The door to my room is also left unlocked and open, so that I can see out into the rest of the warehouse. But I’m not foolish enough to think that I could attempt any sort of escape, since there are men stationed heavily every few steps. It would seem that a few of my former soldiers take their jobs here more seriously than they took them guarding my apartment building. I watch as Leo is somehow able to pull even more of myborgata’s men to join him, and even more of the Grecos too. I’ll never understand why anyone would listen to his snake oil sales pitch. It’s clear to see that he has no intention of living up to his promises. These poor saps don’t know that yet, but they’ll soon find out.
It isn’t long before the reason that I am being kept alive reveals itself too. And that reason is none other than so that my brother can gloat and parade Camille around in front of me as he grooms her to become hisprincipessa. She’s being kept in a room somewhere inside this giant warehouse, but I haven’t been able to see where they retrieve her from yet. Smart of my brother to make sure it’s nowhere near me. I watch as he parades her around, commanding that she smile and hold his hand, forcing her to try on dresses he’s brought into the warehouse as if she’s some kind of dress-up doll. It’s all disturbing to watch, and the look of utter despair and disgust on Camille’s face makes it even harder to take.
He taunts her like a trophy, and when he tries once to pull her against him and kiss her, Camille pushes her palms against his chest to force him away. That’s the last straw for me and I come barreling out of the room, ready to charge Leo and take him down. But I don’t make it more than a few feet before eight of his men are on me, throwing me to the floor and then restraining me until my brother has had the pleasure of stepping on the side of my chin with his boot. I should’ve known it’d get me nowhere, but it’s instinct to protect Camille, and now it’s becoming instinct to want to kill my brother.
After that incident, my door is kept tightly locked, leaving me the square of a window to peer out of and continue watching Leo act as if Camille is his new prized possession. She doesn’t say a word, doesn’t even look at him. Her eyes look vacant and hopeless, and I want nothing more than to break out of here and set her free, but I’m gravely outnumbered. I will live up to my promise to get Camille out of here. I just need to wait for my chance to do it, and hope she can hold out long enough to continue to fend my brother off.
Leo knows exactly what he’s doing by all of his attempts to showcase her in front of me, as if she’s a bet he’s won in one of our old sparring matches. She’s a prize, something he’s managed to take from me. And in Leo’s mind, that makes him victorious—dominant. But just as he did, I will plot my revenge in the secret silence of my own head. Because the more he taunts and flaunts Camille in front of the square glass window in my door, the more it starts to drive me mad. Mad enough to the point that I vow I will get out of here; and once I can get free, I will take my brother out.
Leo might have been brewing his plan and growing his resentment toward me for years, but I don’t need years. He touched Camille, and I’m finally ready to admit to myself that I’m deeply, madly in love with her. That’s all I need to know, that I will wipe my brother from the face of the earth if he lays a hand on her. The mere fact that he’s “claimed” Camille and put her on a short leash like his pet is all I need to brew enough hatred to forget all about the times we had growing up as kids when we weren’t so at odds. There’s no turning back from this—Leo’s tried to steal myborgata, killed my men, wounded my friend, and imprisoned the woman I love.
And for that, I will kill him.
17
CAMILLE
I want nothing to do with Leo now. I can’t even stand to look at him or be within his vicinity. But I have no choice other than to go along with him and his plans since he has leveraged the one, single thing he knows will force me to comply—do as he says, or he’ll kill Gabriel. It makes my stomach heave over being paraded around like a doll he won at the fair—getting dressed up and told to smile and having his eyes on me all the time in ways that make my skin crawl. And it makes me feel even more sickened to see Gabriel’s reaction to it, because I know that’s exactly what Leo’s hoping for. He’s trying to make his older brother mad with jealousy, and it’s working. But if I refuse to play my part, then Leo will execute his brother. The only reason he’s still currently keeping Gabriel alive is so he can get me to obey.
I watch as Leo makes plans to take over bothborgate, the Adamis and the Grecos, both of which are currently withoutcapos. I listen as he tells me that I will be hisprincipessaeven though it turns my stomach to the point of gagging. And I continue to thwart all of Leo’s advances. It’s as he’s saved them all up over the course of the years and is attempting each of them now like a slow drip, hoping that one of them might absurdly work to get me to give in and succumb to him. Touching my arm, trying to plant a quick kiss on my cheek, wrapping his hand around my waist as he showcases me off in front of the small, square window on Gabriel’s locked door for his brother to see. And each time Leo does such a thing, he gets bolder and smugger about the idea that eventually one of his efforts will chip away enough at my armor to crack through and win my affection.
