Giovanni
“Could you repeat that?” I asked, shocked, sitting in my leather chair on my plane, waiting to take off as I tried to comprehend what Dwayne had just told me. Layla talked with her cousin Carmine, the one man who never left her side, smiling at something he said.
“You heard me,” Dwayne whispered. “The Guardian is dead. Someone fucking shot him in church. Reaper knew. Didn’t even fucking flinch. They were talking shit I didn’t understand. Fuck man, I’m so confused.”
I needed to get a handle on this fast.
There was no way I was taking Layla into the lion’s den. Her safety was my main concern. Yet when she looked over at me and winked, the wheels in my head started to turn.
My woman was smart, cunning, resourceful and a brilliant strategist. From the moment she walked into my life, she was a veritable treasure cove of information.
Born into this mess, she knew all the players.
She’d been privy to conversations, places, meetings that none of us could comprehend, yet she did.
She knew it all.
She knew everything.
She said it herself that night when she snuck into my office when my brothers and I confronted her. That night was a significant turning point in my life.
I remembered it well.
“I am here to keep you alive. The club needs your help, though Reaper will never ask for it. You must give him no choice but to accept your help. I know you’ve wanted to align your family with the club for years, but circumstances have made that impossible. Now, things have changed. The club is caught in the middle of a war. Only with your help will everyone survive.”
“What war?” Player asked, stepping closer. “We’re not in a war.”
I couldn’t take my eyes off her. I knew whatever she was about to say was important. “Yes, you are. I know all about the original seven, Player. Kitty and I have known about them for years. Why do you think Kitty has been vocal all of a sudden?”
“That’s club business,” Massacre growled. “How do you know about that? Who told you?”
“Dwayne, let the woman speak,” I stated as I held up my hand and shook my head. This woman was cunning. I needed to keep a clear head and understand.
“He needs to understand this is bigger than he thinks. And to answer your question, Massacre, Kitty told me. I’ve known Kitty for years. We were roommates in college. I introduced her to Dylan. We put two and two together quickly after that.”
“But you were kidnapped. Kitty told us.” Player said, lowering his gun.
“Kitty told you what we wanted you to believe. The fact was, I sent the message to the Vultures, knowing they worked with the original seven. When the cut arrived, I knew our plan was in play.”
If that wasn’t enough, there was the revelation on the island when I learned that Angelo Capribella was still alive. I was reminded once again of the depth of knowledge that Layla had consumed during her life.
I turned to see Layla standing in the entryway, next to Grace’s father, Col. Meadows and her personal bodyguard, Carmine. I released Lorenzo as Layla walked over to me. “I knew you would never stop looking for him and it would get you killed. I couldn’t allow that, so I asked Lorenzo to keep my father’s escape to himself. I told you when we first met that I was here for you.”
“Layla, that man kidnapped you. He beat you!” I roared, running my hands threw my hair. “He sold you to that vile asshole, Jekyll, who raped you!”
“Yes, he did and he will get what’s coming to him, but what’s going on is more than any of you realize. I’ve tried to explain it to you all, but none of you seemed to understand the gravity of the situation.”
“Explain it to me, Layla,” my brother Antonio asked. Stepping forward, he said, “You know what’s really going on here, don’t you? You saw it all. You know all the players. You know what their endgame is.”
Layla looked up at him and nodded.
“Will you tell me now?”
“My father never worked for Bianchi. He was Bianchi’s boss. Bianchi ran the breeding farms, but my father oversaw it all. He made sure Bianchi didn’t deviate from the master plan. My father and one other ran the Division, but what none of you figured out was that my father is a member of the Society. Not Bianchi, my father, Sabastian Capribella. Several years ago, my father was recruited right out of prison because of his ties to the Golden Skulls. The other man, his partner, was recruited because of his association with Phantom and her connection to the Seal Team.”
“My sister?” Merc said, snapping to attention. “What does Lena have to do with all this?”
“Don’t you get it?” Layla sighed. “This is all a game of revenge. The two heads of the Division have gone off script from their main objective. Capribella wants revenge against the Golden Skulls for what they did to his mother and partner and Ascari wants revenge for what Lena and your team did to his wife and kids. Bianchi is trying to grab the head seat. That’s why he is coming after the Valentinetti Family. It wasn’t Capribella who was Langston’s main contributor. It was Bianchi. He hand-picked Langston because of his questionable morals. Bianchi knew that he could buy Langston and he did. As for the Original Seven, they are nothing more than second-rate hoodlums sent to distract the Golden Skulls from the Society’s main objective.”