37

Chapter 37
Arin
I have the headache of all headaches when I finally come to. There’s no telling how much time has passed. Could be a few minutes, or a few hours, or even a couple of days. It’s impossible to tell because it’s pitch black with no hint of sunlight to be found. I groan, struggling to sit upright. I quickly realize I’m in a chair, my ankles taped to the legs and my wrists bound behind me.
“Hello?” I call out. My throat is painfully dry.
The lights flash on, blinding me, the contrast so violent I wince from the pain.
“Well, well, well…” comes a man’s voice. It takes forever for my eyes to adjust. Elio steps into view, looking way too fucking proud of himself. “About time you woke up, princess. I was worried I fractured your skull or something.”
My memories come rushing back to me. The attack after my fashion show, being dragged into the car, Milo in the front seat, Elio being very much alive.
I look around and realize I’m in a warehouse of some sort, surrounded by supply shelves. I’m unable to identify an exit.
“But why?” I demand, my voice weaker than I like. “I don’t understand why you’d do any of this!”
Elio regards me with a sneer. “Remember what I told you all those months ago? How I have seven brothers? Yours truly just so happens to be a fraternal twin.”
I frown, confusion making my head spin. “You’re a twin?”
“Milo and I don’t look that much alike, so I don’t blame you for not noticing. Most people don’t. Hell, even Dominic doesn’t know. Milo got our father’s unfortunate nose.”
I shake my head, continuing to struggle against my bindings. “This doesn’t make any sense. Dominic trusted you! You’re his right-hand man. He
trusts you with his life!”
“Exactly,” Elio says with a self-satisfied smirk. “He’d never see my betrayal coming in a million years.”
“But why?” I shriek, tears streaming down my cheeks. My eyes burn, my head pounds. I’ve got to figure out a way to get out of here.
“Do you want to know why I joined the Family?” Elio asks me. I’m certain his monologue is coming regardless of my answer. “I wanted to belong,” he continues. “My older brothers all joined out of some misguided sense of loyalty. You know what I say? Fuck loyalty. It doesn’t mean shit.”
I grind my teeth, desperately looking around for a way out.
Elio goes on. “I spent years dedicating my life to their cause. Following orders, getting my hands dirty, playing fucking babysitter to you and your brat. And how was I rewarded for my years of hard work? Nothing. I got nothing. Time and time again, I was passed over for promotions and pay bumps. Nothing I did was ever recognized, and what little credit I did earn went to Dominic because he was my immediate superior.
“For years and years, I watched from the sidelines as territories were mismanaged. Capos were shuffled around like playing cards. Milo was having a bit more success than me, but we realized one day that the only way we were ever going to climb the ladder was if we cleared the way.” He chuckles menacingly. “Lorenzo, that lazy fuck, was our biggest obstacle. We had to get rid of him, but we knew it was going to take a lot to get him to fall from grace. He was too well protected, and Dominic would never allow a direct attack.”
Rage burns inside me as I struggle against my bound wrists. The rope bites into my skin, the burn excruciating. “Then how did you do it?” I mutter bitterly.
“Milo’s always been a gossip. You’d be surprised how much damage a well-placed whisper can do. It didn’t take very long before Lorenzo started doubting his number two. Dominic’s always been well-respected, and he knows how to run things. All Milo had to do was convince Lorenzo that Dominic’s ambitions were getting to his head. A fake text message here, a couple of false rumors there… Desperate men do stupid things, Arin. If Lorenzo didn’t do something about Dominic soon, Lorenzo could kiss his position on the ladder goodbye. At least, that’s what my brother led him to believe.”
“So that’s why he came after Dominic?” I rasp. “Because you convinced
Lorenzo it was either him or Dom?”
Elio chuckles. “I must admit, it worked out surprisingly well. Of course, I didn’t expect Lorenzo to drag another capo into everything, but that turned out to be icing on the cake. It opened double the territory that Milo and I could split. Once my brother distilled enough distrust between Lorenzo and Dominic, the rest was history.”
“You used him,” I gawk. “Dominic trusted you and you used him!”
“Cry me a fucking river, sweetheart. That’s just politics.” Elio circles me like a bird of prey. “It was only a matter of time before Dominic made his move to oust Lorenzo on his own. He did all the heavy lifting for us. Instead of taking out three motherfuckers, we only have to focus on one. Work smarter, not harder and all that jazz.”
“What does kidnapping me have to do with any of it?”
“God, you’re fucking dense, huh?” He grabs me by the throat, his fingers squeezing so hard I can feel his nails breaking skin. “I’ve seen the way he looks at you, Arin. Dom would destroy the sun and the moon if it meant keeping you safe. Do you think I could truly destroy him without using you to do it?”
Dread claws through me, shredding my lungs and my stomach and my guts. My insides are hollow and cold. “You wouldn’t,” I wheeze around his chokehold, tears stinging my eyes.
He pats my cheek. I don’t appreciate the condescension. “Oh, but I would.”
“You don’t have to do this.”
“Oh, but I do. Killing you, one of their capos, and decimating one of the Family’s biggest warehouses is going to send the perfect message. We’re done working for them. We work for ourselves.”
“One of their capos?” I echo, confused.
Milo arrives, interrupting out conversation, dragging in a body with him. Dominic.
I choke on a sob. His face is almost unrecognizable from all the cuts and bruises. His shirt is stained red with blood, his form limp and unmoving.
“Dom!” I cry. “Dom, oh my God!”
Milo drops him at my feet. The only reason I know he’s conscious is the shallow rise and fall of his chest.
“Arin,” he mumbles past his split lip.
