38
ALESSO
“No one can know you were here,” Liam Davenport says the second we are escorted into his personal study at the governor’s mansion ninety minutes later.
“We are aware of the agreement.” Ben strides toward the imposing man. “The commissioner outlined it clearly.” Ben’s best buddies with the police commissioner, and he called him to set up a meeting. Ben extends his arm, and the two men shake hands. “I’m sorry to be meeting under such circumstances.”
“I believe we met once before,” the governor says, gesturing toward the two leather couches positioned on either side of a marble fireplace. A roaring fire crackles in the hearth, but nothing can warm the permanent chill in my bones. Not until I have Rena safely back in my arms. Sierra and Nat are beside themselves with worry, but Ben has assured them we are doing everything we can to find her and bring her home safely.
“At the charity fundraiser for ALS three years ago,” Ben says, nodding. “I remember.”
“What can you tell us about Lucas Avara?” I ask, impatient to be done with the small talk. Every second we lose means someone could be hurting Serena, and it’s intolerable. I want to grab a bunch of men, put them on a plane, and lay siege to Chicago, killing every single bastard who gets in our way until I find my girl. Nothing less will be acceptable.
“Sit, please.” The governor takes a seat, and Ben drops down beside him.
I want to pace the floor, but I know these things have to happen a certain way, so I claim the seat beside Leo on the opposite couch. The governor doesn’t offer us a drink, and I sense he’s as keen for us to leave as we are.
“Lucas Avara has been my best friend since our college days,” he begins. “But he’s a sly motherfucker, and he would trample over everything and everyone to get ahead. Me included.”
“Tell us everything,” Ben says. “Leave nothing out.”
The governor loosens his tie and drops his stoic façade. Transparent concern is etched upon his face, which does nothing to appease my worry. “I need you to promise me that you’ll do everything to bring my wife home safely.” His voice cracks. “She’s my everything, and it’s my fault she’s in this mess. If anything happens to Chelsea, I will never forgive myself.”
“We give you our word,” Ben says. “My sister-in-law speaks fondly of Chelsea, and though I’m sure her betrayal stings, I know Serena would not want any harm to come to her friend. We will get both of them out of there, but we need to understand what kind of situation we’re walking into. That’s where you come in.”
He nods and continues speaking. “Lucas and I met at NYU, and we became close friends. It’s how I met Chelsea, actually. She was working in the administration building, and she was casually dating Lucas at the time. The second we met, we fell for one another. Lucas didn’t seem bothered when she broke things off with him to go out with me.” A muscle clenches in his jaw as he shakes his head. “I was naïve to think he wouldn’t try to exact payback. All these years, he has acted like it didn’t matter, but he took her now to prove a point. God.” He buries his head in his hands. “I don’t know what he plans to do to her, but it can’t be anything good.”
“Governor.” Ben clears his throat. “I know you are worried. We are too, but you need to focus on the pertinent facts. Are you aware he came to the US under a pseudonym?”
“I only discovered that recently. I knew he was an immigrant from Sicily. He told me his family had all died in a boating accident and he was the only survivor. I knew he had an uncle in Chicago he met on a regular basis, but I had no idea he was part of the mafia until recently.”
“Why did you agree to help him kidnap Serena?” I ask, running low on patience reserves.
“He’s been blackmailing me.” His eyes narrow, and his jaw tenses. “He helped me when I ran for office, and I owed him, so I called in a few favors to get some new shipping routes opened up for him. I thought it was to speed up the imports of his olive oil products from Europe, but the asshole used it to ship men and guns from Sicily. A guy I know at the port tipped me off. When I went to Lucas, I finally saw his true colors. He told me he’d leak the information to the media and ruin my career if I tried to turn my back on him. He’s been using that as leverage this past year to get me to do his bidding.”
I doubt a man as shrewd as the governor only recently discovered what a snake his best friend is. I’m betting that seed has been growing for years, and Lucas has forced his friend to do shit he would rather not have done, or admit to now.
“You really had no idea he wasmafiosountil then?” Leo asks, disbelief threaded through his tone.
“I had my suspicions, but by then, it was too late.”
“What specifically did he ask Chelsea to do?” Ben inquires.
“He made her enroll in the same program as Serena and befriend her. He doctored both their backgrounds to make it seem like they were married. The bastard even took my babies from the nanny a couple of times to show up on campus. It was a threat. A warning to my wife and me not to mess with him.”
“And today? How was that supposed to go down?”
“Chelsea was supposed to entice Serena to a rendezvous point where Lucas was waiting to take her. He must’ve known she wouldn’t go through with it, and he was lying in wait for them on campus.” He scrubs his hands down his face. “She didn’t want to do it. We have been arguing for weeks over this. She wanted me to go to the police. When I wouldn’t do that, she wanted me to talk to you.” Liam pins Ben with a pleading look. “I didn’t want to do any of this, but he threatened my family. Said he would kill us all, and he’d already proven how easy it was for him to infiltrate my house and take my kids. The staff knows him as my best friend, and he’s a fucking psychopath. Look at what he did in Chicago. I couldn’t risk it.”
“Chelsea did,” I say as it becomes clearer. I’m not happy she’s been lying to Rena and she waited too long to make a protective move, but she must care about Serena to risk her family and her own safety to try to do the right thing. It’s just a pity she waited until the eleventh hour to do it. If she had been honest with Serena, we could have helped protect the governor and prevent this.
“She’s always had a reckless streak,” he says. “And she cares for Serena.” He knots his hands, looking ashamed as he stares at me. “I know you and her are together, and I can only imagine what you must think of me, but I never wanted her to be hurt. I was only trying to protect my family.”
“At the expense of the woman I love,” I grit out. “A woman who has already suffered horribly at the hands of sadistic men. All you had to do was come to us, and we would’ve protected your family and ended DeLuca. You held vital information we needed these past couple months. It all could’ve been different.”
“You think I don’t know that? You think I don’t know what that madman is capable of?” He throws his hands in the air. “He won’t harm Serena. He needs her, but he doesn’t need my wife, and he wants to send me a message, so don’t preach to me about how things could’ve been different. I have been beating myself up for hours since I heard the news.”
“What does he want with Rena?” I ask.
