For Luca (Chicago Syndicate Book 2) (20 page)

“I have no idea, but seeing how crowded it is here, he must make a ton of money. There’s your pendant.” He jerks his head to the neckline of a petite, naked Asian lady, next to the woman being flogged, sitting on the lap of a man and blocking him from our view. As she’s facing us, the man’s hand snakes around her middle, between her thighs, and he slips two fingers inside.

“She’s beautiful.” Adriano gawks at her breasts.

I laugh because I don’t even think he saw her face yet. Raking my hair back with one hand, I scan the area, but there’s considerable ground to cover because this place is enormous. “Fuck. The pendant is too common, maybe we’re just wasting time—” I halt immediately as the Asian woman leans back, revealing the man who’s pleasuring her, and I grab Adriano’s arm. “Turn now.”

We both turn, and I lead us into the crowd. “It’s Ashton with the Asian woman.”

“So it
was
him last time,” he says.

“It seems so, but it was highly coincidental I spotted that pendant here the first time with Sal. Maybe Sal knows something.”

“Yeah, I have a feeling it could’ve been planned too.” He looks around warily. “What do you want to do? We have to procure a weapon.”

“We haven’t had much success lately finding the people we need. We lost Danny and Collopy, and that turned into a mess. Although it’s a risk to steal a weapon in here, I don’t want to take the risk of letting him run free tonight. If he disappears, I’m afraid we won’t track him down again this easily.”

Adriano’s irritation is turned on me. “Fuck! Fine. I’ll keep an eye on him. Get me a weapon too.”

I nod and make a beeline for the fighter just stepping out of the arena who pocketed a small knife. “Hey man, great fight,” I greet him quickly before others start talking to him.

The guy’s out of breath and wipes blood and sweat off his hands and face with a towel. “It was a long one.”

He shows me his teeth, and I smile back, pretending to be one of his fans, most of whom are gathering behind him, so he turns to receive more compliments.

I brush past him discreetly and steal the knife from his pocket, slipping it into the sleeve of my suit jacket and striding back to Adriano who is still watching our target.

The girl rises and holds her hand out to Ashton. Today, he’s dressed casually in jeans and a black t-shirt, and he’s looking around distrustfully, but the woman is also distracting him. Checking Ashton’s physique, I wonder whether he’s a fighter here because he’s pretty muscular.

Adriano turns up his palm, silently demanding his weapon, as others continually brush past us.

“I only got one knife.”

Disappointed, he raises both eyebrows.

I purposely move my attention to Ashton who’s guiding his female companion toward the other side of the arena. “We split up,” I order and careen through the masses of people to ensure I don’t lose them.

Suddenly, Ashton halts in his tracks and his head whips around. I duck, but he clearly sees me and immediately picks up his pace.

Adriano is already lost in the crowd, so I can’t signal to him.

Ashton leaps to the edge of the rounded wall with the woman’s hand still clasped in his and opens a door.

Fuck! He must know this place well because the door is camouflaged by the drawings on the wall, and he knew right where to go; I wouldn’t have spotted an exit there.

Pushing people out of my way, I quickly put my foot in the door before it closes and turn to check to see if anyone is watching me, but everyone is too mesmerized by the fight, and in this part of the arena, no women are strung on the wall.

Slipping the knife into my hand, I enter a corridor illuminated with soft red lights. Ashton turns the corner at the end of the hallway as the door falls closed, and my shoes click off the concrete when I run after him.

As I round the corner, I collide full-on with the Asian woman and steady her with my free hand just as Ashton’s fist comes toward me over her shoulder and connects with my eye. Blurred lines block my eyesight as I stumble backward, and the woman is thrown on me, causing me to lose my grip on the knife. The blade clanks on the floor behind me, so I push her to the side but take another hit to my temple.

“Motherfucker!” I shout while I’m seeing stars from his blows.

Groaning, I drive my fist into Ashton’s stomach, hurting my already-bruised knuckles even more. The impact makes him bend forward so that I’m able to pull up my knee into his nose.

