“Yes. He told me to give it to you.”
“Did you read it?”
“No. He gave it to me before he took off. He said you would know what to do with it.”
Gio nodded. “I do. The only problem I am having is what to do with the information. It not only affects the family but the Golden Skulls.”
“I know. The stranger said so.”
“I need to make some calls,” Gio said, getting to his feet. I could tell he wanted to say more. To yell at me but for some reason he said nothing. I don’t know what worried me more, his silence or his temper. For as long as I’ve known Gio, his temper was voracious. Once released, he was indestructible but when he calmed, it was the silence that made him deadly.
Whatever was going on in his head, was bad.
Bad enough for him to stay silent.
Which didn’t bode well for me.
He said nothing more as he left me alone with Donatella and all I could think about was what my actions got the family into and would we all survive it.
Sixteen
Giovanni
Walking away from my baby brother, knowing he needed me to reassure him was one of the hardest things I ever had to do. My whole life I was told that my siblings were my responsibility. Mine to protect. Being unable to save Lorenzo from what he was forced to do tonight was something that was going to weigh heavily on me for the rest of my life.
I didn’t want this life for him. He should have never had to take the life of another. That was my job. It was something I willingly did so my siblings would never have to feel the pain of taking another life. If they only knew what I did to protect them, maybe then they would understand the depth of my devotion. I only wanted the best for my family. To let them have the life I was never going to have. I encouraged and helped when I could but watching them live their lives, free of the horrible torment of what this life could bring them was all the happiness I needed.
For as long as I could remember, I’ve tried to shield my siblings from the life I led. Taking care of the family was a full-time job. One that I took seriously. Though I knew Salvatore knew some of it, the truth was, none of them knew the severity of what I dealt with. They knew nothing of the late-night meetings, visits with those who owed the family money or when I was forced to take another life.
I thought for sure that the truth would come out back in Italy and some of it did but not all of it. What I managed to keep to myself I planned on taking to the grave. When I told Lorenzo to stay away from Luca Costa, I had my reasons. Now that he was dead, those reasons were about to come forward, involving my family once again.
It was another secret about to reveal itself.
The fact of the matter is, the envelope that Lorenzo was told to give me held information that Reaper and I needed. We’d been searching for the Original Seven for a while now and hadn’t had a single lead since Italy, when we realized Bianchi worked with them. Even Bianchi had gone silent. He had disappeared and hadn’t been seen since. I knew he was still out there somewhere, recouping and planning his next move.
A war was brewing and the only thing I could do was get prepared. Well, that’s what Reaper and I had been doing. Like the enemy, we too had been lying low, gathering intel and whatever else we would need to ensure our families came out of this war alive. A lot of planning had gone into our next move, but we would have to come up with a whole new plan with this new information. And my first action would be getting Lorenzo to safety, fast.
When he killed Luca, he opened the door for the Costa family to retaliate in force. Spotting Marko, I ordered. “Marko, call Giuseppe and have him return home. Then call Nico and have him lock down the house. Also call Salvatore. If I know him as well as I do, he is already in the air. Tell him to come home.”
“What’s going on Gio?” Marko asked.
“War has come.”
“Enzo, call Carmine and tell him to notify his family. Now that the Capribella’s are aligned with the Valentinetti’s they are in danger. And tell Carmine that he is to stay close to Layla. One scratch and he and I are going to have words.”
“On it,” Enzo said, before putting his phone to his ear.
Taking a seat, I too reached for my phone and dialed my good friend. I sure hoped he was ready for this because there was no stopping it now.
“Gio, what the fuck is going on? Who the fuck is this Costa mother fucker? And why does he want me dead?”
“I see you received the same information I did.”
“Who the fuck is this piss ant? Why are Bullseye and Phantom on this list? And who are the rest of these people on the list? I don’t have time for this shit. My woman is getting ready to pop and Savage is still M.I.A. and who the fuck knows where Bullseye is at or what he’s doing.”
“Miguel Costa is a low-ranking drug dealer out of Florida. He has wanted to align my family with his. I have refused many times but that isn’t what’s important. Costa is in league with Bianchi and the Original Seven.”
“Then I’ll put the geek squad on it. Let them do their thing. That’s their job anyway. Seriously man, I don’t have time for this shit right now.”