Chapter 26

GIOVANNI

I woke up this morning feeling great. All of the wrongs of the past were being righted. Fat Ricky found some information on Aldo. It wasn’t enough to prove that he was here when my mother was murdered, but he said it was a solid lead.

There were no more secrets between Darry and I. I’d still betrayed him regardless of what he said, but I could look him in the eyes again. While I was happy to have my friend back, I felt sick knowing that I cared for a woman like Carissa. But she would get what she deserved and then some.

Darry’s plan for his mother was fucking sadistic. It was a long game, but brilliant. Revenge was a dish best served cold. Plus, I wouldn’t have to spend any time with the woman, Nova took care of that.

Novalee Ford. She was the real prize. Kato’s precious baby sister was mine. And there wasn’t a thing he could do about it. He tried to talk her out of it when she went to visit him, but she chose me. She belonged to me and no one could take her away.

My omtreá went well. I was a made man now, I had my woman and plans to take down my enemies. Everything I ever wanted was within my grasp. I was on top of the world.

Then it all came crashing down with one phone call.

“Goddamnit,” I threw my fist into the dashboard. “Hurry the fuck up.”

I’d just finished my blood oath and was doing the rounds of congratulations and welcome to the families, when my father’s phone rang. The look he gave me caused my heart to drop into my stomach… I knew something was wrong before he said a thing.

“Why are there so many fucking people on the road?”

A lot was a slight exaggeration. There were only two other cars in our lane, but they were driving slow as shit.

“Hang on,” Darry jerked the steering wheel to the left, swerving around one car, then turned to the right to glide around the other.

Darry wouldn’t have been my first choice of driver. His curse with motor vehicles already caused us to lose a hubcap a block back and now one of the headlights kept flashing on and off. But I was too out of it to argue.

All I heard were the words Simon, gun, and Nova, and all the oxygen in the air was sucked out of the room. I stood there while the ground fell out from under me and everything started to spin.

I could barely hear what my father was saying let alone make decisions. The only thing going through my mind were the memories of my mother’s blood stained floor. Darry had to slap me across the face to snap me out of it.

Now, I just wanted to get there. I had to see if she was okay for myself.

“Come on!” I urged Darry.

“Relax,” he said while steering the car around the corner. “Romeo’s got her, everything’s fine.”

Everything was not fine. Everything was so fucking far from fine. I should’ve never let Nova go to work today? I saw the text. I knew Simon would be there and I still dropped her off this morning.

“I should’ve known.”

“Nope, we’re not doing that.” Darry stepped on the gas. “You had no way of knowing what Simon would do. He’s never been a threat before.”

“That’s cause he’s a pussy ass bitch.” Atlee added from the backseat. “Can’t wait to see how much the little bitch cries when I shove my bat up his ass.”

That was all true. Simon was sniveling weasel. I never thought he would have the balls for something like this, but desperate people did crazy things. If I’d have looked harder for him…

“This isn’t your fault.”

“Fuck off, Darry. You saw the text.” All the signs were there. “I should’ve kept Nova home today.”

Why the fuck did she have a job anyway? Nova was a terrible waitress. First thing tomorrow she was going to quit. If I had to buy that crappy diner to make sure that happened, then so be it. She was never going back there. If I didn’t send Romeo, god knows what would’ve happened. Just thinking about it caused a pit to swirl in my stomach.

We could be driving to the morgue right now. That could still happen. What if we were too late? For all I knew Simon was lurking around waiting for his chance to strike.

“What the fuck is taking so long?”

“We’re almost there.” Darry steered the car down the road to the diner.

“Did Romeo see where Simon went?” Atlee held up a 9 mm and screwed on a suppressor. “I have a few things to say to that prick.”

“You’re not gonna shoot him.” Simon Fisher was going to die, that was a given. But a bullet in the head was too quick. I wanted that asshole to suffer a slow and painful death.

