Desired Too (39 page)

I pulled out my cell just as soon as I watched my sister drive away. That’s when I noticed Angel’s missed calls. I’d noticed his calls earlier. However, after I spoke to Hugo, I’d figured Angel was just warning me about Daniel. Now that I thought about it, maybe it was a lot more.

Needless to say, that didn’t help my mood when I located the number I needed and hit the call button. It also didn’t help the moment I heard the voice on the other end answer the phone.

“Please explain to me why I had to hear second hand about the attack on Angel?” I didn’t get a reply so I tried a different route. “I swear if you don’t say something to calm me down now, I’m fucking ending you the moment I see you.”

“Lincoln, it’s not what you think,” Darrell said finally.

“Oh no? Okay, so tell me how you managed to allow anyone to get close enough to spray Angel’s apartment, with him inside, in the first fucking place!” I yelled.

“We weren’t there, so…”

“Oh, you weren’t there? So you mean to tell me that it was Angel’s fault he almost got killed?”

“No, I’m not saying that…”

“Then what are you saying, because you’re making me change my mind about shooting you. Maybe I should gut you like a fucking pig and watch you bleed out instead. That’s what you deserve. That’s what all of you deserve, you fucking stupid motherfuckers.”

I could hear Darrell getting frustrated over the phone. I didn’t give two shits about his sensitivity. They were supposed to lay down their fucking lives for Angel. There shouldn’t have been a soul on earth that could get close to him. If someone happened to get lucky, they shouldn’t have been breathing for much longer.

Finally, Darrell spoke and told me everything. By the time I made it to Uncle Bruno’s, the rage in me was the most I’d felt since Georgia was taken.

I pulled up to the gate of the house just as someone appeared from the darkness. He didn’t look familiar to me, and I was about to shoot him, but recognition feigned over his face and he let me pass.

“I’m at the house now,” I told Darrell. “I’ll speak to Eddie and the Don and get back to you. If this meeting is to go off anyway, you and Hugo need to be there. Angel needs the men he can somewhat trust by his side. Don’t trust shit you see. Survey the area. Make sure they don’t have any snipers around and if you do see any, take them out. Don’t wait to see if they will do anything. Also, stay silent; hold back in the shadows. You need to watch his back. Angel can take care of his front and his sides, but the place he can’t see the double cross coming will be at his back.”

“If no one is at the house, I’ll be making my way there, then we’ll go in together. If for some reason Angel gets there before I do, stall him if you can. I don’t trust anyone besides Uncle Bruno, not even his men.”

“Angel said he was stopping at his father’s first, so you might catch him. The Don and Eddie are already here.”

“Okay, then make sure you watch out for Ducci and his men right now. This will be a perfect time for him to show up.”

“Yes, sir, we’ll handle it.”

“Oh, and Darrell...”

“Yes.”

“There will be an ass kicking on credit for every fucking one of you. But before that, everyone responsible for what has happened will pay with their lives.”

“Most definitely.” He hung up.

I peeled out of my car and barely made it to the front door before my aunt threw open the door. She wrapped her arms around me and practically fell against me.

“Whoa.” I hugged her tight against me, trying not to let her being upset add to the anger inside me.

“Tell me who fucked up,” I probed as I tried my best to console her.

“They are going to kill each other; my sons are going to destroy each other. You have to stop them.”

I didn’t say a word, just held her close for a minute before I pulled back.

“Where’s Uncle Bruno?”

“He’s gone. He’s left with Eduardo.”

“And Angel?”

She nodded. “He was here a bit ago, then he left. I can feel it in my soul that something bad is going to happen tonight. You have to do something.”

My aunt and I have always kept things real with each other. I have never sugarcoated shit from her, and she’s never held back from me. She tells me time and time again how much I don’t deserve Georgia and my son. It’s just the way she was, really. Bad men didn’t deserve good girls. All we would do is corrupt them. I would agree if Georgia hadn’t picked up cussing more. She used it from time to time, but now she was dropping f-bombs every chance she got.  My aunt saying that shit to me only made me strive every day to be deserving of what I have. I felt as if it made me a better man.

“If you understand what’s happening, then you understand that Eddie has done this to himself. This is his second time plotting to kill Angel. How many times do you expect him to turn a blind’s eye?”

