“There were a few people working late, but our men got them out in time.”
“They hit the plant in Cali too,” Fiero confirms, scrubbing a hand along his prickly jawline. “But the extra reinforcementspaid off, and we held them at bay. There is some damage, and we lost a lot of good men, but the plant is still under our control.” We had suspected they were planning a hit when Gia found blueprints of the Colombian drug production facility on McDermott’s desk. At least our planning paid off, but with the plant hit it’s likely to disrupt production which will cause more headaches.
“Thanks to Gia,” I say, not realizing she has just materialized at my side.
“What?” Her brow puckers as she looks up at me.
“They tried to take the Cali plant, but they didn’t succeed because your intel gave us the heads-up we needed,” Massimo replies.
“And your discovery of the chip led us to identifying the traitors. We owe you a lot, Gia,” Fiero adds.
“Um, I was just doing my job but thanks.”
I poke her rapidly reddening cheeks. “Are you blushing?”
“Shut up.” She glares at me, and I chuckle. “Can we go now, please?” She tugs on my arm. “I need to see Joshua and find my family.”
“Just give me a second.” I return my gaze to our president. “What do you need us to do?”
“Work with the others to clean up the scene. We’re heading to Staten Island. We’ll reconvene at HQ in a couple hours.” He clamps a hand on my shoulder. “Don’t plan on getting any sleep tonight.”
Everyone is waiting downstairs when the four of us appear. Men are piling into the truck when a helicopter appears in my peripheral vision.
“That’s our ride.” Fiero squints as he looks up at the approaching chopper.
“Call if anything happens,” Massimo says, and I nod. He pokes his head in through the back of the truck. “Good worktonight. Keep your wits about you down there.” He slaps his hand against the side of the truck a few times as I climb up beside Gia in the front. The driver kicks the engine into gear, and we take off.
“Joshua!” Gia races off across the grass, heading for my twin the instant she spots him. Leo jerks his head in my direction, relief evident on his face. Alesso turns to look at me, nodding in acknowledgement even though I know he hates my guts. Beside him, Uncle Ben is barking orders assoldatiwork to clear the site before the authorities show up.
Gia jumps at my brother, wrapping her legs around his waist as he holds her up and kisses her. He’s covered in blood but seems unharmed. I give them some privacy to reunite as I hold back and make a call to the Greenwich estate. I’m assuming our stepdad has already checked in, but I want to talk to Mom myself.
“Caleb. Are you okay?” she answers in a panicked voice.
“I’m fine. Joshua is fine, and so are Leo, Alesso, and Ben.”
“What about Gia and Rico and the boys?”
“Gia was with me. She’s fine, but I haven’t seen Rico or his sons. I’m sure they’re here somewhere. I’ll get Gia to message you when she finds them.” As I’m talking, I watch Gia and Joshua walk off hand in hand, and I don’t need to know where they are going or who they are looking for.
“How are Leif and Rosa?” I ask.
“Your brother and sister are fine. We built a blanket fort, played games, and ate a ton of junk food. They had a blast and were none the wiser.”
“And Lili?”
“She’s fine. There were no issues here, and we’re all safe, so don’t worry about us.”
“Good.” I consider asking Mom to pass the phone to Elisa, but there’s no point. She’s still not talking to me, and I have no clue why.
It’s bugging me way more than I thought it would.
Truth is, I miss her. Until things turned to shit last year, she regularly sent me texts and messages, and we always talked for hours whenever we were in the same place at the same time.
Now, I’m persona non grata, and she won’t even look at me. For the first time in years, I got no special drawing on my birthday, and she refused the delivery of roses I sent to her apartment, just off campus, for Valentine’s Day. She really seems to hate me now, and it’s killing me inside. Especially when I don’t know what I’ve done to warrant her turning on me like this. I have tried talking to her on several occasions, to find out what I did to deserve the cold shoulder, but she refuses to entertain me at all.
It’s seriously pissing me off for a bunch of reasons I don’t want to explore. “I’ve got to go, and I’m sure you do too.”
“I’m just waiting for the chopper to arrive to take me to the city,” Mom replies. “Leo said there are plenty of injured men.”