“Oh, I’m not gonna kill him.” Atlee aimed the gun out the windshield and tipped his head to the side. “I’m just gonna pop a bullet or six in his knee cap, so the fucker can’t run again.”

If Simon wasn’t afraid of me, he sure as fuck should be afraid of Atlee. I’d only seen that look on his face twice. When his baby brother died and when some asshole tried to drug his sister at a party. That guy was never seen again.

To this day I had no idea what Atlee did to him, and I didn’t want to know. Atlee disappeared for days and when he showed up at my house he was covered in blood and bits of bone. I found a tooth in my shower later that day. This situation was different.

“This isn’t your fight, Atlee.” It was mine.

“The fuck it isn’t.”

One look back at the darkness in his eyes and I knew he loved her too. Not in the same way I did. His was more like the love he had for his sisters.

Wait… love? Was everyone right? Did I love Nova?

That answer came when we pulled up to the diner and I saw her through the front window. I didn’t give a shit about the cops around her, or the flashing blue and red lights filling the parking lot. All I cared about was that she was there and she was breathing.

Relief washed over me as I watched her hands move through the air. She was explaining something to a cop. I didn’t know what. Didn’t care. I was too busy soaking in the way her hazel eyes sparkled in the fluorescent lights.

One wrong move and I would’ve never seen that again. I wouldn’t be able to admire the way stray locks of her chestnut hair fell out of her bun and framed her face. Or how her lip curled just a touch at the left corner when she was talking about something she thought was stupid.

It would all be gone. The cock in her hip, her stubborn soul, and desire in her eyes when she knew I was coming for her would be lost in her cold dead body. And all because one asshole thought he could take what was mine.

“Find Simon fucking Fisher.”

“Sure,” Atlee sang in a mocking tone. “And which cop would you like me to interrogate first?” he waved his hand at the uniformed men prowling around the diner. “Who the fuck called these pricks?”

I understood the insult on Atlee’s face. Cops made things more difficult. Not impossible, but not easy either. Thankfully, my father had a few of Soiree’s finest on his payroll. So, getting around them shouldn’t be too much of a problem. We just had to play nice for now.

Darry rolled his eyes when Atlee rested his arm on the top of his seat, causing the pistol in his hand to knock against the side. “Will you put that thing away?”

“What are they gonna do?”

“Arrest you.” Both Darry and I answered.

“For what, it’s registered.”

How fucking dumb was he? “You were going to shoot Simon with a gun registered to you?”

“I didn’t say it was registered to me.”

I was tempted to ask who it was registered to, but we didn’t have time for that. “Put it away.”

“Ugh, fine.” Atlee tucked the pistol under the backseat. After which he slumped back and pouted, “stupid cops ruining my fun.”

“It gets better,” Darry nodded out the left window to where a group of guys on bikes were gathered on the corner.

My eyes narrowed on a patch across the back of one of the jackets.

Lost Souls, New Orleans, Chapter 8.

So, not only did we have to deal with the cops, but a fucking biker gang as well. Fucking great. I’d have to thank Kato Ford for that later.

Atlee cocked a brow, “can I shoot those guys?”

That was a tempting offer. Bikers were no better than gangs. They were disorganized, had no respect, and were extremely difficult to work with. If they would work with you at all.

“How about you start by finding out what they know.” I was a Mancini, there was no way in hell they would tell me shit, and Darry was too stiff, but Atlee was unhinged enough that they might actually talk to him.

Atlee sighed, “yeah, alright,” and got out of the car. “But I get to watch you fuck her tonight.”

That was never going to happen. “You can’t watch shit if you don’t have fucking eyes.”

“You’re no fun.” He waved over his shoulder and headed across the parking lot.

Unsurprisingly, the bikers were not welcoming. A couple of them leaned forward and braced their forearms on the handlebars as Atlee approached, while another blew a cloud of smoke in his face. They didn’t give a shit who we were or what we could do. In fact I’d be amazed if Atlee got anything out of them. But I’d seen him charm information out of worse people.

