Thirty-Two
Gage parked his SUV in front of a sprawling Arts and Crafts–style home in the heart of Oak Park. With a vast manicured front lawn and surrounded by mature trees, it seemed both inviting and foreboding in the moonlight.
“Crime definitely pays.” Emma checked the rearview mirror for Axel, who had insisted on following us with five of his men. He’d left the rest at the warehouse to watch over Jack. “I wonder where Axel lives. I don’t know that much about him.”
“Most bikers live in a clubhouse,” Simone said. “I’ve been watching Sons of Anarchy to understand the world of crime. If Axel decides he likes you enough to keep you as his personal property, you’ll become an ‘Ol’ Lady’ and get your own vest with a property patch that says ‘Property of Axel,’ and he’ll probably want you to tattoo his name on your rear. ‘Ol’ Lady’ is wife status, and because he’s the president, you’ll be accorded the most respect of all the bitches in the club. If he isn’t that serious, then you’ll be a ‘Mama’ or a ‘Sweet Butt.’ In that case, your job will be to sleep with the other bikers, keep the clubhouse and motorcycles clean, and try to convince Axel to take you as an ‘Ol’ Lady’ through underhanded techniques and political and sexual manipulation. If you don’t want to be part of the club, then he could take you as a ‘Citizen Wife,’ but he’ll likely have an ‘Ol’ Lady’ on the side.”
“Fuck that,” Emma said. “I want the whole damn package.”
“So, what do we do here?” I asked. “Do we just go up to the door of a Mafia boss at night, ring the bell, and hand over the goods?”
“We’ve got five minutes left and it’s not going to get to the door itself,” Gage pointed out. “Let’s get going.”
We walked up the long driveway together—Gage, Chloe, Simone, Anil, Emma, and I. My heart pounded as I thought through all the things I could say to convince Angelini to change his mind about Jack. I could appeal to his sense of honor. His brother had brought it on himself. Jack had a right to vengeance and now they were even. Oh, and by the way, Axel’s woman was our friend, which meant that if they touched Jack, they would face the wrath of Hell’s Fury.
Hands shaking, I rang the doorbell. I could see a TV flickering in the darkened living room, but no shadows in the brightly lit windows upstairs. After a few minutes of waiting, I rang the doorbell again, acutely aware that the clock was ticking.
“Look at the door,” Gage whispered. “It’s open.”
“We can’t just walk into a mobster’s house,” I said quietly. “He’ll shoot us on sight.”
Axel took a slow walk across the front lawn and returned with his brow furrowed. “He’s got cameras set up around the yard, but it doesn’t look like they’re on. I didn’t see any guards and his sensor lights didn’t activate.” He waved over the nearest biker and asked him to send men to check out the backyard and the rest of the street. “I don’t like this. Something’s not right.”
“He knew we were coming,” Chloe said. “He responded to the text. Maybe he turned off his security system.”
“Or maybe someone got here before us.” Gage pushed open the door and stepped inside.
I closed my eyes and counted to five before I followed him. “Mr. Angelini,” I called out. “We’re here with…” I pulled up short when Gage made a frantic gesture with his hand, waving us back.
“Fuck.” His harsh whisper froze me in place. “Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.”
“What is it?”
“He’s dead. Sitting in his chair in front of the TV. He’s got a bullet hole in his forehead and a big fucking knife through his heart.”
“Ohmygodohmygodohmygod.” Chloe sucked in a deep breath. “The Mafia is going to think we did it.”
“We need to get outta here and fast,” Gage said. “I’ll get his phone. It will have Simi’s number on it, and we don’t want anyone to know she was the last person he talked to.”
“I’ll wipe down the doorbell and the door,” I offered. “But what about security cameras on the street? And our license plate?”
“The police aren’t going to waste resources hunting down the killer of a Mafia boss,” Axel assured us. “The house across the street is vacant, probably owned by him, and the nearest neighbors aren’t close enough to get a good look at the plate. He picked this house for a reason. People can come and go and they won’t be easily traced.”
Axel talked to his men while we piled into the SUV. “There were three guards outside,” he said. “Someone took them all out in the backyard. One with bullets. Two with knives.”
It was a quiet ride back to the warehouse. For the first time ever, Simone had nothing to say.
Jack took one look at us when we walked back into the warehouse and his face paled. “What happened?”
“He’s dead.” I tossed the duffel bag on the floor.
Cristian recoiled in horror. “You killed him and brought his head back in a bag?”
“No, idiot.” Emma shook her head. “Someone got there first.”
“They took out three guards, disabled the security system, put a bullet in Angelini’s head and knife in his heart,” Gage added. “I found this on the table beside his phone.” He held up a piece of paper. “Does it mean anything to you?”
