Page 31 of Heart's Temptation
“You know I usually mind my own business, but you need to know that I’m not the only one who has seen how broken she is. Maybe try being a little kinder to her, Gio. She was—is—the love of your life after all.”
I attempted to spear him with my usual look of annoyance, but he just glared at me.
“Not that it’s any of your business, brother, but I’ve learned the truth about why she left, and I believe this is connected to the attacks by the Irish. We need an emergency meeting.” I deflected to the issue at hand. In truth, Vinnie was right. I’d been punishing Niki for what I’d felt had been a betrayal.
Eyebrows raised, Vinnie nodded and pulled out his phone. Fifteen minutes later, my brothers and our head capos sat around the table in the war room.
“Do you mind telling us what the hell is going on?” Romeo sat in his usual spot at the head of the table. His eyes looked flinty and with the lighting, showed the bags underneath. His wife refused to have a nanny, citing they needed to be full-time parents, much to our mother’s amusement, so my brother was on diaper duty with his newborn son and the signs of exhaustion were evident.
“I believe I know who is responsible for the attacks on our warehouses. We’re going to need Simon.”
“Already on his way,” Simo answered.
I quickly brought everyone up to speed on what had been going on with Niki, and what she’d just shared. Marko entered the war room just as I was finishing up, nodding to me as a signal that Niki was okay. He added what had happened at I-Rock and his feeling that this was about revenge.
All eyes turned to Dante when he walked through the doors with Simon. He’d managed to infiltrate the ranks of the Irish in record time, I realized, as he gave his update.
“Honestly, their network is vaster than we realized, and if they decided to start a war, we’d have to reach out to our contacts. All I’ve learned so far is there were four men in the running for the title of heir apparent. As of last week, three of them are dead. None of that is secret; the word is already on the streets that a low-ranking soldier rose through the ranks to become the new king. Liam Kelly is now the head of the Éannas.”
Simon connected his phone to the monitor and camera feed from the night Daro was killed at the warehouse.
“I thought that the footage had been destroyed.” Fausto spoke.
“They thought it had, and honestly, it’s a miracle I got it back. You’ll find this interesting.”
The screen blipped several times before we could see a shadow move into the light, manifesting into a man holding a knife. He quickly moved behind Daro and slit his throat. Two more shadows appeared, and they made quick work of nailing him to the door upside down. Then one finally lifted their face with a devious smirk. Liam Kelly, looked older, bigger and more worn than when we’d known him back in school, but there was no mistaking his identity.
He opened his mouth and spoke directly into the camera. “I’m coming for you, Giovanni Vitale. You’ll watch your best friend bleed out and your girlfriend on her knees sucking my cock before you see the end. This time there will be no warnings and you won’t see me coming.” He laughed, almost manically, and then they were gone, blending into the inky darkness.
On the exterior, I remained calm and collected. On the inside, I was so angry I could barely breathe. I’d kill that little fucker and all his measly family members. I’d brutally murder the entire damn Irish mob if I had to.
The room was momentarily quiet following what we’d just heard. Finally, Romeo broke the silence.
“Simon, did you run the background checks on every person connected with I-Rock, and the Empire Ballet’s staff and dancers?”
Romeo may have been speaking with Simon, but his gaze was fixed on me. He’d do anything to protect his family and I knew the trajectory his mind was already taking in regard to me, Marko and Niki. He’d shut down the damn show, but I couldn’t let him do that.
Simon glanced at me before answering. “I did, but there was nothing.”
Romeo’s fist slammed on the marble slab of the table. “There must be something. Who is the connection between the dance theater and the Irish?”
“How about sponsors?” Marko asked, speaking my question before I could.
Romeo’s eyes held Simon’s.
“So far, nothing, but there are two donors that are anonymous.”
“On it,” Marko said, standing and leaving the room.
We discussed strategy until he returned.
“What did you learn?” Romeo leaned forward toward Marko as if that would make him answer any faster.
“Sergei doesn’t know who they are. The board approves the sponsors and manages the donations.”
Romeo sat back drumming his fingers on the table thoughtfully. “Simo will go to New York and speak with this board. In the meantime, we’ll double security for the company and our business interests. Is there anything else to report? Dante, do you know when they might be hitting another location?”
Dante’s expression remained blank, but I could see emotions swimming in the depths of those dark eyes of his. Dante was like a shark, he could smell blood in the water from miles away. “I will grill my source to see if they know anything, but I will say that in general, they will continue to hit the docks, as that is our primary income source. My advice is to redirect the shipments. The Irish have either watched our movements long enough to know our shipping times, or they’ve managed to steal the manifest. I would completely change it up, maybe even use alternate sources in the meantime.”