“He wants Swain and his associates, and we need all the information we can get. There’s more at stake here than just Daniels’s safety.”
That was true. The goal should be to bring the whole organization down. “I won’t sacrifice Joe. Not for anything.” He wouldn’t want me to say that, but it was true. If we could get him and take out the men responsible for the trafficking ring, then I was all for it, but Joe was my top priority.
“I’m not asking you to, but I need you to call Lucien and Angelo and tell them what’s going on, all of it, not just the parts you want them to know. Your feelings for Daniels could compromise you. They need to know that.”
“I won’t be left out of this.”
“Devil—”
“I’ll tell them everything, okay?”
“Good. X respects all of you, and he’s impressed by Lucien’s leadership. We’re going to pull all our resources together to save your man.”
“I don’t even know if Joe’s where I think he is. What if—”
“Don’t go there. We always assume the captive is alive. Always.”
27
Devil
My hand shook as I called Lucien.
“Did you change your mind about needing help?” he asked when he answered.
His smug tone made me want to say no. “I need everyone at the house immediately. This is a code red.”
Lucien sucked in his breath. A family emergency wasn’t something we’d ever joke about. “Jesus. Give me a few minutes, and I’ll get everyone there.”
“A man under my protection has been taken by the men who controlled Murphy and most likely killed Lily. They’re connected to Ricci’s trafficking business.”
“A man under your protection?”
I wasn’t going to say anymore until we were face-to-face. “Yes. He’s important.”
“We’ll be there as fast as we can.”
Traffic was horrible. It took me way longer to get to the house than I wanted. I felt like every second that passed meant I was less likely to find Joe alive. When I entered the house, my stomach was in knots, and my head was pounding.
Everyone was in the sitting room: Sabrina, Angelo, Lucien, Peter, even Cam who must have gotten someone to cover for him at the bakery.
When Angelo saw me, his eyes widened. “Are you okay? Have you been hurt?”
I shook my head, but the edges of the room were starting to close in on me. “I just… I need to sit down.”
Angelo took my arm and pulled me to the couch. A few seconds later, Cam handed me a glass of water. “Here. Take a sip.”
I did, then I sat there, just trying to breathe. My family was all there ready to support me. They didn’t know much about why I’d called the meeting, but they’d all come immediately. Every one of them looked worried about me.
“This is a long story, but I’m going to try to make it as short as I can because Giorgio will be meeting us soon.”
“Giorgio?” Angelo’s eyes went big.
“Yes.”
“All right. Spill it all,” Angelo said.
“Back when Lucien was accused of murdering Lily, I was determined to help clear his name even if he didn’t want me to.”
“I remember,” Lucien said.
“I asked Marco to let me know if he heard anything that might be useful. He called me when a cop came in to interview him. It wasn’t Murphy. It was someone who said he was helping with the case. It felt suspicious, and I…” I paused.
“I’m not going to like this, am I?” Lucien asked.
“No, you aren’t. I got Marco to break into the cop’s house with me.”
“What?” Angelo’s eyes went wide.
“Let him talk,” Sabrina said.
I looked up and met her gaze. The warmth in her smile helped me go on.
“The cop came home while we were there, and I realized it was a guy who’d been following me several nights before. We’d hooked up.”
Lucien sighed. “Of course you did.”
“Lucien.” Peter’s tone was soft. Lucien looked at him, and Peter shook his head. “I think Devil really needs to tell this story.”
My cousin nodded. “I’m sorry.”
That shocked me more than anything that had happened over the last few weeks. Lucien never apologized.
“Actually, it was more than just a hookup.”
“You mean you went back for seconds?” Angelo asked. Cam punched him in the shoulder.
“What I mean is we… connected.”
“Oh shit,” Angelo said. “This is the guy you told me about.”
“You told him about a guy?” Lucien asked.
“Angelo, Lucien, that’s enough.” Sabrina’s tone was stern.
My cousins actually looked sorry for interrupting yet again. Thank God for Sabrina or I might never get through the story. “I didn’t know what the fuck to do, so I grabbed the guy, tied him to a chair, and made Marco leave.”
Cam’s eyes were wide. “Do you guys usually give these kinds of details?”
“This is tame,” Sabrina said.
Everyone was staring at me, waiting for more. “I needed to make sure Lucien wasn’t arrested for murder.”