I shot up, running my hand through my hair. That was… an insane plan.
“We have to hope Frankie is angry enough with Joey right now to consider meeting behind his back. You’ll meet at your New Jersey hotel so it’s not Joey’s territory.”
“And if he doesn’t? If he tells Joey, we’re fucked,” I snapped.
“If Joey is there, you’ll send me an alert via your watch. I’ll offer myself to him in exchange for your lives.”
My eyes widened as I realised why Finn wasn’t being included in the conversation. “Are you following us to America?”
He nodded. “No one will know except Fabi. It has to stay that way.” He walked over to me and handed me a glass of whiskey. “Can I trust you, Enzo, with Finn’s life?”
I took the whiskey from him and downed it in one go. “I’d die for him.”
“Finally,” Alessio smiled, clasping my shoulder. “Something we have in common.”
The phone call
I watched as Finn moved through the swarm of bodies in the American bar and headed for the bathroom, a huge fucking smile on my face. If this were my last night on Earth, it couldn’t have gone any better. Frankie Galiz would be waiting for us in my hotel room in less than an hour, ready to ruin our romantic night, but I still hoped we’d make it out alive.
My phone vibrated against my thigh, and I pulled it out of my pocket to see Alessio’s name flashing on the screen. He would have just landed. I answered the call and pushed my way outside to hear him over the loud music and chatter.
“Pronto.”
“Aiani. Are you with Finn?”
“He’s in the bathroom.”
“I’ve just landed and… Fabi called. Nerina and her bodyguard, Filo, are missing. A note was left in her room.”
Every muscle in my body went rigid as I stared across the street, seeing nothing. His words rang in my ears. My body began trembling so violently that I thought my knees would crack on the pavement.
“Turns out we weren’t the only ones with moles. Filo was Frankie’s. He’s taken Nerina as insurance. The note said she’s not scared because she’s with Filo, who she knows and trusts, and that she’ll remain unharmed as long as the negotiations are successful. Basically, if we don’t screw Frankie over, she’ll be returned.”
My hand tightened so hard around my phone that I was surprised it didn’t shatter. That son of a bitch. This was the risk of an invitation rather than an ambush. We’d given him time to prepare. It meant we couldn’t refuse any of his demands.
“I’ve been trying to get hold of Finn, but his phone is switched off.”
“No,” I choked on the word, fighting back my emotions. “He can’t know. You said it yourself. We need Finn focused. If he knows Frankie has Nerina, he’ll go into that meeting like a bomb of destruction, with only one goal in mind. He’ll do whatever it takes to get her back.”
Alessio exhaled down the line, knowing I was right. We both hated keeping this from him, but it was the only way we had any chance of coming out of this with everything we needed. An end to the war, a lucrative agreement with Frankie, and Nerina back, safe and sound. We couldn’t risk anything going wrong.
“Remember,” Alessio mumbled. “If Joey is there or Frankie’s demands are too much…”
“I know. I’ll alert you,” I lied.
I wouldn’t alert him. He was our king, a father and a husband, Finn’s only family. Whatever it took to save Finn and Nerina would be my sacrifice. Not his.
Chapter twenty-three
Present Day
“That was a touching display back there,” Frankie smirked as I slid into the back seat of his SUV. His sons piled into the front, the older one driving and the younger, Atlas, watching my every move in the rear-view mirror.
A long, heavy sniper case was thrown onto my lap. I popped open the latches and set to work, inspecting the bolt, weight, sight calibration, and trigger resistance. It was a model I knew well, and my hands moved on instinct. My muscle memory kept the emotions at bay. Focus.
“Not often do you see such a display of feeling in our line of work,” he continued teasingly. “But tragic endings are the only way love stories end in this life, no?”
I ignored him, refusing to think about what I’d just walked away from. Of who. I couldn’t let my mind go back to that hotel room and see the pain in Finn’s eyes. The pleading look, begging me not to do this. I had to do this. For Neri. For him. I had one shot at this. I couldn’t fuck it up.
