“Where’s Niccola?” I panted.
“That way.” Vinni shook himself and snatched up his gun from where it had fallen. We headed in the direction of the water.
I heard a groan and held my hand up to stop Vinni, who was hard on my heels. Something alerted me to danger, and I knew Niccola was ahead of us.
“Make the call,” I ordered and turned to stop Vinni from moving forward. If Niccola was seconds from death, the last thing his little brother needed was to witness it. I knew the call would spook them, and it might risk our chance at locating the girls, but I would not chance losing one of my own to the Coppola family. I could not carry that on my shoulders.
“The call is in.” Vinni appeared behind me again before he raced off in a different direction. Suddenly, it was as if someone pulled the plug on a levee, sending a tsunami of destruction onto the town below. My men swarmed the army of Coppola men at the dock’s edge, gunfire lit up the night, and screams filled the air as I carefully scanned the area.
I knew he was there. I could feel him.
Something cold prickled my back, and in one swift motion I whirled around, but not soon enough. The back side of a shovel smoked my head and sent me backward. Pain shot through my skull, but I managed to catch my footing and get into my fight stance. This was what I had trained for, why I had spent all those hours in the ring with my trainer, and I hoped it would pay off.
I blinked to clear my vison, and he caught me off guard and rammed me into a container, sending all the air from my lungs.
“Ahh, the mighty Elio Capri.” Stefano laughed like a crazy person as he held me down. “I should have known you were too proud to stay up on the mountaintop like your father.”
“And miss this?” I relaxed for a split second then sent a punch into his gut and head butted him hard sending him back. “Where are the girls?” I lunged, and he grabbed my arms, using my momentum to send us both into the wall. Again, I was on my feet ready for more. Blood dripped into my eye, but I blinked it back. My vision was now blurred in the left eye.
“Girls?” He chuckled, shaking his head as he limped backward. As I followed, my fingers twitched for my gun. “Oh, please, Elio, you need to see the bigger picture here.”
I spat the blood that pooled in the corner of my mouth.
“See what?” I yelled, feeling the anger fuel my adrenaline. “Entertainment?”
“Though I’ve been known to be theatrical, my dear rival, I knew sweet little Val would share my phone call performance with you.”
No, she didn’t, actually.
“I figured we should meet face to face, since this is, after all, our fight.”
So, no mention of the notebook.
“She also mentioned Mikey.” I was pleased to see the corners of his eyes widened at that, and the creases in his forehead deepened.
“Well, sir,” he slipped his mask back down and held his arms open wide, “I believe this is where we part ways.” He glanced over his shoulder then turned back to me. “Tell Sienna I’ll take her out riding sometime.” He dove sideways behind a container.
I pulled my gun and fired off a shot as I charged after him, but he had disappeared.
The sound of a boat engine caught my attention, and I raced toward the water’s edge only to see its light disappear from view.
Fuck!
I swung around and looked for Niccola and Vinni and was relieved to find both of them safe. Our soldiers had rounded up any of the Coppola men who still could stand and had them lined up next to a pile of their dead cohorts. Frustration and fury at the situation filled me as I walked toward the car, and I shot two of the men in the head as I passed by. “Clean this shit up.” I spat the words at one of my men.
The car ride home proved to be a difficult one. My father got his rundown mostly from Niccola, as I stared out the window with my anger building over what had happened. Stefano’s words about taking Sienna for a ride bounced around my head. What the hell did that mean? Had Mariano told him about Sienna and her love of horses and how she enjoyed riding? Did Mariano know who Sienna was to me? Had I been underestimating Mariano this entire time?
“Elio?” My father drew me from my internal war. “Coming?” He looked down at me as I sat like stone in the car. I hadn’t noticed we were in our own driveway.
“Yeah,” I sighed.
“Is there something I should know?”
I closed my eyes and touched the cut on my head, glad to feel the sting. I used the pain to center myself before I exited the car and answered him.
“Stefano mentioned that he would be seeing Sienna very soon.”
“What?” Francesco said as he approached from behind my father. His face looked as jacked up as I felt.