Jack studied the paper and then slumped against the pole where he’d been cuffed. “Yes.”
“You have to give us more than that,” I said. “What does it mean? Who killed Angelini?”
“It’s the date Clare and I promised each other that one day we’d be free to live our dreams.” He sucked in his lips and studied the floor. “It was the combination to the safe where she hid the necklace.”
Once he’d said it, the whole scene made sense. Milan’s knives. Vito’s guns. Clare stabbing Angelini right in the heart.
“She did it for you,” I said softly as I undid his handcuffs. “To set you free.”
“Yes.” He shook out his wrists. “It makes it just that little bit harder to hate her.”
“What do we do now?” Anil asked. “We’ve got the necklace, the interest money, and our bonus cash. Should we buy an island? Live in paradise? You still haven’t thanked me for playing the long game. I fooled Clare, a master thief. I fooled all of you with my incredible acting skills, and I made the ultimate sacrifice. Now, my future wife won’t be my first. But it’s the emotional trauma that was the worst. It hurt my heart when you all hated me. Maybe I should have a little extra for my trouble.”
“Thank you, Anil.” I gave him a hug. “For everything.”
“There won’t be money to give out any extra,” Jack said. “I’m going to take the necklace back to the museum in Delhi, where it belongs. We can keep the bonus money Clare gave us, but the nine million in interest should go back to her.”
“Are you kidding?” Cristian spluttered. “She’s the reason I was kidnapped by the mob. You don’t know what it was like. We had to eat out of non-compostable fast-food containers and throw our trash in plastic shopping bags. There was no recycle bin. They left taps running and the toilet didn’t have a short flush to conserve water. They didn’t give a damn about the environment. And there were no vegan options where they got our food. No fruit. No vegetables. It was all meat and carbs all the time. I lived on fries and the buns from their burgers. I must have gained twenty pounds in captivity.”
“What about the part where you were beaten and tortured?” Anil asked. “Wasn’t that worse?”
“I could survive the pain, but the earth will not,” Cristian spat out. “Do you know how much damage they did to the ozone layer with their cigarettes? Once they even put wood in the fireplace and had a fire. If I’d been able to look out the window, I’m sure I would have seen the actual climate change.”
“Clare’s going to need the money because the diamond she has is a fake,” Jack said. “I didn’t get a good look at it in the shipping container, but on the way here after I died—”
“You didn’t die,” I interrupted. “It was a fake death.”
“If I had died, you would have been sorry you didn’t trust me, and even more sorry that you went cheap with the pine box and lilies,” he grumbled. “So much groveling is going to have to happen when this is done. I can hardly wait.”
“What if I preorder you a nice super-deluxe oak coffin for when I strangle you in your sleep?”
“Someone hose these two down,” Gage barked. “I want to hear about the fake diamond.”
“There isn’t much to say.” Jack shrugged. “It’s a replica—a very good one.”
“How many fake diamonds did you make?” I asked Anil.
“Just one. I gave it to Chloe just before she was hit over the head. She was supposed to switch it for the real one once she got Peter to take her down to the museum.”
“We never made it to the museum, so it should still be in the pocket of my jeans,” Chloe said. “Vera was right about the entire art collection being fake.”
I scrubbed my hands through my hair. It had been one hell of a day. “Poor Peter thought he was Indiana Jones, and it turns out he was the victim of an elaborate scam instead.”
“He died for nothing,” Chloe said quietly. “That’s what’s really sad. Whoever robbed the museum killed him for a collection of replicas and a worthless piece of glass, and now they are out there walking free. The only bright light is that the container can’t be tracked, and they’ll waste time and resources trying to find a collection that has no value anyway.”
“I don’t think we should tell Vera she was right.” Simone folded her Gucci mask and tucked it into her purse. “I think it would just make her feel worse.”
“Clare is going to be in a difficult position when she gets the diamond appraised,” Jack said. “I almost feel bad for her. Xavier won’t be kind.”
“Everyone in favor of returning the interest money to Clare because she saved Jack’s life and freed us from the Mafia raise your hand.” I looked around the room and frowned. “Cristian, raise your hand.”
“It’s a lot of money.”
“Hand. Up.” I glared at Cristian. “Or you don’t get your $1 million in bonus money, which some of us are on the fence about giving to you after what you did.”
“Without Cristian, we would each get $1,166,666,” Anil said. “I say we cut him out.”
Cristian raised his hand.
“Excellent.” I opened the duffel bag and smiled. “Now, who wants $1 million?”
“Actually, count me out,” Simone said. “You can have my share as payment for the best adventure I’ve ever had.”