•GIANNI•Sitting in Euphoria with Kinley felt strange after so long.After Luca had picked up Renato I took Kinley out for dinner before she decided she wanted to dance.In all truth, I wanted to go home, but being in this environment was becoming an issue for my drug problem.I sipped on my drink while keeping my eyes on Kinley who was dancing. I was sitting at a table near the VIP room."Hey, I haven't seen you here in a while." Janet was standing beside me suddenly, her hand leaning against the back of my chair.I guessed she must have been on duty dancing for the night judging by her attire of sparkly underwear."Yeah, Kinley wanted to come by," I motioned to my wife."I heard rumors that she returned, I had no idea they were true. We didn't think she would be back."I nodded, but I wasn't really interested in having this conversation with her.Kinley and I were already having enough issues, I didn't need to make it worse by entertaining a woman I used to sleep with."She looks li
•KINLEY•My eyes felt heavy as opened them, my body aching.I looked around the whole room in despair, everything coming back to me in a rush as I realized I lost the car.Gianni was gone.My body protested in pain as I forced myself to sit up before I ripped the various tubes from my body and got to my feet.It felt like I had been run over by a train.I slowly made my way over to the mirror in the room and gasped at the sight.My forehead was bandaged and the nose and side of my face were a mix of black and purple bruising. My bottom lip was split open.Despite looking like something out of a horror movie, I made my way to the door and walked out, wincing in pain with every step I took."What are you doing? Mrs. Esposito, you need to get back to bed." An elderly nurse said as she came over to me."I need to find my husband.""Kinley!"I looked over to see Barney coming toward us with concern etched on his face."Did you find Gianni?"He shook his head, "Not yet. Luca went over to No
•KINLEY• I paced the warehouse while waiting for Fin to return. "He's crossed us and now he's run off," Barney said. "No, he's late that's all." Just as the words left my mouth the door opened and Fin walked in. I shot Barney an 'I told you so' look. "Noah hasn't had any contact with Callum, but I gave him a call." "And?" "He's meeting me tomorrow morning. I asked if he was involved with Gianni being taken and he laughed and said we would talk about it tomorrow." I turned to Luca, "You're coming with me to that meeting." Luca made a face, "With? Wouldn't you rather wait here while we go? We'll bring him back here." I shook my head, "No. I'm going." Barney gave Luca a pointed look, "This is why he locked her in a room." "Barney shut up," I exclaimed with a roll of my eyes. Fin took a seat, "So what's the plan, temp boss?" "Where are you meeting him? Is it secluded or public?" "Public." "Okay, try and get him into your car. Luca, you hide in the backseat and when he's in,
•KINLEY•As expected, the police visited me, but KIng assured me he would take care of that.Unfortunately, he couldn't do much about the press and the moment I stepped out of the house I was blinded by flashes from all the cameras, as well as bombarded with stupid questions. All of which I refused to answer.Barney and Luca had advised me not to utter a word to anyone, so I kept my mouth shut as I made my way to the car.Even though I actually wanted to scream at them all.When I got into the car I slammed the door shut, "It's day one of this crap and I already want to rip their eyes out."Luca chuckled in the driver's seat, "It'll die down once we have Gianni back.""Right. Where are Barney and Fin?""Getting ready to meet Callum. Barney is waiting and watching. We'll get there and stay out of sight until Fin gives the signal.""What is the signal?"Luca hesitated, making a face, "Uh, I admit that we didn't actually discuss it."I stared at him in disbelief as we drove away from the
•KINLEY•My half-drunken coffee sat in front of me with empty pain pill sachets scattered across the table.My head hurt and my eyes felt heavy.It was already halfway through the night and neither Callum nor Noah was talking.I glanced over to where Barney and Luca were talking amongst themselves while shooting glances over at our hostages.I looked over at Fin, thinking over what he said earlier. He was sleeping across two strategically placed chairs and looked a bit odd considering his large build.I took a sip of my now cold coffee while trying to think what our next move should be.And then an idea came over me.I got up and went over to Fin, crouching down I shook him."What?" He asked as he opened his eyes with confusion."Come outside, I have an idea, but I need your input on it." I got up and walked out without waiting.A few minutes later Fin walked out, still rubbing his eyes, "Okay, what is it?""Jodie was in a relationship with Callum, right?""Yeah, I guess," he shrugged
•KINLEY•My heart was racing in my chest as I followed behind Luca.Callum, who was still restrained had brought us to a pretty normal-looking house.I don't know why this surprised me, but I had been imagining something else.Barney and a few men had surrounded the sides and back yard while Luca and Fin walked towards the front with me and around five or six others.Luca had instructed I was to stay behind them and handed me a gun.The moment my feet made it into the house my heart dropped.It was empty, void of furniture or any further signs of inhabitants.It was as if I could feel my soul drop in despair.They searched the house while I stood silently in the empty living room, staring at nothing.Fin walked back in shaking his head, "I'm sorry, he's not here."I nodded, "Kinda figured that."He leaned back against the wall, "We'll get them. Barney and Luca are out talking to the neighbors, King is on his way."I nodded again looking away with a heavy sigh, "Jodie is good."Fin wal
