Total pages in book: 134
Estimated words: 129676 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 648(@200wpm)___ 519(@250wpm)___ 432(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 129676 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 648(@200wpm)___ 519(@250wpm)___ 432(@300wpm)
“You’re not getting an inch of their land, but we can negotiate not having your sister’s throat slit by a high-profile billionaire mogul with a taste for violence,” I answered.
“You can’t get to Tierney.” Tiernan laughed. “I made sure she was far away from harm before I came for your wife.”
“Is that right?” I mused.
“Yes,” Tiernan said with conviction. “She’s in an underground bunker in an undisclosed location.”
“She was in a rural Colorado basement in your buddy’s vacation house.” Achilles barked out a laugh. “Forget organized crime, Tiernan. I see a bright future for you in fiction.”
The elevator dinged and slid open, and the four of us barreled toward my Escalade.
Achilles snapped his fingers. “Oh. By the way, we have her now.” His rusty laugh grated my nerves like nails on a blackboard. “Your precious Tierney.”
The silence on the other line told me what I already knew. We had hit a nerve.
“No,” Tiernan said finally. “No.”
“Yes,” I countered, unlocking my vehicle and sliding into the driver’s seat. “And unlike Gia, she actually has a lot of interesting information about your less than kosher antics. I wonder what’d make her sing…” I revved the engine, clucking my tongue. “Or purr. Let me assure you, I can be very persuasive when I want to be.”
“Where is she?” Tiernan spat out.
I yawned in his ear by way of an answer.
“I’m going to slit your wife’s thro—”
“Relax there, buddy. No one’s going to harm anyone. You know damn well the minute you give Gia as much as a paper cut, I drain your sister, then make a nice high-end sex doll from her deflated corpse. We both have too much to lose. So how about we cut to the chase?”
“How do I know you’re not lying?” he demanded.
I sighed, flipping through my phone gallery while shaking my head. I hadn’t started driving to Tierney’s place of hiding yet. “Because unlike you, my word actually means something. Here.” I hit Send with my thumb.
A second later, I could hear the video Achilles had taken of Tierney playing in Callaghan’s background.
“Today is March fifteenth, and I can confirm that I, Tierney Callaghan, am in the hands of the Ferrante family. I’m safe, in good health, and well.” She was made to follow a generic script. “Stop this shit now, brother.” Her voice did not waver, did not break. “Enough is enough. There are other ways to conquer the world. If they touch me, if something bad happens to me…” She obviously veered off script, which was just as well, because it entertained the shit out of Achilles when he took the video. “I’m going to murder them and then you. Fix this shit now, Tiernan.”
The video came to an end.
I sighed, “Is she always so poetic?”
“What do you want?” Tiernan asked after a pause, resigned.
“You know what I want. I want my wife,” I said simply. “Unscathed. And a promise this thing between us is put to bed. This time, your word won’t be enough, though. I’d want a third party to ensure both sides keep their end of the bargain.”
“The Ferrant—” Tiernan began as I kicked the vehicle into drive.
Luca was quick to interject. “Are fucking pissed. You killed Filippo. He was our family. You don’t really think we’ll ever work with you again, do you?”
“Of course you will. Greed is a potent stimulus. Besides, it was nothing personal.” Tiernan yawned offhandedly. “Merely business. I do believe you were the ones who pointed Blackthorn to the whereabouts of my soldiers, and I don’t remember holding it against you. Nolan was Fintan’s godfather, I’ll have you know.”
“You’re not powerful enough to hold grudges,” Achilles said. “We decide who lives and who dies in this city.”
“And what’s the verdict?” Tiernan sounded more amused than concerned.
“Undecided,” Luca lied. There was no other way to lure him in. “How about we exchange hostages and sleep on it?”
“Sure.”
For the first time since Gia was kidnapped, I took a deep breath. Oxygen hit my lungs, and I became almost lightheaded.
“How about we go somewhere picturesque?” Tiernan suggested. “Set the mood.”
“Not gonna fuck you either way, but knock yourself out,” Achilles muttered as we drove out of my building’s garage and toward the place where they were holding Tierney. It was guarded to the teeth, so we weren’t worried about being followed. “What do you have in mind?”
“The Palisades.”
I shared a quick look with Luca, who jerked his chin in a nod. “We’ll spread our men evenly around the place. I know it well.”
“Sounds good,” I said into the phone.
“Excellent.” Tiernan clapped his hands together. “Tell my sister I’m fixing everything. And forget about water. Give her champagne.”
“Don’t push it, asshole. Oh, and, Callaghan?”
“Yes, Blackthorn?”
“If I find out you as much as sneezed in Gia’s direction, you will be grateful I can only kill you once.”