For Logan (Chicago Syndicate Book 5) (32 page)

“I don’t believe that either,” says Fallon.

My mother lets out a frustrated breath. “Don’t turn your back on your father for some man who left you. He did everything for you.”

“I know that! I’m grieving here too, Mom. But we can’t jump to conclusions.” I look to Cam for help.

“Rosalia’s right,” Cam comments, trying to keep her composure while she’s mourning as well. “Alessa, you’re distraught. Let’s focus here. Do you want Adriano and Luca to handle James’s body?”

Mom peers over at Dad and cries loudly. “Yes. Please treat him with respect.”

Adriano nods as my mom announces to me, “We’ll go stay with your aunt, okay?”

I can’t leave the Loop. Adam’s with Mary, and I need to pick him up. Also, what if Logan tries to contact me? I want answers, or else I’ll never be able to cope with all of this.

“I have Adam in my care.”

All eyes redirect to me, and Adriano demands, “Adam Medlov? Why?”

“I told you. Either Dad or the guard killed Mykhail. But Mykhail had hidden Adam, and then I found him. He’s been with me ever since.”

“What!” my mother screams, staring at me in astonishment with red-rimmed eyes. “What have you been doing lately?”

“I can ask the same to you,” I retort, drained.

“What’s your plan with the boy then?” Mom’s irately stuck in her grief, so I stand down.

“Alessa, calm down,” Cam speaks and tosses her arm around me, showing me she’ll always be there to support me.

“Where’s Adam now?” Adriano asks.

I’m not outing Mary, so I reply, “With a friend from school until the morning.”

“Are you taking care of this boy full-time?” my mother asks, dumbfounded.

“Yes,” I confess just before overlapping shouting starts.

“How?”

“Where?”

“Shut up, please, everyone. You’re driving me crazy. Yes, I have Adam, and I’ll take care of him as long as I don’t have a solution. Beyond that, I don’t know. But I have a responsibility toward that little boy.”

“You’re coming with me,” my mother declares.

“No,” I object in public for the first time and state firmly, “I won’t go with you. I’m sorry. I’d prefer for us to be together too, but we’re both angry now. I’m getting Adam and staying here in the Loop.”

Everyone gapes at me in surprise. I’ve never used this steady tone before, and it’s time they learn I’m a grown woman, all of them. Logan has imparted that wisdom on me – take the power you want.

My mother throws up her hands in exasperation and accuses, “I don’t even recognize you anymore.”

The statement evokes a painful sensation in my chest, but I withstand the blow because she’s not herself.

“Don’t say more things you might regret, Mom,” I advise and hug her, which she returns. “I’m going to get Adam, and I’ll call you in the morning.”

Despondent, my mother goes inside with Fallon to pack her bags. Sensing the brittle disquiet in the atmosphere as more Syndicate men start to clean up, I decide to leave as well.

“Rosalia, if Logan contacts you, you call me,” Adriano orders.

I nod, shivering now that I notice the breeze brushing my bare shoulders.

“You’ll be guarded, Rosalia,” Adriano adds in a soft tone.

“I know,” I confirm forlornly and walk back to my car before he can fire more questions at me.

Of course, Adriano’s ordered a guard to track me, but I shake him off.

***

I
n a state of ruin, I arrive at Mary’s apartment, which is located in a glass skyscraper of the downtown Loop.

She opens the door on the first knock, and a frown sweeps across her forehead when she notes my anguished appearance. “Are you okay?”

I shake my head as she pulls me inside the hall, shutting the door.

“My father was found dead at our house. Adriano and Cam are there now.”

“Oh, my God!” She loops her arms around me, and my thick teardrops fall on her shoulders. “How? And when? We were just together a few hours ago.”

I send her a pleading look to please stop her inquiry. “I’ll explain everything in the morning. I just need to hold Adam.”

“Okay.” Quietly, Mary opens the door behind her to the bedroom where Adam is nestled under the floral covers. “I’ll sleep on the couch,” she whispers and squeezes my hand in support.

“Thank you, Mary.”

“Any time, Rosalia.” She closes the door.

I kick off my flats and lift the sheet to settle in behind Adam when he stirs and turns, throwing his arm around my neck with a sweet smile on his face as he sleeps peacefully. Kissing his blond curls, I close my eyes.