“I expect them to work this out like civilized men.”

I chuckled. “Aunt Angelica, do you realize the men you have in your family? We aren’t civil. Besides that, time for squashing this beef passed a long time ago. Angel and Eddie are grown ass men set in their ways. Angel is taking his rightful place in the family, and Eddie is trying to take that from him. They’ve established their place in this world as hero and villain.”

She closed her eyes and stepped back from me. I could tell this was hard for her. Again, maybe I should have shown some compassion, but this was Eddie we were talking about. He was going to die tonight If not by Angel’s hand, then by mine.

I took my aunt’s hand and kissed the back of it. “I will do my best to make sure things don’t get out of hand. I will protect who I’m supposed to and do my best to get them back home.”

My aunt took a few deep breaths, resolve coming over her, and lightly touched the side of my face. “I know you will, Drake. I know you will.”

I told her to be ready for Georgia and the baby’s arrival and that they should be arriving soon. My aunt nodded, and I headed back to my car.

Once I arrived at the gate, I let the sentry at the gate know that if anyone he didn’t recognize came close to this gate, he should shoot them first and ask questions later.

When he nodded, I left and moved in the direction of the Garden State.

I called a few of my contacts for an aerial view of the area around the building, as well as the occupants of it.  Five minutes later, I got what I wanted and formulated my plan. I called Darrell with an update, and he told me that Angel had just arrived. Darrell had tried to stall him, but Angel wasn’t having it.

“Okay, I’m five minutes out. Be there soon, so get ready. I’m coming in from the west.”

I hung up and started to make another call of my own when my phone started up. It was Georgia.

“Baby, what’s up?” I said into the phone.

“I’m at Pops’ house, and Raquel is here. She’s frantic and really needs to get a hold of Angel. Mama said you were heading his way. Are you with him yet?”

“Baby, we don’t have time for this.”

“Then you need to make time, okay?”

I sighed and told Georgia to put Raquel on the phone.

A few seconds went by, then I heard a tentative, “Lincoln?”

“Yeah, what do you need, Raquel?”

“Is Angel with you?”

“No, he isn’t, but he will be. If you have something to say, say it.”

“Okay, Eddie is planning to kill Angel tonight. He’s setting him up with some family named Ducci. I have a few friends of my own and they looked into this family. Apparently, they plan to use this meeting to kill everyone there. It’s a trap.”

“Who told you this?”

“It’s from someone reliable, Lincoln. You’re not the only one with connections.”

“Not Igor I hope,” I inquired.

She paused before she said, depicted of all emotions, “No, not Ira.”

I could hear the pain and anguish in her voice, so being the asshole that I was, I asked, “Where is he, by the way?”

I knew he would make his appearance at this meeting.

Raquel paused again then said, “Probably in hell.” She sighed, then added. “He’s dead.”

That caught me by surprise. I asked, “Basile’s assassin?”

“No, by me.”

Shit, I
really
didn’t see that coming.

I knew she was capable. Hearing that, and Darrell’s words, confirmed my own theory that she was definitely ready for Angel.

“Are you all right?” I asked her because I wasn’t a complete asshole and I knew how it felt to take a life.

“For now, yes,” she admitted to me, but I could hear that her “for now” was slipping.

I sighed. “Make sure all of you stay inside until one of us gets to you. It will be Angel or me. We will not send anyone else to come and get you. So if anyone tries, you do what you must to protect the family, got it?”

“Okay,” she replied, and I hung up.

Once I came close to the building I needed, I shut off the car. I checked my guns, then got out and headed in the direction I knew Darrell was. I saw him before he spotted me, and he and Hugo waited for me to come up close.

“Ducci is planning to attack here,” I informed them.

“Shit,” Darrell replied while Hugo started talking on his watch mic.

I nodded in his direction, asking Darrell, “Who’s he talking to?”

“There’s a few guys we called on that we could trust. They are family of Junior. Once we told them what happened and who was responsible, we couldn’t keep them away if we wanted to. They want blood, and they mean to have it.”

I looked questioningly at him, and he shrugged. “It was their words, not mine.”

I pulled out my Berettas and went through the process of checking each weapon as I asked, “Whose idea was it?”

