Angelo

I stared across the desk at my father with my arms crossed over my chest and my teeth gritted in anger. After what had happened in Atlantic City, Sonny drove my brothers and me straight to my father’s compound in South Jersey. Pete filled my father in on the specifics, while the rest of us sat and listened.

The old man fixed his gaze on me, the corner of his mouth curled up. “How could you be so stupid?”

I narrowed my eyes at him. “Me? What did I do this time? I’m not the one who went into the club. I sat in the car and did as I was told. I followed Pete’s orders.”

He leaned forward, his hands balled into fists on the oak desk. “You sent your brothers on another mission to find Gianna, and all of you could have been killed. We are in the middle of a war, Angelo. There are more important things than finding your fiancée.”

“I made the call, Pop,” Pete said to defend me.

“It was a bad call,” Dad shot back.

“You made a promise to Lorenzo Carlini that you would find Gia,” I said to my father. “You made the same promise to me.” I stood up, kicking my chair behind me. “I have done everything you’ve ever asked of me. All I ask is that you do everything in your power to make a deal with the DiSalvos to get Gia back. Tell Dante to name his price. I will pay it. I’m the one they want. Not Gia.”

“She’s your biggest weakness. Powerful men like to exploit weaknesses.” He moved his chair out from the desk, his gaze traveling between Sonny to me. “Leave us. I need to speak to Pete and Marco. Alone.”

“How am I supposed to one day become your advisor when you keep so many secrets from me?”

My father smirked at me. “When you learn some respect, Angelo. Now, go. Take Sonny with you.”

Even though I wanted to argue, I tipped my head toward the door, instructing Sonny to follow behind me. Sonny closed the door without speaking a word until we were halfway down the long, dark hallway in my father’s basement.

“Pete’s right about your mouth, Lo. Every time you talk, I get the shit end of the stick along with you.”

“Sorry,” I growled, and I meant it. Sonny suffered as much as I did. It wasn’t fair to him. He was obedient, paid his dues, and he was punished for being my best friend.

We turned around a dark corner lit by old camping lanterns. My father conducted all of his business in the unfinished basement which spanned most of the mansion he used in times of war. For the past few years, he’d lived here with my mother to ensure her safety. It was easier for him to survive off the radar, out in the suburbs of New Jersey, instead of in the limelight in Philadelphia. We all had targets on our heads. My father had the biggest one of us all.

“Do we hang a right or left down here?” Sonny pointed at the split in the basement, each path almost identical.

I stopped for a second to analyze the curvature of the wall. One was straighter than the other. It was the defining characteristic that reminded me of the correct path we needed to take. The basement was confusing-as-fuck by design. My father had it structured like a labyrinth, with its dead ends and turns that led us in various directions.

“We need to make a left here,” I told him.

There were entrances at different points of the house and secret passages similar to mail chutes. The house could survive a nuclear bomb. But in our case, it was designed to withstand an attack by the warring families. Or even a raid from the FBI. We had the occasional visits from the Feds, but they never had enough evidence to connect us to our crimes.

“No matter how many times I come down here with you or your brothers, I will never understand this maze. It doesn’t help that your dad hates lights for some reason.”

“That’s because this part of the house is disconnected from the rest of the place. It runs off its own energy source. The old man is paranoid about the Feds getting a drop on him. The basement is encased in so much cement they couldn’t hear a peep down here if they tried. The only way the Feds would get a wire down here is if they planted it on one of our guys.”

“Yeah, but your dad has all of us checked before we’re even allowed in his office.”

I shrugged. “You can never be too careful when you’re in his position. A lot of men are line after him, waiting to take his place.”

We ascended the stairs at the end of the hall two at a time. When we reached the top landing, I pushed open the door and shielded my face from the bright lights in my eyes. Compared to the dingy basement, the main hallway, with all the creams and whites, was the polar opposite. I blinked a few times until my eyes adjusted to my new surroundings.

Sonny cupped my shoulder with his hand, taking me by surprise. “We’ll get Gia back.”

“I know but in what condition? What if she’s not the same woman?”

He shut the door behind us, and we walked down the hall to the foyer. “Would it matter?”

“No, of course not. I didn’t mean it like that.” I sucked in a deep breath and raked my fingers through my hair, tugging at the ends. “I’m losing patience. My dad doesn’t seem to think finding Gia is important. We had a deal. He’s breaking that deal by telling us what we have going on with Enzo is more important.”

“I hate to say this, but he’s right. I don’t want to see Gia hurt. She’s in the middle of all this, whether she was supposed to be or not. Innocent people always get caught in the middle of wars. It’s inevitable. Sometimes, there’s nothing we can do to prevent it.”

“I could have done something,” I shot back.

Two men in dark suits open the front doors for us. The humid summer air smacks me in the face, the stickiness already making my suit stick to me. With a few more weeks left until fall, the heat has been intensifying instead of letting up. I was more of a cold weather person. So was Gia. I couldn’t stop wondering how she was being treated. After seeing the video of her stripping, I was sure she was being tortured for my sins.