I’ll never understand why Dad chose to take such radical actions to keep Logan and me apart. Nonetheless, he was my father, so my pain is profoundly intense – even though he probably killed my best friend. Scalding tears pour down my cheeks while I remember my dad when I was three years old, teaching me how to ride a bike, and other times throughout my life before he was so wrapped up in the mafia. Then I remember him at my high school graduation, realizing that he won’t be there to see me receive my college diploma.

If I had known back then what I do now, I would’ve handled everything differently. Still, I remain hopeful that Logan will call me as soon as he can and keep my phone beside my pillow as the memories of my chaotic life during the last five months haunt me deep into the night.

Logan

––––––––

I
’m not a good man anymore. What was left of my conscience died the second I ended James. The power the Syndicate instills in their members is potent. It’s addictive, and it changes you. It hardens you to the point where feelings of remorse are phased out. It’s given me exactly what I wanted in that regard; it’s destroyed my demons of regret.

I’m going crazy not being able to communicate with Rosa. I have and will risk everything to make things right. So the Sunday after James’s death, I’m single-mindedly working on it. I’ve lost everyone, but I won’t lose her or my position as head
Capo
.

As soon as the sun sets, I break into the apartment of the one man who can help me. The man who I also consider my friend and most loyal member in this organization. It’s difficult to get inside his apartment without disabling his security system first, yet I manage and am waiting for him on the couch in his living room when the front door creaks open.

Footsteps bound from down the hall and then Henry appears. His eyes round behind his black-rimmed glasses, and he snatches his gun from the back of his jeans, leveling it at me.

I don’t flinch.

“Jesus, fuck! Man, you scared me.” He lowers his aim. “Where have you been?”

“Laying low until I gather my evidence.”

“Did you kill James?” he asks with a lifted brow.

“No,” I answer with a straight face.

To ensure a lie is never exposed, a person needs to keep it to himself forever. Once a few people know, the truth will always come out. But if only I know, I control the truth, and I will bend it to my will to get Rosa back. Besides, the longer we’re apart, the more uncertainty the Syndicate will fill her head with.

Henry sets his gun on the coffee table and sinks down onto the sofa. “And Mykhail?”

“I didn’t kill him either.”

“But,” Henry prompts, expecting me to explain further.

I relay only the simple facts he needs to be aware of, “But I know who did. James murdered Mykhail and my grandmother. James, the guard, and I fought at his mansion. The guard and James shot each other.”

“Your leaving is suspect. They’re hunting you. Your rank has been stripped, but I think Adriano knows James had ulterior motives. You might have an ally in him. What can I do to help you?”

For now, Adriano hasn’t replied to my text, so I’ll have to wait and see. “You can do two things for me, actually.”

“What?”

“Can you get Mykhail’s body before they burn it at the warehouse? I need him buried at another address.”

His grey eyes narrow in confusion.

“It’s for Rosa. James destroyed so many lives simply because he didn’t want me with Rosa, Henry. This was all unnecessary.”

He lets out a sigh. “No one really pays attention to the bodies at the warehouse, anyway. I’ll take care of it. The family is fighting, by the way. Fallon, Cam, and Rosa are on your side though.”

“How’s Rosa?” I lean forward, eager to obtain any update.

“I haven’t seen her,” he informs me.

I don’t ask him to give Rosa a message. The fewer people who know about him aiding me, the safer for him.

“How are you going to prove James set you up and clear your name?” he questions.

“I’m not sure I can, so I need a backup plan to show the Syndicate how dependent they are on me regarding the Dimitri case – their most important assignment currently. I’m going to break him out and deliver him to Adriano
if
Adriano contains the situation within the organization and gives me back my rank.”

He frowns. “How are you going to do that?”

“That brings me to my second request. I’m going to do it with you and the help of Senator Tara Kaden. I’m the only contact with the higher-ups; none of the other high ranking men have these connections. More importantly, I’ve got some dirt on the lovely Ms. Kaden – I discovered she has a contact in the prison.”

“Savvy,” he comments around a grin. “Am I hacking into the Department of Corrections?”

