“Frankie-”
“No!” I yelled. “This is wrong.” I turned and looked to Luca for help. “Luca?”
“Your husband has spoken, Francesca,” he remarked, letting me know that I was officially in Phoenix’s hands now. Luca wouldn’t step in between a husband and wife as a friend or an Underboss.
I looked between all three men, my heart breaking.
“So, what then?”
Luca walked over to Robbie, grabbed her uninjured hand, and placed a set of keys in her palm. “Those are the keys to your boyfriend’s truck,” he told her. “I suggest you get going.”
“She can’t, Luca,” I cried out, hurt, angry, and fucking scared. “Basco gave her a sedative. She can’t drive!”
“Then I suggest she hurries back home then,” Ciro stated.
“Ciro!”
“Don’t, Frankie!” he thundered. “We’ve got shit to handle, and she’s the least of our concerns!”
“It’s okay, Frankie,” Robbie said, reaching out to hug me. “It’ll be fine.”
“Robbie-”
She gave me a small, sad smile. “I’ll be okay.”
I watched helplessly as she turned around to leave out the backdoor. Her steps stumbled as Luca called out, “If anyone comes knocking on our door over this, we will come after you.” The only indication that Robbie heard him was the straightening of her back.
The second the door shut, I lost it. “I can’t believe you guys,” I seethed.
Now that we were alone, Phoenix didn’t hold back. He stormed towards me, and I knew he wanted to shake me, and my injuries were the only thing keeping him from putting his hands on me. “We have Basco taking two bastards to the cleaning crew. We have to hold up the asshole who took you. We have to torch this fucking house to get rid of any evidence that could link this fucking mess to us. We have a girl on the loose, who we have no idea if she’s running to the cops right now. And you have the nerve to stand there and say you can’t believe us?!” he roared down at me. “What the fuck were you thinking, Frankie?!”
“You guys can hash this shit out later,” Ciro interjected. “We need to get going.”
Phoenix looked livid, and his voice was pure rage as he said, “Where the fuck is your car?”
“It’s at Robbie’s,” I spat.
“And your purse? Your keys? We know this fuck has your phone.”
The truth was like gargling glass. “I…I don’t know…”
“Motherfucker!” he roared.
“Phoenix-”
He ignored Luca and snarled down at me. “Go to the black SUV out back. And, so help me God, you better stay there.”
I stormed out of the house without comment. I was livid and all I could think about was Robbie. For the guys to treat her with such contempt was unacceptable. I was to blame just as much as she was, if not more. I never told her not to say anything.
I got into the back of the SUV and I didn’t utter a word as the guys place Randy in the trunk or when I saw flames dancing around the inside of the house.
Chapter 21
Phoenix~
It’s been over 24 hours since the three of us have slept, and I haven’t even had a chance to take a run at Frankie.
And, oh, how I wanted to.
It wasn’t even that there was a serious risk of us getting caught. It was the impact of her thoughtless actions that had me enraged. She set off a chain of events that have cost lives and could have possibly cost hers. Not to mention the cleanup.
The Benettis weren’t just a bunch of thugs. There were a smart organization with money.
Giovanni Benetti was as brilliant as he was ruthless, and his sons had been raised to be the same way. However, Luca was the only one who excelled at the lessons he was given in life. Luca’s leadership was carved out of evil and nothing frightened him. Well, nothing except Frankie.
Leo was strong, loyal, and cunning, but he couldn’t stomach the dark stuff. That weakness made him the money man. I was in charge of Luca and Ciro’s finances, along with the majority of income that came through the Benetti name, but Leo saw to Giovanni’s money and a few other ventures that still remained under Gio’s control.
Sal wasn’t quite ready to sit at the Devil’s table, but he was a sadistic sonofabitch, and he lived for drawing blood. He was quite comfortable around dead or mutilated bodies. He had no conscience that I could see, but his disassociation from human life made him the perfect fixer. Sal was in charge of the cleanup crew, and he was good at it.
The cleanup crew didn’t just dig holes and dump bodies, though. No. They had sophisticated technology that could take someone’s fingerprint and pull up everything you needed to know about the person, much like law enforcement data bases. They would then figure out the best way to make the body disappear without calling the attention of family, friends, or the cops. They also had several cops on the payroll that would help with staging a car accident, or suicide if need be.
Basco had taken the two dead bodies to Sal after leaving Cedar Creek, with the confidence that Sal and his crew would know the best way to dispose of them. Ciro, having the wicked smart mind that he did, had manipulated the wires at the farmhouse to short and start the fire. The house was old and falling apart, so it wouldn’t be too farfetched to believe the wiring had been neglected and faulty, as well.
From there, Ciro had been dropped off a mile away from Robbie’s house, where he made his way through the darkness and was able to get Frankie’s purse, keys, and car. I’m not sure what had transpired between him and Robbie, but when he had called to confirm he had Frankie’s things, he had sounded cold and empty.
Bad sign.
Martin was also gone. When I had found out how easily Frankie had manipulated him into letting her leave unattended, I