Darrell, who was doing the same with his own weapon, paused and looked over at me. “What? To call Stink’s family?”

“Yea.”

Darrell grew quiet for a minute, probably thinking of what would be the best way to stay alive.

He took a long breath before he answered, “Mine.”

I nodded. “That was a risk.”

“I know,” he replied quickly.

I pushed my chin out, signally that I was speaking about Hugo, but I continued to look at Darrell. “How did you know I wouldn’t have just killed him or the kid?”

Darrell shrugged. “I didn’t. I figured small price to pay to get you back into the fold.”

“How did you know I was watching Raquel?”

“I saw you drive past the apartment one night, soon after Ms. Waters made it home. I didn’t think it was a coincidence, so I figured…”

I nodded again and went for the bulletproof vest in my backseat.

Just as Hugo came close, Darrell asked me, “How did you know that we knew you were watching her?”

I smiled and looked over at Hugo. “You should wait just a little while longer to make sure the person you’re talking about is actually gone.”

Darrell rolled his eyes and looked at Hugo. Hugo shrugged.

“So sue me. Cam and the boys have been briefed,” Hugo told us. “They will make sure to keep an eye out.”

“Okay, now that that’s settled, and you’re obviously back, what’s the plan?” Darrell asked.

I smiled. “Kill them all and let God sort them out.” I walked back to my car and popped the trunk then smiled again. “It’s showtime!”

The echo from my shoes bouncing off the warehouse walls was the only sound you could here in the building. I didn’t see a soul when I approached the building, but I knew my crew was out there watching me.

Hugo and Darrell were my confidants for a reason, and even though I wished Lincoln were home, I knew they had my back. I also knew that Laz and the rest of the team would not let anything happen to Pops. I told them that Ducci was coming and to make sure that they didn’t get into this building. As long as they did that we were covered. There was a lot of double crossing going on, but Laz, Russo and their boys were from the old school, so they knew it would be their life if they crossed my family. Too bad the rest of them didn’t know that, but they would soon enough.

As I continued through the main area of the warehouse, I could feel eyes on me. I could also feel the bullseye on my back, front, and forehead. I could feel the excitement of the trouble coming my way too and I smiled, in spite of myself. It had been a long time since I’d gotten dirty. Miami happened to be that time, and I have to say that I had been itching to work off some steam ever since. 

I made it to the end of the large room to an opening that lead to a long hallway and noticed one of my father’s bodyguards, as well as someone I didn’t know, come from the shadows. I nodded my acknowledgement and proceeded to a closed door that sat to the right of the opening.

I opened the door to find Eddie, my father, a pale looking man that looked somewhat familiar, and a man with a dark complexion sitting at a rectangle shaped table. As it seemed, I’d come just in time. Apparently, they’d started the meeting without me.

I took in my surroundings, taking note of everyone in the room. There were about four muscle types in the room, two behind my father and the other two behind the stranger, who looked to have just come off the boat from Sicily. He eyed me with disdain, which made me smirk.

I guess that’s supposed to be intimidating. What a fucking joke.

Before this meeting continued, it was time for me to take over. I walked to the side of the table where Eddie and Pops sat.

“I want everyone out of this room, except him and me,” I announced, my voice firm and strong in the cramped space as I pointed to Basile. I nodded my head at him. “I will allow one person to stay if you prefer, but the rest out.”

I placed a hand on my father’s shoulder, signaling for him to stay put.

Eddie, not liking me taking over his meeting rose, spat, “I’m not going anywhere, who the fuck do you think-”

I didn’t let him finish. I turned and walked up to him chin to fucked up nose. “Before you finish your sentence, you think long and hard about how you want your life ended right here and now. I know exactly who the fuck I am. The question is do I need to remind you?”

Weakness wasn’t accepted in this world of ours, and if I was to show Basile who was in charge, I wouldn’t hesitate to embarrass Eddie or beat the shit out of him to prove the power I have. That’s what it’s all about between Basile and me; power.

Eddie reluctantly backed down and stepped back from me. My head jerked toward the door in front of me. I looked at my father’s men, then Eddie and over at Basile, who hesitated a little before he waved a hand for his men to leave the room as well. However, the pale man stayed next to him.

