Unspoken Obsession (Casino King #4)

30. Dante

DANTE

L orenzo stands in front of me in the hotel room.

He is as filled with grief as I am.

I can see in his eyes that what he saw in the basement of that house scared him in unimaginable ways.

"I made him pay." He says, not looking at me. "I made him suffer."

I swallow hard and nod. "Good." I clench my fists at my side, my heart is numb with pain.

"What happened to the girls you rescued?"

"They are somewhere safe. We will help them find their families and give them whatever support they need to overcome the horror of what they have been through."

"Thank you, Lorenzo. You have all of my resources at your disposal."

He takes a deep breath and rolls his shoulders back.

"Today we have other things that demand our attention though."

"Agreed. We can grieve when it is over."

Lorenzo pulls out a chair at the table and sits down, folding a map out over the wooden surface. He points to an entry point.

"This is how we are getting in."

Five dark SUVs pull up outside Antonio Musetti's home in the late afternoon. His security is no match for the firepower I've brought with me.

We are all climbing out, dressed in body armor when a sixth vehicle arrives, and Monroe climbs out and walks over to me.

"I appreciate you involving me in this; we have wanted to take this man down for years." His personal vendetta against Antonio is no secret.

"You have all the evidence you need - I sent you enough to put him away for life. And I am sure you will find more inside this place once we break it open." This attack is mafia on mafia; we are just going to leave the mess for the police to clean up.

"I am going to keep my men back until you have his crew under control. According to what will be in the reports - we don't arrive on the scene until after you've left."

"Good. I don't want my name in any reports," or anywhere that could link me to this. Cops and robbers shouldn't be on the same side, I would be considered a traitor.

"I made a promise. Your name will not come up, and we will turn a blind eye to your business operations."

Detective Monroe turns his back and walks back to his car. The unethical tactics needed to take Musetti down are above the law and there would be too much red tape for a man like Monroe to be allowed to blow this house open. He needs me as much as I need him in for this plan to work. I don't need a warrant, or to hold my fire — I can storm the place guns blazing and shoot to kill. The law doesn't apply to men like me.

"Ready?" I ask Lorenzo.

He turns to signal his crew. "Ready." He confirms.

We have five teams, each with their own boss. My allies have kept their promise and shown up to support a common cause. This is what we have done for centuries, stood together, a code of honor between gentlemen.

We will win this, but we have to strike hard, and fast.

"Let's go." I nod, and we all move towards the main gate of his estate.

The guards are terrified when they see we have the numbers. They raise their weapons, and we meet force with force.

"This isn't a fight you need to have," I warn them. "Put down your weapons and you can walk away with your lives. No one will say you were cowards --being smart is brave." It's a lie. They'll be labeled as traitors and cowards.

Two of the men put down their guns. The third sets off an alarm and screams profanity at us in Italian.

One of my crew takes a single shot, and he drops to the floor, dead. He should have run, the idiot.

I set a charge on the gate lock, and with a dull thud from the explosive, it swings open.

Chaos erupts, bullets screaming — panic and absolute mayhem.

My crews flood onto the property, covering the ground, and eliminating the minimal protection Musetti has. The man believes he is untouchable just because of his name. No one is untouchable — not when they have broken the code of honor that keeps order amongst us.

Gunfire erupts from all sides; bodies drop like flies as we surround the enormous house. The bloodshed is horrific, but an unfortunate necessity if we want to bring Antonio Musetti to his knees. We can't allow even one man to be left standing -- the friend of my enemy is my enemy.

If there was another way, I might have considered a less bloody path - but Musetti had his chance to give up and leave Frankie and my son alone; he chose this. He chose violence, forcing me to choose it too.

Lorenzo yells my name, and I turn to see a man running towards me with a knife. I duck low and aim high. The bullet shatters through his skull, exploding out of the top of his head in a rain of blood and brains. Wiping my face on my sleeve, I keep going, ignoring the death and destruction surrounding me. It is not the first or last time I will be in a bloodbath like this one;, this is part of who I am.

