Total pages in book: 99
Estimated words: 94720 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 474(@200wpm)___ 379(@250wpm)___ 316(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 94720 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 474(@200wpm)___ 379(@250wpm)___ 316(@300wpm)
Loren glowered.
“We have bigger things to worry about,” I snapped.
“My father was responsible for the massacre in Providence,” Dom said loudly to end Loren and Michael’s beef. Once again, silence filled both sides of the screen.
“He couldn’t.” Loren shook his head, brows pulled lightly. “He wouldn’t.”
His reaction was warranted. Anyone who had been around Giuseppe back then would tell you how distraught he was after his ex-wife died. Looking back now, maybe it was the guilt he felt. Or maybe he was a psychopath who happened to be a good actor. I couldn’t be sure which was true. He’d always treated us like we were family. He was a monster to many but never to us. Or so we thought.
“He did,” Dominic said.
“How do you know? You have proof?” Gio asked, eyes wide on each of us.
“It was on the USB drive,” I said. “That and a whole bunch of other shit that we haven’t even gone back to look at.”
“I just. . .” Gio sat back in his chair. Loren was still in disbelief.
“Do you think Angelo knew?” I asked.
“Fuck.” Loren let out a breath. “I don’t think so. I’d like to think he would have done right by you guys and ended Giuseppe if he knew. I mean, there’s a code — women and children are untouchable.”
“I agree. It would be out of character for your father to sit back,” Dean said to Loren.
“And murdering my mother is perfectly in character for my dad?” Dom spat.
“It is.” Dean leaned back in his seat. “I hate to say it, but it is.”
“Now what?” Loren asked, after another bout of silence.
“I have men on the ground waiting for me to tell them where to go,” Michael said. “In case you decide to attack first.”
“Cops?” Loren asked, as if the word left a bad taste in his mouth.
”No,” Mikey said firmly.
Loren opened his mouth to respond.
I slammed my fist on the table. “Your bickering will get us nowhere. They could be cops, robbers, farmers, astronauts, or circus clowns, for all I care. They’re risking their lives for us just the same.”
Loren grunted at that and let it go.
“What’s the status on our soldiers, Marchetti?” Gio asked. “Do we send them there? Keep them here?”
“We need Nico, Marco, and Matti to stay put over there,” I said. “Jamaican Mike is taking care of the situation at the ports with Big Mike’s help.” I took a breath, running my fingers through my hair. “I’m at a loss with what to do with the young soldiers. Some of them have been arrested for petty crimes. I don’t think they can handle this shit. Giuseppe will wipe them out.”
Gio nodded in agreement.
“Has anyone put tracking devices on Giuseppe’s cars?”
“Benny and Ray-Ray tagged two of them. One of my hackers is tracking them, so we’ll know where they are soon,” Dean said, raising his palms. “The hackers aren’t cops, Lorenzo, since you’re so interested in what people do for a living.”
“Jesus Christ,” Loren muttered, running a hand through his hair.
“You started this shit,” Gio said to him, then turned back to us. “Emile was able to take over the cameras around Giuseppe’s apartment and get surveillance on him and his inner circle. So far, he’s still going in and out of his building. Adriano’s also been there a few times.”
“We also sent backup security for Sofia, in case he decides to use her to get to Lenora,” Loren said, “She’s out of the country burying her mother, but you never know.”
I slumped in my chair, realizing I had taken away Lenora's only way to contact her mother. I should have at least told her she could borrow my phone. I felt like such an asshole. She had every right to push me away after how I’d acted; instead, she welcomed me. Accepted me. I straightened my posture and set my hands on the table.
“My concern is that Giuseppe may know about the location of this safe house,” I said.
“How would he know?” Dom’s head snapped in my direction.
“Open any file on there.” I pointed at the computer where the USB drive was plugged in, and the files were ready to be opened. He picked the one I knew his mother would be in. I should have warned him against those years. He hesitated when he saw his mother’s name but clicked it anyway.
“What the fuck?” he breathed as he clicked through the pictures of his mom grocery shopping at the nail salon, drinking wine in her kitchen, and dancing with his stepfather.
He clicked out and hovered the cursor over Rosie’s mom’s name but skipped over it and clicked the folder with his and his brother’s name. Dozens of pictures appeared on the screen. Dom playing football with me. Gabe holding Rosie’s hand. Dom looking into the window of the ice cream shop Rosie used to work at. He opened and closed countless folders, finding every single one of us including Joe, Angelo, Charles, and Adriano. The list went on and on. The ones with the most folders were his children, his current wife, and his ex-wife. He must have spent a fortune to watch that many people simultaneously. When he got tired of looking, Dom pushed the computer away.