I sighed, knowing the gig was up.
“You Irish Bastard!” Salvatore cursed as the basement door was thrown open. Down walked the only person on the planet who could make five grown men cower in fear as we all pissed our pants. Not many women on the planet could handle a house full of testosterone-ridden Italian boys, but my mother was one of them.
Aunt Daniella was the other.
“Ma che cazzo stai facendo?”My mother sternly shouted in Italian before she spotted her nephews. She gasped and rushed over to them, “Oh, my Goodness. Dwyane, Reginald! Oh, my babies are home.”
“That was low, Dwayne,” Sal muttered as he walked over and unhooked his arms from the chains holding him. When he was free, Dwayne grinned. “You’re just pissed. I remembered Aunt Nikki made tea every night exactly at seven and that the air grate connects directly to the kitchen.”
“Shut up, man.”
“Do you boys want to tell me what in the world is going on down here? And why wasn’t I told that my nephews were home? Gio, is this how we treatfamiglia? Well?” My mother asked, looking directly at me, and like all the times before, I cowered like a pubescent schoolboy who was about to get grounded.
Reggie chuckled as Luciano quickly unhooked him.
“Mother, I was going to tell you. I had planned on surprising you at breakfast in the morning. Reggie and Dwayne are going to be staying with us for a while. They even brought a guest. She is upstairs resting. As for what is going on down here, well, I was just clearing up some unfinished business. That’s all.”
“Smooth man,” Dwayne whispered but quickly shut his mouth when my mother turned her stare on him. “Don’t even start Dwayne Michael Buchannon.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Upstairs, all of you. Right now, and get cleaned up. I just had the floors done.”
As Dwayne, Sal and Luc followed my mother upstairs, I hung back, looking at Reggie. As the rest of the cousins filtered upstairs, leaving Reggie and me alone, I turned to him and asked, “Who is she really, Reggie? If she’s got someone after her, I need to know. My mother lives here, along with my sister. Your mom frequently visits, as does the rest of the cousins. I can’t have a woman I don’t know put our family in danger. Now, I will do what I can to protect her, but unless I know what the threat is, my hands are tied.”
“A rival club, the Black Vultures. They are from Tennessee. Their V.P. Jekyll wants her. He’s had a hard-on for her for years. He had her for a short time, not long ago. He…he…”
I held up my hand. “No need to explain. I understand. Is he the reason your club wants her protected?”
“Sort of. Like I said earlier, she is the sister to one of my brothers, club members. He can’t protect her right now because he’s doing something else. Reaper asked me to look after her since I’ve been taking care of her since we got her back.”
Rubbing the back of his neck, Reggie continued, “Gio, I can tell you this because I know how you feel about this subject. Layla was kidnapped out of her apartment over eighteen months ago. She was taken by human traffickers and then sold or traded back to the Vultures. When her brother rescued her, she never talked. None of us know what really happened to her, but our Doc knows she was raped. For the last month, all she did was sleep. She has these terrible nightmares. With the shit going on in the club, Reaper thought it would be best if I got Layla out of dodge for a while. Someplace where no one could ever find her. That’s why I chose you. Nobody, not even Reaper, knows we are related.”
“I will protect Layla. You have my word on that. But as for the other, you are playing a dangerous game, cousin. Your President isn’t a man who likes deception. I’ve heard rumors of how he handles that. What are you planning to do when Reaper finds out you arefamiglia? Though I don’t think you or Dwayne are worth it, you are stillfamiglia, and I can’t have some club President kill you. Aunt Daniella would kill me, and that’s not including what my own mother would do to me.”
“Reaper told me to do what I had to, to ensure that Layla stayed hidden and safe. That’s why I called you. You’ve always been looking for an in with the Golden Skulls. Well, now you have one.”
“And your President will agree to this?”
“He won’t have a choice.”
9
Layla
Looking around the vast room, I had never seen such opulence before in my life. Growing up in the mountains of Tennessee, rooms like this one were reserved for the filthy rich, and I was never one of them. I’d seen pictures of rooms like this in magazines and never thought I’d ever get the chance to be in one. Yet here I was standing in one of those very rooms.
Too bad I couldn’t enjoy it. I wanted to, but I needed to be alert with how things were going. Giovanni Valentinetti did not trust me. I knew he wouldn’t. Trust was earned with a man like him, and I wasn’t giving him the information he needed to do so. In time I would, but right now, I needed to be cautious.
It wasn’t only my life in jeopardy.
Walking over to the large French doors that gave me a stunning view of the property, I reached into my pocket and dialed a number I had memorized. I had had this number memorized for almost two years, never getting the chance to dial it. It was a long shot, but I hoped the number was still good.
Putting the phone to my ear, I waited patiently for the call to connect, and when I heard, “Layla?” I sighed.
“It’s me.”
“Dear God, tell me you are in one piece?”