Page 66 of Ties That Bind Us

“Leo and I are at the coffee shop a block from your place. Can you meet us? What we have to talk about can’t be said over the phone.”

I hesitated. I knew he was right, we couldn’t take any chances about the Russians or Alessandro knowing we had any idea what was going on. But I also didn’t want to leave Ava. She’d be hysterical if she woke up and I was gone. “I don’t have much time, I don’t want Ava to wake up alone.”

“We’ll come to you. Meet us outside your building?” Apparently, whatever they had found out was pretty serious, and we had to be careful who we trusted with it.

“Sounds good.”

Vince hung up without answering. I slipped my shoes on and grabbed my keys quickly before peeking in on Ava one more time. She looked relatively peaceful, and with any stroke of luck I could get back before she woke up. Just in case, I scribbled a note telling her I was going for a run. I didn’t want her to know anything about this. Not yet, anyway.

I double-checked the alarm and practically ran downstairs, wanting this to take as little time as possible. Leo and Vince were already waiting for me.

“Ava doing okay?” Leo’s voice was full of concern.

“She’s all right. I finally got her to sleep. She’s just having trouble processing it all.”

“I don’t blame her. I’m having trouble processing it myself.” Vince ran his fingers through his hair.

“Have you guys found anything?” I asked.

Leo and Vince looked at each other and then back at me. Vince reached into his jacket and pulled out a manila envelope. “This is the guy. So far, all we can tell is that he showed up to the dress shop a few minutes after they got there. It seemed like a spur of the moment attack. No one was casing the place or following Ava or any of the girls beforehand.”

I stared at the black and white surveillance pictures in my hand. I was clutching them so tightly that they trembled. I couldn’t stand seeing his face. They were right about it being a shitty job. The guy didn’t even try to hide his face or the giant Russian tattoo on his neck. These pictures just confirmed my suspicions. They wanted us to know who they were. “Where can I find him?”

They shared another nervous glance.

“Look, man.” Leo shoved his hands into his front pockets nervously. “I don’t think you should handle the hit on this.”

I narrowed my eyes at him. Of course I was going to handle the hit. Coming after Ava was personal, whether they wanted it to be or not.

“You’re too close to this, Nick.” Vince backed him up. “It’s already got a lot of unwanted attention from the cops and the media. We need to be careful. Especially if this is really about my father.”

“Of course it’s about your dad. If this was about us, they would’ve come after me, not Ava,” I growled. I was the one meant to take over. If they were trying to stop that from happening, they would have gone straight for me. There was no way they were taking this hit away from me. “You don’t think I have my head on straight because it was Ava who was involved?”

“No one is saying that.” Leo held his hand up to silence me. “We’re saying that if what we think is true, this is Alessandro’s fight. And if you get involved in this shit, they’ll come after you and they’ll come after Ava.”

“They’re already coming after Ava.” This was bullshit; I wanted the guy. I wanted his blood on my hands.

“We don’t know that,” Vince insisted. “Look, whatever my dad is mixed up in, it’s unraveling, and anyone close to it is going to be in danger. My mother took his car to the dress shop. They were inside before the guy showed up. It’s highly possible the guy was coming for my dad and thought he was inside when he saw the car.”

“What the fuck does your dad have going on with the Russians?” I threw my hands in the air, tired of being the last to know everything. Alessandro was jerking us around like puppets. If he knew the Russians were coming after him when he made the deal with my father, the whole deal would be void. He was dragging us into a war we wanted nothing to do with. This arrangement was supposed to keep the Russians at bay, not incite them even further.

“I don’t know. I’m working on that.” Vince sighed in frustration. “In the meantime, you and my sister stay as far the fuck away from this as possible. Get her out of the city, do whatever you’ve got to do. But let me handle this. This is my father’s fault, and until we are proven otherwise, it needs to stay that way.”

I clenched my jaw. I didn’t like the idea of being pushed away from the fight, but Vince was right. Until Ava and I were married, she wasn’t officially part of the Caponellis, which meant I couldn’t use all of the resources available to me to protect her without Council approval. This was a fucking nightmare.

“Nick, Dad wants you to think about moving the wedding up. Alessandro doesn’t want it to happen, and if he backtracks on the deal, there isn’t much we can do. It’s the best thing for us, and it’s the best thing for Ava too. We can protect her better.” When Leo got through with his explanation, I couldn’t stifle my laughter.

“You think I am going to be able to convince her to move the wedding up after what happened today?”

“You can’t protect her like she needs to be until she’s your wife. You know that,” Leo continued. “And if you’re married, Alessandro won’t have a leg to stand on.”

“She’ll never go for that.” I shook my head, imagining telling Ava. Hey, babe, sorry you nearly died yesterday. By the way, it was your father’s fault and if we don’t get married tomorrow there is a big chance I’ll have to let him take you back.

“Then convince her,” Vince hissed. “If my dad gets his way, there will be no wedding at all and then what? You’ll be content handing her back into the line of fire?”

“Of course I won’t. I’m never letting your father anywhere near her again,” I spat. For more reasons than one. Deal or no deal, I would die before letting Ava be hurt by him again. Alessandro was a bastard who had no business running a group, and Ava had been at the receiving end of his horrible decisions for too long.

“Yeah, well, you won’t have much choice if you don’t seal the deal,” Vince reminded me. He was right, but I had a better chance of convincing Ava to shave her head than to move up the wedding.

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