Page 41 of Renegade (The Santini Assassins #2)

That got his Greystone’s attention, and his hold on the chair tightened.

“But Willie Boy fucked that up,” Luciano said, “and my wife and two small children were killed instead of me.”

Jesus .

“I’m sorry, Lulu,” Greystone said.

“Before we found that out, we knew he was up to no good with the mastermind behind the Day of Destruction, so I roughed him up to get him to talk, only he wouldn’t,” Teddy explained. “After that, he took off.”

“Now, he’s back,” Luciano said. “But he doesn’t know we know he ordered the hit.”

“We need to finish the job,” Teddy said

Greystone nodded. “When?”

“I put a tracker on his car,” Teddy continued. “Unless he loaned it out, he’s been in Baltimore for the past three days.”

“We’re doing it as soon as he gets back,” Luciano said. “We think he’s trying to put the dirty business back together.”

“The restaurant is his home base,” Teddy explained. “So, we could use your help when we take him down.”

“I’m in,” Greystone said. “Whatever you need.”

Luciano walked over and extended his hand. “Grazie.”

Greystone shook it, then pulled him in for a hug. “I’m sorry for your loss.”

Luciano broke away, headed toward the door.

“You need to know why I left,” Greystone said.

Silence. All eyes on him.

Luciano returned to the table, sat back down, but Greystone was still too fired up to sit. He never thought they’d know the truth. Then again, he never imagined he’d return home .

“I was the one who put Enzo in prison,” Greystone began.

“Holy hell,” Gabriel murmured.

“Whoa, brother,” Teddy blurted.

Only Luciano remained stone-faced.

“I heard Dad and Enzo fighting. Dad accused him of trafficking women and using his power to manipulate them. Dad told him he had to stop. Enzo shot Dad.”

“Ohmygod,” Gabriel bit out.

“I was on my way to talk to Dad about something and heard them fighting, so I didn’t go in.”

“Did you see them?” Luciano asked.

“Yeah, the door was open enough for me to see. When Enzo shot him, I ran in.” Greystone hated thinking about this day, the worst of the worst, and he swallowed down the bitter bile. “Dad died in my arms.”

“Why didn’t you tell Mom?” Teddy asked. “Or call the police.”

“Enzo threatened to kill me if I told anyone,” Greystone paused to eye each of his brothers. “Then, he told me to get the fuck out. He said if I didn’t leave, he’d kill all of you.”

“Santo inferno,” Luciano bit out. “Holy hell.”

“I believed he’d kill you, so I ran. He was a monster. If he could gun down his own brother in cold blood, he’d have no problem slaughtering us.”

The silence hung heavy in the air.

For the first time in sixteen years, Greystone breathed a little easier. He was no longer carrying the weight of the wicked on his shoulders alone.

“Greystone,” Gabriel said. “I’m so sorry.”

Teddy sat there shaking his head, over and over. “I think I’m gonna be sick.”

“Mi sbagliavo, Greystone, e mi dispiace profondamente,” Luciano said.

Luciano’s apology meant a lot to him .

“It’s okay,” Greystone replied. “We were kids.” Then, the fire in his guts exploded into a raging inferno. “When we take Willie Boy out, Enzo goes with him.”

“When you left, where did you go?” Luciano asked.

Greystone glanced over his shoulder. The women were talking at the kitchen island. Then, he caught the time. It was after eleven. He’d been gone from the Black Site for too many hours. It was time to get back on track and do his damn job.

“Another time,” he said. “I’m here on assignment, and I need to get back.” He regarded Teddy. “We need to talk.”

“When I left, the program was still running,” Teddy said. “I’ll swing by on my way home. I’m gonna stick around a little longer.”

The chill in the air had evaporated. The truth had freed Greystone from the burden he’d carried for too many years. Each of his brothers hugged him goodbye.

“Come visit me in Italy,” Gabriel said. “Caroline too.”

“Sounds great,” Greystone replied.

“I was wrong about you,” Luciano said.

The brothers entered the kitchen and the women turned to acknowledge them.

When he slid his gaze to Caroline, the pull had him walking over. He placed his hands on her cheeks and dropped a soft kiss on her lips. “Thanks for waiting.”

She smiled at him. “Your family’s great.”

“Everything good?” his grandmother asked.

“All good.” Greystone put his hand on his grandmother’s shoulder. “How ‘bout a big piece of cake, Elsa?”

As she sliced him one, he checked his phone for a text from Sin or Dakota, but there was nothing. “Slash, any texts?”

She checked her phone. “No.”

Greystone called Sin, but the phone rang and rang.

When he called Dakota, it rolled right to voicemail.

Dread crept into his soul, but he shoved it out.

Fear would be a mistake that could be fatal for him…

or for Caroline. So, he wolfed down the giant-sized piece of cake Elsa had put in front of him.

“Delicious,” he said. “I missed your baking the most.”

“I’m always baking something,” she replied. “You and Caroline are welcome anytime.”

“Absolutely,” Carrera added. “We’d love that.”

Simone smiled. “Elsa and I are hosting the next family dinner.”

“On Lulu’s yacht,” Elsa said with a grin. “Those are fun.”

“We should get going,” Greystone said to Caroline.

“Thank you so much for having me,” Caroline said, “and for being so welcoming.”

Elsa smiled. “Two more babies to add to my wonderful family. Greystone, having you home makes my heart happy.”

After five minutes of goodbyes, they were finally out the door.

As he drove toward the Black Site, he clasped her hand. “How’d you like my family?”

“I love them, but the real question is, how did you like them?”

“We had a good talk,” he said as he hit the gas on the main road.

“We need to armor-up in the hangar,” she said.

“Where’s your Glock?”

“My handbag.” In the darkened car, she peered over at him. “Why?”

“I called Sin and Dakota, but neither answered.”

“Maybe they’re in the hole,” she said. “There’s no signal underground.”

He hoped she was right, but the gnawing in his guts was a sure sign that something was wrong.

Very, very wrong.