Dante tossed me the keys, and the second I got into the car I locked the doors.
“What the fuck, man?” Lorik bashed against the passenger side window. “Open the fucking door.”
I started the ignition and pumped the gas, tires screeching across the asphalt. Looking in my rearview mirror, I saw Dante and Lorik running after me. It felt like shit leaving them behind. But I had no choice. All I could do was hope they would somehow figure it out, and that I’d be able to save both my sister and the woman I loved.
Speeding off the estate grounds, I swerved into the street. The full moon was high, the night not so completely dark. But there was something ominous in the air, the yellow glow of the moon making it seem as if the gates of hell had opened, flames casting the jaundiced shade in the night sky. For the first time in my life, I didn’t have a fucking plan. Shit was happening too fast. I was so sure we would have more time—that the security around Doe and the rest of my family would buy me enough time to get that motherfucking chip out of her neck.
Fuck!
I gripped the steering wheel tight, my knuckles turning white. It all made fucking sense now—why Doe was so determined to go to Vadik. Why she was prepared to do something drastic just to make sure I’d let her leave. I knew when she held the blade against her skin that I didn’t have a choice, which was why I had the estate gates opened so she could leave. And the fact that there was a tracker hidden within in the necklace, disguised as a bloodstone, gave me a sliver of hope that I’d still be able to find her wherever she went. Unfortunately, Vadik tossed me a giant curveball by taking Karina as well.
Goddammit!
Taking out my phone, I dialed Lucio.
“Antonio,” he answered, “Dante just called. What the fuck man?”
“He’s got her.”
“I know.”
I pulled my hand down my face. “The fucker’s got Karina too.”
“Jesus,” Lucio cursed.
“It has to be an inside job. There’s no other way Vadik’s guys managed to get inside the house.”
Lucio dropped more f-bombs. “That would also explain how Renato’s goddamn corpse disappeared then reappeared at the house.”
I rubbed my chin with my thumb and forefinger. “It doesn’t matter now. We need to get them back.”
“What’s the plan, cous?”
“Vadik agreed to a trade.”
“What trade?”
“Karina, for me.”
It took Lucio all of three seconds to figure it out. “That’s why you left Dante and Lorik behind.”
“Yeah. I can’t risk it.”
“From the looks of things, you’re on your way to the harbor.”
“Somehow I knew you’d fucking know that.”
“Hey, just because you told me to stop tracking your ass doesn’t mean I did.”
I let out a halfhearted laugh. “I never thought the day would come where I’d be thankful for you not doing what you’re told.”
A few seconds passed. “Antonio, I can have our guys all over the goddamn harbor in twenty. Just say the word.”
I bit my lower lip, wishing like hell what lay ahead would be that simple. But I knew it wouldn’t be. “Not tonight, cousin.”
“You can’t go there alone, with zero backup.”
“I don’t have a choice. If I want to get Karina out of there alive, I have to play this fucking game his way.”