Page 17

CHAPTER 16

VINCENT

W hen we get to my casino, Alonzo wastes no time in testing his loyalty to me and telling me I shouldn’t try to rescue Isla.

“You’re not thinking clearly,” he barks, making a bold assumption. “You’ve been thinking about that girl instead of business.”

“You are my underboss, Alonzo,” I say angrily. “ Not my consigliere. Your job is not to advise me, but to carry out my orders.”

“And what if I think your orders are wrong ? My job is to protect the interests of the Moretti empire and the family’s legacy.”

This is the point that I wondered if we would arrive at someday. A pivotal confrontation that shows the weakness of Alonzo’s true loyalty to me.

“I am the Moretti empire.” I’m seething with anger over the entire situation. “You’d be wise not to forget it.”

Instead of backing down as he usually does, Alonzo takes a step toward me. “You’ve forgotten who we are, boss. And you’ve replaced your loyalty to this family with loyalty to a woman. Blood isn’t love. Blood is survival.”

“I don’t think we have time for this,” Luc says as he tries to de-escalate the situation. He puts his hand on Alonzo’s shoulder and steps in as my actual advisor to help me figure out what to do. “Vincent, I spoke to Gabriel like you asked.”

“ And ?” I ask impatiently. This had better have something useful to do with getting Isla back.

“And he said that he hears pretty much every secret in the city but that he hasn’t heard of anything having to do with Angelo planning a kidnapping of the ballerina.”

“Maybe he needs to be pressed a bit more then.”

“No, he doesn’t,” Luc is quick to retort. “Gabriel tells me everything he knows each time I ask him about something. He’s a trusted confidant, especially with me . If he had heard any indication that this was going to happen, he would have told me.”

“What do you mean, especially with you ?” I ask. “I thought the bartender was pretty chummy with the entire crew.”

“He is,” Luc says quickly. The nervousness in his darting eyes as they struggle to maintain eye contact with mine do not go unnoticed by me. “I just meant that I talk to him more frequently than some of the other guys and that he’s not shy about his street-smarts. I’d know if he was keeping something secret.”

For a second, I question Luc’s seemingly very close relationship with my casino’s bartender, but I’m much too distracted by getting Isla back to think too deeply about it. I brush it off almost instantly and get back to thinking about a plan to rescue Isla when the door to the club opens, and I see Celeste Durant standing there.

“What are you doing here? The casino isn’t even open yet,” I say. I refrain from throwing her out immediately only on the whim that she might have some rare insight to offer. Thankfully, it would seem that she does.

“I know where Isla is,” she says, to my surprise.

Instantly, she garners the attention of everyone in the room.

“How can you possibly know that?” Alonzo asks, already suspicious. Skepticism and mistrust are his default characteristics. As an underboss, his skepticism and mistrust benefit him, at least until he directs that skepticism at me. “I received a message from her. Natalia Barone asked me to deliver it directly to you, Vincent.”

Luc raises a brow at the old dance instructor. “Natalia Barone? Are you two friends these days?”

“Come on, gentlemen,” Celeste says, clearly not wishing to waste any more time while her dancer is in trouble. “We all know that I have had ties to almost every mafia family that has been in this city. I’ve been around a long time, boys, I’ve endured a lot, and I’ve learned a lot. One thing that I’ve learned is never to rely too heavily on any singular alliance. Diversification of interests is an asset not to be underrated.”

“What’s the message? Where is Isla?” I ask, superseding the hesitation of my men.

“Isla is okay , for now ,” she says. “But she’s being kept hostage inside the basement of Angelo Barone‘s newest business endeavor.”

“The casino?” I’m reminded that he’s trying to encroach on my business territories.

“It’s not actually a casino,” she says. “According to his wife, it’s simply another front for him to use for his sex-trafficking operations. He’s not doing any sort of illicit gambling. The casino itself will be legit. In the basement is where he plans to commit the real crimes. Unspeakable crimes against women, the kind that I would like to prevent Isla from having to endure.”

My anger burns with a refreshed need to make Angelo Barone pay for this. I know where the casino is. I just didn’t think he’d keep her there in such an easily accessible location, but a hidden basement makes sense. Unfortunately, for him, there isn’t a hidden room in the city that I can’t break into.

“I suppose you want me to return Isla to you in exchange for this information and your help in the matter,” I say. “It’s not going to happen, Celeste. She stays with me.”

