Mobbed Up Love

“I’ll let you deal with that, Albie.”

“This is my daughter, Tesoro. She’s single, so if you know any nice Italian boys send them her way.” I laugh, but I don’t think Maria is joking. She looks serious as a heart attack.

“Mama, please. I don’t want a boy,” the slender one says. “I need a man to set me straight. One old enough to set me on fire. Like Papa’s associate, Mr. Ventaglimia. It’s real nice to meet you, Autumn. My cousin told me nothing about you except you made AJ lose his shit at the strip club.” She looks young and innocent until she smirks. I bet she gives Mr. Ventaglimia heart palpitations just by breathing.

“Nice to meet you too, Tesoro. I guess I did do that,” I say laughing.

“I’m Angelina, Tony’s fiancée. I heard you worked at the club until AJ made you quit. Do I have anything to worry about when it comes to Tony?” she asks quietly.

My heart breaks for her that she thinks she needs to ask me this.

“Angie? Can I call you Angie?” When she nods, I continue. “If last night was any indication, you have nothing to worry about. He looked uncomfortable as hell and stared at his phone all night.”

“He was texting me,” she says smiling.

“See no worries. He loves you,” I reassure her. I don’t really know for certain, but it sure seems like he does.

I help the ladies finish up dinner, my mom eventually coming in to help us. Her lipstick is smeared beyond repair and when we sit down to eat, I immediately notice that Lorenzo has the same shade smeared all over his face. I stifle a giggle.

When the day is over, we help mom and surprisingly Lorenzo take the boys over to her place. Leaving them to handle it, Albie takes me home and makes love to me for the rest of the night.

I made plans with Angelina, Maria, Tesoro, and my mom to go shopping tomorrow afternoon for some last-minute wedding things as well as the spa and lunch. Lorenzo and Albie are taking the boys to the park. My mom will get a much-needed break and I am so thankful for that.

What a perfect end to a perfect day.

Chapter Eight

Alberto

I don’t know what I was thinking, taking three kids to the park with just my asshole brother, but surprisingly Lorenzo was a natural with them. He wore Gio on his chest in one of those sling things like a boss and Sal clung to his hand. Santino and I bonded more. I drop the boys and Lorenzo off at Betty’s and head to my house to wait for my girl.

Five o’clock comes and goes and none of them are home yet. We try to call the guards we sent with them this morning to no avail. By seven, I am officially panicking. After calling Ryan Ventaglimia, our IT guy, I am not feeling any better. He is the best hacker in the tri-state area, and we are damn lucky to have him on our side. He’s been hacking since the late nineties. He figured that all seven cell phones stopped working at the same moment in the same location.

After finding a sitter for the boys, Lorenzo, Tony, my dad, and I head out to the last traced location of the phones. When we arrive, the phones are on the ground, smashed into pieces. There are burnout marks from tires on the ground and cameras everywhere. Thank fuck. I am feeling a little bit more hopeful at the thought of finding them, though I am unsure of the condition they will be in when we get to them.

“Ryan,” I say after calling him. “I need CCTV footage from this location. I am not sure how far to go back, but try noon going forward. I’ll wait.” Has it really only been two days since I met the love of my life? Surely, I wouldn’t find her only to lose her. You only get one “the one” and Autumn is fucking it for me. I’ll do anything to get her back safely.

“Sure thing, boss,” he says. I hear him clicking away on his keyboard as he hacks the city’s system. A few minutes later the typing stops, and his mouse begins clicking through the footage. I have seen him work enough times to know the drill. “Shit. You aren’t going to like this. They were taken at one-thirty as they left Sinclair’s Bistro just up the street from where you are now.” Fuck! That is a major head start and who the fuck knows what happened to them in the meantime. “They were walking to the car, which you should see a few feet from you.” I do see the damn thing. “Bobby and Dane are most definitely dead or dying in the dumpster behind you. These guys didn’t cover their faces and they killed our guys in broad daylight. I recognize one of them as a Santucci. They were taken in an old-school gray and white panel van. It wasn’t hard to trace through traffic cams. They are in Queens in an abandoned building. I am sending you the address now. The security cameras from the functioning warehouse across the street show the parking lot to have about eight cars plus the van in it. I can’t see inside the building. All the windows are boarded up, except for the door. It looks two men are standing outside the door.”