For Adriano (31 page)

“We need to go back to where we came from.” I search my pockets for the earpiece, and it’s gone. “Shit! Which way did we come in?”

“We need to leave this place,” Santino persists.

He’s going to be stubborn, and I don’t have time to chat now. But I know all these passages are connected in a circle.

“Fine. We need to keep going.”

I need to get to the fight club area anyway.

CHAPTER 39

Adriano

The dark is finally lifted, and I’m confronted with Fat Sal’s guards and my own.

Frantic gunfire ensues, and I dive around the corner as a bullet scrapes my bicep.

Where the fuck did Cam go?

My only concern is finding her. While I know she’s cunning and smart enough to comprehend when she needs to run, she’s still in training. And if a group of men attack her, she’ll have a difficult time fighting them off alone; that’s why she was ordered to stay with me.

With my weapon against my chest, I shout into my earpiece, “Henry, locate Cam. Luca, James, Cam is missing. I want two more teams down here.”

“Fuck!” I hear James swearing.

Luca confirms, “I’m coming down with ten men.”

Henry answers, “Adriano, Cam is near you, but she’s moving fast toward the club area.”

“Is the fight club contained? There are still many guards walking around down here.” I move to the other corner of the hall, remembering that it will lead me to the fight club.

I can hear guns unloading from different ends of the corridor.

A guard runs right into me as he turns the corner, and I smash him against the wall, plant the barrel into his heart, and launch my bullet, letting the body slouch down.

Another one comes up with his aim on me, and I look behind him, making him glance away, then I catapult the revolver from his grip with my own weapon and blast him in the chest twice.

“Where’s John?” I inquire into my earpiece as I race forward in this maze, over so many bodies and crimson blotches everywhere, making the floor slippery.

Capo
Alessandro answers, “I’m outside the last three rooms; he must be in one of these.”

James informs us, “I’ve entered the fight club. I need more men too.”

“Everyone downstairs to the fight club except Team Alessandro,” I order. “Henry, guide each team to that space.”

Rifles are being fired; my soldiers aren’t using their handguns anymore, which means I’m hearing James’s team.

“I’ve got John,” Alessandro calls in.

“Move him out, Alessandro,” James yells.

“Henry,” I say, wanting an update on Cam. “Cam has an earpiece too. Cam, do you hear me?” Panic seethes in my soul the longer I’m apart from her.

“She’s not on line, Adriano, but she stopped moving. Go left now, then take the second corridor to your right. She’s in the fourth room.”

I go in the direction he mentioned.

“She’s still there,” Henry updates me.

Fright is ringing in my ears, and I’m so preoccupied with finding her that I don’t detect the men behind me.

An arm hooks around my throat, and I stammer back but am able to get my balance and lurch down, flinging him over me. Another one plants his fist in my cheek while I rise up, so I shoot the first one in the knee and kick his gun away.

Then with murderous grunts and my head bent down, I lunge into the stomach of my other attacker and cannon him against the wall, releasing bullets into his side. He collapses to the ground with a bellow of pain.

Something hits my side, and a burning agony bursts out, causing me to drop sideways. My weapon slips from my hand, and a shot resounds.

“Adriano, it’s safe. Get up!” Luca shouts while checking both exits of the hall.

“Fourth room,” I croak out while sucking in a breath and standing up, lightheaded, with a palm against the wall for support. I bite down any discomfort, pick up my gun, and sprint to the room.

Opening the door, I raise my piece and move it to the left and right. “Henry, it’s fucking empty!”

“No, she’s there. At least her—”

“Tracking device is,” I finish through gritted teeth, spotting the black band on the floor.

When I step back out to Luca, I see that the door handle is covered with bloodied fingerprints. “Something’s wrong; she would never take it off. Where’s Santino?”

Luca’s with four other men, including Damian. He now yells to the rest of the men through his earpiece. “Does anyone have Santino?”

“Negative.”

“Negative.”

Everyone’s reply is ‘no’.

“Does anyone have Fat Sal?” I ask.

“Negative.”

Alessandro says, “According to what John overheard, there’s one underground exit that leads to the ‘L’ station. He thinks it situated in the fight club.”

James confirms, “I’m having men check the passages. We’ve taken control of the fight club.”

I finish, “Everyone to the fight club. Teams two and three, keep watch in all the halls. The rest, to the club.”

Luca is throwing his arms out in different directions, snarling additional orders when I notice the hidden door in the room.

“Luca, I’m taking this exit.” I trace the barrel of my pistol along the marking on the wall and feel around until it clicks open.