Focused on my single goal, I need to find Musetti before he tries to make a run for it. He might think he still has a chance to get out of here, but I've got other plans for him.

Crews at the back of the house are waiting, blocking every exit, but he might have alternate escape routes we don't know about. I'm an expert on tunnels and secret hiding places — he will have a plan.

Inside the house, men move from room to room. The staff are all restrained and moved outside; the guards are not so lucky. We can't trust they won't attack. The order is to kill them on sight, no questions asked._Anyone who fights back dies.

We clear each room, but Antonio is nowhere to be found. He's here; we just need to keep looking.

"Are you sure he was here?" I ask frustrated it's taking this long.

"He's here. I know he's here. We will find him." Lorenzo snarls, continuing to move forward. "Flush the rat bastard out." He says to his top soldier.

The entire upstairs of the house is empty, and we are halfway through the ground floor when one of my men screams my name. "Dante - he's in the basement garage." Of course, he is hiding in the dark like a cowardly dog.

I don't hesitate. I run straight through the house, leaving my crew to continue the house check.

In the kitchen I yank open the door to the basement stairs and find Musetti standing behind two young girls, using them as a shield. They're terrified, tears streaming down their cheeks, shaking. What a weakling! He has to hide behind a woman.

"Come any closer and they die." The girls whimper.

I shake my head. "You've killed enough innocent people, Musetti. Let them go." I don't want to kill him; we have other plans. I won't hesitate to hurt the fucking bastard.

"Fuck you, Russo. I'd rather die than give up." He growls in anger.

He presses the knife to one of the girl's throats and she sobs louder.

Behind me Lorenzo arrives, his gun aimed at Musetti, but hesitant in his stance.

"What do you want to do?" He asks.

"If he hurts her - put a bullet in him."

"Don't we want him alive?"

"Yes, but not at the cost of those girl's lives. They deserve to walk out of here and go back to their families. Besides you can aim it where it'll hurt but he won't die."

Lorenzo moves around the edge of the basement, positioning himself behind Musetti. Musetti keeps his eyes locked on me as he steps toward the door, glancing at his car, as if I'd let him get out of here that easily.

"You aren't going anywhere. Just give up." I snarl.

To emphasize the point, Lorenzo puts two bullets in the back tires, leaving the car undrivable.

Musetti's anger gets the better of him, and he pushes the blade harder against the girl's skin. The man is losing control, and he's close to snapping. He shoves the second girl away from himself and she falls to her knees with a thud.

"Get her out of here," I say to the man standing next to me. He rushes forward and lifts the girl over his shoulder, carrying her to safety.

Musetti is cornered. The fear in his eyes as he searches for a way out of this reveals the feral monster beneath his calm exterior. He is an animal, trapped in a corner. He's going to bite or run.

I can sense he is about to do something stupid before he does it. His fingers tighten around the handle of the blade; he's daring us to kill him.

He will murder her to provoke us into attacking him -- he wants to die. The humiliation of being defeated would be worse than death.

So, instead of taking the risk, I drop to the floor and fire two shots at his knee.

One hits him where I want it to - shattering his kneecap. The other hits the girl in her ankle and she drops to the floor screaming in pain.

Lorenzo and I both storm forward.

Lorenzo grabs the girl, lifting her in his arms and dragging her away from Musetti.

I pin Musetti down and kick the knife away from him.

Forcing him onto his stomach I pat my hands over his body in search of any other weapons. He did not bring only a knife to my gunfight; that would have been stupid. I disarm him, putting pressure on his knee, and immobilizing him with pain.

He is screaming, swearing, threatening death - but he knows he has lost.

He's fucked.

There is nowhere for him to run and nothing else for him to use to bargain for his freedom.

"Get her to hospital - and tell Monroe he can come in. I have left a gift for him."

