“And in the center of it all is Layla. She has ties to everyone, the club, the Capribella’s, the Vultures, and the Original Seven thanks to Dylan marrying Kitty.”
I nodded in agreement.
“How can one family cause so much destruction?” Reaper asked.
“I don’t think it was their doing, Boss. It’s more like they were in the wrong place at the wrong time. Think about it. If Layla and Dylan’s mom had never met your father, or if Kitty had never met Layla or Dylan, or if Diablo had never raped Donna. If just one of those things never happened, this war wouldn’t be happening.”
“Player’s right, Reaper. This is just all one big fucked up bowl of soup. Take out one ingredient, and the recipe changes.” Ghost said.
“And now, she’s forced my hand. I have two members of the Valentinetti family as officers. Her brother, my nephew, is currently in a coma recovering from a heart transplant. And because of her relationship with Dylan, I am forced to look after her. I have no other choice but to join forces with Valentinetti and pray together we can clean this mess up without too much blood shed.”
“There’s more, Boss,” I said, looking at Massacre, who nodded. “There is another family member in the club. We didn’t find out until a few days ago, or we would have done something about it. Axel. He is our cousin. I swear, Boss, we didn’t know. Giorgio looks nothing like we remember. He was just a skinny kid when we left.”
“Axel’s name is George Simmons?” Ghost sat up, looking at Reaper.
“His real name is Giorgio Simonetti. He is the half-brother of our cousins, Marko, Vittorio, and Paolo Valentinetti. Uncle Eduardo's father had an affair with a woman named Sofia Simonetti.”
“This is just fucking great,” Reaper sighed.
“Also…”
“I swear to fucking God, Player. If you tell me you have another cousin in my club, I will lose it.”
Shaking my head, I said, “No, boss. It’s about Layla. She specifically asked Gio to kill Diablo. In fact, she said that he would want to kill him.”
“Why?” Ghost asked.
“Don’t know. She never said, but she knew about the raid on the compound. That’s why we showed up. She knew it was going to be a trap. That there wouldn’t be enough of you.”
“She’s in communication with someone. Someone who knows everything and all the players. We need to see what else she knows,” Reaper stated, then added, “But first I need to have a talk with Gio. You, Player, will accompany Ghost and me to this meeting. You will not say a fucking word. Got me?”
I nodded and said, “Yes, boss.”
“Good. Let’s get this over with.”
Three
Player
Reaper and Ghost were quietly talking when I opened the door to leave, only to be stopped by my cousin Sal standing there. “Reggie, is Reaper with you?”
“Yeah,” I said, looking behind me at my President, who looked up and asked, “What is it?”
“I have a man called Sypher on the phone. He said he’s been trying to get ahold of you for the last hour.”
“Let him in, Player,” Reaper ordered. Stepping aside, I closed the door after my cousin entered and handed Reaper his phone.
“What is it, Sypher? No, I turned it off. No, I am not ignoring you. Yes, I know we need to keep the lines of communication open. Jesus Christ, Sypher, stop busting my balls and tell me what the fuck is going on?”
Instantly Reaper froze. “Repeat that,” he said, holding out the phone and hitting the speaker button so we all could hear.
“I said, Diablo knows. He knew about the raid. He’s on the move. I’ve tracked him to Chicago, where Layla’s at.”
“There is no way he can get into the compound. That place is secured and highly guarded at all times. Gio put his personal security detail on her, plus my sister is there. Trust me, no one will mess with Layla as long as Illyria is around. She can be deadly, if need be,” Sal quickly offered.
“There’s more boss. Something to do with some charity benefit. The Sunshine Child?”
Sal looked up at stated, “That’s my mother’s charity.” He then grabbed his phone away from Reaper and said, “We’ll call you back,” before hanging up. “We need to fill Gio in. This concerns our family. If this Diablo is in Chicago, I know of a way to catch him.”