Chapter 13
Leo
The Italian convenience store where Gino and I were operating out of, was in Brighton Beach and after speaking to Isabella on the phone, I went there to talk to him.
Gino had contacts in New York, which was the only reason that this operation had been successful for now. The store was owned by one of his cousins, which meant that we had full reign over it.
Gino was waiting for me in the storage room in the back when I got there. I saw that he had already set up a makeshift office for us, with telephone lines and desks and chairs. We also had a handful of associates working for us, mostly as informants who Gino was paying. Neither of us really knew our way around New York yet.
“What happened?” Gino asked when I walked into the room. He quickly sent the other three men out who he had been talking with.
“I saw her, spoke to her, after Marco left the house,” I said, sitting down on a chair.
“No incidents?” he asked and I looked at him, trying to think about where to even begin.
“Nobody died, if that’s what you’re asking,” I told him and Gino grinned. After I was silent for some time, he crossed his brows and stared at me hard.
“But something else happened?” he asked and I nodded.
“Isabella wasn’t alone, there was a girl with her. A three-year-old girl called Sofia,” I said. Gino was silent, he was staring at me with a shocked expression on his face. He needed a couple of moments to digest this information. Just like I had.
“Your kid?” he asked and I nodded again.
“She named her Sofia?” he added and then he sighed. “That was her mother’s name,” he said.
Gino and I had never spoken about Isabella’s mother before. I knew the story, and he knew I knew the story—which was that his father had kidnapped Marco’s wife and killed her. Soon after that, Marco executed him. I never raised the subject with Gino, because I didn’t blame him for Isabella’s mother’s death. Those were his father’s actions, not his…just like Isabella’s father’s actions did not reflect on her.
“She looks like Isabella and she looks like me too,” I changed the subject and ran a hand through my hair. “Fuck! Three years and I didn’t have a clue that I’m a father, to a beautiful little girl!” I growled.
Gino was staring at me, and he spoke some time later.
“Are you sure you can do this?” he asked.
“Do what?”
“Go ahead with the mission I mean, go after Marco. You have a kid now, you have a responsibility to that child to stay alive. You need to stay focused,” Gino explained.
I clenched my jaws and nodded.
“I am not going to be a part of that child’s life unless I can take Marco out. Isabella and Sofia and I, will never be a family as long as Marco is in the picture. Besides, I won’t be able to rest till he has paid for what he’s done to us and Naples and those people he was trafficking,” I replied, in a deep guttural growl and Gino nodded his head.
“Good, because I have some new information,” he said. He walked over to where I was sitting and stood over me.
“There’s a guy called Adam Wright, he’s some kind of lawyer, working with Marco, no doubt getting paid a lot of dough to keep the business under covers,” Gino continued.
“Marco has a lawyer working for him now?” I asked, looking confused.
“He’s become more careful with this operation. He’s not in Naples anymore,” Gino said, grinning sourly.
“So, what about this Adam Wright guy? Why is he important?” I asked.
“Because, he knows everything. It might be easier to get to him, rather than Marco. He has guards following him around too, but Marco is living in a fortress, it’s going to be harder to get to him,” Gino explained.
I nodded my head, it was making sense.
“Good, that’s great news. Let’s go get this guy!” I exclaimed, jumping out of my chair.
“Guards, remember? He’s not as well guarded as Marco, but they still outnumber us,” Gino stopped me.
“So, what’s the plan then? How do we get to him?”
“You’re going to hate hearing this…but, Isabella,” Gino said and looked at me apologetically.
“What the fuck are you talking about?” I growled, narrowing my eyes at him.
“Our sources tell me that he has…the hots for her. We can use her as bait, if she’s willing. She has never shown any interest in him, according to my sources, but he’ll fall like a fly in a trap if she leads him on,” Gino’s eyes grew wide, he looked enthusiastic. He was already picturing Marco going down.
I breathed in deeply. The thought of Isabella with another man, even if it was fake, made my blood boil. I didn’t want to imagine it. I couldn’t stand the thought of anyone else touching her.
I stormed to the door. I needed some fresh air.
“Leo, think about it. This could be our way in,” Gino called after me, but I didn’t reply to him. I marched out of the room and then right out of the door. I felt like I was going to explode. I didn’t know who this Adam Wright bastard was, but I was ready to punch him to death.
Besides, Isabella wasn’t on our side yet. She didn’t even want to see me, or let me see our daughter. This plan would just have to wait, and until then, I was hoping that Gino would be able to come up with a different one.