Chapter 72 Chapter Seventy Two - The Final Fifteen

Chapter 72 Chapter Seventy Two - The Final Fifteen

Cedric stared at the clock, his heart nearly beating out of his chest.

5:45 PM.

Fifteen minutes until six. Fifteen minutes until whatever the hell was supposed to happen at Block E, wherever the hell that was, and he still had no idea how to get there or what he'd find when he did.

He did know one thing though… he needed to find Marcus. That was the only move that made sense. But his phone was gone, smashed into pieces by Luca, and the landline wasn't going to connect him to an undercover cop's burner.

Unless...

"Ma," Cedric said, keeping his voice casual. "Can I borrow your phone real quick?"

Linda looked up from wrapping leftovers, immediately suspicious. "Why?"

"Just need to make a call. Work stuff."

She studied him with those dark eyes that had seen through every lie he'd ever told. For a moment, he thought she'd refuse. Then she sighed and pulled an ancient flip phone from her apron pocket.

"Five minutes. And if Gianni asks, I didn't give you anything."

"You're the best, Ma." He kissed her cheek and headed for the bathroom.

"That's what you always say when you're about to do something stupid," she called after him. “Be careful!”

Cedric closed the bathroom door and flipped open the phone, his hands shaking as he tried to remember Marcus's number. It had been weeks, too many weeks of being locked away, watched, and controlled.

His fingers moved over the keys, and after a bit of fumbling, he figured it out.

The phone rang once. Twice. Three times.

But there was nothing, no answer at all.

"Fuck." He tried again, pressing the buttons harder as if that would help.

Nothing.

And a third time.

Still nothing.

Now it was 5:47 PM.

Cedric's mind raced. He could call 911, but what would he even say? That he was a prostitute-turned-informant caught between a mob boss and his psychotic brother?

They'd laugh him off the line. Or worse, they'd show up with sirens and guns and get everyone killed.

The standoff between police and Gianni's men would put his family in the crossfire, and any police presence would escalate into exactly the kind of bloodbath that made the evening news.

Not to mention Gianni would be furious. He'd trusted Cedric enough to leave him here, had looked him in the eye and pleaded with him to wait.

“Just this once, do what I ask and wait for me.” He’d said.

Cedric closed the phone and stared at his reflection. Dark circles. Hollow cheeks. Fading bruises. He looked like someone who'd been ground down by years of bad decisions.

But beneath it all was that spark of stubborn defiance. The same recklessness that had made him do incredibly stupid things in the past believing, “What could possibly go wrong?”

He couldn't just sit here and wait, too much was hanging in the balance.

5:50 PM.

Cedric opened the door and nearly collided with Lily. She was standing there, her big eyes full of knowing sadness.

She signed slowly: You're leaving. I can tell.

"Lil..." His throat tightened. He crouched down. "I have to. Just for a little while. I promise I'll come back."

Her expression didn't change. You promised before. Then you left for weeks.

"This is different."

How? She tilted her head. How is it different?

He couldn't tell her, there was no way to explain that this time he might not make it back at all.

"I need to give you something first," he said instead. "Come on."

He led her to the kitchen where Linda was wiping counters. Gianni had loaded bags into the car before they'd left, enough gifts to fill a convenience store.

"Ma, I'm just grabbing something from the car."

"Those guards aren't going to let you—"

"They'll let me grab a bag from the trunk. I'll be right back."

One of Gianni's men was outside the apartment door, scowling and glaring at everything with suspicion. He straightened when Cedric emerged, hand moving toward his weapon.

"Just need to grab something from the car," Cedric said quickly. "Gianni brought gifts for my sister. He'd want her to have them."

The guard studied him, then spoke into his earpiece in rapid Italian. Finally nodded.

"Trunk only. Don't try anything stupid."

"Stupid? Me? Never."

The guard at the car popped the trunk without comment. Inside were shopping bags from expensive stores. Cedric grabbed all of them, including the one with the craft store logo of art supplies.

How did Gianni know his little sister was into art? He had no idea.

The bag was stuffed with sketch pads, watercolour sets, and markers in every colour. Stickers too. Sheets and sheets of glittery, puffy, holographic ones.

Gianni had told someone to buy everything in the goddamn store and now he had to carry the whole thing up the stairs by himself.

Cedric took the stairs two at a time back up, already planning his next move. First, he would go to the bathroom window, and from there he would slip into the fire escape and then sneak off before anyone would notice. Classic.

It had to work. Definitely. No doubt about it.