I smirk, standing up. “Yes. And I’m speeding up the process of deleting every trace of Dimitri’s case at the FBI with CIA software as we speak. I called you five minutes ago, so you have my new number. The second you’re into the system, call me.”

“I’m on it,
Capo
,” he mock salutes. “But you owe me.”

I dip my chin, accepting the debt. Striding out into the fog-shrouded night, I don’t waste any time contacting Tara Kaden and bring my phone up to my ear.

“Good evening, Mr. Wade,” she answers formally.

“Kaden, is this a secure line?”

“Yes.”

“I can eliminate Dimitri much sooner than the six month deadline if I can get someone on the inside to drug him and carry him out for me.”

“How soon are we talking?” she inquires.

“Days,” I bluff, crossing the street and dodging a car. “I need a name of a head correctional officer inside that prison. I can continue investigating all of the officers and lose weeks, but I think you can assist me. I’ve read that you have a contact within the prison you haven’t even offered to me, senator...” I let the words trail off. “And even more interesting are your affairs with several high powered men that have been documented by the CIA.”

A stretch of silence ensues as she mulls over her options. Eventually, she concedes and plays along, “The sooner he’s gone, the better. You do realize I’ll contact our employer.” She means the president.

“Yes, I know. I’m sure he’ll be appreciative to hear how you assisted the Syndicate in ending Dimitri within a week. I’m already deleting his Ukrainian mafia’s system and everything the FBI had on him. The trace is being destroyed as we speak.”

“You work fast. I’m impressed. I’ll message the warden. He’ll be your contact.”

“I’ll update you when it’s done.”

“I expect to hear from you soon,” she finishes, ending the call.

I inhale deeply, taking back the control that was stolen from me one step at a time. But the battle hasn’t been won yet. If I fail, then I’m a dead man.

Within twenty-five minutes, I’m seated behind the walnut desk in my room at CIA headquarters, confirming on my laptop that Dimitri’s records and files have been erased. It’s as if the Ukrainian mafia never existed. The first part of my plan has been successful. Despite my partial victory, joy doesn’t come, and I hunger for Rosa.

Ultimately, I dismiss an earlier decision and involve another person to relay a message to Rosa.

Rosalia

––––––––

I
’m adrift in a lonely sea of emotions, staring at my father’s casket going down into his grave on this cloudy day, with the spring wind rustling through the leaves on the trees. My mother’s arm is tucked into the crook of mine as she stands next to me, keeping her composure in public, and I cry soundlessly.

“We commit his body to the ground; earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust. The Lord bless him and keep him, the Lord make His face to shine upon him and be gracious unto him and give him peace. Amen,” the priest speaks as dirt is cast onto the coffin.

The ceremony ends and the close family stays behind. I’m not surprised not many people are attending. It’s been only three days since his death. Three days without any sign from Logan, without having answers about how my father died. I’ve been trying not to believe that Logan killed him because it’s impossible to accept that I’ve lost my best friend, my father, and my true love in the span of one week.

Kneeling down, I touch the cold soil. “I’m so sorry. I don’t know what you did, and that makes me angry, but I can’t live in anger like Mom. I love you, and you should’ve had more faith in me. Until we meet again, Dad.”

“You do know what happened,” my mother grumbles, standing behind me. “You’re just in denial.”

Her treating me like I’m the enemy is draining me. I stagger to my feet and inhale a breath, turning around. “Let’s not fight here.”

“Then why is no one telling me what’s going on?” My mother looks from Adriano to Cam to Luca to Fallon and to Henry, who are all flanking me.

“Alessa, Rosalia’s right. Don’t do this here,” Cam advises in a firm tone, also becoming agitated with my mother’s attitude.

“Someone tell me!” Rage underlines her clipped words.

Fallon and I startle while Luca and Adriano exchange a glance.

“Do you have Logan?” Mom demands from Adriano. “The man who killed James.”

“Stop accusing Logan,” I state. “There’s no evidence that he did it.”

“Why did he run?” my mother retorts, swiping a tear away angrily.

“Because James made a mess,” Fallon helps me. “I know you’re grieving, Alessa, but stop blaming Logan for a situation we already know was caused by James.”

“Fallon,” Luca interrupts, placing his hands on her shoulders.