Antonio
The sound of whispering in the corner woke me up. My eyes flew open, and I looked around me. I could see Alessandro and Elisabetta standing there, staring at me in shock.
“What’s going on?” I said as I sat up, my head pounding.
“I don’t know,” Alessandro said as he strode to me. “Are you okay, bro?”
“I’m fine. Wait, where’s Callie?” I looked around the room, panic setting in. “Where’s Callie?” I said, louder this time, jumping up.
Elisabetta walked over to me and placed her hand on my shoulder. “We don’t know where she is. Antonio, I don’t know what you were thinking. I don’t know what your plan was, but—”
“But what? Wait, someone took us from the van. I’m assuming it wasn’t Jimmy coming up with a better idea.” I paused. “Wait, where the fuck is Jimmy? I need to talk to him. What is going on here?”
I could hear the anger in my voice. I wanted to punch someone; I wanted to hit something hard. Everything had gone awry. All my plans had blown up in smoke.
“Bro, you need to chill right now,” Alessandro said, grabbing my wrist and holding it up.
“I know something has gone terribly wrong, but I don’t know what it is. I don’t know where Jimmy is. Elisabetta and I found you out in the street like this. You were completely unconscious. Your forehead is bleeding. Elisabetta cleaned it up. Bro, something has happened.”
“What you mean you found me out in the fucking streets?”
“We got a call.” Alessandro sighed. “It told us where to go, and you were there, lying there.”
“Who the fuck did this to me? I will make them pay. I will kill them with my bare hands.” I looked at Elisabetta. “I’m sorry for saying this in front of you, but—”
“I’ve grown up with you, Antonio. I’ve heard you say much worse.” She shook her head. “I know what this world is about. I’ve been a part of it. I mean, granted, I was the housekeeper’s daughter, I wasn’t really a part of it, but I hear what goes on behind closed doors.” She sighed. “That’s kind of how I knew you were my brother.”
“What do you mean?”
“I heard my mom and your dad whispering constantly, and doing other things.” She wrinkled her nose. “Anyway, let’s not talk about that right now. What are we going to do?”
“I need to find out what’s happened to Jimmy. I need to know what’s going on. Anyone got a phone?”
Alessandro nodded and handed me his phone. “Here, I’ve got Jimmy’s number up on the screen already.”
I called it. It rang once and then went to voicemail.
“Jimmy, fucking pick up the phone and call me back as soon as you can. It’s Antonio.”
I hung up. There was fear in my heart.
“Where’s Callie?” I said again. “She wasn’t in the street with me?”
“No,” Alessandro said, shaking his head. “I have no idea where she is.”
“It could be the Di Lorenzos,” Elisabetta said. “I’ve heard that they want to take over in New York. Maybe they’ve seen this as their opportunity.”
“Nico Di Lorenzo is not a fucking fool,” I said, shaking my head. “This isn’t him, at least it’s not him alone. Fucking Tommasso Romano is in on this as well. You mark my words, I will have that man’s head on a platter.”
Alessandro touched my shoulders. “He’s still the consigliere of the Marchesi family. You know if—”
“If what?” I said, daring my brother to continue speaking. “You know this means war.”
“You know the Bratva and the Irish. Shit, even the Puerto Rican gangs, they want to encroach on our turf. If they see we have turmoil with them, we’re going to appear weaker, where—”
“I don’t give a fuck, Alessandro. It is war. Tommasso Romano is going down, and if Nico Di Lorenzo has been helping him with this, he’s going down as well.”
“Nico Di Lorenzo’s nothing to play with,” Alessandro said. “Fuck it. If anyone can take us down, it’s him.”
There was fear in his eyes.
“I’m not scared of Nico,” I said, staring at him. “Are you?”
“No,” he said without pause. “But we’re already in over our heads. I think this needs to stop. Antonio, you’ve gotten too emotionally involved.”
“What are you talking about?” I snapped at him.
“Callie.” He paused for a few seconds, his eyes looking earnestly at me. “Look, this started out as a way for us to get revenge for our mom’s death because Callie’s father killed her, but you’ve gotten too emotionally involved with Callie. I don’t even know if you really know why you’re continuing this.”
“You know why I’m continuing this. I want to make Ronnie pay.”
“Do you, though?” He shook his head. “Is that really why you want to be around Callie, because you want to make her father pay for everything? Or is it because you want to be with her? Is it because you kind of like sleeping with her, and the way she smiles makes your heart race, and—”
“Shut the fuck up, Alessandro.”
“What? You don’t like what I’m saying?” he said. “You are about to upturn our entire world for this girl, and you don’t even want to hear about her.”
“She does not mean anything to me.”
“So you don’t mind if I fuck her?”
I grabbed him by the collar and held him up against the wall. I slammed him back. His eyes glittered at me, but he didn’t say anything.
“If you even think about laying one finger on her, I will—”
“You’ll do what, Antonio?” he spat and pushed me back. “You’re lucky that I know you’ve been through trauma, but you’re not going to treat me like a punk for this bitch.”
“Don’t call her a bitch,” I said.
He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. “Well, I guess what they say is true.”
“What who says?” I snapped back, turning away from him, ashamed that I’d let my anger overcome me, and took it out on him.
“The fact that every man falls once in his life.”
“I haven’t fallen for her.”
“You might not know it, but I do.” Alessandro sighed. “So what do we do now? What’s the plan?”
“You need to call Gia,” I said, suddenly remembering what Callie had told me when we were in the van.
“What’d you mean? I’m not calling her. Why would I call her? Now is not the time to bring—”
“Gia is friends with Callie,” I said. “And her other friend is coming from California. Fuck, what was her name? Isabella. Jenny. Imagination. Emma. Emotional. Imogen, that was it. Her best friend Imogen was coming from California, because she was feeling bad about what happened with us. Imogen and Gia should be together, they most probably want to know what’s going on.”
“Okay, and you’re going to tell them that you kidnapped their friend, but someone got wise to the fact that you planned the kidnapping and actually kidnapped the two of you as well. Do you really think they’re going to buy that, big bro?”
“I don’t care if they buy it or not, but we need to talk to them. We need to know what they know. Maybe Gia noticed someone following them. She’s from our world. She’s smart, and she would’ve recognized people. She knows the Di Lorenzos.”
Alessandro paled. “I don’t want to fucking contact Gia.”
“I don’t care what went on between you two, you guys can figure that out later, but we need to get to Callie before something happens to her. Because if they lay a finger on her head, I will personally—”
“We know, Antonio,” Elisabetta said. “You’ll cut off their fingers one by one.”
“And then I’ll eat them in front of them,” I said, grunting. My blood was boiling in rage.
Elisabetta looked at me with her eyes wide. “Whoa, I didn’t realize you were a cannibal.”
“I’m not,” I said and let out a deep sigh. “I’m sorry, I just… I shouldn’t have gone on with this plan. And where’s Jimmy? Where the fuck is Jimmy? He will know exactly what’s going on. Why can’t I get in contact with him?”
“I don’t know, but it’s going to be okay,” Alessandro said. “You know Jimmy, he’s strong.”
“I know.” I nodded. “If anyone can take care of themselves, it’s Jimmy.”
“So let’s just see what happens, okay? I’ll call Gia.” Alessandro let out a deep sigh. “I don’t know if she’s going to pick up, but…” He shrugged.
“Maybe she will. If she’s looking for Callie, she’ll pick up,” I said. “We need to meet up with them, so whatever you do, Alessandro, don’t fuck this up.”
“I won’t, big bro.”