“Are you fucking kidding me?” Elio shoved his way past his men until he was at Sloan’s side, his chin high and jaw tight. His olive cheeks flushed a ruddy red as he glared at LaMarca. “I am not a coward, and I will not be leaving this city unless it’s in a coffin. You go back and tell yourcapithat I will come for them, and I will make them my bitches by the end of this. I’ll have them in chains in my dungeon, begging for scraps.”
Sloan glanced at him with raised eyebrows, something akin to pride on his face.
“And you tell them that if any of the four other families helped them, I will fucking destroy them, too, before I kill every single person they love.” He stepped closer until he was face-to-face with LaMarca. “Do you understand?”
LaMarca swallowed, his eyes widening as he nodded furiously. “Sí, signore.”
“Go.”
LaMarca backed away and gestured for the men to follow. They did, but a few stopped to glare at Elio on the way out. I’d have found it amusing if I wasn’t so anxious to blow their heads right off their shoulders. The taste of blood was right there, lingering on my tongue, but I wouldn’t even get a whiff of it today. Not yet. They’d be back.
“Bastardi del cazzo,” Elio hissed, grabbing a hunk of his black hair. “Figlio di puttana.”
“Such language,” Sloan said with a laugh. He laid his hand on Elio’s shoulder and glanced around at the front room. “The cops will be here soon. I suppose you have an exit strategy for your... employees.”
Elio nodded. “Yeah, they’ve already left out the back door. There’s just Willow now.”
“Good. Destroy all your records and get out of here. This was only the beginning, Elio, the sparks. The war hasn’t caught fire yet.” He patted him on the shoulder before signaling us to follow. We let him lead us back into the hallway and down the end to another door. We escaped out the back and down a few alleyways before we came out at another street where cars were already waiting for us. Sloan crooked his finger, directing us to get into the vehicle with him, while Jamie and Corbin took another black SUV behind us. Sloan claimed the front passenger seat while we took the back.
“Boss?” Cillian asked when the SUV took off down the road. Tadgh—a young twenty-year-old with red hair and a gap between his front teeth that he flashed in a smile directed at the rearview mirror—drove the car. He was a good kid, but like Fallon, he was new to this work. I never thought he had the guts to be a Company man, but Sloan seemed to make even the weakest men into steel.
“You can hate me for this later,” Sloan murmured.
“Hate ye for what?” Rowen asked carefully, respect mixed with suspicion in his tone.
“I’ve received word from Rory that Vail left your home to attend a university event.”
“What?” Cillian growled out, jolting forward, only to be caught by Rowen and forced back into his seat.
“That’s not all. I’m receiving reports of a shooting at Manhattan Central University, and someone’s been hit.” He held up his hand.
Fear clamped around my heart and ice slithered in my veins at the thought of something happening to Vail. He was ours, and in some strange way we’d found him and shared him. The thought of something happening to him... it was inconceivable. Anger jammed itself in my throat.
“It’s not Vail,” Sloan said.
Relief had me falling back against the seat.
“But it was his teaching assistant. I believe Vailwasthe target, and I may have been wrong about them not pursuing him for his book. With all the information I have, I believe the man who caused trouble with Elio’s businesses might have also reported to the Giordanos that Vail knew things about them. You know how Vail talks to anyone about anything they ask him to discuss.” Sloan’s dark brows dipped and he looked very unhappy about this development. He was almost never wrong. “Ardan’s in the city with Mancini, enjoying a date, but I asked him to check in on Vail. He told me that Vail was taken by a detective for questioning.”
Alarm bells echoed in my head at the concerned expression on his face. “He won’t say anything about us,” I snapped quickly, ready to defend Vail in a heartbeat.
Sloan startled and shook his head. “That’s not what I’m worried about, Aspen. The detective who took Vail was Cummins.”
“Who the fuck is that?” Cillian asked, shoving Rowen off him to lean forward toward Sloan. His face had gone pale and the few freckles he had on his cheeks popped more vibrantly. “Sir.” He said the last bit as an afterthought, but it was a good catch. Sloan might like Vail, but that didn’t mean he’d put up with disrespect, either.
“Cummins is someone we’ve been keeping an eye on.” Sloan sighed, his lips thinning in frustration. “He’s not a good cop, but he’s not one of us, either. He likes to play with fire and work with whoever’s paying him the most that day.”
“Ye think he’s got Vail for the Giordanos?” Rowen asked, his throat working and mouth shaking. He gripped the sides of the front seat.
“Maybe.” Sloan shook his head. “But Ardan and Mancini are watching them for now.”
“No,” I said, surprising myself with how raw my voice sounded.
Everyone glanced at me.
“Don’t watch, tell them to save him. Sir, we’ve done everything you’ve asked. Everything. Vail isourslike Conall is yours. I don’t care what the end game is, we need him back. We’d be lost without him.” The truth slipped out in ways I hadn’t meant it to, but my heart hurt and my gut clenched. Images of Vail’s frail body on the ground surrounded by blood scared the living shit out of me. “It might be too late by the time we get there.”
Sloan shook his head. “They’ll wait. If anything happens, they’ll move in.”
