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“There wasn’t any blood, and she didn’t make a sound, Alessandro,” Jenkins tells me. “I’m sure she was just knocked out.”
“You’d better hope and pray that’s all it was.” The silence after my statement tells him that everyone responsible is going to die if she’s hurt. I’m sick of his ineptitude.
We wait for the rest of the footage to come in, hoping for a glimpse of the asshole who took her. What do they want? Who are they? Why not square off with me?
The flash of an unknown number ringing my phone has my skin tingling with anticipation. “Evelyn?”
“No, no, no,” the caller says calmly. They’re using something to distort their voice. “I need a million dollars for your bride, Mr. De Luca. I’ll call you in an hour with the drop-off location.”
“Is she hurt? Is she still alive? I need proof of life before you get anything out of me.”
“She’ll be alive and well if you do as you’re told, Mr. De Luca. Now, be a good little boy and get me my money.”
The phone cracks under the pressure of my hands squeezing around it. Lorenzo arrives at the scene a few minutes later, taking over for me with the NYPD and soldiers who also pulled up with him. I go upstairs with Kathleen and Jenkins.
“How long was she here?” I ask them.
“An hour and a half, maybe?” Kathleen says. “We talked. I did an ultrasound, took some blood, ran some tests, and rescheduled for a few weeks from now.”
“What do you mean, ultrasound? She’s pregnant?” My eyes dart between her and Jenkins. Jenkins shrugs, and I turn my attention back to Kathleen.
“Listen, it’s still way too early to tell, but it looks like it. She was using an implant in her arm for birth control, but the car accident smashed it into pieces. It’s not life-threatening, but I wanted her to come back in to take the fragments out. I don’t know how effective birth control is when it breaks inside the body. You need to stay calm.”
“I am calm, deathly calm,” I tell her, but I’m fuming inside as I pick up the phone to call my father. After explaining the situation, he tells me to get on the phone with Oscar.
“I have your money here, Alessandro. It’s best you come and get it,” Oz tells me before I can say anything to him.
“I don’t have time to come out there. Which closet has the most clothes in it?” I ask him.
I’m not going to speak freely in case NYPD is eavesdropping.
“Those clothes are for special occasions, for Family occasions, not your personal shit. Come get it, Alessandro, because I highly doubt you’re going to trust just anyone to handle these, uh, delicates, for your wife.”
He hangs up, and I punch a hole in Kathleen’s waiting room. I point to Jenkins. “Get to Don Rossi, and have him use whatever connections he has left with the DA to see if we can get some legal help on this without all the questions. I want to know her location within the hour.”
Jenkins rushes out of the office, and I turn to Kathleen. “I’ll have somebody come fix that in a day or two. I need you out of sight, Kat. Lock these files up and get out of town for a few days. I can have Dimitri set you up with security if you want. I don’t know what the guy knows about our relationship, but anyone close to me is at risk.”
“I’ll head to Kings as soon as I lock up here. Don’t worry about it, Alessandro. It’s going to work out.”
“Really? Alive or dead, the amount of blood I’m about to shed over this gives me very little faith in anything working out. The monster doesn’t get to live, Kathleen.”
“Sure, he does. The world is made up of monsters, some scarier than others. Just tell me you’re going to hang around for Evelyn and the baby.”
“Not you too.” I shake my head. “Don’t make a liar out of me. I’ll try, and that’s the best I can do.”
She leaves it at that, and I find my way out of the building and into the car where I make the trek out to Staten Island. By the time I get to Oz’s place, he’s sitting in the driveway in front of his stupid gold statue and smiling.
“What the fuck do you find so amusing?” I ask him as I load the money into the back seat.
“You let pussy get the best of you, Alessandro. I never thought I’d see the day when the Butcher of Howard Beach was more interested in slaughtering pussy than his enemies.”
“Oz—”
“What? No Zio?”
“Oscar, you don’t want to end up on my butcher block. Stop toying with me. We’re grown men, and I’m never going to hesitate to protect what I cherish. Oh, and whatever deals you have going about the gun shipments?”
His eyes widen with surprise.
