CHAPTER LIII

"F ucking hell!" Luca's voice pierced the air, and I snapped back to reality. Shaking off the daze, I leapt to my feet, my heart pounding with rage as my hand closed around the cold grip of my gun. I stormed toward the van. The men in the van were dead. Blood had splattered across the dashboard, and their limbs hung at unnatural angles, like they were dropped marionettes.

"Goddamnit!" I slammed the car door shut and took in the devastation around us. Footsteps approached, and Miguel’s voice rang in the air.

“Nico, they were heading toward the basement! This was just a diversion!” he shouted.

Another explosion rocked the ground, sending me stumbling back. "Mother fucking fuck!!" I roared, my anger boiling over. "Luca, tell the sniper to take out any motherfucker who moves!" I didn't wait for a response, already sprinting toward the basement.

Mya appeared at the top of the stairs, breathless. "Your mom, Nico! She went to check on Winter!"

“Get back into the safe room, Mya!” Matteo yelled.

"GET DOWN, MYA!" I lunged toward her. But it was too late. A red dot appeared on her chest, and her body jerked violently as the shot rang out.

"NO!" Matteo's scream tore through the air as he rushed past me, his gun blazing. The shooter crumpled to the floor. Matteo dropped to his knees, his hands frantically trying to stem the bleeding from Mya's wound.

"Aurelio..." she gasped, her eyes pleading.

“Shut up!" Matteo's voice broke as he pleaded with her. "You're not dying, do you hear me? You're not fucking dying!"

I turned away, my heart pounding against my chest. "Get the chopper here, now!" I barked at Miguel, who was already on the phone.

"I need to go and..." I started to tell Matteo, my voice thick with unshed tears. He nodded, his eyes never leaving Mya's face.

I sprinted down the hallway, the queasy feeling in my stomach intensifying with the fear of what I'd find in the basement.

Demon's frantic barks turned into whines. He scratched desperately at the basement door. "Move, damn it!" I yelled, throwing my shoulder against the door, my muscles straining as I pried at the warped frame. “UGH! Goddamnit!” Frustration boiled over, and I kicked the door repeatedly, but it didn’t budge.

“Fuck this,” I growled under my breath and aimed my gun at the lock.

One shot.

Nothing.

Two shots.

Still nothing.

“Come on!” I shouted and fired once more. The lock shattered, and I kicked the door. It splintered, flying open with a loud crack.

Demon rushed in, his barks echoing off the walls. I followed, my eyes taking in the scene. Enzo and my mother lay unconscious, their bodies limp against the wall. But where was my angel?

"WINTER!" My roar echoed through the basement as I spotted the blown-up wall. They'd taken her. The chair was empty and there was no sign of her.

Luca appeared, his eyes wide. "Holy shit, Nico. Are they alive?"

I didn't answer, already at my mother's side. I fell to my knees, cradling her in my arms.

"No, Mom. Please, no," I whispered, my tears mixing with her blood as I rocked her gently. My anger turned inward, a searing pain in my chest.

* * *

I sat in my office, the drink in my hand forgotten as I stared at the wall. My mind was spinning from the shitshow of the day. The police were all over my house, but they were useless. Useless, just like I felt, sitting here while my family and my empire crumbled and my angel was taken from me.

I barely registered Luca's voice when he entered.

"Nico, Doc is here."

Jacobi entered the room quietly and solemnly, carrying his medical bag. "Nico, I'm so sorry. I..."

I raised two fingers to silence him. "Check on Enzo," I said firmly.

He went without objection to Enzo, who was resting on the couch. He had recently regained consciousness, and the first words out of his mouth were that he didn't see who took Winter. I knew that he felt like he let us down, including Winter. But he did his best, not knowing that the fuckers would blow a freaking hole in my basement and kidnap my girl.

The ache in my chest intensified as I thought of my mother. She went to the basement to check on Winter because she believed in her innocence. And now, she was gone.

Mya was still in surgery, fighting for her life, and Aurelio was with my uncle and his wife, who waited anxiously for any news. At least I knew Aurelio was cared for and safe.

My heart sank when my eyes landed on Lo. His head was buried in his hands, shoulders shaking in silent sobs. I couldn’t get the image out of my head of him struggling to push past me, desperate to get into the basement. But there was no way in hell I could let him see Mom that way. He thought he could handle it, but it would shatter him, and I didn’t want him to carry that burden.

The liquor burned my throat as I took another swig, welcoming the pain. I deserved it. Today was a disaster. I'd lost count of the men we'd lost, and now my mother, Winter, and possibly Mya.

"Boss," Miguel interrupted my dark thoughts as he appeared at the door.

"Yeah." My voice came out hoarse and raw.

"A Mr. Liam is here. He insists on seeing you."

Liam?” Winter’s neighbor? "Send him in," I snarled, downing the rest of my drink and slamming the glass on the desk.

"What the hell does he want?" Luca asked with a frown.

I didn’t respond as Miguel ushered Liam into the room. My gun was already in my hand, and I pointed it directly at him. "You better have a good fucking reason for showing up at my house," I demanded.

