Born into the Mob, page 6
And then, when she met Luca, instead of heading back to her hotel and staying away until her flight was due to leave, she practically seduced the man. Heck, she hadn’t even realized she was so good at luring in a man until Luca came along.
Even so, all likely would have been fine if she hadn’t shown up at his club on Friday evening. That decision had been the catalyst. These guys had obviously followed them, had figured out they’d spent the night together, to come to the conclusion that kidnapping her would force Luca to bow to their demands.
She couldn’t blame the mafia or Luca’s choice of professions. She couldn’t blame her father; these guys didn’t even know she was related to Gino.
This was entirely on her.
She had to figure out a way to fix it. She couldn’t let Luca be forced into running his company into the ground because these lunatics thought they deserved a piece of his pie.
She needed to figure out how to escape, make contact with Luca, get her purse with her ID in it back so she could get on a plane, and get the hell out of this place. Once she was safely out of reach and these guys no longer had any power over Luca, she and Luca could pick up that conversation they were supposed to have tonight.
The one about seeing each other again.
Maybe she was crazy for focusing on that, but honestly, the knowledge that Luca wanted their relationship to carry on beyond this weekend was giving her hope, helping her avoid a panic attack over her current circumstances. She needed that light at the end of this tunnel.
She also needed a plan of escape.
Her captors had brought her to a house as ostentatious as her father’s, with the added bonus of lots of red accents and ornately designed metal crosses hanging seemingly everywhere.
“My mother did the decorating,” Davit had said dismissively as he dragged her through the front door, through an entryway, down a hall to the kitchen. And then he’d pulled open a door and passed her off to the bigger guy. Narek had flipped her up and over his shoulder like she was a large bag of dog food and carried her down the stairs to this windowless, although comfortable enough, prison.
There was a full-sized bed against one wall, which Nina was determined not to touch since she had no idea when the sheets had been changed and who might have used it last. Based on the mini fridge filled with bottled water and the small bathroom that was reasonably clean and stocked with toilet paper, soap, and shampoo, she had the impression this wasn’t the first time they’d kidnapped someone and held them here.
It was also concerning that, so long as she was given food on the regular and maybe an occasional change of clothes, she could reasonably stay down here for an extended period of time.
Although it felt like forever, she had no real concept of how long she’d been in this basement. There was no clock, no windows, and she didn’t have her phone.
After determining there was nothing useful for escape in her little prison, she climbed the stairs to the top and, just for the hell of it, tried the knob. Which, of course, didn’t twist. She pressed her ear to the smooth surface but didn’t hear anything. Could be because it was a steel door, but also, it was entirely possible that whoever was upstairs had gone to bed. Although she wasn’t sure of the exact time, it probably was the middle of the night at least.
At this point, her only means of escape would occur when someone either brought her food—assuming she’d been kidnapped by humane people—or when they decided to free her because Luca had done what they demanded.
She sure hoped the food option happened first—and only partially because she was really hungry. The real reason was because she could not live with herself if she were the reason Luca kowtowed to these guys’ demands.
The snick of a lock twisting bounced around the room, and then the door at the top of the stairs opened. Expecting either Davit or the Narek, she was startled when a woman stepped onto the landing, her body silhouetted by light spilling into the space from the kitchen. Not sunlight, so Nina was right in her guess that it was still nighttime.
The woman started down the steps, walking slowly, as if hesitant to enter this space. She fell into shadows, and a man stepped onto the landing and began following her down the stairs. Nina couldn’t make out either one of them until they reached the bottom and moved into the dim light cast by the lamp on the table next to the bed.
The guy was Davit, but that knowledge barely registered. Nina was too busy staring at the woman with the big, bleached blond do, heavy makeup, and the sequined bra peeking out from under a zip-up hoodie.
“Serendipity?”
***
The muffled sounds of the song “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” cut through the silence that descended after Davit and his enforcer left, taking Luca’s soul with them.
What the fuck was he going to do?
Wait, that song wasn’t coming from the club—it was coming from his desk. He hurried over and spotted Nina’s purse. Digging through it, he pulled out her phone.
The picture on the front was of Nina, hugging another woman, their cheeks pressed together, totally cheesing it up for the camera. The word “Hill” flashed on the screen.
Her adopted sister. If Luca didn’t answer it, she’d no doubt keep calling. And eventually, she’d panic, he was sure of it, and that was the last thing Nina needed right now.
He answered the call.
“Who the hell is this?” she demanded.
He cleared his throat. “Luca.”
“Luca? Who the hell are you? Why are you answering Nina’s phone?”
Apparently, Nina hadn’t told her sister about him.
“Uh…” What was he supposed to say? Oh, sorry, your sister can’t come to the phone right now because she’s been kidnapped? Nope, lousy idea.
“Put Nina on,” Hillary demanded.
Think, Luca, think. “She’s, ah, indisposed at the moment.”
“Indisposed? As in you have her tied up and stuffed in a closet indisposed?”
Whoa, that was a giant leap. Too close to the truth, but giant nonetheless. “Not me, no. She just can’t talk right now.”
