Total pages in book: 127
Estimated words: 117505 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 588(@200wpm)___ 470(@250wpm)___ 392(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 117505 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 588(@200wpm)___ 470(@250wpm)___ 392(@300wpm)
“Jesus,” Drake muttered.
He took a moment to organize his thoughts, though terror knotted his insides. Desperate men did desperate things and were highly unpredictable. Then he lifted his gaze to Silas and his men.
“Get the old man on the phone. He needs to know that I’ll have mercy if he has nothing to do with his son’s latest fuckup. If he can help me find the little bastard, I’ll be even more lenient. All that matters is that I get Evangeline back. But if he’s involved, if he doesn’t cooperate fully, then the entire family will have culpability in Evangeline’s abduction.”
Silas nodded.
“You know Charlie worked for the Luconis for a while,” Maddox spoke up. “About a year back. Another of his attempts to prove he’s the man and has what it takes to get the job done.”
“What’s your point?” Drake asked impatiently.
“He spent quite a bit of time with them is what I’m saying,” Maddox said, every bit as impatient as Drake. “The Luconis know quite a bit about his habits, or at least they should. They’ve been after you to back their takeover of the Vanuccis. They’d probably do anything you wanted in order to secure that backing. Make it a produce-or-you-don’t-get-shit deal. If they can help you find Evangeline, they get your backing. Otherwise, they’re on their own.”
Drake stared back at his man for a long moment, absorbing the implications of what Maddox was saying. If the Luconis could help him find Evangeline, it would be worth anything. Even backing their takeover of the Vanuccis when he’d planned to pit the two organizations together and stand back while they both crumbled and fell.
Christ, but this was huge. It upped the threat, not only to himself and Evangeline, but to every single one of his men as well. They’d become targets of the Vanuccis as well as anyone who supported them.
“Do you know what you’re saying?” Drake asked Maddox. “Do all of you know what he’s saying?”
“Yeah,” Zander said. “Do you? You willing to take that risk?”
“How can I not if it gets me Evangeline back?” Drake asked hoarsely.
“Then I’d say you have your answer,” Jax said.
One by one his other men stated their agreement. And acceptance of the risk posed to them.
Drake focused his gaze back on Maddox. “You make the call. I have to talk to McDuff. Make sure they know no deal unless they can produce Evangeline. Alive.”
31
“How sure are you that we can trust the Luconis?” Drake asked grimly as he and his men positioned themselves outside one of the butcher shops the McDuffs owned.
How appropriate that the McDuffs had several family-owned butcheries as their “family business,” since they were little more than butchers themselves.
Maddox shrugged beside Drake. Maddox and Silas had insisted on taking position with Drake, more likely to sit on him and keep him from losing his shit than for any real need for their help. The other men had paired up, and surprisingly, the eldest Luconi and appointed leader of the family had sent several of his men to assist Drake in the takedown of Charlie McDuff.
“They’re very keen to see Charlie go down,” Maddox said as they waited for go time. “The timing is pretty good, not that I’d say there was ever a good time for Evangeline to be abducted.”
Maddox’s face contorted into a black scowl, his eyes flickering with fury before he continued.
“Turns out, the Vanuccis struck at the Luconis a week ago and the Luconis want blood. Rightfully so.”
Drake and Silas turned to Maddox in question.
Maddox sighed. “It’s pretty horrifying and, well, after hearing of it, I’m not sad that we’re backing the Luconis to take the Vanuccis down for good. The Luconis may not be Boy Scouts, but I’ve never known them to do this kind of shit. They have a code of sorts, one that excludes women and children. The world won’t miss the fucking Vanuccis. They’re all a bunch of pond scum.”
“Tell me,” Drake barked.
“Jacques Vanucci targeted the elder Luconi’s granddaughter. She was only twenty fucking years old. Young, innocent and very beautiful. The Luconis aren’t complete assholes. They shield their women completely. No knowledge of their business practices. The women in that family are cherished and absolutely protected by every single male member of the family.”
Fuck. Maddox had referred to the Luconi granddaughter in the past tense. Drake didn’t have a good feeling about this at all.
Maddox sighed and continued on. “It wasn’t pretty. He wooed and courted the girl for months. Made it all out to be a modern-day telling of Romeo and Juliet. Two people, forbidden from one another by rival families. Told her all kinds of shit, about how he was in love with her, wanted to marry her and how he’d take her away from both families so they could live a happy life. He has money of his own. Told her she’d never want for anything he could give her and their children.