“You two, go with him.” I can hear Luca command as I’m entering a long, dimly lit corridor that we didn’t know existed.

The fabric of my shirt clings to my side while my skin pulls tight, and I hiss from the ache. Stopping in my tracks, I look back over my shoulder and hold up my hand to the soldiers following me. I bring my finger to my lips, then point to my ear, instructing them to be absolutely soundless and listen. Damian’s one of the two men that’s backing me.

Faint noises drift from the end of the hallway, and I gesture forward, running ahead and yelling into my earpiece, “James, when you have Fat Sal, tell me. It’s best if I walk into the fight club with him.”

Just as I turn the corner, a shadow disappears at the other end of the hall.

Christ! We’re going in circles.

Another round of shooting somewhere in another area trembles the foundation of the building.

I hurry ahead again. “CAM.”

Of course, I’m in another hallway that splits into two directions. I look left then right, nothing.

“Adriano!” Sounds from the left, and Cam comes into sight with Santino behind her and then racing past her, effectively obstructing her from me.

My piece is targeted on his forehead, and he slows but keeps a predatory pace toward me.

Cam tugs him back by his arm. “No, Santino. He’s with me.”

I told her not to touch other men.

“Come to me, Cam,” I order while my two soldiers also direct their weapons at Santino, who finally gets the point a few feet in front of me.

Cam peruses me and touches my side, her expression horrified when she sees that her fingers are covered in my blood. “Are you shot?”

An acute sense of control and serenity returns to my system now that she’s with me again – alive and well. “No.” With one hand, I palm her cheek and check her for injuries. “Are you hurt?”

She shakes her head.

James announces in my ear, “We have Fat Sal.”

It’s party time.

“Take Santino to the fight club,” I instruct one soldier and tuck Cam into my side.

Kissing her hair, I don’t let Santino’s eyes skitter away. “Cuff him.”

Cam becomes rigid but doesn’t make a peep, and he’s confounded by our closeness.

Santino’s wrists are tied to his back, and he’s shoved away, toward the fight club.

Damian, Cam, and I are finally alone.

I unhurriedly release Cam, knowing what’s to follow, and tilt her chin up. “Do you trust me?”

“Yes,” she replies reservedly.

“Do I not deserve”—I jam the butt of my gun into Damian’s nose and smack his firearm out of his hand. Then I sink my fingers into his bull-like neck, closing off his windpipe, my Smith & Wesson pointed at his temple—“retaliation for his disobeying my orders?”

“What the fuck?!” Damian spits with lines of blood running from his nostrils. “She also came on to me!”

Cam’s upset look is replaced by disdain. “I did not.” She comes closer with cautious steps. “We don’t have time for this now.”

I have timed this to perfection. Even with her little desertion of my operation, for which she will be punished later, we still have time. Disregarding her, I bury my fist into Damian’s ribs and then a solid blow to the stomach. “That’s for touching
my
Cam.”

“Jesus Christ,” Cam scolds and goes down onto her knees beside Damian.

“Don’t you fucking dare touch him!” I drag her up by her collar and say into my earpiece, “James?”

“Yes.”

“Is everyone on all floors contained?”

“Affirmative,” he answers.

“Bring Fat Sal to me at the main entryway of the fight club. Henry, lead me there.”

I snap my fingers to Damian. “Come with us. Walk.” With my piece pointed at Damian’s back, I push him forward as Henry leads me to the destination. “Follow me, Cam.”

“What the hell are you doing?” Her voice is laced with anxiety.

CHAPTER 40

Camilla

“What the hell are you doing?” I ask.

Nervous sweat rains down my nape.

And I let him take Santino. What’s he planning to do with
him
? The trust we built over the last two weeks, trust that appeared secure, is tainted within these few seconds, and doubt pricks my skin.

Memories flash by as I’m being led through a familiar passageway that ends in the fight club.

Two soldiers appear with Fat Sal, who’s been cuffed and beaten. Sal sneers with scarlet rage when he sees me.

Adriano ignores him and whispers back and forth to his men while Damian objects.

Then Adriano beckons them forward while he forces Fat Sal to walk, and I follow dutifully.

The dank place reeks of burned flesh and gore.

Adriano moves with distinct ease as our soldiers hold people under the threat of gunfire. There are bodies piled around in the circle surrounding the slightly elevated center stage where I was sold naked often, but thankfully, my memories aren’t vivid.

The crowd consists of sparsely clad girls and men in various forms of undress – patrons caught in the crossfire – and dozens and dozens of Fat Sal’s guards and our soldiers.

I swallow through a dry throat and search for Santino, but I can’t spot him.