“Why? Nina never leaves her phone lying around for random guys to answer. What could she possibly be doing that you cannot hand her the phone right this minute?”
He winced. “She’s, uh…in the bathroom.”
“Without her phone?”
He blew out a breath and stared at the ceiling. That was a good point. Did anyone go to the bathroom without their phone these days? “It’s on the charger. Battery was dead.”
“Then why are you answering the phone instead of letting it go to voicemail?”
Jesus. He wanted to hang up on the woman. She asked too many questions, and Luca was too stressed out to think clearly.
“And who the hell are you, anyway? She hasn’t answered my calls since Friday. I feel like I should be worried here.”
“No!” Luca practically shouted the word. “No. No need to worry. Seriously. She’s just fine.”
“You’re freaking me out even more.”
Luca pinched the bridge of his nose. He did not have time for this. He needed to figure out how to save Nina so she could call her sister herself and reassure her that everything was fine.
“Listen, I gotta go. I’ll tell her you called. Bye.” He disconnected before she could hammer him with any more questions. Probably not the best way to handle that call, but it was done now. Time to move on to the next issue.
Figuring out how to get Nina back before her plane took off tomorrow.
Which he knew damn well he couldn’t do on his own. Davit was right, he was a savvy as hell business owner, but he wasn’t a mob guy. He’d only ever held a gun while at the shooting range. He’d never even gotten into fights at school. He didn’t solve problems with his fists or weapons.
He’d never needed to.
Problem was, the people he was up against, that was exactly how they communicated. He hoped Nina cooperated and didn’t get too mouthy, because while he was somewhat confident Davit wouldn’t let anyone rape her, hitting her if she got on their nerves was an entirely real possibility.
Shit. He needed to get her away from them.
And he only knew one way to do it.
Except he wasn’t sure this way would work to his advantage. Because if he pulled in Gino’s guys, and they found out who she was, Nina would be in trouble for an entirely different reason.
And Luca wouldn’t be able to save her.
He had no other choice. Well, he could go to the cops, but mob guys had connections everywhere, especially in law enforcement. There was always someone who could be bought.
He wasn’t willing to risk her life like that.
Not that his other choice wasn’t doing the same damn thing.
“Goddamn it.” He punched the wall, which actually helped because it hurt like hell and forced him out of his own head.
And then he slid his phone out of his pocket but paused before unlocking the screen. It wasn’t a coincidence that the Armenians showed up tonight. They had to have figured out Uncle Frankie’s buddies would all be otherwise preoccupied. Davit said he’d been watching Luca, but simply observing him flirt with Nina would not have given away the fact that he would have no backup in the club tonight.
He glanced around the office and then down at his phone. They had to have either bugged this room or they’d tapped into his phone. Either was a pretty distinct possibility, given how easily they’d managed to get into the office tonight and how smart Davit was. If Luca remembered correctly, he had some sort of IT degree.
Shoving the phone into his pocket, he grabbed Nina’s purse and took off, leaving via the employee entrance so he wouldn’t have to face any of his clientele or staff, who were all out on the floor at the moment.
He hopped into his car and tore out of the parking lot, drove about a mile down the road, and then pulled over into an empty parking lot.
Pulling Nina’s phone out of her purse, he took a chance that she was like pretty much everyone else on earth and used either her name or her birthdate as her passcode.
Birthdate, it was.
He dialed Uncle Frankie’s number. And then he held his breath.
“Hello?”
Luca could hear the sounds of a party in the background. Some song from the ’70s was playing. Led Zeppelin, it sounded like. He could hear people talking, laughing. Dishes clanked, somebody shouted something about a dog being underfoot.
Clearing his throat, Luca said, “Uncle Frankie, it’s Luca.”
“Luca? Whose number is this? Why are you not calling from your own phone?”
“I, uh…I need your help.”
“Oh shit. Hang on, let me go out front so I can hear you.” After a few seconds, the music faded. “Okay, what’s wrong? Oh fuck, it’s those goddamn Armenians, isn’t it? Did they do something to your club? I’m going to—”
“Not exactly. The club is fine.” For now. “But yeah, it’s the Armenians. And it’s serious. I-I can’t fix this without you.”
“Fuck. Okay, let me grab a couple of guys and meet you—”
“No,” Luca practically shouted. “Just you. I need to explain everything to you, and then we can decide what to do, who to ask for help.”
There was a long pause, and then Frankie sighed. “I’ll meet you at your place in twenty.”
“Thanks.” He disconnected the call and shifted the vehicle into gear.
And hoped to hell he’d made the right decision.
Chapter Eight
What the hell was Luca’s bar manager doing here in this basement prison?
With Davit, who was Enemy Number One?
“Why, hello, princess.” Serendipity’s gaze kept darting around like she was uncomfortable—maybe claustrophobia or something—but she certainly didn’t appear to be here against her will.
“What’s going on?” Nina finally asked.
Serendipity gave her a once-over. “Why don’t you tell us?”
Nina made a show of looking around at her surroundings. “Uh, I’ve been kidnapped and am being held prisoner so that you can extort money out of Luca?”