“No, you couldn’t.” Sonny hit the button on the key fob to open the car doors for us.

I looked at him over the roof, irritated and not with him. My best friend was only trying to help me. “I killed Antonio. This is my fault.”

We drove for about ten minutes before either of spoke again. I was sick with guilt, fear, and anger. None of those feelings were meant for anyone in my life. I was mad at myself. By killing Antonio Mancuso, I had set in motion a chain of events, which could lead to Gia’s death.

“All of this is my fault,” I choked out, staring out the window. “I could have saved Gia from all of this. I should have gone against my father and run away with her.”

“Your dad would have hunted the two of you down and dragged you back here. There’s no way in hell he was ever letting you off the hook. For the past hundred years, every man on your dad’s side of the family has been a Made man. You were born into this life. We both were. Neither of us ever had a choice.”

“You had one,” I reminded Sonny.

“Not really. I grew up with my dad in and out of jail. I had my mom and little sister to feed. I’m not book smart like you. I couldn’t go to college and make an honest living. I steal to survive. I kill to live. You do the same, but you have different motivations. You want to please your dad. I do it to take care of my family.”

“What do you think I’m doing?” I balled my hand into a fist on my thigh, biting back the anger. “Gia is my family. Everything I do is to provide for her. To make sure she has what she needs and is taken care of.”

“It’s not the same, and you know it. Gia has a rich dad. She doesn’t need money from you.”

“Are you trying to piss me off? Because you are succeeding, Son. You don’t get it. My dad threatened to take her away from me. I had to play his game and follow his rules. He’s fucking sick and twisted. I believed him when he said he would find a way to end our relationship for good if I didn’t do as he asked.”

Sonny turned onto the highway, glancing over at me with a confused look on his face. “When did your dad say that?”

“After I got accepted into college, he sat me down and told me I could go with Gia as long as I didn’t try anything stupid.”

“Like what?”

“Like running off with her. For whatever reason, the old man always believed that because we share the same name, I was his heir apparent.”

“He doesn’t treat you like it.”

I shook my head. “Nope. Not anymore. Never really did. He’s disappointed in me. He was hoping I’d turn out more like Pete. Even Marco isn’t good enough for him. That’s why he put all of his trust in Pete. He was right to do so. Pete’s the obvious choice. He’s a dick, but he would make a good boss.”

“He would,” Sonny agreed. “Pete’s level-headed and thinks shit through before he acts.”

“Unlike me,” I finished for him.

“You’re book smart, but not street smart like your brothers.”

“I wish he would let me go. When I find Gia, I want to take her away from all this. She deserves a better life than what I’ve given her so far. A woman like Gia should have a normal life.”

“If Gia wanted normal, she never would have hooked up with you.”

I punched him in the arm, laughing. “You’re just jealous she saw me first.”

Sonny smirked. “That’s where you’re wrong. Technically, Gia saw me first, but she didn’t talk to me. She was too shy. I stood there like an asshole and watched you steal the girl away. You went over and helped her off the swing. Remember how afraid she was to jump off it?”

I smiled at the memory. “Yeah, I fucking miss her. So much. This is the longest we’ve ever been apart, and I have no idea if she’s okay. I hate feeling useless. She needs me, and I can’t get to her.”

“At least we know she’s alive.”

“But look what they have her doing,” I growled, not meaning to take out my frustration on Sonny. “She’s stripping for a bunch of perverts because of something I did. What if…” I bit my fist to keep myself from screaming. “What if one of them touches her? Fuck. I can’t handle the thought of someone hurting her. Forcing themselves on her.”

“Gia’s tough. She’ll get through this. Don’t dwell on the negative. Focus on the positive. And that’s getting her back alive and breathing.”

My phone buzzed in my pocket, and I fished it out. A text message popped up on the screen from a blocked number. It had to be Gia’s kidnappers. I slid my finger along the screen to open a message, which contained nothing more than a URL.

“I think we got something,” I told Sonny.

He drove over the Ben Franklin Bridge and into Philadelphia, glancing over at me. “What is it?”

“A link.” I felt sick to my stomach, dreading what was on the website. Before I clicked it, I knew it would be Gia. Bile rose up from my stomach when I saw Gia on the screen. “Someone’s selling her at a private auction.”

Sonny’s mouth went as wide as his eyes. “What the fuck? We have to buy her.”

“I know.”

Every emotion hit me at once. I wanted to cry, but I couldn’t form a single tear. Rage bubbled inside my chest, sending me over the edge. My entire body trembled, shaking the armrest that I shared with Sonny.

“How much do they want?”

I doubled checked the number on the screen, insane with fury when I saw the price tag they had placed on her head. “The starting bid is one million dollars.”

“We don’t have that kind of money lying around.”

I nodded. “We have to figure out where they’re keeping Gia, and get her out of there before someone can buy her. After we get over the bridge, go straight to Morelli Motors. Tony can help us.”

“You got it, Boss.”

I hated when he called me that, but I didn’t bother to argue. Gia was about to be sold to the highest bidder. I had to get to her first.