“What was that about?”
I nearly come out of my skin. “Torque,” I hiss. “What the hell?”
He blushes. “Sorry. What happened? Did we get the green light?”
“Yeah, I got the green light.”
He smiles and it lights his entire face. “Doing this with you will be my last job. I already talked to John. I’m taking a break.”
His words tug at my chest. It’s been feeling like he’s changing, as if we’re pulling away from each other and going in two different directions. I don’t know how I feel about that.
“Listen, Roni. I’m not a kid anymore. I’ll be fine.” He pulls me into a tight hug.
“I know. I’m proud of you. Never forget that.”
He pulls away and beams at me. “She shows emotion and John is nowhere in sight. Yup, you’re human after all,” he jokes.
“Shut up and stop acting like a weirdo,” I sniffle.
“You’re the one having secret meetings in hallways. What’s that in your hand?”
I move the box out of his sight. “Nothing. Come on, let’s get the family and get out of here.”
Chapter 65
Silenzio
John
A month later…
“You okay?” I say and kiss Roni’s forehead while I massage the back of her neck. She’s filled with tension as we sit in the back of this SUV. I know the waiting has been driving her crazy. First, the wait for the green light from Misha to get to this very point.
Now we’re waiting for the call from LaSalle. A call I have to say I’ve been curious about. All I know is that Roni sat me down and told me that it was time to put this all to rest.
I’ll be more than happy to put this behind us. The climax of things with the Alliance hasn’t even come to a head—I know that as well as anyone. Therefore, placing all of Roni’s drama in the rearview is at the top of my list.
“Yeah, I’m fine,” she says.
I know right away she’s somewhere else. She’s doing that detached thing. I don’t push.
I’m agitated as well. It’s hot as fuck out and this bullet proof vest under my suit and dress shirt isn’t helping. The air conditioning might as well not be on, that’s how much it’s good for—and the sun has fallen, but you’re still cooking. The faster we can get this done, the better.
My phone rings and relief washes through me. This is the moment we’ve been waiting for. Time to plug in those holes and be done with all of this. I answer and bring the phone to my ear.
“Listening,” I say into the line.
LaSalle speaks a simple word. “Go.”
I hang up and rap my knuckles at the hood of the car, signaling for my father to take off. He starts the engine and pulls out of the alley we’ve been sitting in, setting the convey behind us in motion. When I turn to look into Roni’s eyes her face is completely expressionless. I cup the back of her throat to get her attention.
“Whatever happens in here, we get home to our little girl in one piece. When this is over it’s over,” I say.
She shakes her head. “That’s just it, babe. It’s not, this is only the beginning. I don’t know how to explain it, but I get that now. Whatever Misha was waiting for had more to do with me than he let on. This doesn’t end tonight. It’s only a choice of how it will begin,” she says, her voice haunted.
I want to groan because as her words ring out through the vehicle, they ring true deep down in my soul. “Well, whatever’s waiting for us, I’m here to make sure it brings you no harm. I’ll make it better,” I reply and lean in to kiss her neck and nuzzle it.
“While I feel like I’m about to walk into a den of lies, those words are what I believe most,” she murmurs.
“I haven’t told you a lie yet, and don’t plan on starting.”
“Showtime,” she says as we pull up to the party, we’ll become famous tonight.
I don’t feel bad about this at all. There’s not a single innocent person left inside. Felix looked through the entire list to see if we’d need to extract any innocent bystanders. My stomach railed at most of the crimes of these men and women—heartless, careless, and greedy are only a few of the flaws on the list.
Those that were here simply to party were sent home before the real action came into play here. These are the low lives that think what was done to Roni, Torque, and Natasha was okay.
Music is blaring through the restaurant as the party has been in full swing for some time now. “Silencers on. We want to make this messy, but not loud. Your gift in the back building should be surprised once you enter their little private party,” Felix says into our comms.
“We’re on it,” Roni says.
We climb from the SUV as the rest of our team does as well. Wyatt and Noah emerge from two cars back and head in our direction. Their eyes are hard, letting me know they are as focused as I am.
Felix, Brax, Ry, and Torque are already in place, waiting for the signal. Dad, Rob, and Chase are holding down the vehicles for us to make a smooth get away back to the airport where our plane is waiting.
Uri and Val step from the SUV directly behind us. I shake my head. Val and Roni both have on red heels that are made for anything but what we’re about to do.
The black wraps they’re wearing are covering more than their tight black dresses underneath—don’t ask. We’re all dressed to the nines, however, I wasn’t expecting Roni’s knee length black dress with the shear overlay or to find Val in something similar. Anyone watching us walk into this fancy restaurant shouldn’t question why we’re arriving to the party so late—with men dressed in long dress coats in this hot ass heat nonetheless—but I’m sure the sight of all of us heading in their direction has caused pause for a very different reason.
Male and female, jaws drop as we head to the door. We clean up nice. They probably think we’re a group of models or entertainers come for the after party.
“Nice restaurant,” Val says as we move for the all glass front. She’s right, the place is huge.
“Yeah, too bad we’re about to fuck this shit up,” Roni says, tossing off her wrap as we walk through the entrance.
Roni pulls her guns and starts to fire. The guards at the front are taken by surprise as we all open fire with her. This isn’t my style, but LaSalle and Misha want to send a message.
“Dialing up the DJ’s frequency from here. Got to love these new DJs and their electronic rigs. Team two is coming in,” Felix says into the com.
The sound of the music has increased, and right as Felix’s words cut off, glass shatters above our heads as Ry and Braxton’s team of four comes to crash the party. The tall ceilings are not as majestic as my brother’s, Torque, and one of my guys comes through like avenging angels. I’m sure the García brothers are sorry they made a house of glass for themselves as we bring it tumbling down.
Knowing this is their restaurant spares me one. There is a huge chance they will be here tonight. Because of that I’ve called in a few favors for this, in the form of a couple of snipers and shooters, courtesy of the Briggs and Slaughter House. We won’t be leaving anything at risk on the table.