Page 100 of Because I Need You
“I can’t do this anymore,” I said, “I can’t just sit here knowing she’s in there.”
“We don’t know for sure yet,” Rocco said. “Let’s give it five more minutes. Dean will get back to us by then, and if he doesn’t, fuck it.”
“If he doesn’t, we’ll ride like the wind, Bullseye,” Dom said, smiling, until he saw my glare and then he dropped the smile and said, “We’ll go fuck shit up.”
“Try not to sound excited about that.” I shook my head and turned forward in my seat, eyes on the building again.
My phone buzzed with an unknown number. It wasn’t blocked, but I answered it anyway. I couldn’t take any chances.
“Qué hubo, pues?”
I frowned. “Marco?”
“Who else?” He let out a laugh; it sounded strained.
“Why are you calling?” I asked tentatively because I was one second from losing my shit and if he was calling to tell me he had something to do with this I’d have to light his restaurant on fire and my sister loved that place.
“I have some information I thought you’d like.”
“Okay,” I said slowly.
“Do you remember Luis?”
“No.”
“Well, he’s our cousin. He lives in Barranquilla.”
“Good for fucking Luis. What the fuck do you have to tell me?”
“Your father’s dead.”
My mouth dropped, a wave of panic, grief, anger, dizziness, hitting me all at once. It sucked the air out of my lungs. My father was dead. I’d always known I’d hear those words at some point in my life and I always tried to picture what my reaction would be. I did that a lot, set up scenarios and played them out to see how I’d react. Complete paralysis was not what I’d envisioned in any of those scenarios. Finally, I gathered my thoughts and found my voice.
“Who killed him?”
“Who else?”
“My mom’s brothers.”
“Yep.”
“Fuuuuuck.”
“Yep.” He sighed into the line. “I’m sorry.”
I let out a laugh. “Yeah, right.”
“I’m not sorry he’s dead. I’m sorry you lost your father though. I know how hard that is to bear.”
I swallowed thickly, emotions threatening to rise. Marco’s dad passed away a few years ago. Cancer. I’d met him a handful of times, if that. I never went to the funeral. Never called Marco or his sister to give them condolences. And now I felt like shit about those things, because here he was, calling me to say this.
“Your girlfriend is in the Bingo Hall on—”
“Sixty-Ninth, yeah I know. How do you know?”
“Word on the street.”
I shook my head. “Apparently your streets talk more than my men listen.”
“You should call me more often,” he said, then added, “So, you know?”
I felt my brows pull in again. “I know that she’s at Silvio’s bingo hall, yeah.”
“Oh.” He paused, as if he was considering potentially not giving me more information. His tone sounded the same to when he said my father died, and my heart squeezed so hard in my chest I was sure it would detonate.
“Did something happen to Isabel?” I asked, gripping my phone tighter. “Are you calling because you heard something happened to her?”
“I’m calling because I heard Tia Evelyn is involved in this.”
The phone fell out of my hand, landing on the floor, between my legs. I was staring outside but looking at nothing. My mother. First, my father dead, now my mother involved in my wife’s kidnapping? What the fuck was happening? I breathed in and picked up the phone again.
“Why are you giving me all of this information?” I asked, my voice low.
“Because you’re my cousin.”
“And? We haven’t seen each other in years. We’re practically strangers.”
“Cat and I aren’t strangers,” he said, “Besides, Evelyn already killed one brother and I’m sure I don’t have to tell you who put the hit out on your dad. This information is just me trying to make sure she gets what she deserves.”
“What have you heard?” I demanded and had him detail every fucking thing he’d heard.
He didn’t hold back, so either he was fucking with me, or he was trustworthy, like he claimed to be. Right now, everything was a shot in the dark though. I grabbed my gun and got out of the car. Nico stared at me. Dominic and Rocco climbed out, no hesitation, ready for war. As we jogged to the other side of the street, I took one last look at the block that I knew so well. My dad used to bring me here all the time when I was a kid. There had been an arcade right next to this bingo hall that he’d let me play at before getting me Joey’s across the street. I took one last sweep of it, because it would never look like this again once I was finished.
43
ISABEL
When I opened my eyes again, I was sitting upright, my ankles no longer tied together. My wrists still were, though. Across from me, there was a woman sitting in a chair in the center of the room, staring at me. I inhaled sharply when our eyes met. It was like looking at Gio’s sisters. He looked nothing like her, but his sisters might as well have been her clone. She was wearing a purple pantsuit and black heels, looking like she was going to an office meeting or something.
