BOW DOWN: A Bad Boy Mafia Romance (Barone Crime Family) (14 page)

We needed to make changes if we were going to win. Despising all men was one thing we had to fix. I had to show them that Wyatt was on their side and that the mercenaries were important. Otherwise, everything was going to be lost.

I headed back to my room to think, leaving it to Kasia to talk with the girls.

U
nrest
in the ranks was very, very bad for Louisa. I spoke with the captain of the mercenaries, and he said that the guy who tried to rape that girl was a rotten asshole from the start, and the he didn’t condone what he did. The guys weren’t angry about what happened to him, which was good. I promised them more pay and left it at that.

I just hoped that Louisa could hold up her end and keep her girls in line. We needed every single person she had right now. She was severely outnumbered to begin with, and any sort of unrest inside her organization could be fatal.

She couldn’t afford a coup or a strike. She had to keep it together. We had the guns, we had the mercenaries, and all we needed was a big, juicy target.

A few days passed. I had to leave the city again for work, but I was able to come back as soon as that was over.

Ethan and I checked back into our usual hotel in the usual room. I wasn’t back in my suite for more than ten minutes before the phone began to ring.

I answered it. “Yes?” I asked.

“Mr. Carter, you have a call holding from a Mr. Barone.”

“Put him through.”

The line clicked.

“Wyatt?”

“Arturo.”

“How the hell are you?”

“I’m fine.”

“I tried your cell, but it was dead.”

“Just got in, haven’t had a chance to charge.”

“Come to the compound,” he said. “I want to talk business.”

I frowned, uncertain. “Okay,” I said. “I can do that. How did you know I was back in town?”

“I know everything that happens in this city, Wyatt. See you soon.” He hung up.

I checked my watch. It was ten in the morning. All I wanted to do was shower and drink some coffee, but I couldn’t ignore a summons from Arturo.

“I’m going,” I said to Ethan. He gave me a little nod and went back to his laptop.

I changed quickly, called down for a car, and was on my way ten minutes later.

It was never good when Arturo called me to him, but maybe this was the right timing for it. We did need a target to go after, and Arturo was notorious for letting things slip in our conversations. The man was old and he loved to brag, which made it easy to pry things out of him, even when he was being careful.

He had no reason to be careful around me, which was valuable.

I made it to the compound a half hour later, and I followed that same porter through the halls. I had a pretty good memory and could recall the route we took to Arturo’s office the last time I was there, but the porter was taking me a different route. We followed another circuitous, winding route, and eventually he stopped in front of a plain set of doors.

“Mr. Barone is inside,” he said, and then withdrew.

I pushed open the doors. Humidity smashed me in the face as I stepped into the room.

The first thing I saw was green. Quickly I realized that there were plants all over the place, almost like I had stepped into a greenhouse. The path was surrounded by plants, and the room was incredibly humid. The doors shut behind me as I stepped into the room, following the thin path through the thick foliage.

For a second, I thought I might be lost. I had this eerie feeling that I had stepped into another room. The place seemed huge, and the ceiling seemed far away and possibly made of glass. The sun was beating down on me either way. I lost sight of the doors and the walls, and for a second I thought I really was in the jungle.

Who the hell had a greenhouse in the middle of their mansion?

Arturo Barone. Of course Arturo Barone had a greenhouse in his mansion. The egomaniacal bastard thought he was a god already.

For a second, I thought I heard birds in the foliage around me. But no, that couldn’t be real. I shook my head, trying to keep it together.

Arturo was having this meeting in this place just to throw me off. There was no doubt in my mind that it was all designed to make me as pliable as possible. I had to keep myself together.

I stepped around a corner and the path opened up to a clearing. In the middle of the clearing was a large statue of a beautiful woman smiling serenely. I stared at her, trying to place her familiar face.

It hit me suddenly. The woman looked like Louisa, but older. Maybe Louisa in twenty or thirty years.

“What do you think?”

I blinked. I looked down and noticed Arturo sitting at the base of the statue, smiling at me.

“It’s lovely,” I said.

“It’s my wife. She passed a long time ago, but this room is something like a memorial to her.”

I nodded. That made sense. Of course it was Louisa’s mother. The resemblance was really striking.

“It’s a very nice place.”

He laughed. “I come here to think sometimes. To get away from all the idiots around me.”

I walked over to him and stopped, crossing my arms. “Do you have a lot of idiots in your organization?”

He nodded. “We’re the mob. We don’t attract geniuses, for the most part. But the smart ones, they move up, and the dumb ones get killed.”

“Survival of the fittest.”

