Owned by the mafia boss

MICHAEL

He was taken while he walked his dog. They found his Husky rolled in a ditch, dead with a single gunshot wound. Anthony had dismissed his bodyguards. All they’d had to do was grab him.

Tubs of white-wrapped sweets packed the candy store’s stockroom, which we used for meetings. I stuck my hand in a tin container and grabbed a few, tearing off the paper. Rich sugar coated my tongue.

Vinn sat at the table, his skin drained of color, his eyes listless. His pitch-black gazed flicked at me, his irises so dark they blended with his pupils.

“We’re so fucked, Mike.”

It wasn’t like him to panic. “We can’t dwell on the consequences.”

“Uncle Nico will kill us. His son! His only fucking son was kidnapped under my watch.”

“Yeah, it’s bad.”

“We’re finished.” Vinn kicked his chair aside, raging. “I will not die for that junkie!”

It was lucky I’d sent everyone out of the room.

Vinn seized the desk and hurled it into a rack. Saltwater taffy spilled over the floor. He unsheathed his Ka-Bar knife and shanked the cushion until stuffing poured from the gashes, and then he threw the chair at another rack, knocking tins off shelves in a massive, noisy crash.

“It’ll be all right, buddy.”

“No, it won’t.” He whirled at me, still holding the knife. “How are you so calm?”

“We’re getting Anthony back.”

Hope flashed across Vinn’s face before it died in a nasty wreck. “Whoever did this is carving out Anthony’s heart as we speak.”

“I don’t think so.”

“You’re way too optimistic.”

“They killed Comet. Why not shoot Anthony, too?” I unwrapped a candy and popped it into my mouth. “If it was a hit, they wouldn’t have dragged him off.”

“Why haven’t they contacted us with their demands?”

“They will. Trust me. Do we have any witnesses?”Original from NôvelDrama.Org.

“Just one.” Vinn rubbed his forehead. “His neighbor said they were all dressed in black. They rolled up in an SUV. Shot the dog. Grabbed him. Gone.”

“Where the hell were his bodyguards?” Alessio pushed off the walls and unfolded his arms. “Or did you retards screw that up, too?”

I scrolled through my cell, checking for missed calls. “The dipshit dismisses them all the time.”

Alessio raked his ebony mane, swearing. “I’ll contact Judge Gilstrap and pull the camera footage from his street. Somebody will have to tell Nico.”

Nobody wanted that job.

Alessio’s hand wavered as he thumbed through his list of contacts.

Vinn grimaced. “I’ll call him.”

“No. Let me handle him.” Alessio heaved a sigh. “He’ll take it better coming from me, but we should have information for him besides ‘your son was taken, and we have no idea where he is.'”

“We should lay low for a while. Check into a hotel and keep changing rooms.” I needed to get the kids, fuck. “I’ll call our people in prison. Nico will need more muscle.”

A fist hammered the door, and Alessio let Vitale inside. He approached me, unlocking his phone. “We have a situation.”

A gruesome image flashed on the screen. A nude woman curled on grass, blades tangled with her lengthy, black hair. Ligature marks wrapped her wrists and neck. Her glassy eyes stared skyward.

Elena.

A Sanctum girl, and the happiest hooker I’d ever met. She baked everyone cookies on Christmas. We’d fooled around a couple of times. Elena was one of the few girls that didn’t latch on like a barnacle. She was nice.

Now she was dead.

I glanced at her abdomen. A dagger stuck from her ribs, with a note.

I HAVE YOUR PRINCE

GIVE HER BACK

The air vanished from my chest.

“They found her in Sanctum’s parking lot.” Vitale swiped his thumb, displaying additional views of the corpse. “We took care of her.”

Vinn shuffled to my side. “I’m assuming you understand what the hell this means.”

Sick fuck. “Yeah. It’s a message for me, from Crash.”

A tinkling of glass drew my attention to Alessio, who’d dropped his cell. The screen had splintered into shards.

“He wants my wife,” I explained, facing Vinn. “He must’ve abducted Anthony hoping for an exchange. The takeaway here is Anthony is alive.”

Vinn zoomed in on the photograph. “We need to bait a trap.”

My throat tightened. “I’m not involving Carmela.”

“I’m not suggesting that.” Vinn gestured at Alessio, who glowered at him. “We send an email from Carmela to the psycho.”

“It might work,” Alessio muttered. “He’s off his rocker.”

“But not stupid.” I shook my head. “We’ll search for Rage Machine’s clubhouse. We’ll triple the reward for information. We won’t involve my goddamned wife.”

“What if we just-”

“No. She can’t find out about this.” My gaze wheeled from Alessio to Vinn. “We are not bringing Carmela into this.”

“I agree. Family’s off-limits,” Alessio murmured with a hint of a sneer. “I’ll take care of what we discussed.”

He left, the door banging shut.

“Anthony will never survive this.” Vinn’s vacant stare swept over the mess. “Even if we get him out, he’ll never be the same.”

Too fucking bad.

I would keep her safe. Even if it meant Anthony had to be the sacrifice.