Page 59 of Sacred Blood

“That’s true, with the exception of Vincenzo. He likes to get under your skin, and I think he is the only person who can, or was until Gaby came along. She seems to possess the same talent as our little brother for getting to you.”

He was right. “And the tell?”

“Look at your hands,” Massimo replied.

Glancing down, I saw my index finger rubbing across my thumb on my right hand.

“See? You do that when you feel anxious, but the only time I’ve ever seen you anxious is if something has happened to Simba. I bet when you check in on him at your lunches you do that and never noticed before.”

I was shocked. Had I really been doing this all my life? “You are very observant yourself,” I commented.

“It’s my job. I notice every tick, every inconsistency. Tone is a big tell, but not with you. In fact, I doubt anyone else has noticed, so stop worrying about it.”

I wasn’t worried, more like surprised and maybe even flattered that someone had taken the time to notice and now that I knew, I could remove the weakness. He pulled through the gates and around to the back entrance.

Waiting for us were our brothers, all but Fausto and Vinny, Massimo’s head soldier, and half a dozen others I didn’t know well, but had stitched up on more than one occasion. As we took our seats, Simon hurried into the room. “I have what you need, Don Vitale.”

Sitting down in front of a computer, he brought images up on the big screen. I recognized the three nurses that worked for me and were my fiancée’s roommates. Watching them, it appeared that the blonde dancing with Gaby was the culprit. When the goons entered the club, she made eye contact and nodded towards what I assumed was the bathroom. My suspicions were confirmed a moment later, when four men exited with my girl stuffed between them. She managed a glance back at her so-called friend and mouthed one word at her that even I could read: ‘Bitch.’

“We must have overlooked something in that woman’s background check. Simon, I want more on her,” Romeo commanded.

“I already have it, boss. That and the results of the facial recognition scan.”

Next up were the four men who’d left with Gaby. All known associates of the Solntsevskaya Bratva and all ex-military.

“Now we know who ordered her to be brought in,” Massimo commented.

“Do we, brother? Just because they are known members, doesn’t mean they are working for Ivan Knyazev. They could just as easily be Peskov’s men.”

He was right, the most obvious answer isn’t always the truth.

“Check the airlines,” I commanded. “Find out which flight they came in on. Don’t bother with the passenger lists, look for a charter flight that’s got one more passenger booked to go back than came in. It probably won’t be a straight flight to Russia, but at least the stopover destination might help us narrow down who’s behind this.”

The room had gone silent. I found both Massimo and Romeo looking amused instead of offended by my speaking out of turn.

Spearing Simon with a look, Romeo said, “You heard my brother, get on it, pronto.”

Simon scuttled out of the room and Gio took over the computer, bringing up an image on Google Maps and zoomed in.

“This is the footage of the area that Fausto has a lead on. As you can see, it looks empty. Two hours later, these guys show up.”

We watched as two black sedans pulled up to a docking bay and drove into the building. “We were able to catch the last three numbers of the second vehicle before it went inside. We are waiting on a response regarding the outside footage from the club to see if we have a match.”

I zoned out, removing their voices until it was only me in the room. Hang on, baby. I’m coming for you. Logically, I knew she couldn’t hear me, but I approached it as if I were with a patient in surgery. Instead of speaking aloud, I filled my mind with images of Gaby and sent her strong feelings of love and support. You’re not alone. I’m with you. I’m going to help you. You are safe in my care.

Wherever she was, I hoped she received my message.

“I have the package, boss,” Dante announced from the door. “She’s in the interrogation room.”

Massimo stood, as did I. His eyes narrowed, but he didn’t say a word as I followed him.

Within the interrogation room, a petrified Lucy sat shivering, her eyes darting around the room like a scared rabbit looking for a hole to escape into. She flinched when we entered the room, Dante taking up position at the door. Lucy shrank into her chair as Massimo transformed in front of our eyes, becoming at once terrifying.

“Dr. Vitale,” she stammered, surprised. “What are you doing here?”

“You are mistaken,” I replied. “There is no doctor in this room at present. Tell us, Miss Carmichael, everything you know or the man beside me will wring the truth from you in the most unpleasant ways.”

As expected, Lucy gave up immediately. “I’m sorry. This is just a big misunderstanding, I swear to you. The other night, the girls and I were partying and were approached by some very handsome men. They bought us drinks and we danced, and you know how it goes. Turns out, mine wanted to know about Gaby, where she was and when she’d be back.”