The drive passed in utter silence. Eventually a high wall came into view and we drove through the gates and up the driveway toward a mansion. It was a beautiful sprawling estate. White and regal.
The Falcone brothers got out, then a moment later Nino held open my door. I hopped out of the car, glad for my legs that managed to hold me up despite their shaking.
“Where’s Fabiano?” I asked, trying to mask my fear and failing on a grand scale.
Nino nodded toward the entrance, ignoring my question, or perhaps answering it? I wasn’t sure. Together we walked inside the beautiful house. They led me into another wing and then into a large room with a pool table and boxing ring. In it, Remo was kicking and punching a boxing bag.
He wasn’t wearing a shirt, and for some reason that sight more than anything else sent a wave terror through my body. His upper body was covered in scars, most of them not as faded as the one on his face, and like Fabiano he was all muscle. A tattoo of a kneeling angel surrounded by his broken wings covered his back. I’d never seen it up close. He jumped over the rope and landed gracefully on the other side, eyes never leaving me as he came toward me. My entire body seized up at his approach.
“Where’s Fabiano?” I asked again, hating how shaky my voice came out.
He tilted his head to the side. “He will be here soon, don’t worry.” His words weren’t meant to be consoling. The menace in them prevented that.
I stared down at Remo’s text: Come over.
Nothing more.
I paused. I knew immediately that something was up. I tried calling Leona but I got her mailbox, and that’s when a stab of worry went through me. I raced toward Roger’s Arena.
Cheryl was having a smoke in front of the entrance, fingers trembling. Fuck.
She shook her head at me. “She’s not here. They took her.” She took a drag. “I hope you’re happy now that you’ve ruined her life.”
That was the first time she’d given me anything but fake friendliness. I had no time to waste on a reply. Instead I slipped back inside my car and raced off.
Would Remo do the honors himself? Or would he ask Nino to put a bullet in my head?
If he allowed me the privilege of dying a quick death at all, which I doubted. And what about Leona? I could handle his torture but Leona, what if he hurt her in front of me and made me watch her die? My hands clawed at the steering wheel.
I pulled up in Remo’s driveway and jumped out of the car, not bothering to close the door.
A few of Remo’s soldiers watched me like the dead man that I was. We all knew I wouldn’t get out of here alive.
I didn’t have to ask where Leona was. I knew where Remo held that kind of conversations. I didn’t bother knocking, and instead stepped right into the sparring hall.
Remo, Nino and Savio were there.
And Leona stood in the center. Her eyes darted to me and relief flashed in them. Her hope was misguided. This time I couldn’t save her. We’d both die. I’d die trying to defend her, but it would be of no use. Not against Remo, Nino and Savio, and all the men gathered in other areas of the house.
Remo perched on the edge of the pool table. He looked controlled – which worried me. He wasn’t a man that usually bothered controlling himself or his anger.
“Remo,” I said quietly with a nod at him. I walked up to Leona. I needed to be close to her when things escalated.
Remo’s eyes flashed. I had to fight the urge to reach for my gun. Remo, Nino and Savio appeared relaxed enough but I wasn’t stupid enough to think that they hadn’t taken all necessary precautions to guarantee we didn’t get out of here alive.
“What’s the meaning of all this, Remo?” I asked carefully.
He gritted his teeth, and pushed himself away from the table. “Still not admitting to it?”
My muscles tensed up. “Admitting to what?”
I didn’t know what exactly Remo had found out. Admitting to killing Soto for Leona would be suicide.
“When you started pursuing her, I thought it was a brief adventure, but you got yourself in over your head.”
“I’ve been doing my job as always, Remo.”
He stopped across from me. Too close. “I don’t recall asking you to kill Soto.”
There it was. The thing that sealed our fate.
I considered pretending I didn’t know what he was talking about but that would have made things worse. I pushed Leona a step back, so my body was shielding her completely.
Remo saw. “All this because of that girl,” he snarled. “You betrayed me for the daughter of a cheap crack whore and a gambling addict. After everything I’ve done for you, you stab me in the back.”