“Who are you sending?” Mario asks.
Romeo shakes his head. “No use sending you to Boston, not after this happened. You guys stay here. We batten down these hatches and prepare for an attack.”
I stand up straighter and remove my gun from its holster.
Vivia… where are you?
If they know that she’s alive… she’s in more danger now than ever.
She’s gone, I tell myself. I hope for her sake she’s far away, so far away that no one will ever be able to touch her or hurt her ever again. I ignore the rush of pain that stabs me at the thought, and focus.
Nearly silent, we all prepare. Reinforced metal bars on the windows go up. About a month ago, Romeo installed a privacy gate at the entrance after we’d been under attack. He says he feels safer with them up now that there are babies we have to protect.
The front door opens and Orlando strides in, looking ready to kill.
I watch as the large, wrought iron gate clicks into place and armed guards take their places. The more I watch, the angrier I grow. I scowl out the window and turn to Romeo.
“So we hide. Wait to be ambushed.” I clench my teeth and remind myself that I’m talking to my Don and disrespect isn’t tolerated. I want to grab him by the shirt and shake him until his teeth rattle.
Vivia’s out there.
Romeo looks at me sharply. Guess I didn’t hide that anger very well.
“No. We don’t hide,” he says, his own voice tight. “We protect the women and children and our home when we’re attacked. What would you have us do instead, brother?”
“Keep your guard at the gate,” I tell him. “Keep those security measures in place. Then you take your inner circle, your best gunmen, the bravest men you have and you fucking ride out to meet them. Meet them head on. Don’t even let them come within shooting distance of this fucking fortress.”
Mario slow claps from behind me, meeting Romeo’s gaze and not looking at me at all. Tavi blows out a breath and threads his fingers through his hair. He’s got a family of his own here. Santo jerks his chin at me.
“He’s right. And you know he’s a good shot, Rome.”
“Good shot?” Orlando mutters. “Best fuckin’ shot we’ve got.”
Romeo spins around and faces me. “You want to leave here because you think Vivia’s out there.”
“I don’t think, brother,” I say quietly. “Is she here? No. Then I know she’s out there somewhere.”
“Would you think differently if she were here?” he asks.
I think it over and shake my head. “No. No, I would not. I would want to ride out and ambush them. I wouldn’t want them to get anywhere near The Castle so I don’t have to worry about so much as a stray bullet whizzing by these walls or my kids or my wife seeing something they don’t need to see.”
“And if we head out, miss our mark, and they circumvent and come here? We’ve left our home unprotected.”
“We do not miss our mark.”
Romeo’s eyebrows shoot upward and he nods slowly.
“Pull a team,” he says to Orlando. “Take Dario in the lead. Sergio. Take our best guards and most efficient defense, so Santo and Mario go, too. Orlando, you stay here and call in what you hear to us.”
Orlando’s jaw tightens but he nods.
“Someone’s gotta stay here,” Romeo explains quietly, but I know him better than that. He’s making Sergio leave and keeping Orlando here in case Vivia’s got anything to do with this attack. If she does, he doesn’t trust Sergio.
Adrenaline pumps through my veins when I gear up to go out. “Where are they?” There are a few routes someone could take to get to The Castle in Gloucester from Orlando’s North End business.
“Not sure.”
“Let’s start there.” I jerk my chin at Mario. “You could probably find them in seconds.”