Eddie was the last to leave the room, looking back at us before he shut the door.

I centered my attention back on Basile as I pulled out three Cigars from my front pocket. I tilted one toward Basile, who nodded his thanks and accepted. I handed one to my father and kept the other.

I took a minute to cut and light everyone’s cig before I did my own. I puffed a bit to get the juices flowing and blew out slowly, watching my adversaries through the haze. Damn, it felt like a lifetime since I’d had one of these.

As I had a good rhythm going, I sat next to my father and got right down to business. “I apologize that you wasted a trip across the Continent to come here.”

Don Basile took a pull of his cigar and leaned back. “You think my trip was wasted?”

“I do.”

“In what way?”

“Let’s put aside you sending a hit man to my city with the intent on shedding blood on my street without my permission. If you would have just came to me, I would have helped you. I could have had this Igor character in your possession weeks ago, had I known you were looking for him. I would have shipped him to you, dead or alive, whichever you’d preferred.”

“Ah, so it would have been that easy?” Basile asked with a hint of condescension in his voice.

“Yes, it would’ve been. However, I figured you didn’t take that route, since you’ve already crossed me and thought if I hadn’t found out that you doubled cross me I would.”

Basile sat up, his features changing to incredulous. “I’ve crossed you?”

“Seriously, let’s cut the shit. I told you specifically that Ms. Waters was not to be touched and yet, your fucking idiots tried to kill her. The way that I’m built, that alone was an act of war. She’s protected. You knew that. You don’t cause harm to her at all, unless you want to start something. Now am I to understand that’s what you want?”

He and I locked eyes for a tense moment before he looked at my father, then back at me. “You have to understand my position,” he said.  “She stuck her nose into shit she shouldn’t have. I don’t give a shit about ignorance; I don’t know what that is. If she was protected by you, she should have known better.”

“I agree,” I added quickly. Shock radiated from across the table as well as next to me. “And if you would have come to me first, I would have attempted to make this shit right if I could. What I don’t appreciate is you not giving me the common courtesy to do that.”

Basile slashed his hand across his body. “There wasn’t shit you could’ve done to make this right.”

My eyebrows rose. “Really? So you getting ownership of one of the largest shipping ports of San Francisco under your family wouldn’t have sufficed?”

The doubting look that came over Basile almost made me shoot him in the face for underestimating me. I added for effect, “I don’t believe in ignorance either, so the look you have on your face doesn’t move me at all. You know the kind of power my family has. You know what I would’ve been able to do for you, and yet you still went against me. Now, if I so choose, I could take over everything you own at a drop of a hat and disseminate it to your enemies, instead of the other way around.”

“You have balls to threaten him the way you are,” the pale man said to me, which brought him to my attention.

I added, but continued to keep my eyes on the ghost across from me, “I understand your position. Really I do. So I’m going to show leniency in this matter.”

The pale man scoffed, “And what matter would that be?”

I ignored him and continued to speak to Basile, “Here’s what I’m prepared to offer you. I will not kill the two of you. You will take your men and leave my city. What I will do for you is provide you with the person you’re looking for, however he will not be delivered alive. He will be sent in pieces. I will also provide you a forty percent increase of control within San Francisco’s underworld.”

The pale man scoffed again, and I quickly slammed my hand on the table while keeping my voice even. “You and I will have words once all of this is over. You can count on that.”

He smiled. “I look forward to it.”

I could feel the tension building within, and I thought about just killing him now, but I still had to take care of business; pleasure will undoubtedly come later.

“Please tell me how you’re going to give me a 40% increase in control,” Basile asked.

I took my eyes off Casper, then placed them back on him.
So that’s where I remember him from.
He was the one that tried to pick up Raquel at the club; the one she was threatening to leave with. I shook my head.
Wait until I tell her who he really was
.

“Don’t worry about how I plan on doing it. Just note that within ninety days, you’ll have it, but it comes with a cost.”

“More than what I already suffered?”

I ignored his sarcasm. “The men that shot at Ms. Waters belong to me. I will have my retribution; it’s your penitence for not coming to me in the first place. If I see anyone, hear anyone thinking about her, or fucking smell anyone close to Ms. Waters, all bets are off. I will come at you with everything I have. It will be bloody, nasty, and final. I won’t leave anyone alive.”