At the bloodied steps of the podium, James and Luca are waiting for Adriano. All three high ranking men are stained with blood and have venomous expressions, so different from each of their day-to-day clean and entrepreneurial looks. This is them in action, exercising their supremacy, and it’s intriguing and chilling to witness how they command an entire area.

Adriano coerces Fat Sal’s obese body to its knees. “Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. We are the Chicago Syndicate—”

“
We
are the Chicago Syndicate!” someone interjects, yelling.

Adriano smiles cruelly and traces the slide of his gun down Sal’s jaw, causing Sal to jerk away. “See, that’s the crux.
You
are not part of the Chicago Syndicate. Your self-appointed
Capo crimine
has never negotiated with us to become part of the Mafia. And your boss has been interfering with our business.” Then he forces Fat Sal to acknowledge my presence. “Do you see my Cam, Sal? She has a score to settle with you.”

James wordlessly orders me closer to the front of the stage with a wave as he walks to Sal. “You’ve hurt one of mine. And she will decide your fate.”

With moisture trailing down his temples, Sal refuses to look at James or Adriano and just hisses at me.

I take three steps forward, grab the second handgun from my belt, and target my weapon. Seeing nothing humane left in Sal’s eyes, I decide that a quick death is too easy – the brutality he’s inflicted on others should be exacted on him – so I lower my aim. “No, I want him to suffer.”

“How, Camilla?” James asks while Adriano is studying my every move.

I don’t know.

“Any way you see fit,” I blurt, surprising even myself.

Adriano bends down, gets a knife from his ankle holster, and holds it out to James over the head of Sal, who’s still kneeling between them. “Do you want the honors, or shall I?”

James grins and seizes it, simultaneously grabbing Sal’s hair and plunging the knife into his eye, making him cry out in pain as the blood pours down his cheek.

I grimace – Adriano’s observed it – and decide I don’t want to actually witness this. “I don’t want to see this.”

James stops and pushes Sal to his back as Adriano signals two soldiers over. “Lock him up in one of the rooms. He’s not to be killed yet.”

With pieces of his eyeball hanging out, Sal’s dragged offstage by his shoulders.

The audience is astoundingly silent and riveted to Adriano, who continues his speech, “This fight club is now closed. More than half of the men are already dead
.
Every floor and every corridor of Club 7 is now officially the property of the Chicago Syndicate.”

Adriano’s next statement has my jaw dropping to the floor.

“Well, let me be more clear. This little sex club now belongs to my organization. And
I
am the
Capo crimine
of this Syndicate; therefore,
I
am your
Capo crimine
as of now.” He throws a challenging scowl around the room, and then it softens when he lands on me with an impenetrable stare.

Did he just state
Capo crimine
instead of
Capo
? He’s no longer a
Capo
, a captain, but now the
Capo crimine
, the boss? Of the Chicago Syndicate? What about James? How do I fit in?
Do
I fit in? What about our plans to run?

My eyes blur as they meet his, and his brows wrinkle for just a second, disrupting his confident performance, while I stand there in a mindless state of complete confusion.

James explains further, “I’ll be resigning from my position but will remain active as a
Consigliere
within the Montesi Chicago Syndicate. Adriano will lead the organization.”

Adriano adds, “Luca will still function as underboss.”

James roars, “Do you pledge allegiance?!”

“Si,” most of the soldiers, and even some of Sal’s guards, answer eagerly.

James orders, “Bow to your new
Capo crimine
!”

And everyone except the
Capi
, who are still holding their guns in shooting position, bows. “
Capo crimine
Adriano.”

Adriano zeroes in on Damian, who’s on my left now, and malicious intent consumes his stance. “I think we have a rogue.”

Luca takes position next to Adriano and asks Damian calmly, “And you? Do you pledge?”

“Fuck you. I’m a dead man anyway,” Damian fires back, and both men display a sinister smile.

Faces covered in dried up blood streaks, they’re in full, spine chilling Mafia mode, and I want to look away, yet I’m incapable of doing so.

I swallow back rising fear and glare at Damian, who’s glowering at Adriano, provoking him.

Adriano jumps off the stage with flair and lands steadily in front of Damian, whose hands are secured at his back, locking his attention solely on me while uttering to him, “That you are. You’ve been a dead man walking since the day you fucked my Cam.” He walks in a half circle around him, stopping at his back, and grips his chin from behind as Damian howls in protest.

Then it occurs: the moment when I finally grasp the brutality of the organization I’m part of now. And I’m living it as if I’m watching a movie. An array of emotions, all of them familiar to me since I’ve been in the Syndicate, barrage my brain.

