Paolo
I blindly stare at the papers in front of me, distantly listening to Matteo reporting all he could find at the murder scene.
Our men were captured behind the grid, on the bank of the river, where they must’ve climbed in an attempt to capture an intruder. Matteo found traces of a fistfight and footprints of at least five more men, which means that the Mexicans knew what they were doing. They knew there would be only three inexperienced men in our patrol, so they ambushed them and probably disarmed them in less than a minute.
Then, the Mexicans killed each of them with a shot in their foreheads and dragged them to the grid to show off their barbarism-and all of this for nothing. Because the only important thing, in the end, was that tiny piece of paper they left behind.
Give her back or we’ll hunt you down one by one.
I close my eyes and rub my temples, groaning in my mind. I’ve been repeating the words over and over in my head, trying to find a loophole.
Right now, the choice seems to be pretty straightforward.
If I decide to follow Gerardo’s demand and show up with Jacinta, I’ll put an end to the bloody conflict and save the reputation and lives of the Messina Clan. But then, I’ll lose the only woman who has ever touched my heart.
If I ignore the message and keep Jacinta for myself, the Mexicans will unleash their fury. It means more blood, deaths, and firefights on the streets of Chicago-but isn’t that exactly what runs in the veins of this city? The war will take away any remnants of our peace and balance, but we barely have any in the first place.
Being a part of the Mafia world means facing danger every second of our lives. Another war will only make it more complicated, but it will give us a chance to win once and for all.
I hum under my breath, staring into the distance. Is that it? Is that the answer? It sounds like the best solution, but I still feel the itch of doubt at the back of my mind. I could lose even my own life in this bloodshed,
after all. And what then? What-
“What? Where did they go?”
I blink out of my thoughts and look up. I guess I missed the moment Matteo received a call, but my mind instinctively picks up the displeased notes of his voice. He meets my gaze for a moment, and the grim look in his eyes makes me sit up.
Something’s wrong.
“Okay, I got it. Yes, follow him.”
As soon as Matteo hangs up, I jump up on my feet. Shit. I don’t like his frown. “What happened?”
“Louis has taken Jacinta and our men from the mansion. Marco is tailing them.” Matteo nods at the piece of paper in front of me. “It looks like they’re going to the meeting.”
What the hell? My whole body freezes in shock-before it explodes with a wave of heated anger. That son of a bitch! I growl under my breath, curling my hands into fists, and bolt to the door only to stop there for a moment and glance at Matteo.
“Send two cars after us. Now.” The meeting promises to be brutal.
Nothing else stops me, so I run to the parking lot and take the fastest car available, cursing under my breath as I take off into the darkness. I can’t believe that bastard tricked me like that. Who the hell does he think he is?
Louis may be my cousin and Riccardo’s best friend, but he has no damn right to make decisions for the whole family.
I grasp the steering wheel tighter, staring at the lights of the city in front of me. If something happens to Jacinta, I’m gonna fucking kill him. God, what if they’re already there? What if Gerardo is gonna steal her from under my nose? I clench my jaw and press the accelerator harder, weaving in and out of the late-night streets of Chicago.
With a few traffic laws broken, I get to the park on the outskirts of the city only four minutes late. There are plenty of cars already surrounding an empty circle in the middle, and my headlights flash over the Mexican
and Italian faces that turn to look in my direction. But I only pay attention to the man on the edge of the circle and the young woman a few steps away from him.
It punches a breath of relief out of me as the tires of my car screech against the road. Jacinta is still ours. I still have a chance to get her back. I get out of the car even before it comes to a full stop and rush to Louis with steaming adrenaline rushing through my bloodstream.
“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” I hiss and push Louis in the middle of his chest, forcing him to stumble back against the side of his car.
But Louis doesn’t flare up in response. He keeps himself cold and collected, and only I can see the anger in his eyes when he meets my gaze and says in a low, threatening voice, “I’m doing what’s right for our family and not your fucking ego.”
“Paolo?” I hear a moment later and glance at Jacinta. Her voice is quiet, muffled with the gag in her mouth, her arms are held by Hector, and her eyes are covered-but she still recognizes me, and something in my chest aches in response.
“Get back into the car.” I turn to Louis with a threatening glare, reaching for the gun in my inner pocket, and he follows the movement with raised eyebrows.
“So you’re ready to go that far, huh?” Louis chuckles, but I can see a glint of steel in his eyes when he looks up at me. “I’m not going
anywhere.”
“Are you done yet?”
