Total pages in book: 59
Estimated words: 54522 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 273(@200wpm)___ 218(@250wpm)___ 182(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 54522 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 273(@200wpm)___ 218(@250wpm)___ 182(@300wpm)
I stare right at him and swallow hard as I ignore the feeling of nausea that my nerves are causing. When I open my mouth to answer him, I do it knowing full well that he won’t like it.
“No,” I say. “I won’t help you.”
Angelo comes at me with a fist this time as he strikes me across the face, and my eyes roll into the back of my head.
CHAPTER 16
VINCENT
When we get to my casino, Alonzo wastes no time in testing his loyalty to me and telling me I shouldn’t try to rescue Isla.
“You’re not thinking clearly,” he barks, making a bold assumption. “You’ve been thinking about that girl instead of business.”
“You are my underboss, Alonzo,” I say angrily. “Not my consigliere. Your job is not to advise me, but to carry out my orders.”
“And what if I think your orders are wrong? My job is to protect the interests of the Moretti empire and the family’s legacy.”
This is the point that I wondered if we would arrive at someday. A pivotal confrontation that shows the weakness of Alonzo’s true loyalty to me.
“I am the Moretti empire.” I’m seething with anger over the entire situation. “You’d be wise not to forget it.”
Instead of backing down as he usually does, Alonzo takes a step toward me. “You’ve forgotten who we are, boss. And you’ve replaced your loyalty to this family with loyalty to a woman. Blood isn’t love. Blood is survival.”
“I don’t think we have time for this,” Luc says as he tries to de-escalate the situation. He puts his hand on Alonzo’s shoulder and steps in as my actual advisor to help me figure out what to do. “Vincent, I spoke to Gabriel like you asked.”
“And?” I ask impatiently. This had better have something useful to do with getting Isla back.
“And he said that he hears pretty much every secret in the city but that he hasn’t heard of anything having to do with Angelo planning a kidnapping of the ballerina.”
“Maybe he needs to be pressed a bit more then.”
“No, he doesn’t,” Luc is quick to retort. “Gabriel tells me everything he knows each time I ask him about something. He’s a trusted confidant, especially with me. If he had heard any indication that this was going to happen, he would have told me.”
“What do you mean, especially with you?” I ask. “I thought the bartender was pretty chummy with the entire crew.”
“He is,” Luc says quickly. The nervousness in his darting eyes as they struggle to maintain eye contact with mine do not go unnoticed by me. “I just meant that I talk to him more frequently than some of the other guys and that he’s not shy about his street-smarts. I’d know if he was keeping something secret.”
For a second, I question Luc’s seemingly very close relationship with my casino’s bartender, but I’m much too distracted by getting Isla back to think too deeply about it. I brush it off almost instantly and get back to thinking about a plan to rescue Isla when the door to the club opens, and I see Celeste Durant standing there.
“What are you doing here? The casino isn’t even open yet,” I say. I refrain from throwing her out immediately only on the whim that she might have some rare insight to offer. Thankfully, it would seem that she does.
“I know where Isla is,” she says, to my surprise.
Instantly, she garners the attention of everyone in the room.
“How can you possibly know that?” Alonzo asks, already suspicious. Skepticism and mistrust are his default characteristics. As an underboss, his skepticism and mistrust benefit him, at least until he directs that skepticism at me. “I received a message from her. Natalia Barone asked me to deliver it directly to you, Vincent.”
Luc raises a brow at the old dance instructor. “Natalia Barone? Are you two friends these days?”
“Come on, gentlemen,” Celeste says, clearly not wishing to waste any more time while her dancer is in trouble. “We all know that I have had ties to almost every mafia family that has been in this city. I’ve been around a long time, boys, I’ve endured a lot, and I’ve learned a lot. One thing that I’ve learned is never to rely too heavily on any singular alliance. Diversification of interests is an asset not to be underrated.”
“What’s the message? Where is Isla?” I ask, superseding the hesitation of my men.
“Isla is okay, for now,” she says. “But she’s being kept hostage inside the basement of Angelo Barone‘s newest business endeavor.”
“The casino?” I’m reminded that he’s trying to encroach on my business territories.
“It’s not actually a casino,” she says. “According to his wife, it’s simply another front for him to use for his sex-trafficking operations. He’s not doing any sort of illicit gambling. The casino itself will be legit. In the basement is where he plans to commit the real crimes. Unspeakable crimes against women, the kind that I would like to prevent Isla from having to endure.”