CHAPTER TWENTY

ATLAS

Jasiel was here, somewhere. Midas had already spotted Vittoria inside the house. Trojan was on her tail, trying to follow her to find out where they were keeping him.

I came in through the service entrance and settled in their basement level. All roads led to Rome, and in this house, the basement was that central level. There were service elevators and dumb waiters to deliver and collect, while also being where all the laundry chutes came out to.

Nobody, but the staff came down here, and it was the perfect place for me to get word out for them all to leave before it was too late. They were collateral, but only if they stayed.

Dressed like I attended a masquerade party. I wasn't letting anyone uncover my mask until I could come face-to-face with Benicio, and only then, when my face was the first and last thing he would see before killing him, would I pull my mask away.

In one of the basement rooms, I'd set up a small base of operations. Traditionally, these were interrogation rooms. They came equipped with a metal table and chairs. They were also well ventilated and came with outlets too. I had Trojan's laptop with the blueprints of the house loaded onto it in a 3D model and the tracking from the earpiece wherever Midas and Trojan were.

Trojan was walking around the house, while Midas stayed at the bar pushing alcohol on people and trying to get information from them. I heard everything as it happened, trying to listen for any familiar voices among them. I knew these people, at least, I thought I knew these people.

A knock came at the door.

"Busy," I called out.

"You're not supposed to be down here."

Fuck. It wasn't one of the service workers.

Pulling out my gun, I waited for the door to open so I could shoot.

Another voice came near the door. "He's just getting changed," a voice said. "Sorry, he'll be out in a second Mr. Coronado."

"Come in," I said. "I actually need some help." I stood against the wall, prepared for him. I didn't know which son it was, but any of them were fair game.

The door swung open, and he stepped inside. "You know these—"

I whacked him with the end of the gun against the side of his head. He dropped like a sack. Dressed in his expensive suit. Miguel was known for dressing in the finer things.

A woman stood behind him at the door, she shook her head and apologized to me before walking off. She hadn't seen my face, but she knew what I was here for. I'd given them each a large cash tip to keep anyone away from this part of the basement.

Tying him up to a chair, securing him tight against the metal. Miguel was a squealer. I stuffed one of his socks inside his mouth before wrapping his pretty tie around his head.

With a smelling salt, I cracked it beneath his nose. He woke instantly, gagging and trying to pull himself from the chair. He had a thick head of curly hair, all of it getting in front of his face. He stared at me with my mask on.

"Jasiel," I said. "Where's Jasiel?"

He shook his head.

Wrong place at the wrong time. I placed the end of the gun at his forehead and drew a little X on his skin with it. "I know you can't speak right now," I told him. "But I have a map. Tell me where Jasiel is, and I'll—" My face cracked a smile and let out a chuckle. "I'm not going to let you live, unfortunately, but if you tell me where he is, you'll have the privilege of dying with your father."

He tried, with as much power as he could to get himself free from the binds tying him to the chair. It was useless to try. I was taught by the best of the worst. He wasn't getting free unless I freed him.

"Look at the computer," I told him. "Where is he?"

Of all the siblings, Miguel was probably the weakest of them all. From the time I was introduced to the family, Miguel had been more interested in silks and trying to import expensive fabric. Not that he didn't have blood on hands. Everyone in this family had blood on their hands.

"Blink for me," I said, pointing at the map. "Ground floor? Two for yes, one for no."

He blinked twice.

"Great. Now, is he in the east wing of the house, or the west wing of the house?" I asked. "Wait. That's not a yes or no. Is he in the east wing?"

Two blinks.

"The study," I said. "Trojan."

"Yes? You want me to check the study?" His voice came through in my ear.

"Check it. If he's in there. Bring him straight to me," I said, looking back at Miguel as he continued to struggle against the metal of the chair. The skin around his wrists was already bleeding. It was awfully silly of him to try, but perhaps he didn't know it was me behind this mask.

Miguel whimpered behind the muffled sound of the sock in his mouth.

I waited, watching Trojan's dot move on the screen as he grew closer to the study. It wasn't exactly where I'd have expected them to take Jasiel, or any prisoner, but if he was there, then that was easy.

"There's a wheelchair. It's empty. And a man. Looks like Jasiel killed him. Knife mark to the neck," Trojan said.

