holiday home. Hardly anyone is ever seen coming or going.”
“I mostly hold my business meetings in my hotels when I have been away, but now that we are moving back in, I can start holding some of them here again. However, I don’t like to draw too much attention, so we will probably disguise the meetings as parties. Penelope will be thrilled to plan events, and it will keep her busy. There are a couple of hidden rooms upstairs that you will need to know about too, but let’s finish this tour first.” Dad has reached the door, and he inputs another code into the keypad next to it. “Four of us have the code to this door, you will be the fifth.” He opens it, and it leads to a long corridor. Several doors branch off the corridor, but Dad walks past all of them until he gets to a door at the very end.
“So who is the other person with the code? Uncle Lorenzo?” I ask as I keep pace with the men, and Mickey snorts.
“No, Lorenzo has nothing to do with this side of the business. He is more involved in the distribution of drugs, and like I said before, he manages the escorts and blackmail material the women learn.”
“Oh, is there a reason why?” I question with surprise. Uncle Lorenzo has always had a slimy feeling about him. He laughs a little too loudly, flirts a little too hard with Penelope, and has always looked down his nose at Gio and me.
Dad sighs. “Did you know that Lorenzo is my older brother?”
“Really? I would have pegged him as a younger, jealous brother.” I’m shocked by this revelation.
“He is the product of an affair my father had with a woman before he met my mother, so he is illegitimate. As much as I have tried to modernize things, when my father was alive, it was still fairly traditional, so the fact that Lorenzo was illegitimate meant he was passed over for the boss position. There was no question of him getting that role, it just wasn’t going to happen, but Dad still wanted him in the family, so he gave him the escorts and drug distribution. It was right around the time when he stopped sex trafficking. It was Lorenzo’s idea for the whores to gather blackmail material. My dad was impressed, so he put him in charge as a way of appeasing his first born.”
“But he likes to indulge in the product, both kinds, and he has loose lips when he indulges.” Mickey grunts in disapproval. “He is not to be trusted.” Gio taps his foot a little impatiently while we talk, and I can’t deny I’m not eager to see what’s behind the door, but I know having all this information is important.
“Unfortunately, Mickey is right. He knows about this bunker, but he doesn’t have the code, nor has he ever been down here before. My father never brought him, and neither have I.” Dad turns with his hand on the handle. “If anything ever happens to me and you two are left in charge, be very careful who you trust. Each other and Mickey goes without saying, but bringing anyone into your inner circle will be tricky. All I can say is trust your gut. Mine hasn’t let me down yet.”
With that loaded statement, Dad pushes the door open. It is a well-lit and well-ventilated laboratory with huge fans in the roof sucking out any possible noxious gasses. There’s chemistry equipment scattered throughout the room and techno music playing loudly. I recognize it as something I might have heard before, but I think it’s from a movie. In the middle is a man, maybe a little older than Gio, with a mop of curly brown hair. He doesn’t see us, his gaze locked on the computer screen in front of him, but he’s shaking his ass like it’s his money maker, and I can’t help the grin that crosses my face. Surprisingly, I hear Gio groan over the music next to me.
“Fucking Sage.” Mickey and Dad just look amused as Gio walks over to the man, who shrieks and clutches his chest when he catches sight of Gio. Gio reaches out and presses something on the phone to the side of the man, stopping the music.
“Oh my God, Gio. Warn a guy next time. You scared the shit out of me.”
“How many times do we have to tell you, Sage? How are you going to hear an emergency alarm to evacuate if you have your music so damn loud?”
Sage shrugs and grimaces. “Sorry, it helps me work and my plants thrive.”
“You’re such a fucking hippy,” Gio grumbles as the rest of us walk over.
“Hey, Mr. Russo and Mr. Mancini. I wasn’t expecting you today. I was just about to run a new batch of pills through the machines, and that new strain of weed is ready to be harvested and the test batch has been fully cured. I’m pretty sure this one is going to be amazing. It’s going to give a euphoric high while energizing you at the same time. This will be a huge hit in the clubs. But the latest batch of coke from the Columbians wasn’t up to their usual standard, and I hope that’s not going to become a regular thing.” A smile crosses my lips at his enthusiasm. I wonder if he’s been testing his own product. He reminds me a little of Tristan.
A little pang of sadness hits me when I think about Gio’s roommates. Poor Gio, he had barely gotten a chance to know them. When I had spoken to him last night, he said how much he liked them and was looking forward to this year. I guess that will change now.
“I’m sure you can handle any problems that come your way, my boy.” Dad claps him on the shoulder and then gestures to me. “Sage, I’d like to introduce you to my daughter, Victoria. She is being introduced to the business dealings of the organization. I’m hoping you will be open to letting her shadow you occasionally. Although she doesn’t need to know exactly how the drugs are made, I’d like her to get a feel for this part of the operation.”
It’s like Sage has finally realized there is someone else in the room as he does a double take before holding out a hand. I notice he has a couple of leather bands around his wrist and two rings, one on his thumb and one on his middle finger, as I take it. “Enchanted,mademoiselle.” He places a kiss on my hand, and a giggle escapes my mouth before I can stop it.
Damn it, Tori. Resting bitch face, activate.
“Cut it out.” Gio slaps his hand away, and Sage winks at me. “As you can see, Sage is our chemist. He’s the one who developed the ecstasy formula we use, and he’s also in charge of growing a small percentage of our weed crop. Now that it is legalized in a lot of states, we have farms all over the country as well, and we supply legitimate dispensaries, but we also try to create our own strains that are in high demand.”
