I went upstairs with my head in a whirl. Why would getting my picture in the paper make my parents go all zombie apocalypse on me? How could winning a full-ride scholarship to Harvard be anything but a good thing?
My dad’s face flashed before my eyes, and I shuddered. You aren’t going to argue. You aren’t going to ask questions. You aren’t going to do anything that might slow you down.
I yanked my suitcase out of my closet and started throwing things into it. Maybe if I went along with this, I could get back to Providence in a few days and go on with my summer plans.
If my parents arranged for me to stay with my grandmother, maybe she knew what this was all about. She would probably explain everything when I got there.
I grabbed the last of my things and zipped up my suitcase. I glanced around for anything I might have forgotten, but I didn’t have time to take everything. How much of my five minutes did I have left?
I whirled around and flung myself down on my bed next to my suitcase. I buried my face in my hands and heaved a shaky sigh. This was not how I wanted my last summer of freedom to go.
Chapter2
Luca
Ibent over my desk, checking all the locations on the map. Blue dots marked the spots where the enemy had established fortifications, and the red dots indicated my own positions.
I didn’t think I missed anything, but what if something slipped my notice? I couldn’t let that happen. This operation was too important.
My office door opened, and I scowled. Who would interrupt me at an important time like this?
I relaxed only a little bit when Dante and Dominic Luciano strolled in without knocking. I might be the king of the Fortino family, and the twins were technically my foot soldiers, but we grew up as brothers, so I let them get away with stuff I wouldn’t tolerate from anyone else.
Each one was as big as the other and a lot smarter than my usual grunts. I kept them close to me on my way up the ladder and made them my personal “hands.” Some people accused me of playing favorites with my childhood friends, but when I became king, I couldn’t afford sentiment like that anymore.
I didn’t promote the twins because they were my cousins or because we grew up together or for any reason like that. I did it because they always got the job done and I never had to question their loyalty to the family—unlike some people I could mention.
Dante slapped the newspaper down in front of me. “Take a look. She’s all over the morning paper.”
I frowned at the headline and the picture. “It isn’t like Matteo La Rosa to make a mistake like this.”
“We already cracked his bank records,” Dominic chimed in. “It turns out he and his wife were on vacation in Switzerland right up until this morning. They canceled the rest of their stay and took an emergency flight back to Providence this morning, so he already knows about the newspaper article. If he’s half as smart as we already know he is, he’ll be planning to move before sunset.”
“You’re right.” I straightened up and pushed the maps out of the way. “We don’t have much time before he finds a new hiding place.”
“We’re already on it,” Dante went on. “We have his house staked out. If he tries to move, we’ll be able to follow them.”
I strolled over to the window and gazed out. My office windows gave me a sweeping view across Boston Harbor to the Deer Island Light in the distance. So many ideas formed in my mind that I couldn’t contain them all.
“What about it?” Dante ventured. “Do you want us to follow them and see where Matteo goes?”
“Use your brain, shithead,” his brother countered. “Ifweknow where Matteo La Rosa is hiding, the Vittorios know where he’s hiding too. Nowhere will be safe.”
“The Vittorios don’t give a rat’s ass about Matteo La Rosa,” Dante argued. “He’s in hiding from us for passing information to the FBI, getting old Don Antonio Fortino indicted for money laundering, and killing our parents to stop them from exposing him. If anything, the Vittorios would want to protect La Rosa for the damage he could do to our family. Jesus, Dominic! Sometimes I think you’re too stupid to work for this family.”
“Don’t give me that shit,” Dominic fired back. “I’m as good as you any day of the week. I’ll tear your tongue off and stuff it down your throat if you mouth off to me again.”
“Quiet,” I snapped over my shoulder. “You’re both wrong.”
The twins whipped around to stare at me. “We are?”
“Forget about La Rosa. He’s pocket lint to us now.”
“He is?” The twins exchanged glances. “Haven’t we been searching for him all these years to get revenge on him for selling your father out? Isn’t that why you sent us to that fleabag town of Providence?”
“Of course, that’s why we’ve been doing it,” I replied, “but we’re shifting gears now.”
Dante frowned. “What do you have in mind?”