Milo kicks him in the gut. “Shut the hell up!”
Tears stream down my cheeks. “I’m here, Dominic,” I whimper. “Don’t worry, I’m here.”
“Are you hurt?” His voice is so weak I can barely hear him.
My heart breaks. He’s broken and bloody, yet he’s more concerned about
me.
Milo ignores us, holding up what I assume is a detonator, judging by its
big red button on top. “Building’s rigged. Now we just need to get the hell out of here and—”
Faster than I can blink, Dominic jumps to his feet with whatever strength he has left. His hulking frame knocks Milo to the cold cement floor. My heart lodges in my throat as I helplessly watch. It’s a storm of violent, bloody fists. Milo loses another tooth to accompany the ones he’s already lost. Dominic has the upper hand, smacking the detonator away.
Elio swoops in, chasing after the device as it skitters across the floor. “Jesus Christ, be careful! The whole place is gonna blow with us inside!”
I finally feel the duct tape around my ankles give way, ripping with the force of my kick. My hands are still bound, but at least I have mobility. I throw myself after Elio, tackling him as hard as I can before he can reach the detonator. I’m at a disadvantage with my hands stuck behind my back. Elio makes use of this fact, moving quickly to wrap his arm around my throat. I’m trapped in his chokehold, squirming for freedom as he squeezes tight.
“I fucking hate you,” he seethes against my ear. “Good,” I growl. “Because I fucking hate you, too!”
I immediately chomp down on his arm as hard as I can. My teeth break skin, the taste of salty copper coating my tongue as Elio howls in pain. Dominic is still in the middle of his fight with Milo, but I can take care of myself just fine. Tapping into the well of rage storming inside me, I make sure to give Elio a piece of my mind.
I kick with all my might, check him in the gut with a good ram of my shoulders. Somewhere in the middle of the chaos, I finally manage to pry my hands apart. I scratch and I claw and slap him, making sure to leave Elio no time to recover. He might be twice my size and three times as strong, but there’s no limit to my fury.
Screw the odds.
I lose it on Elio, climbing his back like a tree while I bite and claw at his neck and shoulders and face. He tries to slam me against a shelf, the hard impact of the metal stinging against my spine and my head. I don’t feel the
pain, though. Too much adrenaline. With the threat of death lingering over us, all I can do is fight.
Out of the corner of my eye, I see Milo take a nasty right hook to the jaw.
His eyes roll back as his body slumps to the floor. Out cold.
Dominic is winded, but not out for the count. He rushes Elio, matching my furious blows. Elio throws me off him and I land with a hard slam.
Right in front of the detonator. I pick it up quickly, minding the button that could end all of us in one fell swoop.
“Run!” Dominic shouts at me. “Not without you!” I scream back.
With one mighty shove backwards, Dominic throws Elio against the nearest shelf. A few of the lighter items fall off, burying Elio under a mountain of fake cash. Dominic moves swiftly, taking my hand as we race up the stairs toward the second level. From where we are, I see a swarm of Elio’s mercenaries flooding in through the exit, their guns raised and ready to shoot anything that moves.
It’s time to strategize. We continue to climb the stairs toward the roof of the warehouse. My lungs are on fire and the muscles in my thighs and calves burn like fire is in my blood. I’m breathing so hard my throat feels ripped to shreds. Dominic shoves through the roof access door, the muggy air sticking uncomfortably to my skin.
There’s no way down. I can hear our enemies approaching from below. We’re trapped.
Dominic takes the detonator from me before looking deeply into my eyes.
He’s in rough shaper. Rougher than rough, practically on Death’s doorstep. “I love you,” he says. “Never forget that.”
My heart twists in my chest. Why does it sound like he’s saying goodbye? In exactly two seconds, I realize why.
There’s no time to protest. Dominic grabs me by the shoulders, pulls me toward the edge, and we leap off the roof. He presses the detonator’s switch. I shriek as I plummet feet-first into the dark waters of the Hudson River while the sound of a terrifying explosion rattles my eardrums. The warehouse ignites into a ball of flames, pieces of the walls shooting out with violent force. The heat at my back is unbearable, but it lasts only for a second before I’m suddenly engulfed on all sides by frigid water.
My senses are shot. I can’t see anything, can’t feel anything. For a second, I wonder if I’m dead. In a panic, I accidentally try to draw in a
breath. Holy shit, I’m going to drown!
My body kicks in before my brain does. Kicking with all my might, I somehow manage to pull myself to the surface. I hack and cough, both because of the water in my lungs and the heavy smoke filling the air. Disoriented, I stare up at the remains of the warehouse. It’s an inferno. There’s no way anybody inside could have survived that.
Elio and Milo, along with their team of paid thugs, are most likely dead.
And Dominic…
Dominic.
I tread water frantically, searching every which way for a sign of him. The current is strong and there’s a good chance the explosion might have knocked him unconscious. Panic grips my spine. Where is he?
“Dom!” I cry, splashing around uselessly. “Dominic!”
I muster up the strength to dive under again, taking as deep a breath as I can manage. It’s too dark to see anything, and the pollution definitely doesn’t help. Coming back up to the surface, I really start to lose it. My brain is overloaded. There’s too many things going on at once. I’m trying to stay afloat while searching for him, overwhelmed by the sound of sirens and the foreboding orange glow of the warehouse ablaze.
“Dominic!” I scream, my voice breaking.
Somehow, I make it to land. I’m so cold it’s painful. My teeth won’t stop chattering. When I pull myself onto the dock, my body shivers so hard it makes me dizzy. Looking out to the water, I see no one.
I’m all alone out here. Dominic is gone.