Amplify (20 page)

I chuckle. "That’s not really how the saying goes, but that fits too. I like him."

Giovanni grunts his agreement and then our expressions harden again when the next man is brought forward. The man guarding my door. He’s pushed into the chair, his arms bound to the arms of the chair, legs bound to the legs of the chair and that’s when I stand and slowly make my way to where he sits.

"Lucky, is it? That’s what they call you?" I begin.

He nods and swallows hard. "Yes, sir, Mr. Nichols."

I nod and pick up the hammer. I tap it against my other hand as I walk slowly back and forth in front of him. "I bet you felt pretty lucky today, getting your cock sucked right outside my door, didn’t you?"

Smart man doesn’t respond.

"Truth is, you weren’t really very lucky at all,
Lucky
," I say, then swing the hammer down on top of his hand. He bites back his scream. "No," I continue, "I don’t think you were very lucky at all." I slam the hammer down on his other hand, feeling more than a little satisfaction at the sound of crunching bones.

"Let me tell you why you were very
un
lucky. You let Carina into my home, letting her see my security code, using your master key to do so, and you gave her free rein." I hand the hammer to Damian then lean forward, resting my fists on the hands I just crushed. The man lets out a moan of pain, biting back most of it, and I have to admit I’m a bit impressed. He’s doing much better than the others, though I didn’t participate in the others either.

"Your loyalty today was to Carina, Lucky. She’s not the one who’s been taking care of you and your family all these years. She’s not the one who’s taken care of your bills. She’s not the one who’s made sure your family was safe." At this, his gaze snaps up. "Was she?"

"No sir."

I nod and lean forward again. "You knew Serafina was in the house. I watched you greet her as she let herself in. You also knew Carina was forbidden from my home." I step back and let Ernesto hurt the motherfucker some more.

"Do you know what she did? She stood above Serafina where she was sleeping peacefully in my bed.
My fucking bed!
And held a knife over her. You allowed this to happen. You enabled it."

Damian steps up, does a little more damage.

"Tell me, Lucky. How did you think this was going to play out?" He doesn’t answer. "Tell me what she wanted to know and we’ll end this quickly for you."

At first he doesn’t say a word, but then Damian picks up the power drill and steps forward and Lucky is singing like a canary.

"Is that everything?"

He nods and I nod in return, turning to look at Giovanni who gives me the finger and I nearly laugh, but god damn it I’m so pissed right now.

I turn, putting my whole force into the swing, and punch the motherfucker right in the jaw.
Crack
.

"Damn," Damian says in admiration.

I turn again, but change my mind. I grab the gun off the table, turn, and shoot. Bullet to the heart. No hesitation.

"He deserved much, much worse," I say, firing a shot to the fucker’s dick and then between the eyes.

"Should have done the dick first," Ernesto tells me.

"I’ll remember that for next time."

I return to my seat, straightening my shirt.

"She’s gone too far. We need to step up the pace, Gio."

He nods. "I’ve got eyes searching for Emilio Manzini as well. Something tells me there’s more going on with him than we know."

"Why would you say that?"

"He’s the equivalent of Damian and Ernesto. If he wanted Lucy dead, she’d be dead. He made it look like he had interference and missed his target by mere inches."

I nod.

"And do you honestly think Damian or Ernesto wouldn’t notice Serafina whether they were getting fucked or not?"

"No. They’d have thrown Carina on the floor, pulled their gun, and had Sera in their sights within seconds."

He nods, his elbows resting on the arms of his chair, his fingers steepled beneath his chin.

"Do you think he’s working both sides?" I ask.

"No. I think he’s abandoned the Manzini’s but puts on a front for pretenses until the time is right for him to disappear."

I lift a brow. "They’ll kill him."

"Hmm," Giovanni murmurs. "Not if he has protection."

"He’s playing her. Carina. He’s playing her," Ernesto mutters.

Giovanni nods once.

"We need to find him and find out what he knows," Damian says.

I nod. "Good luck with that. You know you’ll only find him if he wants to be found."

"He’ll want to be found soon. His sources will tell him about this, how Carina threatened Serafina, and he won’t like that. For whatever reason, he’s been protecting those two girls he grew up with."

I nod in agreement.

"That is correct," a voice says behind us in the shadows.

"Emilio," Giovanni says with a smile. "Come join us. Ernesto, can you get another chair please."

"You wield a wicked hammer, Nichols. I don’t imagine you dirty your hands often, but then again, that motherfucker let that cunt Carina get up close and personal with your girl," Emilio says, taking a seat next to Giovanni.

Ernesto and Damian have their guns trained on Emilio, who chuckles.

"Seriously, guys. If I’d wanted any one of you dead, you already would be."

Giovanni nods and they lower their weapons.

"I only need one question answered and you’ll have my protection," Giovanni tells Emilio.

"Only one?"

Giovanni nods.

"Alright. What’s the question?" he asks.

"Why are you protecting Serafina and Luciana?"

"I could bullshit you and say Sera’s blood and by marriage Lucy’s family, but I’m not real big on bullshit. It stinks and it’s messy. No matter how much you try to avoid it, you end up getting some on your shoe."

I nod in agreement.

"They saved my life."

"What?" I ask.

