Sacrifice

Chapter Fifteen

M y phone won't shut up. Rolling over, I reach for Aribella and come up empty-handed. Instantly, my eyes pop open and I grab my fucking phone. Twenty text messages and fifteen missed calls. I ignore them all and pull up the library camera, expecting to see mi reina . When I don't see her and Espresso isn't there, I switch to the kitchen cameras.

Hot boiling rage fills me at the sight of Miss Terrington and a guard laying on the floor in a pool of blood. Aribella isn't capable of murder. Who the fuck has been in my house? Pulling on a robe, I rush to my office and see a bloody Espresso sitting on my desk.

He jumps on me and I let him cling to me. "What happened?" I mutter to him. Taking him to the bathroom, I clean him up and realize this isn't his blood. He's not hurt at all, but what about Aribella?

"Good boy, Espresso. Where's your momma?” The poor cat looks at me and meows miserably. Once he's cleaned and wrapped in a towel, I take him back to my desk to hold him.

Sitting down, my mind races as I imagine different scenarios while I take care of the cat. My breathing gets harsher by the second and I know I'm going to have to watch the cameras. I'm not sure I want to.

"Stop this. You are not some little bitch. Get with it." I tell myself as I let Espresso lie on the desk. I watch the computer screen, seeing seven of my men are dead and mi reina has been stolen. Taking my phone out, I finally look at the missed calls and texts.

Every single one is from Mossimo. Fuck me. I swipe through the texts.

Mossimo: There's something wrong here. More than I thought.

Mossimo: We have a fucking rat in our ranks.

Every time I read a new text message, my anger gets harder to control.

Mossimo ...

Text after text, he explains what is going down in the casino and asks for backup. I have let him down.

Centering myself before I turn the cameras to the casino, I think about Aribella and who has taken her. The men had on half masks, which means I cannot identify them. Even if I were to look into their eyes, there's no way I would be able to distinguish who was in my house.

"Mother fucker!" I bang my hand on my desk as I see hundreds of innocents dead. Mossimo's texts are urgent until they stop. It's not until I see the last text message that I know he's been taken. He wasn't a part of this betrayal.

A picture message comes through with Mossimo chained to a wall by his neck. He's bloody and beaten to the point he can't even hold his head up on his own. A masked figure holds it up by his hair for me to see.

Another text message from an unknown number comes through. A roar of agony leaves me as I see Aribella strung up by her arms, just as badly beaten as Mossimo. There’s so much blood caked on her. The skin around her stomach is mutilated and I feel myself getting sick.

There’s swelling in her face, but I would recognize those eyes anywhere. My God, they’ve done a number on her. As I look at the picture of Mossimo, I can see the broken nose, swollen eyes, and cuts all over his chest. A roar leaves me as another text message comes through.

Unknown: Your choice. Mossimo or the girl.

Getting up, I look at Espresso curled into a ball on my desk and think about the lives that have already been lost. I know I will save Aribella. My only saving grace is that Mossimo knows what my choice will be. Or at least I hope he will.

Strapping my guns to my chest and thighs, I put my jacket on. The families wanted The Beast ? They'll get him. Before I can leave, my office door opens and I quickly pull a gun, aiming it dead center.

My little brother, Leo, stumbles through the opening. His left arm is missing and there's blood seeping from the bullet holes in his chest. "Bro..." he sputters, blood spraying from his lips. Taking a step toward him, he falters. “They..." His body falls with a heavy thud and the paper he had a hold of floats around him.

"Fuck." Rushing over to him, I roll his body until he's on his back. Checking his pulse, it's barely there.

"They are closer than you think." Leo grabs my arm. "Save her." I watch the life fade from his eyes and I scream with rage and sorrow.

My youngest brother is dead. And for what? Who the fuck dared to do this? Whoever was stupid enough to do this, must want a war. I try to get up, but the pain of seeing my brother ridden with bullets has me paralyzed to the spot.

Leaning forward, I let my head drop to his, and I kiss Leo's forehead. "I'm sorry, Leo," the whisper isn't near enough. I know he knew the risks, but he was always stationed here at the house. Safe. Always fucking safe. Why the hell did I tell Mossimo to take him?

Picking up the paper, I see the address. Coldness sweeps through me as I think about where this address is. With one last touch on Leo's face to close his eyes, I stand and count to twenty. Stepping over my brother's body, I turn to look at the cat. "Espresso, come here."

The cat doesn't give me sass. Nope. He hops down from the desk and comes over to me. Picking him up, I make my way to the garage and cry out again. Espresso jumps, but curls deeper into me.

Getting into my Aston Martin, I hit the steering wheel. Who the fuck is stupid enough to start this shit with me? There's no way Diego would stoop this low. Besides, he's in a war with the Bianchi's right now. Driving as fast as I can, I make my way to the address, which is one of my storage facilities.

When I get there, cops are raiding the place. Not even stopping, I make my way to the casino. Someone's trying to tear down my world. Let them. They have no fucking clue who they are dealing with. I swear it will be their last goddamn mistake.

Walking into the casino and seeing the massacre, I make my plan. Calling my oldest brother, I wait impatiently for him to pick up the phone. Now, Miguel, he would stoop to something like this. The longer the phone rings, the angrier I get.

Finally, he picks up. " Hermanito, ?por qué me llamas tan temprano en la ma?ana? "

"Like you don't fucking know," I spit out as he laughs.

"What, what the hell?" The shock in his voice makes me rethink what I'm about to say. "Is there trouble, Vincent?"