“Something like that.”

I glanced up at the statue again and wondered how she would have felt about all this. But she had married Arturo, after all. I wondered if she was more like her daughter, or more like her husband.

“Why did you call me here?” I asked. “I just got back into the city.”

“I know,” he answered, confirming my suspicions. “I wanted to follow up on your business arrangement.”

“The drug dealers.”

“That’s the one.”

“What’s the issue? We’ve already convicted some, and more are on the way.”

“It’s too slow. As soon as you grab one, another steps up in his place. It’s not actually hurting them.”

“Of course it is,” I said. “We’re grabbing the smartest ones, and they’re being replaced with lesser versions.”

“I don’t give a shit,” he said. “I want them gone.”

“I’m doing the best I can. This is as fast as we could possibly move.”

“Move faster.” There was an edge to his tone, an impatience.

“Is there something else going on here, Arturo?”

He sighed. “I have business arrangements that are coming through soon. The dealers in the south are in the way of those arrangements.”

My interested was piqued. I came here hoping Arturo would give me something to work with, and suddenly he was already talking about his “business arrangements,” whatever that meant.

But I sensed something. He was impatient and angry, otherwise he wouldn’t have called me in. The prosecutions of the dealers were going pretty well, faster than they normally went. I couldn’t imagine he would have cause to complain.

Unless something big was happening, and he needed the dealers gone.

“Maybe I can help with your issue,” I said.

“You can. Get rid of those dealers faster.”

“You know it doesn’t work like that.”

“I gave you a lot of money, Wyatt. Make it work like that.”

“I spent most of that money bribing people,” I said, lying through my teeth. “You think it’s cheap making the legal system work in your favor? You’re getting the deal of the century right now.”

“It’s not good enough. I need the streets cleared. I have a shipment coming through the docks in three days, and I need that territory if I’m going to move my goods.”

I raised an eyebrow. I knew better than to press for anymore information, but that was a goldmine.

He didn’t need to spell it out for me. There was only one thing that necessitated getting rid of the dealers: drugs and a lot of them.

That was exactly what I was looking for. I had to assume that he had a lot of money riding on this deal, which meant that it was a huge opportunity for us. If Louisa’s people could destroy the shipment, or even steal it, we could do some serious damage to Arturo’s organization. They had to be hurting as it was, and probably needed the cash flow from this deal.

“How can I help, Arturo?”

“Arrest more men. I don’t care if the charges don’t stick. Round them up over the next few days and give me some room to move in.”

“That’s all you want?”

“That’s all.”

“They won’t stay in jail for long. Maybe a few days at best.”

“Good enough. I’ll take their territory while they’re rotting in their cells.”

“If you’re more patient, I can make sure they stay in those cells.”

“I’m out of time, Wyatt. Do as I ask and we’ll be even.”

I nodded. “Okay then.”

“Good. Get it done.”

“Consider it already taken care of.”

I walked close to him and we shook hands. He gripped mine, looking me in the eye.

“I trust you, Wyatt.”

“I’m glad, Arturo. We make a good team.”

He stared at me for another second before releasing my hand. “Thanks for coming.”

“Thanks for showing me this room. It’s beautiful.”

He nodded but was already looking off into the distance. I knew it was time for me to leave.

I turned and head back the way I came, my mind spinning.

There was a shipment coming through the docks, probably of mafia drugs, in three days. I didn’t know what time or what container, but that wouldn’t be too hard to figure out. Louisa was good at that sort of thing.

The biggest drawback was that it would tip our hand. He was going to know it was me as soon as we took that shipment. Maybe he told other people, but it was just too obvious that it was me.

That didn’t matter. Once we had the drugs, we’d have him. It would only be a matter of time before we finished it. I’d go live underground with Louisa, work remotely, until he was finished.

My heart was hammering and I couldn’t help but grin to myself.

That stupid old bastard just hanged himself.

T
he shipment
of drugs for the mafia seemed too good to be true. I made my living spotting that sort of thing from a mile away, but in this case I was ignoring my gut. Kasia insisted that we skip out on this mission, but I decided to ignore her, too.

I trusted Wyatt. I trusted that he believed in this information and that he knew what he was doing. So far, trusting him had taken me far.

We were hitting the mafia harder than we ever had. The unrest in the ranks hadn’t gone away, but the girls collectively decided to put aside their issues for the greater good. They were beginning to understand that we needed the mercenary men if we were going to really win this war.

That didn’t mean they liked it. I didn’t like it either. But we had to take risks.

