Chapter Nineteen

Enzo

 

Enzo sat impatiently in his hotel room. The clothing convention wasn’t his sort of thing. He’d only gone because it would give him a good alibi. The other business he had while in town was the part he was much more interested in. He had already convinced one witness to lie for him on the stand, claiming that he had only ever been to her flower shop to pick up bouquets for his mother’s grave. In return, Enzo would let her next two protection payments slide. He had a good feeling the little bit of money he would be missing out on would be worth it, too. The florist was a sweet-looking little old lady who would be a fantastic character witness. There were just a few more people to contact while he was here, and by then the convention would be over.

 

He knew he should be sleeping, but something was making him restless. Enzo couldn’t put his finger on it. He had chosen a nice hotel room, one that actually had comfortable mattresses, and it had been a busy day. By all rights, he shouldn’t have had any trouble sleeping. But he found himself sitting up on the edge of the bed, staring at the wall and wondering what he was supposed to be doing with himself.

 

When his phone rang, he snatched it up quickly and saw that Johnny’s number was on the screen. “Don’t tell me the place is falling apart without me already. I’ve only been gone for a day.”

 

The hesitant sounds from the other end weren’t typical of Johnny. “The family is doing all right, but you’re not going to like what I have to tell you.”

 

Enzo’s knuckles whitened where he held the phone. “What?”

 

“Madelyn’s gone. I got a call from Nero.”

 

“How the fuck did he let that happen?” Enzo shot to his feet and looked for something to smash. He had purposely chosen the biggest, nicest guy in the family. Nero had always been an excellent bodyguard in the past, but he had a sugary personality that Enzo had known wouldn’t intimidate Madelyn. Apparently, he should have picked someone a little more ruthless.

 

“Don’t blame him. He did everything he was supposed to, and we’re lucky he’s alive. He took a bullet to the arm, but he’ll be all right.”

 

“Damn it, Johnny! Tell me what’s going on!” Enzo’s frustration was continuing to mount, and he hated himself for leaving town. Maybe he wouldn’t have been able to stop this if he had stayed in the city, not if he had let Madelyn stay at her own apartment. But she would probably have been safe in his arms if he had sent someone else to talk to the witnesses and kept Madelyn at his mansion with him. And now he was too far away to do anything about her abduction.

 

“We think Scarvo has her,” Johnny admitted with a sigh. “I can’t say for sure, since I wasn’t there and I didn’t see the men who took her. But it was obviously a professional job. It might not have worked, except that Madelyn had locked her bedroom door when she went to bed. Nero couldn’t get to her on time.”

 

“Shit!” Things couldn’t have been worse. Johnny was probably right; Scarvo was the only one who really had a motive for taking Madelyn, as far as he knew. But at least that gave them something to go on. “Okay. I’m going to call him and talk to him.”

 

“You really think that’s going to work?” Johnny asked doubtfully. “He’s known for being pretty ruthless.”

 

“No, I don’t fucking think it’s going to work!” Enzo bellowed. If any other guests were in the hotel rooms surrounding his, they would be reporting him to the front desk soon. “But I’ve got to do something, and it’s as good a place to start as any. I’ll be calling you back right away.”

 

“Yes, boss.”

 

It didn’t take long to locate the rival boss’ number after a quick call to Rico. Enzo was soon listening to the ring, waiting impatiently for Scarvo to answer.

 

“Hello?”

 

He sounded so normal, and Enzo hated him for it. “It’s Marino. I know what you’ve done, and I’m ready to bargain.”

 

“I’m afraid I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Scarvo replied.

 

The two of them had only met a couple of times, and it had never gone well. Scarvo was much older than Enzo, and he had given Enzo’s father plenty of hell, too. “You’ve got Madelyn Rowe, and I want her back.”

 

“Madelyn Rowe? Who’s that?”

 

“I don’t have time for games,” Enzo growled. “Just tell me what you want and where to meet you.” It was hard not to cuss at the man and call him every name in the book, not to mention threatening to take him apart limb from limb, but such things wouldn’t intimidate a man like Benny Scarvo.

 

“Why? You want to go have a drink together or something?” Scarvo laughed.

 

This wasn’t getting him anywhere, and every moment he wasted was another moment that something terrible could be happening to Madelyn. “Fine.” Enzo hung up and dialed Johnny again.

 

“Any luck?”

 

“No.” Enzo was past being angry with his cousin. It wasn’t Johnny’s fault, and he needed him, right now, to hold the fort down while he was gone. “I’m sure he knows something, though. It’s the only thing that make sense. Send a few men over to his house to talk to him and get Madelyn back. Call me as soon as you know something. I don’t care how small of a detail it is.”

 

“Yes, boss.”

 

Enzo kicked the foot of the bed. He could go flying back into the city to take care of Madelyn himself, but his men would be able to get there much faster. No, he would just stay in town and take care of the rest of his business, trusting that Johnny would handle the situation and rescue her. It irked him; he knew he should be the one bursting in like a knight in shining armor to save Madelyn, but that was a ridiculous fantasy.

 

Just over an hour later, though, Johnny had bad news for him. “I sent three men over there, and I haven’t heard a single word back from them. That can’t be good.”

 

“Fuck me.” Enzo ran a hand through his hair. “I’ll be back in town as soon as I can. I’ll call you when I get close. Then you’re going over there with me, and we’re going to get this thing taken care of.”

 

“Yes, boss.”

 

Throwing his few belongings back into his suitcase, without any concern for how wrinkled it got, Enzo impatiently checked out and jumped in his BMW. It was the middle of the night, and the desk clerk had been shocked to see him leaving at such an odd hour, but he didn’t care. He had to get to Madelyn.