Taking a deep breath, I go ahead and accuse him. It's the only way to flush him out. "Did you do all of this, Miguel?"

There's not even a second of pause from him. "What the fuck are you talking about, hermanito? What has happened?"

Pulling the phone from my ear, I hit the Facetime button. When he pops up on my screen, he looks confused. "Look for yourself." I show him the casino.

" Madre de Dios. No, hermanito . I didn't. Fuck. I'm on my way." He gets up from his bed and I sigh.

Shit, it wasn't him. I was hoping it would be a brother thing. But I should have known. It wouldn't have been that easy. "No. I don't know what I was thinking that you were behind this. And honestly, if it wasn't you, I don't know who would do it."

I swallow a lump in my throat before speaking again. "Stay where you are. I can't lose you, too."

"Leo..." His voice trails off and I see the anger building in his features.

“Si, he is gone. Whoever did this killed him.” I can barely get the words out of my mouth.

“Then I'm coming. Have you contacted Diego?"

"No, Miguel. Our brother is in a war with the Bianchi's. He needs to keep his focus there."

I watch Miguel kiss his wife and leave the room to go to his office.

" Hermanito , you need assistance. Whoever is doing this wants you dead. Our brother, God rest his soul, has already lost his life. Diego may be indisposed right now, but I'm not. We stand together. What do you need?"

Within ten minutes, Miguel and I have agreed to meet up and continue making a plan. But for some reason, I don't feel good about this. I'm putting more people in the line of fire.

Driving to the meeting spot, I call the police about the casino. Normally, I wouldn't involve the police, but innocent lives have been lost and their families deserve closure. Of course, I've already downloaded the original video footage. If it's been tampered with when the police view it, I have proof I'm not the one behind this.

Besides, I need the footage to see who the fuck is messing with me. My phone goes off, pulling me from my thoughts.

A picture message comes through from an unknown number. Mi reina is being held by her chin and she's crying. Another message comes through, this time a video.

My stomach rolls and my hand fists. I can't describe the feeling I have right now as I look at Aribella being groped through her clothes. Acid pungently runs along my stomach and I get dizzy until I hear the man's voice. I've heard it before, but cannot put my finger on it.

"Tell him, bitch." His face is obscured behind Aribella, and there are no distinguishing marks on his hand holding her chin.

"No." Ah, mi reina still has her feisty spirit.

"Good girl," I whisper with pride.

The man's other hand comes up and grabs her breast and I see red. The mother fucker will die slowly for touching what's mine.

"Don't touch me!" Aribella grits out through her swollen mouth and squirms in the man's hold.

"Then do what you're told." Mi reina looks into the camera and I see the fear as well as pain in her teary eyes.

"Vincent, you have until five this evening to choose. Mossimo or me."

I scream at the phone as the man punches her in the back and Aribella closes her eyes in pain. "Now, was that so fucking hard?"

My phone screen begins to crack from my crushing grip. Throwing it in the seat, I clench the steering wheel to try to keep my emotions from erupting. I cannot be raging if I want to get to the bottom of this situation. I need to keep a cool head.

Miguel pulls up next to me and gets out of his car. We are meeting at an abandoned warehouse and for the first time, I'm fucking relieved to have my brother by my side.

" Hermanito. ” He grabs me, pulling me into a strong hug.

"Thank you for coming." I pat his back and step away. Our family has never been too affectionate, but it seems my brother has my back in this..

"You should know I always have your back." He leans against the side of his car with his arms crossed. "I know we have been estranged in a lot of ways, but not this. Family first."

Looking at him, I quickly come to terms that I may have been the one that caused this divide in our family, a long time ago. Sighing, I nod. "Of course." That's all I can say. Hell, how do I admit I'm the fucking problem?

"Show me the footage and tell me everything you know. From there, we will see what we can do about hatching a plan to catch these assholes and save your girl."

After I tell him about Aribella and Mossimo, I show him the footage from both places. They were smart. Faces were covered in masks and hands were in gloves. Even their shoes have coverings on them at the casino. As we watch them move meticulously about, we notice they are not, in fact, trained professionals. Their guns aren't out and they don't use a single weapon until the last minute of the casino massacre.

"I won't say it's useless, but this doesn't give us much to go on, does it?" Miguel asks.

Shaking my head, I shut the laptop. "No, it doesn't."

Miguel plays with his keys deep in thought. "Alright, the families called a meeting about territory and how they wanted to vote for a new command family. Who all was there?"

"Mossimo stood in for you guys with me for our family. Talon and Bull from the Warriors were there. Our cousins, Louis, Guerror, and Z for the Falconi's."

I rack my brain trying to think. "The Bianchi's were there and so was Diego. They got into a fight in front of us, and Diego asked us to stay out of it. It would be settled at a later date. We both know that Bianchi only wants Diego's territory because he thinks he's hot shit from Italy."

Miguel laughs. It's so like our younger brother to be a hothead. "Warriors would only be involved if bigger fish agreed. They are scared of their damn shadows."

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot." I shiver. "The Powers were there."

I don't disagree with anything he has said. But what he says next causes me to feel a strong sense of fear. "If the Powers are involved, they would take the whole damn East and you know it. Fuck, I'm sure they would talk to us directly, though, wouldn't they?"

My brother has never shown confusion or fear in his life. I’ve seen both on his face today. I'm already upset, but now I'm nervous as fuck. "Is our family turning against us?"

At first, Miguel doesn't say anything, but then he straightens his tie and says, "Call a Domingo family meeting. It's time we weed out the bastards. Whoever doesn't show up is our first target."