This mission was a risk. Everyone knew it, including me. Wyatt wasn’t pushing it, but he did say that he got the information directly from Arturo himself. I knew how my father liked to brag, and so I believed him.

Still, there were so many unknowns. As soon as Wyatt brought the information to me, I began to research.

It took me nearly two days to finally find what I was looking for. It was hidden inside of a shell company inside of a shell company, buried down deep within the shipping manifesto. I spotted a shady looking company called Swiftly Industries and followed them down the rabbit hole. They turned out to be a mob front, and from there I figured out that there was no shipment of bananas coming in from South America.

That shipment was full of cocaine. I suspected Arturo planned on cutting the cocaine and turning it into crack, though that didn’t matter.

It had to be a lot of coke. The manifesto said the shipment was at least two hundred pounds of bananas, which meant an equal amount of coke. That was in the millions of dollars territory.

Just finding that shipment gave some truth to what Wyatt was saying. It also helped that the shipment was scheduled to come in overnight, which was clearly an attempt by the mob to hide their actions.

All the evidence was pointing toward this being a legitimate mafia action. Even Kasia had to admit that it looked like it was real.

And so, with only a day to plan, we got the men together. We were using the mercenaries for this move, because we wanted to keep our girls safe in case something went wrong. We armed the guys with our new weapons, and we armed them to the teeth. We scouted out the location and Kasia made some tactical plans.

Night rolled around, and it was ten minutes before we had to go.

I walked downstairs to the very bottom floor. The men were gathering with Kasia in the largest tunnel, prepping the tactical van and gearing up.

“I’m coming,” I said to Kasia.

She looked up from strapping on some body armor. “No.”

“I’m coming,” I said again. “This is too important for me to sit on the sidelines. Besides, I need the girls to see that I’m still committed.”

She bit her lip. “We can’t lose you, Lou. I don’t always agree with your moves, but you’re the reason we’re all doing this. If something goes wrong, we can’t afford for you to get yourself killed.”

“Then keep me back,” I said. “I’ll coordinate the attack from the van. Whatever you want. But I have to come.”

She stared at me for a second, and I knew she wanted to argue. But I knew that she knew that I was coming no matter what she said. In the end, she was my second in command, and I was the leader of this operation. If I wanted to go, I was going to go.

“Fine,” she said. “You stay back. That’s an order.”

“Roger that.” I grinned at her.

The men finished prepping. I strapped on body armor, though I probably wasn’t going to need it. We piled into the tactical van, really an armored truck, and rolled out.

I checked my watch. Twenty minutes until show time. We were cutting it close, but it was the best we could do. We didn’t have very many options in front of us since this was all happening so fast.

I couldn’t help but think about Wyatt. I didn’t know where he was at that moment, but I knew he was thinking about us. He didn’t know that I was going, and I wasn’t going to tell him. He’d try to talk me out of it, and I was afraid he would succeed. If anyone could convince me to stand down, it was him. I didn’t want to give him that shot.

The docks were only a ten-minute drive. Once there, we parked about a half block away and deployed. One team went north around the perimeter, hoping to flank the mafia, while the other team went along the tops of the cargo crates, hopping from spot to spot.

Kasia went with the upper group. I stayed behind in the van, monitoring police chatter and helping to coordinate.

I hadn’t been in the field in a long time. I still wasn’t really in the field, but it was the closest to action I’d seen since that meeting with my father. That meeting felt like it happened so long ago, although it was really only about a year.

“Top group looks clear,” Kasia reported.

“North group looks clear,” Roger Dean said, the captain of the mercenary squad.

“Police all quiet,” I said.

“This is going to be easy,” Roger Dean joked.

“Save it for after,” Kasia said. “We have some killing to do.”

Arrayed in front of me, I had their heart rate monitor data on one screen and the security camera feeds of the docks on another. The men all seemed incredibly calm for such an intense mission. Even Kasia’s heart rate was low, like she was out for a brisk walk.

These were professionals. These were trained killers that knew what they were doing. They were the reason we were winning.

“Feeds look clear,” I said, scanning through them. There was nothing, just empty space all over the place.

I frowned. Why was there empty space? There should have been a ship and a crew unloading it. The ship was scheduled to have arrived already, and the unloading crew was supposed to be nearly finished pulling the cargo off.

I scanned through the feeds some more, searching for the spot where the ship was supposed to be.

“Top almost in position,” Kasia said. “Keep calm. Keep low. We’ll hit when the north is ready.”

“North t-minus two minutes away,” Roger Dean said.

I kept scanning. There was nothing. Just a big, quiet space filled with cargo containers. They were all shut tight, locked and sealed.

