“It’s not like any of us have done this before,” Alessio growled. “I never thought I’d have to share her, but since it looks like I will, I’m glad it’s with you two.”
“Aw. You don’t have to sound so pissed about it.” I cuffed his arm with a closed fist. The move caused Lila to shift away from me, and she rolled over into Renzo’s waiting arms.
He smirked and closed his eyes. “I’m going to sleep. We can hash out details tomorrow.”
“Unless this is all over tomorrow,” I admitted, knowing they’d understand the fear we never talked about.
“It’s not over.” Alessio stood and paced at the foot of the bed. “We won’t rest until they’re safe.”
19
ALESSIO
The time spent with Lila last night was the only thing that kept me sane. The five of us left the bunker, with me giving Matteo a warning about his decision to build without letting me in on the secret. He’d looked appropriately ashamed but not sorry.
Sitting in my office, glass littering the floor and the desk drawers torn out and their contents strewn around the room, the anger I’d kept at bay for the last twelve hours boiled over. I punched a fist into the top of the desk, enjoying the sting of pain rippling across my knuckles.
Luca and Vincenzo invadedmy home.They’d insulted me, threatened me, and torn my house apart. My safe house. What a joke. Nothing was safe or sacred with those two around. Everywhere I looked this morning, I saw their malicious stamp. No wonder their sign was the vulture. They circled, and people knew to look for destruction and death.
Lila had asked about my house sign last night. I’d managed to avoid the question, though it was simple enough to find it if she bothered to look around. Matteo, Renzo, and I all wore the wolf tattoo on our forearms. The wolf statues throughout thehouse had been part of my family legacy, going all the way back to my great-great-grandfather.
“Here.” Renzo stalked into the office without bothering to knock and held out a stack of folders. “That’s everything my men and I pulled together after the attack.”
I rifled through the pages. “Mercenaries?”
Renzo nodded. The crisp move warned he’d dropped back into his soldier persona. He stood arrow straight without any sign of pain or weakness. If I hadn’t seen the wound myself, I’d never even know he’d been shot last night.
“I recognized one of them. Bruce and my guys put the rest of the pieces together.”
“Bad enough Luca came for us himself, but I never expected Vincenzo to let him hire mercenaries.” I dug deeper into the folders, stopping when I reached the last one. “What’s this?”
“Justin Tormack.” Renzo rolled his shoulders back and locked his hands together at his waist, far away from his guns. “He was mine, sir.”
“Sir? What the fuck is this?” I tried to lighten the mood. After all, how could I force him to call me sir after what we’d been through last night. Not just the fight, but the hours spent with Lila afterward. I’d never imagined anything as intimate as seeing my two best friends making love to the woman I adored.
Renzo’s lips peeled back into a snarl. “He’s the reason they found the tunnels. No one else knew about them except us, Justin, and one other man.”
“And how do you know Justin is the rat?” A look at the anger rippling over Renzo’s face and the sudden tightening of his hands warned me to let it go. I knew what he was capable of. I’d asked for his skills to be used more than once. “Forget I asked.”
He dropped his head without breaking eye contact. “I’m sorry he put Lila in danger. I’m not sorry for what I did to him.”
Neither was I. “So the Verduccis are stepping it up. Vincenzo’s not content to keep waiting for the line to end.”
“And now they know about Leo.” Renzo tapped the corner of the folders. “I found evidence Lila had a shadow well before you paid her a visit.”
The radio on his waist squawked. He plucked it up and spoke quickly, his feet already in motion.
“The blue folder. Check it. You’ll see what I mean.” With those parting words, he passed through the door hanging from one hinge and broke into a quick jog.
I bypassed the chair that had been sliced to ribbons and moved to the window. Everything of value inside the room was smashed, trashed, or shredded beyond repair. Except the windows. They’d opted not to blow them out using the rocket launcher. I suspected they’d brought it as a threat and had no real intention of using it. Vincenzo wouldn’t want complete destruction. He knew there was too much evidence here to risk losing it all. I’d have to take inventory, see if anything was missing. Later. First, I needed to know what Renzo meant about Lila’s shadow.
“I won’t let them hurt my family.” It was unnecessary to speak out loud, but it felt good to force the promise into the air. Flipping open the folder, I pulled out a stack of photos, most taken from a CCTV. The closed-circuit cameras were not the best at retrieving images, but Matteo’s abilities with computer software helped clean up the image enough for me to recognize one of Vincenzo’s lieutenants standing across the street from Lila’s boutique.
The series of images showed him lifting a camera in her direction as she left the shop, then getting into a car and pulling out behind her. The photos stopped once he moved out of view.
There were not enough curses to convey the emotions rioting inside my body. I checked the time stamp. Two months ago.Long before I even returned to the states. One week after I’d informed the Italian syndicate of my intentions to come here. I’d not told them why. Seems it didn’t matter. They’d been ahead of me every step of the way. But how? How had they caught wind of Lila when I never breathed a word of our relationship?
I’d almost lost her before I found my way back into her arms. I had no doubts Luca would not have sat on the knowledge long once he understood how important Lila was to me. Her life had been in danger before I came back.