Adriano’s capturing his new role as boss. He’s in charge. Uncontrollable. Alarming. Thrilling. And still, alluring. This is the Adriano that I never knew from before. This is the
Capo
, now the
Capo crimine
, so I get to see the extent of his mercilessness. And I realize the extent of the savagery in the underworld.

Just like everything else from the last few days, it happens in a flash.

Adriano speaks to the spectators, “
Don’t
think that my sparing Sal will extend to anyone else. Don’t mistake my kindness for weakness. If you’re with me, I’ll protect you with my life. But if you’re against me – man, woman, or child – I will destroy you without hesitation.” Then his jealous fury is let loose, and he twists Damian’s neck, cracking it and killing him with one dominant snap.

I’m stupefied and cringe when I hear his neck breaking, but I shut my eyes and swallow back an objection as the lessons that have been drilled into me for the last two weeks manage to hold me together. I’ve learned not to question Adriano in front of anyone else.

Adriano takes two steps aside, facing me now, and holds out his hand for me to join him. “Cam.” A hint of a tremble sneaks into his voice as his other hand braces my shoulder. “Stop overthinking this.”

Overthinking?
I haven’t even had a fraction of a second to deal with any of this.

“You just, without discussing it with me, killed Damian,” I retort with almost no sound, but he hears it since we’re just an inch apart now.

And his tone softens for the first, and only, time of this entire evening, “Why are you so upset? Because you still consider him to be a friend? Was he? He was ready to throw you to the wolves the second I hit him. Never be loyal to people who aren’t loyal to you.”

I don’t consider him a friend, but still, sadness clouds my mind. And I did notice how easily he was willing to rat me out.

“This is what I mean by saying you’re too attached, attached to unimportant people, Cam.”

Perhaps I am, but apart from Damian, there’s more. “You lied to me?” I ask in a voice that doesn’t sound like me.

“Lies, truth, it’s all irrelevant. Only the tough and the ruthless survive in this world. What’s important is
us
. I found a way for
us
. I couldn’t tell you because it all happened so fast, and you needed to focus on one thing, or else it would’ve been even more dangerous for you down here.” His eyes warn me in a firm manner that shoots any protests to the back of my mind without delay, and he whispers, “Cam, wipe the shock off your face. Don’t undermine me in front of everyone. I will explain, I promise.”

His words that seem to originate from a sincere place appease me – a little. “Is James really stepping down?”

James shifts to us. “Camilla—”

The three of us stand huddled together so that no one can hear our conversation.

“You’re okay with this?” I ask, unsure whether I’m questioning him about Adriano’s and my personal connection or the fact that Adriano just became
Capo crimine
.

He scrutinizes Adriano’s hand on me. “As a leader, I could’ve never agreed to you and him. There’s an established hierarchy that centers this world, that grounds this world and gives it a sense of order, and rank is significant. Yes, I was upset when he first came to me. But as a man who grew up in the Mafia, I admire Adriano’s problem solving abilities. I’m getting older, Camilla. I don’t want to rule this empire anymore. Luca no longer wants to be promoted to the
Capo crimine
position because he has a wife outside the Mafia, so I stayed longer than anticipated. Adriano was also never planning on becoming boss, even though he was next in line to become
Capo crimine
after Luca. But he has stepped up now, Cam, and I have faith in him; he’ll be a good leader. You two have my blessing.” And he walks away, giving Adriano and me privacy.

Thoughts crash in my mind, and it’s impossible to organize them.

The breath I’ve been holding for too long breaks out, and there’s such an overriding part of me that’s been waiting to be with Adriano that I accept being handled this way. For years, I’ve wanted him. And I still can’t deny him. I don’t even want to – even though a few minutes ago it appalled me to see how enticingly powerful he is, desire wins out. Desire that’s been engrained in me for so long that not even ending Damian’s life this way can destroy, apparently, because he manages to divert me before the bewilderment conquers me. 

But I need to be careful. I didn’t risk my life to help Santino just to let him die. 

I take Adriano’s offered palm, and he furtively exhales a breath of relief. We grip each other, and that familiar current still ties us together.

Just as he’s about to turn, I tug his hand once to regain his attention. “But promise me that you’ll not hurt Santino in any way. No more surprises now.”

His nostrils flare, but a grin pulls at his lips – as if he’s secretly proud of me. “I promise.” He cranes his neck to Luca. “Ensure that Santino isn’t hurt. No one touches him.”

He became boss to be with me? We can be together? With my family? Here in the Loop?

And it dawns on me how much under Adriano’s influence I actually am.