The Woman in the Back Room (Costa Family)

"Right. And you turned out so well-adjusted," I said, getting another chuckle out of him. "What do you think could possibly fix this divide right now?" I asked, genuinely curious.

"An alliance."

"Right. Because any of us would trust any of you at just your words."

"I'm not talking about words. I'm talking about action. One action, in particular."

"What could... oh," I said as the awful truth dawned on me. "Oh, come on, Primo. This isn't the fucking Dark Ages. What the fuck?" I snapped.

"It's the only way," he said. "The bloodshed will never stop until one of theirs belongs to one of ours."

"I've always known you are a bit of a dick," I said, jaw tight. "But I've never thought you were a fucking monster until right this moment."

"That's because you haven't known me until right this moment," he said, giving my wrist a jerk. "Come on. The cavalry should be arriving soon. We have a big, dramatic scene to plan," he said, dragging me along with him.

I had no choice but to follow along as he set up the stage for his plan.

And what was his plan, you might be wondering?

An arranged fucking marriage between the Families.

Chapter Eighteen

Santi

"I don't know," Salvatore said when Lorenzo asked him for the third time who he thought the guys might be. "I've been away for a long fucking time. Everyone looks different," he declared, head hung, apologetic.

Whoever they were, they'd somehow managed to fuck with the cameras somehow, because the feed was coming out grainy, making it impossible to see any faces clearly enough for an identification.

"This is fucking ridiculous," Lorenzo snapped, pacing. "We had every security measure in place, and we can't figure out who did this?"

"It's Primo Esposito," a voice said, coming in from the door, making all of us turn to find Ricco Morelli, another of Alessa's half-brothers, making his way in.

Unlike his brothers, Ricco was more casual in dress, wearing a pair of jeans and a black t-shirt. Frame-wise, he was somewhere between Ciro's and Gio's builds with about half the tattoos that his brother Elio possessed. Otherwise, there was no mistaking the family resemblance. The same facial features, the same eyes, the same dimple that they were all known to possess at least one of. But where his brothers kept their hair short, Ricco kept it longer, pulled up into a bun at the back of his head.

"What?" Lorenzo asked, stiffening. "How do you know that? You are good at your job."

"What job?" I asked, feeling lost.

"The one where we had Due killed," Lorenzo said, not missing a beat.

"You... what? How did I not know about that?"

"Because the plan was already in place before Brit got killed. And I didn't see a reason to have you worrying about anything else right then."

Heavy was the head that wore the crown, it seemed. I thought I had my hands full trying to figure out who'd killed Brit. But not only had Lorenzo been working that case, but he'd also been holding a Commission meeting to plan the murder of a made man, and, presumably, at least a dozen other smaller matters he handled on a daily basis.

"Jesus," I hissed, mind reeling.

It was a big fucking deal for The Commission to get together and agree to the assassination of a made man, regardless of which Family he belonged to.

And the fact that they felt the need to take out someone from a volatile Family during a time of unrest really said something.

"Yeah," Ricco agreed, jaw so tight that a muscle ticked there. "And now my fucking sister is paying for our actions."

"We're going to get Alessa back," Lorenzo said.

"Yeah?" Ricco asked, eyes blazing. "When? After she's been beaten and brutalized? Then?" he snapped, making my stomach plummet at the idea.

"No," Lorenzo said, looking over at Emilio and Brio. "Now. We're going to go get her back now. Call everyone in that is able-bodied. We will show up in force and with heat. He won't have a choice but to hand her back."

"Enz," Gio said, voice raised, a little strangled sounding. "Just got a video message," he said, turning his phone to face all of us.

And there was Alessa with a nasty gash on the side of her head, with a pretty decent black eye forming. But otherwise... okay. Except for being handcuffed to Primo Esposito, that is.

"Play it," Lorenzo snapped, making Gio fumble.

"Alessa here and I would like to have a meeting with you in two hours' time," Primo's smooth voice declared. "Isn't that right, Alessa?" he asked.

"Eat shit, Primo," Alessa shot back, giving him a saccharine smile.

"That'a girl," Ricco murmured.

"She's got spirit," Primo said. "I'd hate to have to break it," he added, giving the camera a look that said he was more than willing to do so if he felt he needed to, though. "And if you show up for a sit-down at the specified time, I won't need to. But if you're a minute late, I will be forced to. Say goodbye, Alessa," Primo demanded.