The devil you begged for

027

LORENZO

~•~

When we finally arrived home, Isla was the first person to leave the car. She got down, went into the house, and went straight to her room. After what she had gone through outside my house, I didn’t have to forcefully keep her around. While I liked the outcome, it made things less interesting.

I stepped out of the shower and put on a new set of clothes just as Ricardo burst through my door. “I heard you got ambushed. Are you okay?”

“Do I look like I’m not?”

He frowned. “How about your girl? Did she get hurt?”

“You’d know if she was hurt, Ricardo.”

The question was pointless. He was the first person we called whenever anyone was injured. If he wasn’t present, he’d call someone else.

“Why are you overly sarcastic today?”

I ignored him as I left the room and took the stairs two at a time to my office. Ricardo follows closely behind me. I’d troubled myself to go get Isla from the people who took her. If she were killed after I took her back, everything would be in vain, wouldn’t it?

Also, I had a plan. I was quite mad at myself that I didn’t expect the possibility of someone else watching my moves the same way I was watching theirs.

Romano was already waiting in my office when I got there, Isla’s duffel bag on my desk. “It turns out they’re all from the same mafia, only that the ones who kidnapped her have a much lesser rank than the ones who chased you.”

I hummed, leaning against the desk. “Are you saying those men sacrificed themselves just to get rid of me?” If so, why didn’t they just shoot me when they so obviously outnumbered me inside the warehouse?

“I don’t think so. Those guys have been tailing Isla for so long. They genuinely want to take revenge on her. I’m thinking their boss or someone higher up took advantage of that and used them against you.”

“That’s cold,” Ricardo commented, leaning on my desk beside me.

A lot of bosses didn’t care about their men. It wasn’t unusual for people to sacrifice their men for the “greater good.” Unfortunately for him, his sacrifice was a waste.

I tapped my finger against the wood, wondering what they wanted from me and why they had this much patience, waiting so long before taking an actual move. While many people wanted me dead, I didn’t have any direct beef with anyone. I was skilled at negotiation. I knew how to satisfy both sides with, of course, having the upper hand.

Romano handed me a file. It contained information about the people we just dealt with as well as their boss. It had only been an hour since the ambush yet Romano had gathered enough information about them. This was the exact reason why he was my right-hand man.

They were a smaller organization; American but with Italian roots. “Did they think killing me would give them a foothold in the underworld?” I chuckled.

There were a lot of Italian mafia in America. The smart ones worked together. The foolish ones tried to overthrow each other. It wasn’t hard to guess what category these ones fell into.

“They’re kind of smart though.” Ricardo laughed. “You knew they would make a move once you let Isla go, but you never thought their main target would be you.”

One glance at Ricardo and his laugh died down.

The only reason I’d let Isla go was because I knew she was going to be in danger. I knew I’d have to save her and I knew that would make her more tied to me. I didn’t plan on letting her go anytime soon, at least not until I got what I wanted from her.

She was lucky she was useful. That was the only reason she was able to survive today, but also the same reason I was caught off guard. I’d never been this careless in a long time. I was beginning to wonder if Isla was worth it. I could find the information myself and let her go…

No. If any woman around me made it easier to target the family, then I’d be a poor leader.

“All the bodies have been taken care of. So has surveillance.”

“Good. Keep an eye on their boss. I might have to visit him one of these days.”

“Yes, boss.” Romano nodded and stepped outside.

I stared at Ricardo, letting him know he should leave too. He returned the stare for a while, then huffed and left as well.

As he closed the door behind him, I rounded my table to sit in my chair. The image of Isla tied to the chair in the warehouse kept surfacing in my head. It wasn’t out of sympathy. She was still a piece on my board and pieces were meant to be protected until they served their purposes.

Now, I just needed to make her loyal to me. While I was a master at wielding threats, I knew threats would never make a person loyal. The next option was to be nice to her, care for her. She had no family left. I was certain she needed a lot of care at this time.

I picked up her duffel bag and rummaged through it to see if I’d find anything useful. I merely found two sets of clothes, a debit card, a music box, a box of jewelry, and a lighter. I picked up the lighter, staring at it to see if there was a hidden compartment somewhere. From what I knew, she wasn’t a smoker. Was the lighter for something else? Perhaps like storing information or something?

I wanted to break it down but I knew she’d come for her bag soon. If she thought I snooped, it would be harder for her to trust and be loyal to me. If I found the information I was looking for, good. I wouldn’t need her loyalty anymore, but if I didn’t, I’d just make my motive harder.

I stuffed her things back into her bag and closed it. No need to alert her. It would be a lot easier if I just went to the next phase of my plan.