“Isla is a grown woman, and although I had hoped she would dance with my troupe for her entire career, I have no intention of forcing her back. I realized the last time I saw the two of you together that she’s choosing to stay with you, Vincent. I do not know why a woman with her talent would throw it all away for a man like you, unless it’s for love . Even I can’t impede that.”

Celeste pauses and looks thoughtful before continuing.

“Did you know I had a daughter once?” she asks in a quiet voice that the other men strain to hear. “To this day, I regret not being able to protect my daughter more from the fate that she met with. But I trust you will protect Isla better than I could have ever protected her.”

“What makes you so sure that you can trust me not to hurt her?” I ask.

“My daughter, God rest her soul , knew your sister . They were quite good friends, actually. And she seemed to think that you were a good man somewhere deep within your soul. I’d like to think that’s true.”

For a second, I’m surprised and shocked by the revelation of a connection between my sister and Madame Durant’s daughter. But I don’t have time to delve into this further right now. I need to save Isla before Angelo has the chance to hurt her.

“Alright,” Marco says after Celeste takes her leave upon delivering her message. “How do you want to handle this? Do you want me to lead some men into Angelo’s casino and try to shake them down first? I’d imagine that any lower levels are heavily guarded, especially now that he has a hostage inside—a hostage of high importance.”

“I’m sure he does,” I nod. “But no, I want to try a different approach first. I don’t want to risk him executing Isla if he feels boxed in. I also don’t want her getting caught in any sort of crossfire.”

“So, what does that mean?” Luc asks. “What do you want to do?”

I take out my phone and make the rash decision to call that motherfucker up before anyone can talk me out of it.

“ Hello Vincent ,” Angelo’s voice booms over the speakerphone. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

I clench my fists in order to keep from losing it. I have to clench them so hard that my nails dig into the fluffy part of my palm.

“You know exactly why I’m calling Angelo,” I growl at him.

I am one wrong word away from losing control. After all these years of carefully managing relationships between the mafia families of Vegas, planning the best ways to take Angelo down without causing an uproar, that is all about to come crashing down if he doesn’t hand over what’s mine.

“Oh, yes, the dancer. I assume that you’d like her back?”

“What do you want, Angelo?” I snarl into the phone. “Money, territory? Tell me what you want to trade for her, and it’s yours.”

Alonzo opens his mouth as if he’s going to argue with me while I’m on the call, but I quickly lift my hand in the air to silence him. At least for now, he knows better than to interfere when I’m doing business and knows better than to question his boss in front of a rival.

“Well, that was a hell of a lot easier than I expected it to be,” Angelo laughs. “And here I thought I was going to have to break into your buildings and seize assets for myself. You saved me from having to squeeze any more information out of your pretty little girlfriend.”

“If you hurt one hair on her head, I swear to God, I will?—”

“Don’t get upset, Vincent,” he threatens. “It’s not a good look on you. Why ruin a good deal that’s about to happen with your arrogance and foolishness? Give me what I want, and you can have the girl back.”

Part of me doesn’t believe him and thinks that he’s lying and going to keep Isla, anyway. But that’s fine. I don’t need to trust him because I’m lying, too . There’s not a chance in hell I’m going to give him anything, except an early death if I can manage it. My number one priority is extracting Isla. Everything on top of that is a bonus.

“Where should I meet you?” I ask through gritted teeth.

“My new casino. I’m sure you’ve heard that you’ve got a bit of competition in that venue by now,” he taunts.

I don’t even acknowledge him because I know now, thanks to Madame Durant, that his casino is simply a rouse. Angelo’s single club isn’t any threat to my business. But it sure sounds like his sex-trafficking operation is soon to be under threat by a bunch of women who are sick of his shit—namely, Celeste, along with his very own wife.

“Be here in an hour,” he instructs. “I want two million in cash and one city block of territory to do my business dealings in. Oh, and I’ll take that crown jewel casino club of yours as well, just as a cherry on top.”

Luc and Alonzo wait for me to argue over the terms, both of them knowing that I would never hand over my prized flagship casino. But this is why I’m the boss. I can see past all of this transactional bullshit and have a deeper plan in place.

“I’ll be there,” I say as I hang up the call.

When I head straight for the door, Marco is right behind me.

“I’ve got this,” I say as I turn and tell him to stay behind.

He looks shocked. “What? No, I can’t let you go into that hornet’s nest alone.”

“He’s right,” Luc says. “We’ll all go.”

