The conversation with my Mexican mafia connection did not go as I had expected. We were on civil terms before but now I apparently am owed a great favor. It turns out that one of these children is apparently very important. They are all important to me, but there’s one little boy I’m looking for in particular as I return to the room full of children. I take a look at the little boy Isla is holding and ask her, “Is this the only baby boy here?“.
“Yeah, there’s a few little ones, but this guy right here would be the only baby boy.” She coos at him as he holds her finger tightly.
“Do you mind if I take a photo, amore? I think this little boy is someone special.”
She rolls her eyes at me. “They’re all special, Nico.”
I smile back at her, kissing her forehead. “Of course they are, darling, but I just got off the phone with Jose Gonzalez, and I have reason to believe this is his son.” I snap a picture and quickly send it off.
“You mean the largest Mexican mafia family?”
I nod. “Yes, apparently they also found themselves tangled up with Pedro and if this is indeed his son, then we will have even more support in finding him.”
“God. Pedro must really hate living.”
Luciano joins us, kissing Isla on the forehead before turning to me. “A bus will be here soon for the children. If you, Isla and my wife want to take that back to your house, Tony, Luca, Matteo, Mason and I will transport the captives and the cars back to your place where we can interrogate them.”
“You sure you don’t want to swap Mason and me? Send him on the bus with the kids.” I nod to Mason who’s found himself surrounded by the kids playing with him. “He’s better suited to the bus.”
“No, I think you and my daughter need to have a chat before there is no time to do so. Plus, I would feel better having someone with both my wife and daughter who won’t be so easily manipulated into doing something stupid and reckless.” He says the last part loudly enough that Matteo drops his head very quickly. I’d like to judge Luciano on the men he has in his ranks, but apparently, I have some issues to approach in my own, as I had specifically told Tommy early this morning not to under any circumstances allow Isla to leave to home unguarded. Yet here she is, and here he is not. My phone pings with an incoming message and I open it to look at the picture I had sent of Isla holding the little boy.
“That’s my son. I will arrange a plane big enough for all of the children and arrive by the morning. Thank you Mr Capaldi, I owe you. Please keep him safe for me.”
To owe a debt to another family is a huge deal. There are no limits to the request that may be made and to not honor a request would be seen as a failure as a leader. I have no doubt in my mind though, that Gonzalez will be more than happy with my request.
I quickly send a text back. “He will be safe. I am transporting the children to my home with the help of Luciano Donatello.” Then I tell Isla that the boy she is holding must not leave her sight.
Once the bus arrives, we begin loading the children in. Isla and her mother hold the two youngest while a few of the older girls help some of the younger children find their seats. I take a seat next to Isla at the back of the bus and a little boy that was playing with Mason before, comes to sit on my lap. I’m stunned for a second, not really sure what to do, but he seems to have worn out all his energy and simply wants somewhere to rest his head. So I allow him to lean back on me as Ariana instructs the driver of our direction.
1/2
Chapter 166
So, what’s this little guy’s name?” She asks softly over the sleeping children.
Luis.”
She smiles sweetly down at him before taking a deep breath and looking up at me.
“Thank you for coming. I’d like to say I’m sorry for sneaking around without you, but I’m not. Not when that’s exactly what you were doing to me.”
“Amore… I was trying to keep you safe.”
“You can’t though, not really. I’m a mafia princess who was born into a life of crime. You can’t ever really keep me safe; all you were doing was excluding me. Making me feel how I had felt most of my life living with my brothers and fathers who tried to do the same thing, and you know what that led to, Nico? Drugs. It led to numbing my feelings so I didn’t feel how utterly left out I was.”
I open my mouth and close it again a few times while I let her words roll over in my mind and honestly, I can’t come up with a good excuse for why I did that and why I didn’t think of it how she just explained it. So I simply say, “I’m sorry, amore. It was a mistake. One that I will learn from. If you want to be included, I will include you, just please don’t run off and put yourself in danger to prove a point…I’d rather you scream in my face to listen to you than to–get a phone call like today that had my heart falling out of my chest with worry. By the way, where’s Tommy?”
She laughs at this and I raise my eyebrow in question.
“You can ask Tommy what happened to his face when we’re back home, love.” She winks and I catch Ariana laughing silently from the front of the bus. I missed something, I know I did.
