“Better him than you,” Niccola muttered.
“Go.” I signaled for them to race across to the open car door, where Vinni was waiting. The second my feet were off the ground, he pulled away.
“We’re good, Val.” Niccola gently rubbed her shoulder, trying to soothe her as she cried. “Your father and uncle are waiting for you back at the house.”
More tears came, but I could tell she was trying to hold it together in front of me. I made a few calls to my father and Francesco, explaining that things went well and to alert the others we were on our way home. I knew we might get some unwanted company after that, so I had a few of my soldiers on the lookout, ready to deal with whatever aftermath might come.
Antonio and his brother were waiting on the steps when we arrived. They both looked as if they had aged ten years since Val was taken. I would be adding more security to cover the families that were protected by our name. This couldn’t happen again.
Val stopped me as I began to get out.
“Mr. Capri?” She tucked her hair behind her ear and used the dirty sleeve of her shirt to dry her cheeks. “Thank you.” She cleared her throat. “I know what you must be thinking, but my father and uncle had no choice. They—”
“They did,” I cut her off, annoyed at how all of this could have been avoided. “But the air has been cleared, and it’s now up to them to keep it that way.”
“Understood.” She nodded but still didn’t make a move to leave.
“What is it, Val?” I noticed she had begun to wring her hands.
“I wasn’t supposed to be rescued, and…”
“And what?”
“And I heard things.”
I closed the car door, and Niccola caught my silent order to stop the others from coming over.
“You have my attention. Use it wisely.”
“Someone named Mikey called him a lot.”
“Mikey?” That name didn’t sound familiar.
“He never came around, he only called, but whoever he was stressed out Stefano. Sometimes, I think he was scared of him by the way he would curse and begin to sweat a bit before he answered the call.” Her hands rubbed together. “Strange, right? Because isn’t he, you know, like you? An underboss?” She wouldn’t make eye contact with me.
“Anything else?” I avoided her question, not wanting to get into details about the positions in a syndicate. “Did you ever see any other girls?”
“Girls?” She paused and looked confused. “As far as I knew, I was the only girl there.”
Interesting.
When she tried to thank me, I opened the door. That was enough for now. “Go see your family, Val, and no more walking home alone from school or to the dockyard.”
“Yes, sir.”
I let the family reunite and motioned for Vinni to take us home to get ready for his party. My phone vibrated, and I cursed at the caller ID, knowing what it was about. I motioned for Vinni to take a detour and listened to Donatello prattle off about what was going on with the situation.
“Where is he now?” I patted Vinni’s shoulder and let him know to hang a quick right. “We’ll be there in twenty.”
“All good?” Niccola asked from the front seat.
“We just need to pay someone a visit before the party. Call in some soldiers. I want to make sure he knows I’m not messing around.” I rubbed my head and stared out the window.
“Sure thing.”
When we arrived at the location, I nodded at the soldiers to stay put. They’d know when to step in if needed. Undoing my jacket, I slid my hands along my sides and pushed the back of my jacket out as I took a seat on his front steps. I didn’t have time for this, but I also knew that if you didn’t keep a finger on the heartbeat of our business, you’d soon lose control. So, visits like these, no matter how frustrating they were, had to happen.
Moments later, a limo arrived, and a young woman stepped out.Great, more company. I glared when I spotted the chain around her neck. We all had our kinks, but Cavaliere was a sick bastard.