I keep my knee against Musetti's back while I wait. The adrenaline is wearing off and the pain from the bullet in his knee is growing. He is squirming in agony, begging me to let him move his leg.

Instead, I lean against it, pushing his knee into the basement floor. I hear the grinding of broken bone against broken bone, and he lets loose an ear-piercing scream.

"That's for my sister," I say, wanting him to see the mistake he made.

"I took her to break you." He snarls in anger. "I took her away so that you would grieve and suffer and give up on life. I wanted you to fail at everything. I thought your empire would crumble if you lost her. I was going to pick up the pieces of your life and take over everything. But you fucking stayed standing and grew even bigger, you fucking asshole. You fucking didn't—" No, I didn't. His plan failed. It only fueled me. It made me an even larger threat. He underestimated me.

I punch the side of his face.

"Shut up." I snap, and his eyes roll back.

Monroe walks in and I move off Musetti. He clicks handcuffs onto his wrists and lifts him, dragging him up the stairs towards the waiting van - and the prison cell where he will live out his remaining years.

"His knee is fucked. You might want to get it looked at." I say.

"I reckon we will book him first. Maybe ask him a few questions, let him sit for a while - you know, while we wait for the doctor to arrive. The state doesn't pay their physicians overtime, so it'll be at least until tomorrow. I'll give him an Advil or something."

I chuckle.

"Thank you, Monroe. The house is yours. Tear it apart."

"He's never getting out, Dante." He says, "Thanks to you and the evidence you gave us. And we are already uncovering more evidence in this house. It's disgusting that he got away with it for so long, but his reign of terror has finally ended. You left a helluva mess though; fucking going to take a week to clean it up." That's a week no one can get near it and hide anything away. I'm no one's fool. His associates will be running scared, desperate to hide their involvement.

Monroe watches me for a while as we stand outside by the cars. I'm still a criminal; he is still a cop — we just exist in the gray area.

I have so many emotions, after having taken down the man responsible for my sister's death. Closure.

"What will you do now?" The detective asks me after a moment of silence.

"I am going to go home and celebrate with the woman I love. Then get back to work; the business doesn't run itself."

He smiles. "Lucky man. Women don't like cops; we don't get paid enough; the hours are shit and most of us drink too much." He jokes, then turns to walk away.

"I'll give you an increase. Maybe you can find yourself a good woman." I say.

"Are you trying to bribe an officer of the law?" He jokes.

"I would never." I wink; he is worth keeping on my books. He proved that today.

I stand and watch as Musetti is driven away from his luxurious mansion in the back of the police van. An animal in a cage, he looks feral. The powerful monster was reduced to nothing but a squealing pig.

It's time for me to go.

His property is going to be swarming with law enforcement any minute and I don't want them to look at me too. Monroe's small crew of officers knew I was never here.

I have my closure, and now all that's left is to process it. To sit with my sadness and let it settle, so I can finally move on to better, happier things.

"Move out -- before the real cops get here," I shout to my crew.

The car doors slam, and black SUVs pull away in all directions so no one can follow them. We don't need to clean up today; the cops will tidy up the unholy mess we've made.

I go straight to the hotel because all I want to do is see Frankie and Damion.

I want to tell them they are safe and will never have to worry about Antonio Musetti again.

Frankie is waiting for me at the door when I walk into the room.

She rushes forward and slams into me.

"You're ok. I was so worried. I can't believe you are ok." She steps back and inspects me for damage.

She is crying when she looks up at me and my heart explodes with love for her. I pick her up and wrap her legs around my waist, holding her tighter than I've ever held her before.

"It's over, little fox. He's in jail. He will never get out."

Laughter bubbles from her. A manic release of all the tension she has been holding onto for years, while her father controlled and threatened her life. Damion is safe now and we can be together.

She leans back to grab my face in her hands and press her lips against mine.

"I love you." She blurts out. Then her cheeks turn red with embarrassment.

"I love you too, little fox. I love you more every moment I am with you."