I catch a movement from the corner of my eye even before the voice with a heavy Spanish accent interrupts us. Shit. I almost forgot that the Mexicans are here as well.
I tighten my fists and turn to the other side of the circle where the Mexicans are spread around their cars, glaring at us with menacing eyes. It’s the first time I can actually look at them-not as my hostages or targets of my gun-but it doesn’t make me think any better of them. The Mexicans look exactly like they sound-a band of mobsters in worn clothes and without a glint of intelligence in their faces.
The only men that look relatively smart are the ones at the front-an old man in a white suit and with a mustache, studying me with a squint, and a younger man in overly stylish clothes by his side. That one looks almost
indifferent to everything around him, and I don’t recognize him-but he doesn’t really matter.
It’s enough for me to know the older one, and judging by the confidence with which he holds my gaze, Gerardo Escarra recognizes me as well.
“As if it wasn’t enough for you to steal my only daughter from the safety of her home, you force her to stay in the cold while bickering in front of us like two roosters.” Gerardo looks at Jacinta and purses his lips, ruining the perfect facade of his calmness. “Let her go-and then, we can talk.”
Before I can react, Louis bursts out laughing and turns to face the Mexicans. “Do you think it will be that easy? No, Senor Gerardo. First, you have to tell us what you’re ready to pay to get your princess alive.”
A moment later, Louis takes out his gun and points it at Jacinta, still keeping his mocking gaze on Gerardo. At the same time, Hector takes the cover off her eyes and removes the gag from her mouth, allowing her to cough and gasp for a deeper breath. Something in my chest tightens as I watch Jacinta try to blink through the lights blinding her when Hector follows Louis’ cue and presses the barrel of his gun to her temple.
Shit, shit, they can’t-
“You are animals!” Gerardo yells all of a sudden, making everyone startle. He still tries to keep his expression calm, but his rage is so strong it turns his face into a grimace. “You aren’t worth a tip of her toe. How dare you treat her like that?”
Following his lead, the rest of his men start yelling at us in Spanish, cursing over each other and pointing their guns at us, probably threatening us to let her go. But none of them shoots a single bullet-because they all know that it may cost Jacinta her life.
Goddamnit.
It may cost Jacinta her life.
I feel sick at the thought of losing her to my own men-but I know I can’t just take her away. Not anymore. Neither Louis nor Gerardo will
allow me to save her from the danger; in fact, if I make an attempt at kidnapping her again, they may shoot both of us. Shit. Think, Paolo, think.
“God, those idiots,” I hear Louis grumble before he tries to push past me to the Mexicans, but I don’t let him. I push him back, and Louis looks at me with frustration. “Paolo, I told you-”
“I know, I know.” I pat his shoulder, clearing the air between us, and look at Gerardo. “Let me handle this.”
Because it’s the only thing I can do to make sure Jacinta remains safe and alive. If I can’t keep her to myself, I have to get her out of here- and that means going forward with the negotiations as if it was the original plan. Even if it means that, to satisfy both Louis and Gerardo, I have to lose Jacinta forever.
For a few seconds, Louis studies me with a hesitant frown, but in the end, he nods and steps back, giving me a free pass to the center of the circle. Well, it’s time to play. As soon as I step forward, a few Mexicans point their guns at me, urging our men to do the same in defense, but Gerardo raises his hand and switches his attention to me.
“Are you ready to talk now?” He purses his lips, still bearing the traces of frustration, and steps forward as well.
But isn’t that too bold for a man in his position? I raise my chin and quirk an eyebrow. “I’m ready to listen.”
For a tense moment, Gerardo simply looks me in the eyes, testing my nerve, but I grew up in the most powerful crime group of Chicago. This is nothing to me. I don’t budge, keeping my shoulders straight and my gaze calm and collected, and eventually Gerardo huffs and looks to the side, glancing at Jacinta.
“What do you want? Tell me the price, and I’ll pay it.”
Oh, that’s funny. I chuckle and shake my head, hearing amused huffs behind my back. “Why would I want your money? We have enough to last for decades.”
“Then what?” Gerardo snarls, glaring at me. “I want my daughter back, so-”
“And I want my men back, but you and your fucking rats killed
them.”
“So what?” He laughs with a screech of steel in his voice. “I am a criminal, you are a criminal, everyone here is. We’ve all killed each other a
hundred times, so what?”
“So now, I’m tired of your bullshit.” I take a step toward Gerardo, holding his gaze and ignoring multiple clicks of gun hammers. “Step back and leave my people alone, or the next murder on my list will be her.”