“She’s as much of a smart-ass as he is,” Davit said.
Serendipity laughed.
“So, what are you doing here?” Nina asked the other woman.
Serendipity tossed her a smirk and then wrapped her arms around Davit’s bicep and leaned in for a kiss. Not just a peck, either, but a full-blown make-out session that lasted far longer than was necessary. Not that any kissing front of her was remotely necessary, to be honest.
“I thought you were gay,” Nina blurted.
Serendipity finally broke the kiss and laughed again. “Did your boyfriend tell you that?”
Well, he wasn’t her boyfriend, but… “Yes.”
Serendipity turned to Davit and arched her brows. “Told you I was a good actor.”
“I never doubted you, babe.”
“Please don’t kiss again,” Nina said.
Serendipity rolled her eyes and then released her hold on Davit so he could wander deeper into the room. Nina watched him move while still trying to keep an eye on Serendipity, but she wasn’t good at this sort of thing, since, well, the last time it happened, she was six and the kidnapper was her dad, who hadn’t planned to harm her.
She ended up standing in the middle of the space with Davit behind her and Serendipity blocking the stairs, arms crossed while she studied Nina like she was some sort of alien being and Serendipity was trying to figure out what to do with her.
“Umm…”
“How about you answer some questions for us?” Serendipity suggested.
“Like what?” She had no reason to be nervous. Well, she did, obviously, given the current situation, but that wasn’t what was concerning her at the moment.
Except there was no way these people knew who she was. No one did. And besides, Davit was part of the Armenian mob, which hadn’t been a big player back in her father’s day, as far as she was aware. And Serendipity—well, Nina was still unclear where she fit into the picture, although it was obvious she’d been double-crossing Luca. No doubt she was the one who’d let Davit and that other guy into the office without Luca even being aware.
Bitch.
“Who are you?” Serendipity asked.
Nina feigned indifference by shrugging. “No one.”
“You’re a terrible liar.”
She really needed to work on that skill.
“What’s your connection to Luca? There’s obviously something. He’s never blown off the club for a woman before,” Serendipity noted.
Nina flapped her arm helplessly. “We’re just, um, having an affair.”
“How do you know him?” Davit asked.
“I don’t. I mean, I didn’t, not before Friday.”
“You expect us to believe you just met two days ago and he’s that freaking attached to you?” There was a sneer in Serendipity’s voice that made it clear she didn’t believe in love at first sight.
Not that love was what she felt for Luca. It couldn’t be. It really was too soon.
Nina cleared her throat. “Um, yes.”
Serendipity snorted.
“I swear, I met him on Friday. I’ve never spoken to him before then.”
“How did you meet?” Davit asked in a heavy accent.
“At the club.”
“Bullshit,” Serendipity said. “He knew who you were the second he spotted you on Friday. I saw it on his face.”
With no warning, Serendipity stepped closer, grabbed Nina’s arm, twisted it behind her back, and then slammed her against the nearest wall. Tears sprang to Nina’s eyes as the pain registered, and she blinked rapidly, determined not to let these two know they were getting to her.
“Who the fuck are you?” the woman snarled, her hot breath fanning the side of Nina’s face.
“Nina Karney,” she ground out.
Davit stepped up and grabbed her chin, turning her toward him. “What sort of last name is Karney? Because you look Italian.”
“So?”
“There are a lot of Italians in this area. They’re all pretty much shit at this point, but once upon a time, the Italian mafia ran this town. My family couldn’t ever get a foothold. Not until Gino Sarvilli’s brother ran off with his wife and kid and all his money.”
Shit, shit, shit.
Still holding Nina’s chin, Davit shifted his attention to Serendipity. “The brother and wife and kid all disappeared off the face of the earth. If I remember correctly, the wife came back and testified against Gino’s men, put a bunch of them in prison, and then disappeared again. No one’s heard from any of them since.”
“So?” Serendipity said, while Nina’s heart began pounding so loud, she was certain everyone in the room could hear it.
“So that was, oh, a little less than twenty years ago. My father used to talk about it all the time. He followed those trials like they were fucking porn shows because he knew we were about to be able to take over this town. I remember him saying that when it all went down, Gino’s kid was something like six or seven. And her name was Nina.”
Son of a bitch, she should have used Hill’s name after all.
“Holy shit,” Serendipity practically breathed.
Davit released Nina so that he could do something with his phone. After a few seconds, he cupped her chin again, lifting her face, and then he held his phone up so she could see the screen.
Which was filled with a picture of her at six years old. Her kindergarten school picture. It was the one the media had used when they found out about the kidnapping.
“Holy shit,” Serendipity said again, staring hard at Nina.
“Yep,” Davit said, sounding proud of himself. “We kidnapped Nina fucking Sarvilli. Do you know what that means, baby?”
Nina winced.
Davit didn’t wait for Serendipity to respond. “It means I know exactly how we’re going to take over the territory currently owned by the Italians.”
“How?” Nina asked. Why the hell had she even spoken? She did not want to know what he planned to do with this very dangerous-to-her-well-being knowledge.