Giving me no time to recuperate, he head-butts me and slams my back against the wall with his arm pressed against my throat. I gasp for air as sweat trickles down my hairline. This guy is most definitely a fighter here because he’s exceptionally strong.

“How the fuck did you get in here? How did you find me?” He’s out of breath, with a crazed, but also frightful, expression.

Sharp pains flit through me, but I manage to grin, which he answers by swinging his fist into my left side. The blow reverberates through my entire torso, yet anxiety only sets in when his eyes shift to the knife on the floor. He lunges for it and snaps back up so quickly, I don’t even get time to kick him. He swivels and slices the knife against my upper arm. Even though I leap away, he still reaches me, cutting my sleeve and skin. He edges toward me with the knife in hand, and I step back, anticipating his next move.

“Who the fuck are you?!”

“Are we still on that?” I insult as we round each other.

I’m buying time because I’m hoping Adriano spotted us stepping into this hallway. Unexpectedly, Ashton swings at me, and I move away too slowly, so he slams me onto the ground, knocking the breath out of me. I grab his wrist to keep him from slicing the knife into the artery in my neck as he uses his overpowering strength to press the tip into my skin.

“Luca!” Adriano’s voice rings through the corridor as his steps become louder.

Ashton jumps up and runs into the opposite direction. Craning my neck, I see him turn the corner, and I lunge up just as Adriano finds me.

“Where did he go?” Adriano asks.

I point behind me, and he’s about to chase after him when another voice surprises us, and Santino rounds the corner and steps in front of us with an impassive look on his face.

“Fat Sal would like to talk to you two.” Irritated, Santino glances at the Asian woman huddled in the corner and gestures for us to follow.

We follow him back to where we came from and are escorted to Sal’s office one floor up. I grimace as I check the cut on my left upper arm. Thankfully, it’s not deep, and it’s not bleeding too badly. I tear off the torn bandage from my knuckles, and that’s not really bleeding either.

I hurriedly instruct Adriano before we enter Sal’s office. “FYI, Ashton is a fighter here. You talk.”

This will throw Fat Sal off even more as to what our rank is in the Syndicate. Last time, I did all the talking. In the Syndicate, usually the highest ranking member takes the lead in every conversation. It’s a clear sign of power and hierarchy; most men thrive on it and want as many others as possible to know how powerful they are. We, the Chicago Syndicate, don’t give a shit about any of that. And at the moment, all I care about is getting us out of here alive because I’m not sure Sal will be as lenient as last time.

Sal twirls his phone in his hand and leans back in his leather chair, glaring at us. “Sit.” As soon as we do, Santino shuts the door and he continues, “You fucking use my own weapons in my club!”

He looks at me, but Adriano starts to talk. “Sal, do you know why we came here looking for him?”

Shocked, Sal’s attention moves to Adriano.

Mission accomplished; he’s thrown off.

His eyes turn to slits. “Enlighten me, please.”

Adriano answers, “Ashton Banks,
your fighter
, captured Luca several days ago because he’s been misinformed about his brother’s death.”

“His brother?”

“Alex Gentry; they’re stepbrothers but apparently they were close because Ashton is looking for vengeance everywhere – in all the wrong places.”

Sal lets the phone drop on the desk and scratches his thick finger behind his ear. “How did you know he’s one of my fighters?”

“I didn’t, not until tonight. The first time you showed us the fight club, we spotted Ashton with a silver cross pendant. That pendant was hanging off his neck when he waterboarded Luca.”

I inwardly smile, proud of how in tune Adriano and I always are because he provides the same answers I would.

“Hmmm, that’s quite coincidental,” Sal remarks.

“Our thoughts exactly. Look, we’re not looking for trouble, but we needed to find him fast because he’s a threat, and now we’ve lost him again.”