“I’m gonna go to the bar around back,” Darry said. “See what I can dig up there.”

I nodded and turned my attention to my brother, who was giving me a look through the window. He found something. A suspicion that was confirmed when I opened the door and stepped out into the parking lot.

Romeo immediately came out from the diner and headed around the side of the building. He wanted me to follow him. It didn’t take a genius to figure that out, but I wanted to go to Nova.

I looked at her then back to where my brother was waiting for me.

Fuck.

Romeo wouldn’t have done that if it wasn’t important. Goddamnit.

I sighed and headed over to him. Nova was safe for now. No one was getting to her with all these cops around.

Once I stepped into the shadows at the side of the building, Romeo pulled a phone out of his pocket. “Simon dropped this.”

A phone? That’s what this was about? Why was he wasting my time? “I need to get to Nova.”

I turned to walk away but he grabbed my shoulder.

“You need to see this.”

“Fine,” I grumbled and took the phone from him.

“Look at his pictures.”

“I already know about the pictures he took of us.”

“Yeah, there’s some video too.” Romeo put a cigarette between his lips and flicked open his zippo. “Won’t be scrubbing those images out of my head. You’ve got some stamina, Little Brother.”

He watched them? Of course he did. “I think the rating of my sexual performance can wait until later.”

“Those videos are just the tip of the iceberg.” He blew out a stream of smoke. “This Simon asshole has a real obsession with your girl.”

“What?” Okay, now that made me curious.

“Just, look.”

Letting out a breath, I turned my attention to Simon’s phone and clicked on the photo app.

The screen lit up with images of Nova. At school, going to work, and coming to my house. The more I scrolled the more there were. The motherfucker even had pictures of her asleep in her room. There were hundreds if not thousands of them. Every hour of every day accounted for on this prick’s phone. And that wasn’t including the videos.

“What the fuck?”

“Yeah.” Romeo said. “Fucked up, right?”

To say the least. I was still scrolling through this shit. “How far do these go back?”

“The first ones are at court.”

My eyes snapped up to my brother. “Court? As in Kato?”

He nodded.

Simon had been stalking Nova for two years?

“That’s not all.” Romeo said. “Click on the video marked surveillance.”

I looked back down at the phone, found it and hit play.

A video of the courthouse downtown began to play, whoever was filming it was inside a vehicle across the street. I was instantly taken back as I stared at the various reporters standing outside.

I could smell the courtroom and feel the heat, as they all called out “Mr. Mancini, Mr. Mancini, how do you feel about the charges being dropped to manslaughter?” My father walked past them without a word, while I wanted to scream that Kato Ford should get the death penalty.

Then the video zoomed in on a girl in a familiar blue summer dress and I was taken back to another conversation. One that I thought about for two years. Nova was the first person to pretty much tell me to go fuck myself.

“You sure that’s her?” A voice I recognized to be Simon’s asked.

“Yeah.” A female responded. “That’s her.”

“And you can introduce me to her?”

“Yes.” The girl said. “She’s my friend.”

What kind of friend would set someone up with Simon Fisher?

My eyes narrowed when the phone moved and I caught a glimpse of the girl in the passenger seat.

“Wait…” I paused it and zoomed in. “I’ve seen her before.”

Here at the diner. It was that girl Nova hated. What the hell was her name? Sandy, Sadie… Cindy. That was it.

I pointed at the image, “her name is Cindy Fassbender.”

Simon didn’t just stalk Nova, he targeted her. And her friend helped him. Why?

“Cindy Fassbender?” Romeo asked to which I nodded. “Okay, I’ll have Saul pick her up.”

“No wait,” I grabbed him before he could walk away. “Watch her house. Simon might go back there.”

Romeo nodded. “You got it.”

He walked away and I headed into the diner.