It seems like forever as we wait, drinking coffee and making small talk, none of which helps my building frustration, though in reality, it’s less than thirty minutes.
Finally, Kaiden arrives, and I look at him with no small amount of suspicion. This is the man Vito Rossi claimed as the closest thing he had to a son, and the Viper was the very worst of our kind. Vicious, brutal, and ruthless.
Despite that, Kaiden doesn’t appear to display the Viper’s arrogance, and looks to Dominic for direction.
Finally, with a nod of assent from Roisin’s husband, I get answers.
“Vito abducted some woman in the UK,” Kaiden tells us. “Mika was livid because she was the girlfriend of a British Duke, and the Viper held her for ransom.”
My mind races, trying to process this new information. "When did this happen?" I demand.
Dominic furrows his brow, thinking, but it’s Roisin who answers. “Just before he was supposed to marry Maricela.”
We all turn to her in surprise.
“What?” she asks with a shrug. “Maricela overheard the conversation between Mika and the Viper.”
Kaiden nods his agreement. “Mika was furious because it put heat on all of us. The British authorities were involved, MI6 even. There are some things even the authorities can’t be paid off for, and messing with the British aristocracy turns out to be one of them."
"Jesus," I mutter, running a hand through my hair. "And you think this woman was Gabi, Emylyah’s sister? What happened, any idea?"
"As far as I know, she was rescued after a tip off.” His face darkens at that; it implies there’s a rat within La Cosa Nostra. “Vito’s death took a lot of the heat off, but Mika still had to smooth things over with a lot of people."
A couple of random thoughts distract me momentarily and I turn to Dominic “Do you think any of this is connected to Vito’s death?”
Dominic shrugs. “Who knows. The only lead we have on that is a woman in a red dress. Nobody knows who she was or how she got in, and there’s been no trace of her since - not that we got a decent view of her face. It was like she knew where all the cameras were.”
I feel the tension in both Dominic and Kaiden at that revelation, but that’s their shit to worry about, so I simply nod as I try to piece it all together. If Gabriella is married to a British Duke, and she was the one kidnapped... it all starts to make a twisted kind of sense.
"So, Vito kidnapped Emylyah's sister," I say slowly. "But why? What's the connection?"
Roisin leans forward, her eyes wide. “Do you think this has something to do with Lyah's past? The constant running? The child marriage?"
The likelihood hangs in the air between us, too much of a coincidence to ignore.
Standing abruptly, my mind races with possibilities. I know who I need to talk to. No more dodging tactics. It’s time Emylyah’s mother came clean. "I need to find Lenka,” I state. “She's the key to all of this. I don’t believe in coincidences,” I mutter under my breath.
“Me neither,” Dominic asserts, his eyes pinning me. “You mentioned Red Scorpion. Why?”
I press my temples between my fingers to stave off the headache I feel coming on. “Just whispers on the street right now. Whenever we try to get to the bottom of our recent… issues, their name comes up, but nothing more.”
"Cazzo!” Dominic curses, while Kaiden’s jaw drops as they share a look.
“Red dress; Red Scorpion?” Kaiden states what Dominic must be thinking, since he gives a single terse nod.
“I'll make some calls, see if I can dig up any more information on Vito's activities. People will be more willing to talk now he’s dead," Dominic offers, shaking my hand. Kaiden follows suit.
"Thank you," I say, surprising myself with the sincerity in my voice. "I appreciate the help."
He purses his lips. “If Red Scorpion are making a resurgence, we all need to be on guard.”
I don’t respond to that. What is there to say? All the old families know of the scourge who went by that name. They were infamous. The lowest of the low. Vicious, murdering bastards who would make every man in this room look like a fucking choirboy. They cared for nothing and no one but themselves, and in the end, that was their downfall, because they reigned through terror instead of loyalty. No one was sorry to see them annihilated, but it seems a decade is not long enough to keep them buried.
As I turn to leave, Roisin grabs my arm. Her green eyes bore into mine, filled with a mixture of worry and determination. "Find her, Niko. Whatever happened in the past, Lyah doesn't deserve to be alone and scared right now. It’s not her who should be paying for any of this."
I clench my jaw, guilt and anger warring inside me. "I will," I promise. "And when I do, I’ll bring her back.”
That’s not just a false promise. I mean it.
