“You took the drugs to build up money and resources to take down your father?” I asked, and she nodded briefly.
“Yes. Everything I have is tied to the Altissimos. Angelo’s money and resources are tied to the Riccis. We need our own cash and weapons to make a true play for the crown. We need our own people behind us, and what better way than a gang that’s already established and powerful in a country that’s not controlled by either one of our families.”
I should have seen this coming, really. She’d all but told me back at the concert venue when she was so proud of this gang controlled by a woman, a structure that she admired and aspired to. It was the perfect setup for Valentina Altissimo.
“What happened to the woman who was running the gang in Berlin?” I asked shortly.
Her smile grew. “Giana.”
I just stared at her before shaking my head. “So much for wanting heroutof the gang world, safe and sound as a fucking accountant or whatever.”
Accountant.Fuck, the irony of that considering what happened to my mother. I really needed to think of another “boring” job to use in these situations.
Vee’s expression grew more somber. “In all honesty, if G had asked me my thoughts on it, I would have told her to run kicking and screaming away from this world. I never wanted that for her, not even for a second. But my love is a stubborn, amazing, incredibly intelligent woman. When she returned here for safety, she decided on her own that if we were to stay together and have a true future, she had to step into the darker side of life. She’s apparently been finding her feet in this gang ever since, helped along by the ties she already had to them through her cousins.” She shrugged. “When I went to see her, I almost fell over at how strong and fucking badass she’s grown to be. My fears were holding her back, and now… we’re true partners. In crime and life. And we’re in a fucking excellent position to take down the assholes who have controlled and hurt and ruined us more times than I can mention.”
God, it was actually poetic for her to team up with the girlfriend she was forbidden from being with in a Bonnie and Clyde takedown of her family. If I didn’t want to punch her face in right now, I’d be hugging her.
“This is why you wanted to come on this tour so badly,” Jace finally spoke up. “To get to Giana.”
Vee shrugged again. “Yeah, not going to lie, I was hoping to see her. But mostly, it was to get away from my family long enough to come up with a plan. Then a fucking plan fell into my lap, and if that wasn’t a manifestation of my goals in life, I don’t know what would be.”
Definitely convenient, if it weren’t for one tiny little factor. “Where is my father taking Angelo?”
Angelo was still kidnapped, and we were sitting around calm as anything.
“Multiple vehicles took off from here,” Grayson said, relaxing his protective stance as he moved from between us, and I could stop craning my neck to see around him. “Whoever took Angelo had plenty of resources behind him to ensure that this snatch was successful.” He sat on one of the remaining couches, Vee took the final one, and all of us eyed her.
It was a tense situation, made even worse by the missing Ricci.
“It was my fucking father,” I said for what felt like the twentieth time, feeling sick to my stomach. No one had acknowledged the madness of that yet. Like, did they all think I’d had a psychotic episode? Turning in my chair, I gesture to Jace. “Did you see him? He had Angel over his damn shoulder.”
“How could it be your father?” Vee answered before Jace could. “He died nine years ago, right?”
“I thought he did,” I shot back. “But it was dark and smoky, and I just saw two bodies. Maybe I just assumed it was my father? Maybe my memories are more messed up than I realized.”
“There would be forensics,” Rhett reminded me gently. “They would have identified the victims with more than just who they assumed was in the house.”
“That can be faked though,” Grayson said suddenly, reminding all of us that he was just as involved in the underworld. “Someone completed that hit before me, and that shouldn’t have happened. Maybe Billie’s father had something to do with that.”
The ass dropped out of my world with that one statement.
Grayson had all but said that my father’d arranged to have my mother killed, but that couldn’t be true, right?
But… how would he know to fake his own death unless he knew she was going to be killed?
Fuck. I couldn’t think of that right now.
“We have a big problem, guys,” Vee said suddenly, and I didn’t like the way she was laser focused on me.
“You mean outside of you being a double-crossing snake whose actions and lies got us all nearly shot and Angelo kidnapped?” Jace replied conversationally.
Vee just nodded. “Yes, outside of that. If Billie is sure that the man who took A is her father, then we’re in more than a bit of trouble here.”
“How so?” Gray growled, clearly done with Vee today.
Vee cleared her throat, shooting me what looked like an apologetic stare. Not that it mattered; I knew what she was about to say. I hadn’t forgotten from before.
“That guy who took Angelo isWilson.” There was an extended pause, so Vee continued, “TheWilson. The one who started the Wilson cartel and has been making unprecedented moves across the underworld for the past near decade. The Wilsons aren’t a family like the Riccis; it's an organization runbyWilson. That man who took Angelo.”
