Aria (7:35) - Have you left yet?
I text her back that I’ll be there soon and mentally roll my eyes. I’ve never seen her worry over me like this, but I secretly appreciate it. My dad was never a worrier, and Mom died before I could really remember much. As long as I remember, no one ever fussed over me or cared much about what I did. Having Aria freak out like this reminds me that I’m really not alone in all of this. I have a real friend who cares about me. With my life in full shitstorm mode, that small bit of knowledge means a lot.
I get a cab after a few minutes. He takes me to my place and I give him twenty dollars that I can’t afford before stepping out. I’m about to take the steps to my apartment when I get a call from Vince. Shit. If it was anyone else, I would probably ignore the call. Something tells me you don’t just ignore a call from a guy like him.
“Hey,” I say into the phone, trying to sound casual.
“You’re not here.” His voice is like ice and fire at the same time.
“I was planning to come back. I just needed—”
“Where are you? Tell me right fuckin’ now.”
“Hold on a second. Did you really expect me to be able to walk away from my life without going home or tying up any loose ends?”
“You’re at your apartment, aren’t you?”
“Don’t dodge the—” My words are cut off as the wind is knocked from me. I have a frantic second to look around, but all I see are four large bodies in dark suits. My phone clatters to the pavement and I can distantly hear Vince screaming my name through the receiver. Strong hands drag me from the sidewalk and toss me into a black car. I try to scream for help, but a strange smelling wet cloth is pressed hard to my face. I instinctively gasp for breath before I realize it’s chloroform.
17
Vince
Tires screech as I peel out of the parking lot. I pound a fist into the steering wheel as I drive. Fuck! Everything fell apart all at once. Now I’m nearly certain they have Aubriella, too.
“What is it?” asks Frankie from the backseat. He has a gun to Lucky Anastasio’s head. Jimmy sits on the other side of him with his piece resting in his lap.
“Someone got to Aubriella. She decided not to stay put. She was on the street somewhere.”
“Shit,” says Jimmy .
Frankie pistol whips Lucky, who hisses through broken teeth and blood. “It was your crew that took her, wasn’t it?”
Lucky shakes his head, holding two hands to his mouth. “I’ve been with you. How the fuck would I know?”
Frankie pushes the muzzle of the gun hard against Lucky’s head. “You want to get smart? We’ll see how smart you are if I knock some of these fuckin’ brains out the other side of your head.”
Lucky spits blood in my car. Fuckin’ prick. “You’d also be knocking whatever information it is you’re hoping to get out of me. So be my guest. I’m sure your capo will be real pleased with you.”
“Both of you shut up,” I say. “It was either the Anastasios or the Sanatores. No question. They know we got Lucky and they thought they could get to me by grabbing her. That means we don’t have to figure out who has her, we just need to wait until they try to contact us about making a deal. So we all need to just calm down. We need him alive. For now.”
It burns my chest to admit it, but I’d let Lucky go in a heartbeat if it meant getting Aubriella back. He’s my only link to Jackie’s killer right now, but there will be other opportunities to find out who ordered the hit and get revenge. I’d rather save Aubriella than avenge her, that’s for damn sure. I gun the gas even more, until I’m swerving between traffic and using sidewalks to get to her apartment faster. I don’t know why I’m rushing. It’s like I told them. They will contact me and try to arrange a swap. It’s not like they would kill her. The only reason to take her is to draw me out.
As if on cue, my phone rings. I pick it up.
“Who is this?” I ask.
“The guy who has your slut.”
I slam on the brakes, fishtailing the car in the middle of an intersection to a cacophony of horns. “I’m the guy who has guns on your hitman, so you may want to watch your mouth.”
“Whatever he gets, she gets.”
I grit my teeth and nearly squeeze the steering wheel in half. “What do you want?”
“You and Lucky. Just the two of you or she dies. We’ll be watching. We’re in the old factory above where Marchiano’s used to be. You know it?”
I hang up the phone and immediately make a few calls as I spin the car around and weave through the still honking traffic toward the factory. Within five minutes, I’ve called in all my soldiers and some capos I’m close with for a raid on the factory. If these fucks were following tradition, I’d take their deal. I would leave my men behind and let them do whatever they wanted to me and know they would honor the deal, but the Anastasios and Sanatores are spitting on tradition. They’ve already whacked Marcello, who was an old-time made guy straight out of Italy. They even tried to take out Pops last night, which is what made me leave Aubriella behind last night. Now they think I’m going to trust their word on a fair trade? No chance. We’re getting her out of there by force or not at all.