Page 76 of His Captive
“Theo’s men are going to be here soon,” I snap, grabbing Lea by the arm and shoving her into the car. “Fuck, ow!” I grab my shoulder as I get in beside her. “Ronaldo, drive! Don’t stop for anything! Take us to the resort’s private marina.”
“You have to see this!” Lea trembles out, trying to show me her phone. “Oh, god, your shoulder! Are you okay?”
“We have to get out of here.” I shove her phone away. “I don’t know who I can trust right now, and you just stabbed a hitman who works closely with the Mafia. If they get their hands on you…”
My blood runs cold at the thought. If someone loyal to Emilio gets their hands on Lea—I can’t let that happen. I have to get her to safety. Then I’ll sort all of this out.
“Massimo, this is important,” she says, leaning forward with her phone, but then she glances at Ronaldo and shrinks back. “W-we can’t wait until we’re alone.”
I don’t know what Lea has to show me, but it can’t bethatimportant. Anger builds inside me as I consider what could happen next. Emilio will find out the hit was unsuccessful. If he’s anything like me, he’ll start taking out the people who would stand by my side during a civil war, especially if he thinks the trail will lead back to him.
“Fuck, fuck, fuck!” I yell, slamming my hand into the seat and wincing as the pain radiates from my shoulder.
“I’m really sorry, Massimo. I promise you’re going to want to see this,” Lea whispers. “It changes everything.”
I glare at her, probably with nothing but fury on my face, because she shrinks back again. Getting her to safety is my top priority. Then what? I don’t fucking know. I’ve got an enormous mess to clean up. I pull out my phone and send a warning to my closest allies, but I don’t elaborate. I tell Rowan to get out of Las Vegas, because he’ll be the number one target.
I don’t think Emilio will go as far as killing our father. Especially now, since the hit failed and I’m next in line. But war is coming. There’s no way around that now. I can’t pretend I don’t know there’s a bullet with my name on it anymore.
“Here’s fine,” I bark, yanking the door open before Ronaldo stops. I immediately turn to Lea and grab her by the arm. “Let’s go. Where did you leave your bags?”
“I-in your suite,” she answers, stumbling out of the car, but I keep her steady, so she doesn’t fall.
I fire a message to Theo to take care of Lea’s bags. It’s too risky to wait, so I tell him to burn them. I grab mine from the trunk, pull out my Glock, and stuff it in the back of my pants. I might actually need it now.
Theo will have questions I can’t answer, and so will the others who run the resort with him. Especially since there’s a hitman with a knife in his back in front of the hotel. Hopefully he is able to get away, because if he gets caught, he’ll sing like a canary to save his own skin. If that happens, everyone will know Emilio put a hit on me—and that I didn’t do anything to stop it.
“Massimo, please!” Lea says as I grab the keys and storm toward the mini-yacht, half-pulling and half-dragging her along. “You need to see this!”
“Once we’re in the open water,” I snarl. “We’re not safe until then.”
I push Lea onto the boat, wipe some blood away from my shoulder, and hurry to the helm. I point at the anchor and Lea hits the button. As soon as it’s up, I start the engine and open it up. This isn’t a leisurely drive.
“Okay,” I say, turning to her once the marina is out of sight. “What is it, Lea? What is sofuckingimportant you had to destroy my family?”
“Y-your wife,” she whispers, holding up her phone. “T-the Bratva weren’t the only ones involved.”
“What?” I stare at the screen. I see several vehicles that look like the ones the Bratva use, passing through an intersection. I remember setting a few of them on fire. “The date… That’s the night Layla died.”
“Y-you’re going to be really mad at me, and I’m sorry, but I told Sarah everything,” she whimpers. “And she told a hacker who… she investigates a lot of true crime, looking for things the police may have missed.”
“Lea, I already told you about this Mafia fangirl bullshi—” I stop before I finish. The screen flickers to a different angle, and I see the Bratva vehicles passing by. “Is that… Is that Erica?”
“T-that’s what I had to show you!” Lea says. “Sarah said that is Emilio’s wife!”
“It is…” I stare in disbelief. “Why… why is she with theBratva?”
“I don’t know!” Lea answers. “The cops thought all the cameras were wiped, but they weren’t. I can’t explain it like the hacker did, but it has something to do with the frequency you use to mask your phone calls.”
“Fuck,” I growl. “We’re the only ones who have that technology. My father commissioned a Department of Defense contractor to create it and paid him enough to walk away without ever sharing it with the government.”
The malice and poison begin to seep back into my heart. If Erica was with the Bratva on the night Layla was killed, then she’s involved. Which means Emilio is involved. But why? Why would they kill my wife? Erica and Layla were like sisters, or so I thought.
“Was my brother in any of these vehicles?” I ask, watching the screen shift to a different camera, but there’s nothing visible.
“Not that they could find,” Lea whispers. “Once they figured out which direction the vehicles were traveling, they scoured every single camera.”
“That one wasn’t masked,” I say, pointing at her phone. “It shows the license plates. That’s how I found out it was the Bratva. The cops never connected that dot because they didn’t know what to look for.”
