Page 59 of Relentless Pursuit
“Oh yeah? He tried to kill us! Did you forget that?!”
“Gag her,” Riccardo said.
“What? No!”
A cloth was placed over my nose and mouth.
Seconds later, my world went dark.
One week later
The bedroom door opened, and I sat up straight in bed. Since I’d been kidnapped—again by my grandfather, I’d been put in the same room he held me hostage in before.
My mother entered and closed the door behind her, and I sighed in relief.
Food was left on a tray in front of the door and a quick knock would come to let me know it was there. The only communication I’d had with the outside world was overhearing my grandfather speak to Davide when he thought I was still unconscious from the chloroform cloth he’d used to knock me out.
That was the thing about my grandfather. The last time I’d been here I’d overheard him talking but this time, what I heard sent fear straight to my heart.
“Dameon is dead. I’m sure of it,” Davide had said.
“And Dominic?” my grandfather asked.
“His state is unknown.”
It had taken everything I had to keep pretending I was unconscious.
“Cappalli did his part, but if Dominic is still alive, we will have bigger problems,” my grandfather said.
“Your son and daughter didn’t mention if he made it out of the warehouse alive?”
“Their fight was intense and when I gave the order to bomb the place, they got separated.”
“So, they’re not sure?”
“No.”
“That’s not good.”
“Tell me some shit I don’t know, Davide.” My grandfather sighed roughly.
“You could reach out to the Moroccos. They are still on good terms with us and the Lucas Cosa Nostra.”
“They would never betray the Cosa Nostra. They are more allied with them then they are with us.”
“What about Rolando?”
“What about him? He gave us our chance and Antonio Cappalli snuffed the life out of Dameon. We won’t get a second one. This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and we were supposed to execute it like Antonio did. It won’t be long now before Rolando is tossed out.”
“I thought the point of Rolando’s assistance was so he could ascend to Dameon’s position?”
“If Dominic is dead, then yes. If he is not, then Rolando’s problems are larger than ours.”
My pulse raced, and I could feel my body trembling. It wouldn’t be much longer that I could hold on to my pretense and continue lying there listening. The thought of Dominic’s death tightened my gut, and I felt bile inching up my throat. Seconds later, I jerked forward, turned, and vomited.
I was dragged out of the room and locked inside this one. I hadn’t seen my parents the entire time, but seeing my mother come through the door now was a relief.
She and my father hadn’t told my grandfather that Dominic was alive after we left the warehouse. I wanted to believe it was because they cared, but I knew better now. They had motives, and I needed to know what they were.