chapter 2

"You did great for your first time," She said as she kissed me through my parted lips.

"Thanks," I said as I regained the strength in my legs.

Ravi handed me a silk robe and we left out the back door of the VIP room. I took a quick shower in the locker room and grabbed my towel to dry off when I heard talking. A man's voice was coming through the phone as the woman whispered.

"I'm alone now." The woman said with a hushed voice. I grabbed my clothes and put them on as quietly as possible.

"I believe the Russos have someone watching the warehouse." The man said in anger. "He's been here a few days, but he doesn't look Italian." He said sounding like he let out cigarette smoke. I immediately thought "Griffin."

"I know what to do. Send me his picture and I will be sure to handle him," She said in confidence. As she hung up the phone, I grabbed my knife out of my clutch. She was speaking about Griffin and planned on killing him. I snuck up behind her in her all black, leather get up.

"Give me your phone," I said with my hand around her neck and the knife at her throat. She handed me the phone and I walked her out the back being sure not to be seen.

We made it to the trunk of my car and I gave her two blows to the temple. She fell unconscious and I pushed her into the trunk.

"Griff, meet me now!" I said before he could say hello.

"What's up, Scar?" He said in a hurried tone.

"I'm sending you the address now," I said as I typed the address in and ended the call. I turned her phone off, so it couldn't be traced.

I drove fast before the bitch had time to come to. I went to one of our warehouses. Jen, our tech support, was there with her thick frames and long stringy hair.

"Jen, I need your help getting her out of the trunk!" I said while signaling her.

"Who is she?" She yelled out.

"Jen, we need to hurry," I said grabbing the woman's legs that weren't bound.

We gathered her up into the interrogation room and cuffed her hands to the table and her feet to the legs of the chair. She wasn't leaving here alive, so there was no need to hide my identity. I stood outside, watching her with Jen, waiting for Griffin to arrive. He entered swiftly, out of breath.

"What's going on? Who is she?" He said catching his breath. He really needed to work out more.

"She was being sent to kill you by an unknown man," I said staring him in the eyes.

"How do you know?" He asked with a concerned look.

"I was in the shower at the club, when she came into the locker room to take a call from the guy," I said as I pulled the phone out of my back pocket to hand it to Jen. "Griff, they think you're with the Russos. You're not safe. You have to have Santiago pull you out." I said, thinking of Lamont all over again. He grabbed me with his strong arms and held me tight.

"I'm going to get started on the phone," Jen said as she walked away.

"It's the feeling I've been having since we got on this mission, Scar." He looked at me and mouthed, "We cannot trust anyone." I stared at him in shock before he put his finger to his mouth to shush me.

"I'm going to talk to her, you stay out here," I said looking him in the eyes.

I walked through the door just as she was coming to. I grabbed the silver chair across from her and sat down. She smiled at me as I sat down.

"Serpente," She said as she spits on the table.

"La Muerte será tuya pronto," I said in my native tongue.

"Death will come to you first, bitch." She said with a wicked smirk on her face.

"So, you speak Spanish?"

"I speak many languages, Marisol."

"We know who I am. Now, what's your name?"

"Sofia Luciano," She said sitting up with a smile.

"Ah, your father is Francisco," I said with folded arms and legs.

"Bitch, I see through you. You're nothing but a mouth and pussy to fuck," She said with a wink. "He will use you just like the others. Except when he's done with you, he will kill you," She said through gritted teeth.

"Who ordered you to kill my friend?"

"Your friend was snooping in our business, he deserves to die. We will catch him and kill him and then he'll be swimming with the fishes." She said staring at the glass as if she could see him.

"Who was on the phone?"

"Why, you wanna fuck him, too?"

"That's possible. I like my men dangerous," I said as I winked at her.

She laughed throwing her head back, "He's going to kill you, so I will see you on the other side."

"That may be true, but I'm not afraid of death. I've killed enough people to know that my time will come," I said walking around the table to her. I grasped her hair, "Last chance, Sofia, or I'm sending your head to your Nonnina in an ice chest, while she's having tea." Her grandmother doesn't have many good years left, this may kill her.

She looked at me in total fear as I stroked her pretty neck. "They will chase the Russos for your murder and I will be free. Then your Nonnina will be mine for the kill," I said placing a wet kiss on her forehead.