“I need to do this alone,” I say. “If we all show up there, then we won’t make it past the men Angelo has standing guard. He’ll know we’re there to fight. If it’s just me, he will think I’ve come to make the deal I just agreed to on the phone in exchange for Isla.”

“You’re going to get yourself killed, Vincent,” Luc argues.

“It’s not up for debate, Luciano.” My mind is made up, and my men will respect my orders.

Luc and Alonzo stand down because they know it’s their job to follow my orders. But Marco is young still, and he has a conflicted look on his face about whether he can morally let me walk into danger alone.

I put my hand on his shoulder and give him a quick pat as I walk out. “You’re a good man, Marco. One day, you’ll make a fine capo.”

Before he can protest further, I leave.

I have no intention of bringing Angelo anything that he wants. The only thing he’s going to get from me is a loaded gun in his face. When I arrive at his not-yet-opened casino, he has men there to meet me.

“You’re expected,” one of them says as he looks over my shoulder. “You bring anyone with you?”

“No, I came alone.”

“Brave,” he chuckles. “Or maybe stupid.”

“I guess we’ll see which,” I say. “Take me to Angelo.”

“Did you bring what he asked for?” his thug asks.

“Yeah, and I’m not showing you anything. No offense, but I don’t deal with lackeys. Take me to Angelo now .”

The Barone thug turns and motions for me to follow. We walk through the empty club with scant gambling machines tucked into corners. The place isn’t even trying that hard to look like a proper club. Angelo has a long way to go before he opens anything that even comes close to my casino empire. His forte lies in other pursuits, which I have no desire to dabble in.

I follow the goon down a staircase at the back of the building that leads down into the basement. The footsteps of the other men follow close behind me. When we reach the basement, several of Angelo’s men and I stand in the narrow hallway lined with doors. I’m guessing that this is where Angelo keeps some of the women that he traffics, stored before they get shipped off. Isla is in one of these rooms.

“Where’s Angelo?” I demand to know before taking a step further.

“He had some business to attend to,” the guard in front of me says. “He asked us to take your payment in his absence in exchange for the woman.”

Like hell he did . Their intentions are clear—take whatever of value they think I’ve brought with me, rough me up or kill me, and then sweep Isla off into a life of forced prostitution. They thought they’d get the jump on me, but they were wrong.

I pull two fully loaded guns out of my jacket with each hand and open fire. They must think very little of me because they didn’t even bother to search me. They must have thought that because I’m the Don, I don’t need to know how to shoot. One thing that I learned from a very young age was how to have impeccable aim so that I never miss. I’ve dropped them all before any of them could get a shot in. Have I started a war with the Barone’s crew? Probably. I don’t give a fuck. All I need is proof of life, to get Isla back in my arms and get her out of here, and then I’m going to take whatever I want.

I open door after door, lining the hallway. All of them are empty until I reach the last one. As soon as I throw the door open, I see Isla sitting there, tied to a chair and shaking like a leaf.

“Oh my God, Vincent ,” she cries when she sees me. “I heard the noise in the hallway and thought that you were that monster, Angelo, coming back for me.”

I run toward her, dropping onto my knees, and put my hands on the sides of her face before kissing her forehead. She flinches when I touch her, and the sight of a growing deep purple bruise on her cheekbone makes me seethe with anger. Thank God she’s alive. But God help the man who touched her and caused her injury. I take a moment to kiss the wound gently, marking her as mine and vowing to repay the swollen, temporary imperfection on her perfect face with violence against her attackers tenfold.

“I am a monster,” I tell her. “But even monsters protect what’s theirs. ”

Just as I untie her, she screams. “Vincent, watch out!”

I turn quickly to see another one of Angelo’s men in the doorway. He draws his gun, and I lunge at him to knock it out of his hand before he can shoot. Then, pulling on all the rage and fury brewing inside me over seeing Isla bound, bruised, and sobbing in fear—I punch the man on the side of the skull with all the force I can put behind my punches. When he crumbles to the ground, unconscious and clearly beaten, I still don’t stop. I continue punching him until my knuckles are bloody and bruised, and his head is a pulp. Angelo Barone needs to know that none of his men here survived this. I want him to know that I killed this man with my bare hands, and I want it to be a lesson for him to remember before he ever thinks about taking something from me again.

Angelo told me once that he was going to take everything from me, and I want him to know that he was wrong. I am the Devil of Vegas, and he is no match for me.

“I’ve got you now,” I say as I get back to Isla and untie her with bloodied hands. “You’re safe.”