*Sephie*
“Yeah, they’ve been in business together for a few years now. Armando was trying to position himself as a leader for a while there too. I thought he and Sal were going to get into a war with each other, but then Ghost came back. It all kind of went to hell that night at the restaurant with Anthony. Nobody expected Ghost to react that way over you. Half of us lost a substantial amount of money that night because we thought the rumors of him being gay were true. We knew he was coming back to stop the tax increase. Anthony was supposed to make a scene so that didn’t happen. He just got carried away once Ghost yelled at him in front of everyone. Nobody expected the outcome and nobody expected him to banish Anthony. It made Sal mad. He started trying to turn the other bosses against Ghost immediately. It was that same night that he met with the other bosses after we all left the restaurant. He called us all to his house and convinced us all we could overthrow Ghost.”
“All the bosses were there?” I asked. “You’re positive?”
“Everyone but Ghost. Everyone agreed. We got used to his absence. The bosses that wanted to raise taxes were irritated that he was going to try and stop them, so they readily agreed. Armando took the most convincing. He didn’t want to. He felt like there was another way. He didn’t completely agree that night, but he didn’t disagree either, if you know what I mean.” Dario’s eyes were still on me, like I was the only person in the room. The guys were all quiet. It almost felt like they were scared to move or speak. They didn’t want to break whatever spell he was under that was making him talk to me.
“What happened when Ghost banished Anthony?” I asked.
“That’s when the brawn operation went into motion. He needed chaos to get Anthony and Lorenzo back into the city. They made the plan for the assassination attempt at the ball, too. I assume that Armando tipped you off, since you’re all still here. Then we got word that you were in Italy, at Armando’s place. Sal tried to get all of you when he blew up Armando’s office. It was a warning to Armando, too. Sal knew he was trying to play both sides. Armando is a pussy, but he’s not completely stupid. He has Sal’s goddaughter.”
“Giana is Sal’s goddaughter?” I asked.
“You know her?” Dario asked.
“I’ve met her, yes.”
“Sal was close to her grandfather. When she was born, they made Sal her godfather. Her father has made some poor business decisions, but Sal and Armando have been trying to help him get his fortune back. I heard Armando was sleeping with her, just to make Sal angry. She’s just insurance though. Armando has everyone fooled. Everyone thinks he’s the nice guy. Ask him where his first wife is and then tell me how nice he is,” he said. He crossed his arms across his chest, his gaze once again falling to the floor.
“Once Sal takes over the city, do you know what his plans are?” I asked. I was worried I was going to lose him, so I wanted to keep the conversation going, despite feeling like I needed a minute to process what he’d just told us.
“He’ll get rid of the other bosses, I’m sure. He’s hungry for power. He was close to taking over the city when Vitaliy was still in charge. That’s what made him divide the city up. That’s also what made him banish Lorenzo. It was punishment for Lorenzo, sure, but it was more to stick it to Sal for trying to overthrow him. Lorenzo and Sal were always really close. Vitaliy knew it would cause more damage to separate them than anything, so he banished Lorenzo to Sicily. For once, I agreed with Vitaliy. I always hated Lorenzo.”
“Sal is still angry with Vitaliy over that and then Ghost banished Anthony as well, so now he’s doubly mad?”
“That’s putting it nicely.” He lifted his gaze to me once more. “He’s angry with you now, too. You’re apparently very difficult to kill or kidnap. His goddaughter was supposed to get close to you to make it easier to grab you, but even that proved impossible. Armando is the one that tipped them off that day they tried to grab you, you know?”
“Sal isn’t the only one angry in this situation,” I said, somewhat under my breath. Dario still heard me. He chuckled. “I’ve never heard Sal so mad as I did when he found out you shot three of his guys that day. He managed to get one guy onto Armando’s security detail, but that guy disappeared. Nobody knows what happened to him.”
“I killed him too,” I said. My anger was now fully present, so holding my tongue was next to impossible for me.
Dario just looked at me, a sly smile on his face. “I would like to see the look on Sal’s face if he ever finds that out. You should be careful. He wanted to kill you before, but he’s angry enough now that he might try to sell you to highest bidder.”
“I would like to see him try,” I said. I stood up from the desk, not caring to keep this conversation going any further. I barely had a chance to take two steps away from Dario and Adrik was by my side.
“Take a breath, solnishko. You know we won’t let anything happen to you,” he said as he put both hands on my hips. He looked down at me, concerned, but I could also see the look in his eye that meant my eyes had gone dark. I closed my eyes for a moment, trying to regain control of myself.
Ivan moved closer to Dario. “What makes you think that Sal won’t know where to find you?” His voice had more of an edge to it this time, but he was still trying to be as calm as he could be.
“I have property around the world. I can move from place to place. I bought each place under a different name. The people in each town know me as a different person. It’s virtually impossible to follow me from place to place. Sal isn’t smart enough to link it all together.” He paused, like he was lost in thought again. He looked at Ivan, then looked at Adrik. “I want out. I’ve lost so much because of this life. I just want to be left alone. You will never hear from me again if you let me leave.” He sighed, looking at the floor. He knew that people rarely got out of this life alive. He knew more than most, as well, which made him dangerous. It also put him in danger.
Adrik looked down at me, his eyes searching mine. I was still angry, but I was trying to control it. Instead of waiting for my opinion, he said, “I don’t have a problem with you getting out, but I can’t let you leave until I’ve taken care of the other bosses. You’ll be safe here. No one knows you’re here. You’ll be protected until this is over, then you can leave, but not before. If you try to leave, my men will have orders to kill you. Understood?”
Dario nodded his head. He looked to the floor, almost like he was defeated, but then his eyes shot back to Adrik. “Wait, you’ll really let me leave once this is over?” Adrik nodded his head. “You can leave, with the understanding that if I ever hear of you trying to move against me, you’ll be swiftly dealt with. If you want to disappear, I won’t stand in the way of that. It’s time you had something to look forward to in life, Dario. You can leave once this is over,” he said. I glanced down at Dario. There were tears in his eyes.
“I’ll tell you anything you want to know if it means I can leave. Right now, I don’t even care that there’s a chance you’ll kill me after I tell you everything. You’ve given me hope that there’s a chance I can get out. I haven’t had hope since my parents died,” he said, quietly.
“As long as you stay loyal to me, you have my word that no harm will come to you. You’ll be able to leave. Betray me and I will kill you,” Adrik said flatly.
“You’ll protect me until this is over?” Dario asked.
“It won’t be the most luxurious of accommodations, but we have somewhere to hide you that no one knows about. You’ll be safe here. You’ll have guards. You’ll have everything you need until this is over,” Viktor said.
The tears that were threatening to fall were now flowing down the old man’s face. He looked relieved. Haunted, but relieved. “Thank you,” he said, looking at Adrik and me. Adrik simply nodded his head toward Dario, while he pulled me a little closer, holding me just a little tighter.