It will be a cold day in hell before that ever happens. But I’m also keenly aware that the more time that passes, the closer Leo will get to reaching his goals, both with me and his grasp for power. The longer we’re here, the more men he amasses and the more channels he opens in the city. It’s becoming easier by the moment for him to usurp already unsteady and leaderless crime families. And the more aggressive he gets with his advances toward me, the harder they’ll continue to be to dismiss. At some point, Leo’s going to get frustrated enough to force himself on me, and I really don’t know what I’ll do when that happens.
Would I try to kill my once best friend if he pushed himself on me like some random attacker in the street? I shiver at the thought that such a thing is coming close to happening. I need to do something before I find myself in that scenario. So, during one of the moments I have alone, while Leo’s out organizing more efforts to fortify his pieced-together forces before launching an attack that would win him control over theborgate, I fall back onto my skills as an independent and try to come up with a plan. But every plan I come up with hinges on being able to get word out to someone outside this warehouse—someone from Gabriel’sborgataor even someone from the Grecos who would be averse to the idea of Leo taking over.
It seems pretty hopeless for a hot minute, but then, almost in disbelief, I see someone I used to know. Florian Sinto, the kitchen boy I used to both crush on and fight with when I was a young girl. I’d still recognize his inky black hair and light blue eyes anywhere. He’s older now, grown up and still handsome but less wiry and mischievous-looking than he was when younger. I can still remember vividly when he told me that “girls couldn’t becapo” during one of our kitchen fights my parents had to talk me down from. Turns out he was right.
I watch him for a while, wondering what part he has to play in all of this and how he came to be wrapped up with Leo. I guess it shouldn’t surprise me that he would go against the Grecoborgatasince my father was always a bit tough on him. My father was only ever tough on people he thought had a strong enough character to one day make something of themselves, though. I guess he was wrong about Florian.
After a while, I notice that Florian seems to be watching me back. He recognizes me too, and I wonder whether that’s good or bad. But as I sit alone in my room just after Leo’s left to go call a meeting with some of his more bullish followers he intends to use as frontline thugs in his little coup, Florian shows up at my door like a mysterious, uninvited guest. He opens it quietly and slips inside, his eyes darting around him as if he wants to make sure he isn’t seen conversing with me.
“What are you doing here?” I ask, standing up and getting ready to fight him off if needed. I fought him when he was a boy, and I can fight him again now that he’s a man, if he tries anything.
“Camille, I’m here to help,” Florian says with his palms in the air to signal that he comes in peace.
I’m not entirely sure I trust him. “Help? Me? Why would you do that?”
“Because I still hold respect for your father. Christian Greco was an honorablecapo, and Leo Adami is not.” His sentiment strikes me as odd but hopeful. Maybe Florian can help me after all.
“If you claim to still be loyal to the Grecos, why are you here working for Leo?”
“I’m not working for Leo,” he answers. “That man is disgraceful. I’m here working for myself. I want to know what’s going on here. I want to know what Leo Adami’s plan is.”
“For what purpose?” I ask. “Are you going to try to stop him yourself?”
Florian chuckles as if he’s amused. “I was, at the beginning. That was my original plan. But he’s managed to grow to too many men too quickly. I can’t stop him on my own anymore, not even from the inside. The best I can do now is try to gather intelligence and take it back to a few of the other guys who don’t want to see his leadership goals come to fruition.”
“Then maybe you can help me,” I say excitedly. “Leo’s brother Gabriel is on our side.”
“Yeah, I know that. I’ve seen Leo’s men beating the shit out of his brother, so I pretty much figured they weren’t playing for the same team. I don’t see how that helps us, though. Leo has his brother locked up tight. Gabriel Adami is in no position to do anything. Even if he was, he’s vastly outnumbered here.”
“Yes, I know, but his crew is still loyal to him. Or at least the ones outside of here who remain alive still are. If you can find Nick, hisconsigliere, he’d be able to help. Gabriel said Nick was badly wounded in some sort of massacre at his apartment, but that he’s still alive. Enough time has passed that he might’ve recovered at least enough to be able to do something. Can you at least get the word out that we need help here? Can you get a message outside of the warehouse?”
Florian nods. “Yeah. I can do that.” He pulls a small folded up piece of paper and a pen out of his pocket and hands it to me. “Write down what you want to tell him on here,” he says. “But hurry, change of shift happens in two minutes, and my absence will be noticed.”
I scribble a short message and hand the paper back. Since Leo is too paranoid to allow anyone but himself to use cell phones inside the warehouse, we’re back to resorting to old-school hard and true measures like pen and ink.
“I’ll do what I can, “Florian says as he tucks the note back inside his pocket. “Your father was a good leader—tough as nails, but a good leader nonetheless. His legacy should stand for something and not just be stolen by this greedy idiot.”