Then, I noticed it.

“Top group in position. Waiting on you, Dean.”

“Almost ready. Go when prepared. We’ll be there shortly.”

“Top team moving out.”

“Wait,” I said. “Kasia.”

The containers weren’t locked. Kasia couldn’t see them from her position, but the containers down at ground level were all unlocked and standing partially open.

“The ship isn’t there,” I said. “Kasia.”

“Top team moving,” she called out. “We’re dropping in.”

“Wait,” I said, frantic. “The containers.”

I heard the pops of automatic gunfire tear through the air. Two heart rate monitors went dead suddenly, two men I barely knew.

“Kasia!” I yelled.

“It’s a fucking ambush,” she screamed, gunfire like lightning in her comm. I could hear it popping in the distance. “Where the fuck are you, Dean?”

“Fuckers,” he screamed, and I heard more gunfire join the fray. Instantly two of Dean’s men were dead too.

“What’s happening?” I yelled. “Report!”

“We’re pinned down. Dean is trying to break us free.” Kasia sounded stressed. “We have wounded and dead.”

“Pull out,” I said. “Pull the fuck out.”

“Fucking bastards!” Dean screamed. “Kasia, smokes out left. Brent, Jimmy, flash grenades up right. Make a fucking hole and let’s punch out!”

“Roger!” Kasia called.

I felt like I wanted to scream. I was sitting there, watching from the video screen. Kasia and her people were hiding behind a container while the mafia men came spilling out of their containers. Dean, meanwhile, was pushing in front the north, firing at the mafia men that had Kasia pinned down. Suddenly, they threw grenades out, and smoke billowed all over the place, blocking my view.

“Go, go, go!” someone screamed. It was pure chaos over the comm. I couldn’t follow it. “Duck left!” “Over top!” “I’m hit! Fuck, I’m hit!”

More heart rates dropped off, one by one. Six dead, seven dead, eight dead.

“Run!” Kasia screamed. “Fall back! Louisa, get the truck ready.”

I jumped up into the driver’s seat and turned the engine on. It roared to life. I checked the monitors again.

Twelve dead. Twelve out of twenty.

The comm went quiet for a few minutes. I could still hear the pops of gunfire as it drew closer, some booms, some cracks. I squeezed the steering wheel, my body a mess of anxiety and fear.

It was a fucking trap. The shipment was a trap. There was no ship, there never was one.

Arturo had lured us into a trap, and Wyatt fell for it.

And then it hit me. Wyatt had been working with Arturo for a long time.

Did that bastard betray me? Was this all a part of his plan from the start? Maybe Arturo had sent him to me, knowing that I would want to get involved with him. Wyatt could have been aiming to betray me from the very start.

I shook my head, anger and confusion rolling through me as I heard more random yelling over the comm system. Suddenly, I heard banging on the truck. I threw the doors open and Kasia jumped in, dragging a man behind her. More men followed, or at least what was left of her team.

“Trap,” she said. “We need to get him back. He’d bleeding.”

“Dean isn’t back yet,” I said.

“He’s coming. Fuck, Louisa.” She glared at me, anger and sadness clear on her face. “This was fucked from the start. They were fucking waiting for us.”

“I know,” I said. “I know.”

Suddenly, Dean and his men jumped over the fence and scrambled toward us. Gunshots peppered the truck, dinging off the bulletproof metal. The men dove into the back.

“Go!” Kasia screamed.

I didn’t need to be told twice. I hit the gas and we lurched forward. Another spray of bullets hit the truck as we pulled away, flying off into the night.

The wounded were tended to. The mood in the truck was tense and angry, and we had lost most of the men that had gone out that night. There were two more men that were seriously wounded, and at least one that I doubted would survive.

How could this have happened? Did Wyatt actually betray us? I couldn’t imagine that he actually did. I couldn’t see him doing that. Wyatt just wasn’t that kind of man. But based on the looks Kasia was giving me, I knew she was thinking that this was all Wyatt’s fault, and that I was a fool for ever believing him.

Maybe I was. Maybe I had been suckered into this from the start.

I kept my eyes on the road, driving quickly back toward the safe house. We needed to get these men into the medical bay and fast before we lost them, too.

And I needed to talk to Wyatt. I had to find out if he had betrayed me, or if we had all stumbled into a trap together.

I felt like my life had been torn open, ripped to shreds.

This was a horrible loss. This was a serious blow. I didn’t know if they had gotten someone alive.

But I did know that we just lost a serious portion of our army, and our whole operation was in jeopardy.