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“Miller is guarding Griselda, right?”

“Yes,” he said brusquely. “He and Al are on Griselda. She said Gian is acting unhinged around her.”

“Do you know why?”

“Because Gian was expecting Sandro to fail. He was expecting to pick up the pieces, but Sandro is turning the organization around. Gian is pissed about it.”

“He’s mad at Griselda for thwarting his deal with the Philly mob because she faked being pregnant with Sandro’s baby?” I asked.

“That’s the gist of it.”

He checked his phone. “Miller isn’t answering.”

“You think…”

“Fuck this,” Sticks said. “You wanna check on them?”

“Yes.”

I hated waiting around and didn’t hesitate to get out. There were cops crawling around, anyway.

“Stay close,” Sticks ordered and used his massive body to shield me, keeping me on the inside of the sidewalk.

Sandro spotted us briefly, but he didn’t say anything. That was when I noticed Divina and Tommy. They were talking to someone on a gurney who was about to be loaded into an ambulance.

Oh my God, it was Griselda.

She was gripping Tommy’s hand and her brother was bent over her. Sandro was pacing behind him.

Sticks and I came up to them. “What happened?”

“Broken jaw, probably cracked ribs.” Divina sobbed. “Who would hurt a woman like this?”

“We’re going to get the fuckers, okay?” Sandro stopped pacing and growled over Tommy’s shoulder. The fury short-circuiting inside him was palpable.

“S..s…” Griselda chattered.

Despite our differences, I couldn’t bear to see her in pain. She was covered in blood. I could only imagine the carnage in there.

“I need to stabilize her,” the EMT said. “She’s going into shock.”

“Do we know where Miller is?” Sticks asked finally.

“Man, it’s a bloodbath in there,” the EMT replied and gave a shake of his head. “Jesus.”

He didn’t say anymore and continued working on Griselda, but he might as well have dropped another bomb of anxiety in our midst.

A man in a suit with a head of salt-and-pepper hair approached us. He had craggy features and his entire persona screamed hard-boiled detective.

“Mr. Scavo?” he addressed Tommy. “We would like to ask your sister questions.”

“She’s got a broken jaw, man,” the EMT snapped. “We gotta get her to the hospital.”

Griselda made a distressed sound and whatever energy she had, she lifted her arm and reached for Sandro. Sandro came forward and gripped her hand in his. “I can’t come with you, Griselda. I need to take care of this, but I will come to you once I’m done.”

An involuntary sob racked her chest, and tears spilled from her cheeks.

Tommy turned to his wife. “Divina, go with her.”