Basile looked at Pop’s stoic body language, asking. “Is this coming from just one man or the family?”

Pops puffed on his cigar a bit but didn’t reply. He wanted me to handle this. This was mine, she was mine and I would defend her until my dying breath. Pops knew this, so he kept his tongue. I, of course, didn’t and said, “I don’t know what you’ve been told, but let’s dispense of the confusion and say that this is my family, not Eddie’s. My father is retiring, and this family is mine. So to answer your previous question, yes this, is coming from the one man who runs this family.”

I met Basile’s eyes and held them, making sure he knew that I wasn’t bullshitting. He got it and nodded.

I added, “This deal is a once in a lifetime deal. There are no negotiations. As easily as I giveth, I can taketh away, and then some. Don’t test me. I understand the position you are in, and you must save face for your own people, which is why I’m offering you what I have. However, don’t take my kindness as a sign of weakness. It’s respect, and this one time I’m giving it, despite the fact it wasn’t given to me.”

I let that hang in the air before I placed my cigar in between my lips and stretched my hand out to him. Basile looked at me for a moment, but he didn’t reject me. He stretched and shook my hand.

“When will I expect my package?” he asked.

“Within a few days; three days tops.”

We all stood.

“Until then, Mr. Leonetti,” Basile said and turned to leave. He suddenly stopped and turned to face me. “By the way, you better watch your back. It’s a bitch employing family.”

He turned and headed out of the door.

When the silence filled the room, I took a deep breath. Pops placed his hand on my shoulder. “Proud of you, son. That went better than I expected.”

I looked over at him. “You think he’ll listen?”

He nodded. “Yes, he’ll listen. That ghost of a being next to him though, may not. You’re going to have to take care of him.”

I nodded my agreement, about to say something else to him when we suddenly heard a burst of automatic fire coming from outside the room.

I looked at my father as I pulled my weapons.

“We have to get out of here.” I moved quickly to the door, opened it and peeked out. There wasn’t anyone in sight. However, I still heard a gun battle ensuing. My father slapped his hand on my shoulder, signaling he had our back. Crouching, I exited the room. I crossed the hallway, looking straight ahead, waiting to fire the moment someone came around the corner.

Suddenly the gunfire stopped, and a loud war cry boomed from the main warehouse floor, bouncing off everything around us.

“You like to hit women, huh, punk!” I heard Ducci shout.

I looked over at my father and nodded in the opposite direction, motioning for him to find another way for us to get out of here. No telling how many Ducci had with him, or where our guys were. For all I knew, it could be the two of us against eight to ten of Ducci’s guys. We needed an exit. Maybe if Pops could get out, he could assess the situation and get some help in here for me. Pops gripped my shoulder telling me that he understood and was off.

“Answer me, motherfucker!”

I took a deep breath and said as loud as I could, “You know damn well I didn’t touch your daughter.”

“Bullshit! I saw the pictures.”

“Yeah? And who sent them to you?”

There was silence. Then he spat, “If you’re so innocent, you’ll face me like a man. Or you can hide like the dog that you are!”

I stood and placed my back against the wall next to me. I brought both of my guns up by the sides of my face, and asked, “Did Lucy call you?”

“You too afraid to face me, huh? Is that it? Big bad Angel doesn’t have the honor to talk to me instead of sending my daughter.”

I sighed deeply. He was really pushing me. I was trying not to fall for his shit, but it was beginning to get hard.

I looked down the hallway where my father disappeared, wondering if he was able to find a way around to the front. I decided to risk a glance around the corner just to see where everyone was. He had the upper hand now, but I refused to be cornered.

Ducci started firing into the wall I was standing against, sending plaster and wood in my face. I ducked down and waited until he was done.

I called out to him, “Consider yourself warned then!”

Bullets started slamming into the wall above my head. There were multiple guns; three to be exact.

When the gunfire died slightly, to only one weapon, I moved from my hiding place.

I centered on one man and fired in his direction. He went down as I located a new place to take cover. There was a large assembly line type of machinery to the right of me, and I slid in that direction just before a barrage of bullets flew where I once stood. I took a deep breath, waiting for the right time for me to move on from this spot, when I realized all went quiet.