"They saved my life. When we were little. We were playing in the sand down by the beach even though we were told not to, but even at that age of maybe seven or eight, we’d been taught how to shoot, stab, and fight—girls and boys. We saw him and it was too late. I had the girls run and I pretended to trip so they could get away. I don’t know who he was or whatever happened to his body, but both Sera and Lucy came back through the floral landscape, each holding a gun. The man laughed. They both fired at the same time. To this day they say they both shot him at the same time, killed him at the same time, and it’s how they’ve been able to sleep all these years. Taking that life together, to save me, is how they can still sleep at night. Although, now, I think Sera would enjoy killing Carina very, very much. I look forward to watching that happen."

"Well then," Giovanni says, not quite knowing how to respond to that.

"I love those girls like they’re my sisters, Giovanni. When they ordered the hits, I knew I had to take responsibility and fuck it all up for them. They’re wanting to kill those two innocent women to show you they can and will continue to hurt your family until you allow them to bring their drugs and trafficking of children and women through your territory. It’s beyond fucked up. I can’t stop them but I can help you try," Emilio tells us, laying his cards on the table.

I nod. Giovanni looks at Emilio some more, then nods.

"We no longer deal in drugs and we have never nor will we ever condone human trafficking in our territory. Fucking Manzinis have no morals," Giovanni scoffs.

"They think being mafia gives them the right to act however they want," Emilio tells him.

"I’m mafia and I will never allow this to happen," Giovanni says with a slam of his fist on the arm of his chair. "You and Serafina need to change your last names. You don’t belong with the Manzini name."

"Sera’ll be getting that name change soon enough," Damian says with a smirk.

"Fuckin’ A right she will." I pause and sigh. "Just as soon as we find her."

Emilio laughs. "Dude, she sure is a spitfire."

I grin. "She is," I agree proudly. "And just as soon as we find her, she’s going to be my wife."

"You’re going to have to lay down the law, Mr. Nichols."

"Call me Cage. Seems you’ve become family in a matter of minutes."

"You know better."

I nod. I do. We already knew about Emilio. We also knew he’d been standing behind us for a good thirty minutes before he made his presence known.

"Maybe I can help with what I’ve seen work on Sera as far as getting her to cooperate," Emilio offers.

"That’s going to take an act of God," Damian jokes.

"No shit," Ernesto agrees.

"Nah," Emilio says, "it won’t be easy but it won’t be that difficult either. You can shoot me if this doesn’t work."

I nod. "I think I will."

He smirks and, God above if he doesn’t remind me a bit of Xander right now. "Here’s what I’d do..."

T
HE NEXT DAY WE GOT
a lead on Sera and had more than ten disloyal men dead. Two days later we found her, and seven more traitors were removed.

An hour after we saw Carina’s threat to Sera on video, we’d put a security detail—a discrete one—on Carina.

"She continues to try to fuck us over," Damian tells me.

"I know. She can’t. Everyone’s been told. She gets nothing. She gets nowhere near the financial accounts," I assure him.

"How is that going to fly without her getting suspicious?" he asks.

"We’ve made it seem as if there’s a glitch in the system, blocking personnel with certain codes from gaining more than entry-level access. It pisses her off to no end, but she can’t do anything about it."

"Are you going after Sera?" Damian asks.

I nod. "I leave for the airport in ten minutes."

Damian smirks. "You’re going to have a hell of a time."

I smirk in return. "Actually, I don’t think I will."

He lifts a brow. "How’s that?"

"I think I finally figured out what she needs to take that final step."

"Yeah? What’s the secret?"

"Control."

"Say what?" he asks.

I just chuckle and Damian shakes his head.

"Good luck, brother."

I nod. "Contact me with anything vital. Otherwise, don’t—because I’ll be busy."

"I just bet you will," Damian chuckles.

My plan is set in motion. Now, all I have to do is get there, and Sera where I need her.

––––––––

H
uman by Christina Perri

Wasted by Carrie Underwood

Heartbreak Warfare by John Mayer

––––––––

F
IVE GLORIOUS DAYS
in paradise. I snort. That’s such bullshit. The beauty is lost on me. Everything is lost on me—I’m lost. I already miss him. The texting. The phone calls. The touches. The kisses. The smiles. That smirk—oh, I miss that smirk. His scent. But most of all I miss the illusion of love he had me believing so completely.

"We’re done for the day," Carmine, one of the assistants, tells me. "Are you heading to the beach?"

I shake my head. "No. Once I chisel this putty off my face, I’m going to find the hammock outside my bungalow and try like hell to take a nap."

He nods. "I heard Luther bitching about the circles under your eyes."

"Luther is a prima donna who needs to get over it. I hate working with that asshole. If he has to put any effort into his job, he does nothing but complain," I say with a roll of my eyes.

"That’s the truth. You be sure to give Spenser my number, girl. That man has some serious moves."

I let out a laugh. "I’ll be sure to do that."

I turn to head to the trailer to wash my face and I swear I smell him. I close my eyes and imagine Cage standing there. I inhale again and reality sets in. That wasn’t Cage. He isn’t here. It’s all bullshit. A farce. And I fell for it.

After removing the makeup, I head down the path surrounded by tropical plants and flowers and wish I could see anything but black and white right now—but there is no color in my life anymore. Without Cage the world is gray.

Damn it, if I don’t smell pine again. I need to stop thinking of him. It’s seriously fucking with my mind.