•GIANNI•I watched through narrowed eyes as Jodie paraded around with my son on her hip acting as if he was her child.My hands were cuffed, making it impossible for me to move, and that drove me insane because all I wanted to do was rip her head off."Oh, you're such a beautiful little boy, aren't you?" She smiled at me, "Daddy must be real proud, huh?""Jodie, this is ridiculous. What game do you think you're playing? Taking me was one thing, but to take my son too? How far are you willing to take this?"She continued smiling while she warmly embraced my son, "You have no idea how far I'm willing to take this, baby. I will take it as far as I need to to make sure I get what I want.""My wife isn't the type of mother who is going to let this go. My men are as good as I am, you should know this better than anyone. Do you really think they will allow you to get away with this?"She shrugged, "I have it all figured out. They will never find us," she walked over to me, "Look, I know that
•KINLEY•"Hey, Kin?"I opened my eyes, rubbing at them as they adjusted to the light, "What is it?" I asked Fin.He brought me to a hotel after my anxiety attack, and the moment I hit the bed I was out."Uh, well, there's good news and bad news."I sat up, "Is Renato okay?"He nodded, "Yeah, he's okay."I looked over at Barney who was looking a bit awkward."Is Gia okay?"Again they nodded."Well? What is it then? Can one of you spit it out already?"Fin sat down on the bed, "Well, the good news is that your son and husband are alive. The bad news," he turned to reach his hand out to Barney who handed him something, "Is this." I took the envelope from Fin and opened it slowly, worry sitting in my stomach as to what I might find.I pulled out the contents of the envelope and hurt with a mixture of anger took over me.My chest tightened as I looked at the color pictures in my hands.Pictures of Jodie in skimpy lingerie on top of Gianni. His hands were on her ass as she straddled him.H
•GIANNI•"Where the hell is Renato? That kid is always late to something."Kinley chuckled, "He texted me, he's just picking up his girlfriend."I shook my head, he had been talking about this girlfriend for a while now but we had yet to meet her.Today was the big day.I looked over at Luca standing in front of the barbecue.Ripley was sitting busy typing on her phone. I couldn't believe both of my kids had grown up and I had been blessed enough to see them grow.If Fin and Luca hadn't done what they did for me, I may not have had the privilege of having these years to watch my son and daughter grow into a man and woman.We invited Fin for this barbecue, but he was away undercover for work so he wasn't able to make it.I looked over at Kinley and my mind went back to that night all those years ago at the shipping yard.She had run over to me in such a panic when she heard those gunshots. She thought I was shot.In actual fact, it was Fin who shot one of the men guarding Martha.After
•KINLEY•I pulled my phone out while telling Luca the truth about what I had been up to with Hilton.Now that I was aware of the reason he was doing what he was, I was sure we could still trust him.We just needed to help him make sure Martha was safe."Who are you calling?""Fin. I have an idea that will help all of us.""Kinley? Do you have news?""I do. But I need you to meet me, and get Gianni here too." I gave him the location and hung up."Gianni is going to skin me alive, why are you bringing them here? I trusted you with this.""You trusted me for a reason, Luca. You know we would never let anything happen to Martha. I just wish you would have told us what was going on sooner. A lot of this mess could have been avoided.""Kinley, they have my wife. I couldn't risk her life. I don't even want to do this right now. If they kill her-""They won't, okay? Trust us, please."Luca looked around as if he was worried someone was looking at us, "If they find out that I'm telling you, th
•KINLEY•"So? What's the plan here?"Gianni was already in planning mode, "We tap his phone. I'll put someone on him to follow him. We can go to him with these calls, but he can play it down without any real evidence. Once we have evidence, we confront him."Fin nodded, "Got it, I'll get the tap, you have someone follow him."Gianni nodded, "Sounds good. I'll get onto that immediately. Kinley, I don't want you leaving the house unless it's with me. Understood?"I nodded, but I had no plan of listening. I still had to meet with Hilton and see if I could find anything out.I glanced at Fin and he looked away from me, he knew what I was thinking about, I could see it by the way he looked at me.Now I needed a plan to get out of the house without Gianni stopping me.And knowing Gianni, that wasn't going to be easy.I got to my feet and walked out, going downstairs where I found Luca about to leave. "Where are you off to?" I asked, fighting the urge to attack him in anger."Got a lead." H
•KINLEY•With the baby bottle in hand, I made my way to the kitchen, pausing just outside the doorway when I heard Luca on a call."Well, she didn't say a damn word to me about being there okay? No, I'm telling you the truth. I'll do my best, but I'm not making any promises. Yes, I know. Thanks for the reminder." I walked in just as he turned to look at me."I'll call you back, Martha," he cut the call and smiled at me, "Gianni on daddy duty?""Yeah. What's up? That sounded serious?""Oh, uh," he looked down at his phone with a frown, "Martha. She has some issues with her sister that she wants me to help with. She's, uh, getting herself involved with the wrong crowd.""Oh no, I hope it works out. Do you want me to talk to Gianni to give you some time off to sort things out?""No, it's nothing that serious. I just need to find out if she was at that cop bar near the precinct last night with her boyfriend."I frowned, "Cop bar? I thought you said she was involved with the wrong crowd?"
