Twenty

Nico

“ D on Amato is on the phone.” Leo passes me the cell as I step into the hall. He covers the speaker, filling me in briefly on what the boss of the Jersey crime family is saying. “He just received an interesting call from one of Santini’s guys. Also, Bishop took a few men with him to find Luca. They found some pings on his location.”

I press the phone to my ear. “Hello.”

“Nico. We just received a phone call from Joey Cabrera, Santini’s underboss. They’re on the way here and want to discuss some issues involving The Saints interfering in their drug deals. Micah Castrovinci’s name was brought up, stating he’s helping and even aided in a planned attack on them today by you all.”

Fucking bullshit.

I know Hugo Amato sees through Junior’s bullshit, which is why he is a trusted ally, but the manipulative lies constantly told by my nephew infuriate me .

“So what? They are going to try to spin Junior’s misdealings on us now. It wasn’t enough to kill Micah’s father. Now he has to come for his head as well?”

“I’m not entirely sure what they are hoping to gain. I think he knows they are losing allies within the families.”

“Damn right, he is. You and I both know he doesn’t deserve to be a leader.”

“I know, and as I told you before, you have our full support in taking him out. We feel there is no other way to control him. There will be no backlash from the surrounding families.”

Commotion sounds behind me, and my heart aches for the turmoil Trent is experiencing. I have never seen a man love a woman the way he does.

Hugo’s voice pulls me back into the conversation. “And from what I heard, Italy didn’t go over smoothly. His title is threatened if he doesn’t resolve his issues with the Russians. I think now that there is a known problem with The Saints too, Junior realizes he will lose more support. Especially with the respect you still have within the family.”

When I left the Santini Crime Family, I was completely shunned. My own mother had to sneak around to see me. But over time, those made men, including my father, needed favors, and favors were always given as long as they fit the moral code of The Saints.

“Well, just to bring you up to speed. We are at the Santini home right now and have reason to believe he has severely injured his wife and possibly one of my men.”

“I’ll update you as soon as they arrive, unless you can get here faster than them. ”

Looking at Leo, I circle my finger in the air, signaling that we need to go.

“We will ride the choppers in. Keep your phone close and make sure they don’t suspect anything,” I say into the phone and begin my trek down the bloodstained stairs.

I’ve never collected anything in return for the favors I doled out until now. I allowed Giovanni Santini to take from me my whole life, and I refuse to sit back and watch his son do the same, no matter who his mother is.

Because of her , I’ve allowed him to bring more turmoil to the city I love. I knew Trent hated him for obvious reasons, but when Ashley approached me, there was no doubt in my mind that the man was a monster for his wife to take it upon herself to seek help.

“Ari looked stunning tonight.” The beautiful young woman standing beside me says.

I noticed her earlier by the bar; she’s gorgeous and far too young for me, but the type of beautiful you can’t look away from without allowing yourself one more glance.

“She did… Are you a friend of my daughters?”

She shakes her head. “You don’t remember me, do you?”

I turn to her, fully taking her in. She looks so familiar, like someone I used to know, but I just can’t quite place it. “I’m sorry, I don’t.”

Her delicate hand extends to shake mine. “Ashley Castrovinci…or more recently known as Ashley Santini.”

My nephew’s bride. “I haven’t seen you since you were just a young child. You look just like your mother. ”

Isabelle and my Nicole were very close when they were younger. Wherever they went, their undeniable beauty was always the talk of any made-man’s conversation.

She smiles kindly. “Thank you.”

“Sorry for the loss of your father-in-law,” I say, even though I don’t mean a word of it.

“I’m not,” she says blatantly, and confusion mars my face. Then, I remember another important piece to this puzzle. Trent Manning, one of The Saint’s current prospects, and the man hopelessly in love with Junior Santini’s beautiful wife.

Ashley’s tone changes as she looks at me more seriously. “Listen, I’m going to cut to the chase. I knew you’d be here tonight when I saw your daughter’s name on the production. And I have a favor to ask of you.”

Now my interest is extremely piqued. I nod toward a quiet corner, and she follows me over to the velvet bench.

“What is this favor?” Briefly, I wonder if Trent has contacted her, but he made me a promise he wouldn’t do that until he had my clearance.

“I remember the talks of you when I was younger. Leaving your family, breaking free of the family… And I need your help so I can do the same.”

I close my eyes. Shit, I should have known this was coming.

She pushes forward, not wanting to lose me. “There are two major secrets I know of his. I just need to find a way to prove it.”

My eyes meet her blue ones. “Go on…”

“Well, are you going to help me?” she asks, and my respect for this girl grows by the second.

“I’m going to try. Is that good enough?”

She nods. “Not only is he profiting off money that is supposed to be distributed back to Italy. Which, by the way, he uses his strip club, Sinners, to do so. He’s also selling Fentanyl, boatloads of it, as another way to make a profit behind the mafia’s back. Only his underboss and most trusted capos know about this.”

For some reason, I instantly trust this woman, and that’s no easy feat. But I still need to ask, “And how do you know?”

“Because he thinks so little of me and my intelligence, he’s fucking sloppy, and I take every chance I can to take advantage of that.”

“Can you come to the showing next week?” I ask in regard to my daughter’s next off-Broadway play.

She nods again, a glimmer of hope in her eyes I didn’t see before.

“Meet me here during the first intermission, and I’ll bring you a phone so we can keep in touch.”

I know Trent deserves to hear all of this. After he saw me attempt to call Ashley earlier, I had every intention of telling him then. But Micah ran out, saying Santini had her, and his mind was on one thing—getting to her. But he needs to hear this. I want him to be calm, and his emotions are too all over the place for me to do that now… I’ll explain it during the helicopter ride.

The other phone in my pocket vibrates, and I pull it out just as I reach the bottom of the stairs.

Unknown Number

You know what happened to Nicole when you didn’t fight for her. If you don’t want history to repeat itself, you better come get her.

The words affect me more than I want to admit.

But she’s alive.

“She’s alive,” I whisper .

Trent snatches the phone from my hand and reads the message. I take it back before he can do anything stupid.

His eyes, so full of turmoil, bore into me.

With a strong grip on his shoulder, I say, “I know this is a lot, but try to get yourself together. We are going to get your girl.”

“Who is Nicole?” he asks, his tone distant.

I answer honestly, “Junior’s late mother and the love of my life.”

I notice the way Leo shifts on his feet next to me. He is the only one who truly knows everything I went through regarding that situation.

“And the woman who was made to marry my monster of a brother instead of me.” The words still taste like acid on my tongue so many years later.

“The true reason you left the mafia,” Trent says as more of a statement than a question.

I nod. “Yes, and the reason I had hoped that Junior would be different than his father but, unfortunately, he has too much of him in his DNA and not enough of her.”

“You really think she’s alive?”

“Yes, I think they have an agenda, and we need to get there as fast as we can.”

Leo’s voice calls from outside, letting us know the cars are ready to head to the helicopter pad.

“Nico?” Trent pleads from beside me.

Wrapping his hand around the tallies on my forearm, his words come out as if he’s begging. “She’s pregnant.”

Oh fuck .

Giving myself a second to process his words and the emotion dripping from his tone, my heart thuds harder as I remember the beautiful young woman who came to me for help. And the young man who gave up his whole life to devote himself to The Saints, because he loved said woman so deeply.

I can’t let them down. I promised her.