Page 84 of His Captive
Emilio looks defeated. I’m pretty sure he cried at some point, but he turned away from me. Leo seems to have accepted everything. I guess it’s easier when you trust a higher power more than anything else.
Erica, the traitors, and the leftover Bratva refugees are still trying to find Lea. It’s only a matter of time, but every second that passes is one that gives Lea a chance to get away.
Maybe I can distract them and buy her more time.
“Hey, Paulie! You fucking asshole!” I yell.
“What the fuck do you want?” Paulie grumbles, walking closer.
“Why don’t you forget all about this, huh?” I ask. “Everyone else here is fucked, but I always liked you. Cut us loose and I won’t consider you a traitor. I’ll tell my father to make you a Capo, and you know he listens to me.”
It’s all bullshit. The only thing Paulie will get is a bullet between his eyes, but if he’s looking at me, he’s not looking at his screen. He’s not searching for Lea.
“That’s all it takes?” Paulie sneers. “A good word from Mighty Massimo and suddenly I get to be a Capo? Forget all the shit I did for the family, right? Forget all the years I’ve put in? Nah, Massimo. I like my chances better with the madam.”
Paulie storms toward me, flips his M16, and drives the butt of the rifle into my skull. I turn my head to soften the blow, but it still makes me see stars.
“Ignore him!” Erica calls out. “I want him to be conscious so he can feel the flames. We might even get to listen to him scream.”
“Fuck you, Massimo,” Paulie says, driving the butt of the rifle into my shoulder.
“Ah, fuck,” I mutter, gritting my teeth as the pain cascades through my body.
“I think I’ll start the fire under your chair,” Paulie chuckles. “I bet it’ll burn the skin off your bones before you choke on the smoke.”
I stare daggers at him, but I’ve lost his attention. He turns away and walks back to his laptop.
“I got something,” Paulie says. “Her name is Eleanor Fuller.”
The daggers abruptly change course and go straight through my heart. Fuck. If they’ve got her name, then she won’t be safe unless she has already done what I asked. Hopefully, the time it’s taken them to find her has given her enough time to get out of Las Vegas.
“I’ve got something too,” a Bratva guy says in a Russian accent. “Security camera. Wait—the footage just got wiped.”
“She’s using a masker,” Erica says. “That’s fine, just follow the static.”
“No, ma’am,” the Bratva guy replies. “I mean the footage isgone. All of it. Every single camera in Las Vegas just got wiped and taken offline.”
“What?” Erica yells and her back stiffens. She jerks her head toward me. “Who thefuckis this Eleanor Fuller?”
I want to rage, but all I can do is laugh. Lea is smarter than I gave her credit for. Not only is she getting out of Las Vegas, but she’s got the hacker covering her tracks. If the cameras are offline, they’ll never find her. After I’m gone, she’ll have enough money to disappear without a trace.
“Seriously, Mo,” Emilio mutters under his breath. “Who the hell is she?”
“The only person who has made me feel alive since Layla got murdered,” I sigh. “But it’s time to make peace with whoever you believe in, because we don’t have much time left.”
“Already made it,” Leo murmurs.
“There’s nothing after that? No way to find it?” Erica asks, her voice distressed.
“No, ma’am,” Paulie confirms. “If the cameras are offline and the footage is wiped, we’d have to search the entire city. We don’t have enough men for that.”
“Then forget it,” Erica says, lighting a cigarette. “Torch the building. Let’s get the fuck out of here.”
Paulie nods and motions to several guys. They grab canisters of gasoline and start pouring it all around the warehouse. Leo winces when he gets splashed. Emilio curses and screams, then sputters on some that goes in his mouth. I stare Paulie in the eyes while he dumps it on me, and I get more than either of my brothers. That’s fine. I’d rather go quick.
“I really hope all three of you assholes scream,” Paulie chuckles. “That way we have something to listen to while we drive away.”
This is it. This is how the Morandi family ends. Erica is a fool if she thinks Matteo is going to run the family one day. Our father won’t retire, after losing all three of his sons. He’ll sit at the head of the table until he rots, but he won’t have the strength to keep the family together without us. The only thing Matteo will inherit is a worthless throne and a table nobody sits at anymore.