Liam surveyed the destruction of my office. The walls were riddled with gaping holes, bookcases were toppled over, and papers and shit from my desk had been scattered across the floor.

Liam's hands shot up in surrender, his eyes wide with panic. "Whoa! Let me explain! I work as a courier, and Mayor Walsh is one of our clients. I've done a few deliveries for him; nothing out of the ordinary. But this time... they offered me twice as much for a special job."

His words spilled out, his voice hurried and anxious. "I was instructed to collect a package from a location at a warehouse and then deliver it to a different client. When I met with my supervisor to discuss the details, I overheard my supervisor talking on the phone with Mayor Walsh about an auction in a certain warehouse. My supervisor mentioned that an unmarked vehicle would pick me up and then take me to the specified drop-off point."

There was a momentary pause as he gathered thoughts before he soke again.

"When I entered the warehouse, there was a monitor displaying an auction for women."

My blood ran cold.

"But that’s not the worst part..." Liam paused again, swallowing hard.

"What do you mean?" I hissed.

"I saw her. I don't think I was meant to, but Winter was being dragged out of a back room of the warehouses." He closed his eyes, his face pale. "She was chained up in a cage."

I stormed over to the sniveling piece of shit, my fingers tightening around the gun. Every muscle in my body was coiled tight, ready to snap. I wanted to pull the trigger, blow his fucking brains out right there. But I needed his information. Gritting my teeth, I pushed the barrel against his forehead, watching him flinch.

"You're lying," I growled. "If you’re fucking with me, I…”

"I'm not!" he cried, his eyes wild. "When she saw me, she cried, probably thinking I was part of whatever twisted game those sick fucks were into, but I’m not, I swear to God.”

Luca stepped forward, his face like stone. "Why didn't you save her and get her out?"

"They would've been killed me on the spot!" he shouted, his voice breaking. "I had to play along, or I never would've been able to warn you. I'm risking my life just by coming here!"

"Where is this warehouse?" I demanded, my finger itching to pull the trigger. Even though my voice was calm, my heart was breaking from the pain of losing Winter and thoughts of what they could be doing to her.

"I don’t know," he whimpered. “I was blindfolded, remember, but I can describe it?—”

I backhanded him with the gun, the crack of the metal against his skull satisfying. He cried out, clutching his bleeding head.

"You listen to me, motherfucker," I snarled, stepping closer until I was toe to toe with him. “I lost several of my men, my best friend's sister was fucking shot in the chest, my mother’s dead because someone blew a fucking hole in my basement, and now my girl is missing!”

"I'm telling you the truth!” he repeated.

Grabbing him by the collar, I slammed him against the wall and placed my gun near his heart. “This what you are going to do," I hissed. "You are going to do whatever you can to get me that warehouse’s address, or I’m going to fucking kill you.”

“Wait, you don’t believe him, do you?” Lo said as he glared at Liam with red-rimmed eyes. “For all we know, this could be a setup, and the fucker sent him to ambush us.”

I turned back to Liam, my eyes narrowing. "My brother makes a good point. You better start talking fast."

Liam shook his head. "I swear, Nico, I am not setting you up!" he pleaded. "I didn’t know that any of this fucked up shit was happening. Please, you have to believe me!"

“He’s telling the truth,” Enzo spoke up. I let Liam go and shoved him until he slid down onto his ass. I turned to face Enzo, sitting up with a sling on his right arm as the doctor put his supplies away.

"What are you talking about?"

Enzo took a deep breath, his eyes steady on mine. "Because I'm an undercover FBI agent with RICO. I've been watching Mayor Walsh for years."

The fucking FBI?

"You son of a bitch!" Luca spat. "You've been spying on us?!"

“You’re the mole, aren’t you?” Lo asked quietly.

“No. Our team has been trying to expose Walsh for the last five years but could never get close enough until...”

“Until what?” I asked.

"Until I was assigned to work for you.”

The room fell silent as his words sank in.

"You’ve been betraying me this whole fucking time," I whispered, the weight of his deception hitting me like a ton of bricks.

"You gotta be shitting me," Luca exclaimed.

Lo’s voice dripped with sarcasm as he said, "Well, you did a fucktastic job there, didn't you? She's as good as dead now!"

I involuntarily flinched at the sharpness of his words, their impact striking me like a bullet to my chest.

Enzo's eyes flashed with fury. "And you think you could've done better since you were the ones who threw her in the basement? I don’t know what connection Winter has in all of this.”

The shrill ring of Enzo's phone cut through my torment, making me snap to attention. Gun in hand, I fixed my gaze on him. "It's my team. Gotta answer this." I nodded, the gun still steady on him.

After a brief pause, Enzo said, "I have the mayor’s location."

"We're moving," I barked at my men. Nothing was getting in my way of getting my angel back.

Enzo held up a hand. "Hold on! You can’t go in the warehouse half-cocked when it’s filled with heavily guarded men. That's suicide! We need backup."

Just then, Luca and Lo swung open the safe, revealing an arsenal of weapons: machine guns, knives, and pistols.

Luca grinned, his eyes alight with the same vengeance that burned within me. "We have all the backup we need."