"You evil bitch!"

"Ok, I will be back and I won't be playing nice," I said walking away.

"Franco!" She yelled.

"Franco, as in Giovanni's younger brother?" I asked in confusion.

"He's not dead, just in hiding because the Russo's eldest son has a hit on him," She cried out.

"What's his name?"

"He was born with the name of Francisco, but we searched for him and he doesn't exist!" She cried. "Please, I won't tell. I will join you as long as you don't hurt my Nonnina." She cried.

"Your word means nothing to me, Sofia. I need something," I said sitting on the table beside her.

"They have me tailing you," She said looking up at me.

"Who?" I say staring into her tear-filled eyes.

"Giovanni," She said as she closed her eyes.

"Why?" I said crossing my legs.

"He doesn't trust easily and I saw you meet with the man I'm supposed to kill, but the other guy I've seen before. I saw you two come out of the utility closet, he was fixing his pants and you looked worked over." She said with a grin, so I slapped her.

"Who knows about this?" I asked with her face in my hands.

"No one. I didn't get a chance to report, I was on my way when I got the call from Franco." She said and I could tell she was genuine. I stood up and walked out of the room.

"Franco is alive?" Griffin said with his hand over his mouth.

"Can we trust her?" I asked Griffin.

"We can't trust anyone, but she's got the information we can use." He said staring at her through the glass.

"Do we still have those chips?" I said staring at him.

"You want to stick a bomb in her brain?" He asked like I was completely out of my mind.

"We could use a dummy chip, stick it in her nose and show her the video of what happens if we press the button," I said looking at Jen, who was busy on her laptop.

"Who would keep an eye on her?" He asked. I turned his way and pointed to him before I walked over to Jen and asked her about the chip.

He watched Sofia as she cried because the death she'd get for betrayal was far worse than anything I'd do.

"I will release her to you tonight after I plant this chip in her," I said as I opened the door.

"What the fuck is that?" She asked in pure fear.

"Hold still because it can kill you, instantly," I said as I held her head back and held the gun in her nose. I pulled the trigger and she screamed something fierce.

"Oh my god! What the fuck, you crazy bitch!" She yelled as I watched her nose bleed and her eyes turn bloodshot.

"Play the video," The video played as it demonstrated what would happen if she crossed us.

"Now, you're going to go and report to them that everything is totally fine. You didn't see anything that would raise an alarm. Do you understand me?" I said stooping down next to her to unlock her wrist. She grabbed the cloth and placed it to her nose.

"They're still going to kill your friend," She said looking at me.

"He dies, you die," I said with my eyes harsh and cold, not moving from hers.

"They already want him dead," She said behind the bloody towel.

"You and him share the same lifeline. Figure it out," I said unlocking her legs. I signaled Griffin in and she froze in terror.

"I'm not going to hurt you, sweetheart, but you have a call to make." He said, placing the phone to her ear to call Giovanni.

She sat the towel on the table, cleared her throat and rubbed her wrist.

"Hey, Gio," She said as cool as a cucumber.

"Where are you? I thought you were coming here?" He said with his husky voice.

"Franco called me about someone snooping around the warehouse," She said looking at Griffin.

"What about the girl?" Her eyes fell to mine and I looked at the remote.

"She's clean. The bitch is boring. Nothing like your usual conquests," She said as she continued to rub her wrists.

"What about the guy you thought you saw her with?"

"Dead end. They have no ties. She's chiaro," She said as she closed her eyes.

"Addio, Sofia," He hung up before she could speak.

"Chiaro?" Griffin asked.

"Clear." She said as she stood up.

"You two have a good night," I said as I headed out.

"Wait!" She said in a panic. I turned her way and rolled my eyes. "What?"

"If you win over Emmanuel, you win over Giovanni," She said with her eyes on the ground.

"Thanks. I will keep that in mind," I said before I waved them goodbye.

I walked up to Jen, who was still working on the phone. "Send me the results. No one else," I said before leaving to go home.

Griffin and I were working together without Antonio, but only because he had a mission of his own. He needed to focus on Isabella Luciano and get close to her. We really were going to have our work cut out for us. I was going to need to get close to Emmanuel without giving him and Giovanni the wrong impression.