Page 34 of Havoc

“Leave Nico Romano alone.”

I nodded once at him in recognition of his order and left.

* * *

Ciro lookedup as I slammed into our apartment. He was sitting on the couch in nothing but his skivvies.

“Hey, bro.” He frowned at the look on my face. “What’s up?”

“Nico took Havoc.”

Shock played over his face. “What? How do you know?”

“I went to check on her this morning and her door was open. She was gone. I was checking her apartment when one of Nico’s men came in to pack her stuff.”

Ciro puffed out a breath. “That’s rough, dude.”

“He claims she’s staying voluntarily, but he’s lying,” I grumbled and flopped down in the chair.

“You went to see your brother?” Ciro asked, surprised. He knew I avoided my family estate and my brother like the plague. It had been the only way to keep my name clean once I became a cop.

“I did.”

“How do you know he was lying?”

“I know him better than he thinks.” Rage filled me. Nico didn’t give a shit that I knew he wasn’t telling the truth about Havoc. He expected me to play along like everyone always did. Well, fuck that.

“Did you expect anything different? The guy can do and have anything he wants. He’s not going to let her go just because you told him to.”

I gave him a sour look. I knew that, but I had to try something. “Then I went to see Chief.”

Ciro choked on the slice of pizza he was shoving into his mouth. He tossed it down onto the plate on the coffee table. “You told Chief that Nico kidnapped Havoc?”

“I didn’t get that far. All I got out was that I wanted to arrest him.”

Ciro started laughing. “I’m sorry, D,” he wheezed. “I wish I could’ve seen his face when you told him.”

I shook my head and sighed. “I can’t just leave her there.”

He shrugged and picked the pizza back up. “There’s not much you can do. Your brother is going to do whatever he wants and until he feels like releasing her, she’s going to be stuck there.”

I sneered at him. “Well, I’m not giving up.”

“I wouldn’t expect you to, bro.” He chuckled and munched on his slice. “He’s not going to hurt her,” he said matter-of-factly, then paused. “Is he?”

“No,” I admitted. “He won’t hurt her. He considers Havoc his.” I reached forward and snagged the remaining pizza off the plate. Ignoring his glare, I took a bite. “He treated his wife like a queen.”

“So, what’s your plan?”

“I have no idea,” I groaned. “Even if I could break in and rescue her, Chief’s told me to leave it alone.” I sat in pensive silence.

“How do you know she even wants to leave?”

I gave him a look of disbelief. “He kidnapped her.”

He shrugged. “Yeah, but maybe she’s into it.”

“Into it?”