•KINLEY•I sat in the courtroom biting my nails while waiting to hear if the judge was going to allow Gianni back out on bail while the investigation was ongoing, or if he would be remanded.Fin and King were seated beside me, Luca near the back.Billie was at the mansion watching the kids.I breathed a sigh of relief when the judge said Gianni could have bail.It was a large amount, but I knew we had it.I rushed to Luca to arrange the payment and waited outside with Fin and King for it to be taken care of."At least he's coming home," Fin said.I nodded, "Yeah. But we still have to pinpoint who it is behind this, and a way to stop it."Fin started pacing, "Detective Hilton is trying to take down the big fish like Gianni to exhilarate his career. I bet that if we put enough pressure on him, we can make this all go away.""But is he the type to let it all go away?" I asked.King shrugged, "If we find the sweet spot, yes. And they all have a sweet spot. We just have to find his."I nod
•KINLEY• "You should go home and get some sleep," Luca suggested. I curled my legs under me on the hard steel chair, "Not until they let me speak to him." "Kinley, come on. We can come back." "I don't want to go anywhere until I've seen him," I looked at my watch, "We've been here for hours. How long is this going to take?" "It takes as long as it takes. They may not even allow you to see him at all until he goes to the judge." "I don't get it. Barney has been dead for months. Why now? So long after his death. How did he rig it up to get the information about Talon sent to them? He was barely even involved in what happened. How did he even have the proper information?" Luca shifted uncomfortably in his chair, "Kin, this is not the best place to talk about that. Can we go across the street?" I looked in the direction of the interrogation room, "Yeah. Let's go. I could use another cup of coffee." We went across the street and ordered coffee, I also ordered a toasted cheese sandw
•KINLEY• I grinned triumphantly, Ripley had finally fallen asleep. Until Luca barged in, that is. "Kinley!" I turned to glare at him, "Could you shut up? I just got her to sleep." "That's going to be the least of your worries. Gianni was just arrested." "What?" I was almost sure I hadn't heard him correctly. "They barged in here with a warrant of arrest. Some new guy trying to make a name for himself." "What was he arrested for?" "Murder. Of Talon." This was getting more ridiculous by the second. "Excuse me? But that was ages ago. How would they even know about that?" "It looks like Barney was looking out for himself right to the end. He rigged it so that all the information was sent to this detective if anything happened to him." "That doesn't make any sense. Barney has been dead for months. Almost a year." Luca shrugged, "That's all I know. Why don't you go down to the station and I'll get a lawyer to meet you. When Billie's up and watching the kids I'll come down there
~A FEW MONTHS LATER~ •KINLEY• My eyes were blindfolded as Gianni guided my steps. "If something jumps out at me, I swear I'll kill you!" I threatened playfully, one hand on my large belly. "Relax, nothing is going to jump out at you." He stopped, his hands on my shoulders, "Okay, take off the blindfold." I whipped off the blindfold and gasped, my hands going to my mouth in shock at what I was looking at. We stood in the front yard of the mansion which had burnt down. Only now it was rebuilt. "You had it rebuilt?" I couldn't believe it. "Yes. That's what I've been busy with for the last eight months. I know you've been wondering why I've been so secretive." My eyes filled with tears as I was overwhelmed by emotions. I spun around and wrapped my arms around his neck, "Thank you!" "Anything for you, baby. There are a few changes, like Renato's room. And the nursery for Ripley when she's born. I've also made sure the place is baby and toddler-proof." He looked pretty pleased wi
•GIANNI•I sat with Renato on my lap while watching Kinley swim. A small smile played on my lips at the peaceful moment.It was nice to experience life like this, without the intense adrenaline of the mafia on my back.I texted Luca to find out how my surprise was coming along. I knew how important that mansion was to Kinley, so I had a team working on rebuilding it as close to the first one as possible."What are you smiling about?" Kinley asked as she came over, she kissed Renato on the head before reaching down and kissing me."I can't tell you or it won't be a surprise anymore. Do you want to go to dinner tonight?"Kinley nodded, "That will be nice. Should we invite Luca and Martha? I wanted to invite Billie, but I don't think that will be fair to her with the recent loss.""We can. You should call Billie, you know she won't hate you. She doesn't blame you for this. She knows and understands the way these things go, and she knows that this isn't on you."She sighed, "I know. But s