"He's not there," I said to Miguel and aimed the gun at his head. "Now, I know it pains you to get blood on your clothes. You're like your father. I've seen him look away and kill a man because he didn't like the look of blood."

In the moment, his eyes opened with a realization about who I was. I pulled the mask away to assure him he was correct. I wasn't dead, and I was coming for every person in that family.

"What's your father planning to do with Jasiel?"

He shook his head. Either he didn't know, or he didn't want to say. But I didn't accept no, or a head shake as an answer.

"I'll remove it, and if you scream, I'll shoot you," I said, screwing the silencer on the gun. I didn't want to alert the entire place to a gunshot. It was sensible to have every shot I took go unnoticed until I needed them to notice me.

He nodded.

I pulled the tie from his mouth and pulled the sock out. "What's your father planning to do with Jasiel?" I asked once more.

"I thought you were dead," he said.

Clearly, he didn't understand the question. I asked it once more.

"He knows where your money is," he said. "My father wants everything you have. But he thinks you're dead." His eyes opened wider. "Wait. You killed Alonzo. You—you broke Jasiel out of prison."

I checked my wristwatch for the time. It was just after two in the afternoon. "It'll take more than a gun to kill me," I said, waving the gun around. "But I'm surprised you think Jasiel knows where my assets are. In fact, I'm stunned by your stupidity. He is my asset. He all the wealth I own." It wasn't a lie. Jasiel didn't know where my money was, but he did know, at the same time. He just didn't know that's where everything was.

"That's not true," he said. "My father paid you millions. We checked every registry. Nobody knows anything about you."

"I'm a ghost," I said. "You think it would be easy to get everything I'd ever worked for? You thought you could kill me. And that's—" I let out a forced laugh. "Well, I have no idea why we're even discussing this. You can't possibly have any more answers for me. Jasiel isn't in the study."

The door swung open with force, smacking at the side wall.

Jasiel stood, blood smeared on his face, and dressed in oversized clothing. He aimed the gun at Miguel's head and without hesitation, he put two shots into his skull. The swing door closed behind him, cutting off the screams of the people as the gunshots shocked them.

"Daddy, I found you," he said in a soft voice.

"Baby." I ran to him and picked him up. He wrapped his legs around my waist as I pinned him against the wall. "I told you not to fucking leave my side," I whispered in his ear. "Now, if you ever pull that shit again."

"He's back?" they both asked in my ear.

"I got him," I said.

"It wasn't my fault," he said, hugging me and resting his chin on my shoulder. "You know I can't control my urges."

"You know I'd go to the end of this earth for you," I said. "And that includes killing whoever and whatever gets in my way."

"We both made it here," he said. "But you didn't even come and get me?"

He was testing me. "I tried," I told him, kissing at his neck. He didn't smell like his usually scent. It wasn't pleasant on my lips. "They had you. I knew they were bringing you here. I could've gone, shown my face to everyone and killed them, blowing everything we'd been waiting for. Or I could've waited, knowing you'd be here then take you."

"I'm just saying, we're engaged, you—" he gasped. "Where's my ring?"

He didn't have his ring on. But I knew this wasn't a case of him losing it. "I bet she's got it," I told him. "Looks like she's just become number one on our hit list."

"She also has my knives and lighter too," he said, pouting out his bottom lip.

"I have eyes on Vittoria," Midas's voice came through my ear.

"Right," I spoke back. "I'll get him set up with a comms piece, and—" I looked him over. He couldn't go out dressed like that. He'd stand out for all the wrong reasons. Not because he's Jasiel, but because everyone was dressed in suits, and he was dressed for the beach, which was fine, considering there was a beachy area surrounding the island.

"Did you bring the C4?"

"We did," I told him. "And the trigger device too. I knew you'd want it."

"I'm not getting changed," he said as my eyes lingered over him. "I want to be comfy when I'm killing, plus, suits are itchy."

"And what will you wear when we get married?" I asked him.

He shrugged. "I plan on being naked, covered up only by a light Egyptian cotton bedsheet."

I suppose that would work for them, and I wasn't going to force him to dress in something uncomfortable now. But we had a job to do. I handed him a cartoon mask from the black bag. "Let's go find Vittoria."