Sal’s quiet for a long time before he speaks. “I actually like you. You two got balls. Nobody ever comes in here asking questions, let alone has the audacity to start a brawl in my fight club. I can read between the lines, and let me tell you first that it
was
coincidental that you saw him that time. I wanted to show you around, but something came up – that’s why I had to come back to my office. And I’m sure you two can understand that if Chicago Syndicate members visit us, we’re kind of on edge. I know your reputation.” He locks eyes with both of us. “Alex Gentry was Ashton’s lover. I didn’t know he was his brother, stepbrother, whatever.”

Well, that makes a lot more sense as to why Ashton’s so hell bent on revenge.

His eyes shift to his phone when an alert beeps. “Ashton already exited the club. That’s strange. All the guards were specifically ordered to look out for him.”

I clench my fist. “Fuck!”

In a confused tone, Adriano says, “But he isn’t gay. I saw him with a woman in the fight club.”

“No, he’s bisexual, and he and Alex had specific tastes. They were both sadists. I’m not sure exactly what his ‘relationship’ with Alex was, but I do know they fucked a lot – with each other and everybody else here.”

I bring my palms together, linking my fingers, and take the lead in the conversation from Adriano. “We need to find him. He’s also a liability to you now because he’ll realize that you let us go,” I presumptuously state.

“Ah, he was a losing fighter anyway. And I’m pretty pleased with how your hacker handled deleting any trace of Camilla Guilermo’s connection to my establishment.”

Adriano flinches with the mention of Camilla’s name.

Sal’s obviously fishing to see if he can contact
my
hacker when he has issues within his organization. “Fine, you call one of us”—I point my thumb to Adriano and then to myself—“when you need Henry, and we’ll make sure our resources are available.”

The corner of Sal’s lips tilts up. “I like the way you work: swift and to the point. Deal.”

Oh no, I also want something from you, Fat Sal.

“But,” I add. “I need to find Ashton. Soon. You are my best chance of capturing him quickly.”

“Done.”

“Have all your men looking for him.”

“Done,” he confirms.

“Okay, I need to leave now because, as you can see, that asshole cut me.” I rise and Santino opens the door for us. “Keep in touch, Sal.” I end the conversation on a light note.

Adriano and I race out of there to his beamer outside.

Once I’m inside the vehicle, I lift my shirt and softly press my fingers into my side. “Shit, this is going to hurt tomorrow.”

Adriano grabs my arm suddenly, and I look up to see him staring, so I follow his gaze to the front entrance of the club where James is walking out.

“Isn’t that James?” he asks unbelievingly.

“What the fuck? Yes!”

And our heads snap to each other and then back to James who’s moving to his car across the street.

“What’s he doing here?” He rests his head back on the seat.

“No idea. This is peculiar. We were reprimanded for coming here, but he goes in there alone?” What is James up to? “Let’s not confront him yet. Let’s wait and see if he mentions his visit himself, okay?” I instruct him.

Adriano nods and pushes the key into the ignition. “You should text Doc to meet us at your penthouse for your injuries.”

CHAPTER 22

Fallon

Wade stays with me the entire week after that horrific night at the police station and handles the endless questions from my parents, Teagan, and Jason. They don’t understand where my good friend, Richard Wade, suddenly came from since they never heard of him, but I couldn’t care less about that.

After that week, he practically drags me out of bed and we watch
Charmed
together as he tries to lift my spirits. I don’t know what I would’ve done without Wade because I’ve come to rely heavily on him, and he even convinces me to talk to a therapist to help me cope.

We discuss whether or not I should press charges and discard that idea quickly because in a precinct as corrupt as this one, it would only make me a bigger target. And Wade’s positive that Ashton is still a danger to me.

During this time, I go through a myriad of emotions. Fear makes me change my locks. For a while, there’s self-blame when I go over that night in my head repeatedly and wonder how I could’ve prevented it. Then more isolation and anger follow. Anger at everyone: the perpetrator, law enforcement, society. And through all of that, I still miss Luca every day. Nothing lessens my love for him. I long to be held by the man I fell in love with at the beginning of this year, and I call him so many times to apologize but chicken out every single time and press ‘end’ before it connects.