Indebted to the Mafia King
Mouse Trap

Dante

"You're fucking with me, right?" I run a hand through my still sleep-rumpled hair and stare at the foreman of this section of the warehouse.

"N-no, sir." His wide face turns red with the effort of either not yelling at me or not pissing himself.

"Fine. Go away," I spit.

As soon as the foreman disappears, I slam my foot into the nearest crate of goods. "Goddammit!"

Tony snorts. "I'm glad you're taking the news that we haven't been robbed well."

"Am I supposed to be thrilled someone snuck into one of my most secure warehouses just to knock over a couple boxes of shit and leave?" I demand. "He's fucking taunting me, Tone."

"No shit, Sherlock." My caporegime crosses his arms and leans against a high, metal shelf. "But getting pissed like this just gives him exactly what he wants."

"No," I say with dawning horror. "Racing down here is what he wanted."

"What?" Tony asks, no longer joking.

"Eleni's final was this morning." My skin turns to ice. "And I'm here. I haven't heard from her since I left."

"Shit." Tony sighs. "Okay, where does she "

My phone rings, and I snatch it up. In that second, I know Uncle John is right. If Luca is on the other end, I'll pay anything, do anything to get El back safe. "Hey, uh, it's Teo?"

"What?" I frown and check the caller ID. It says Benny's. Why the fuck is Thano's bartender calling me?

"Yeah, I've kinda got a situation here," he says. "Can you haul ass to Benny's?"

"A situation?" I hiss. "Fuck no. You tell me right now if I'm about to walk into a hostage situation."

"Not with us," Teo says.

That icy feeling returns. I hang up and turn to Tony.

"Stay here. Make sure they didn't miss something. I'm going to Benny's, and if I don't text you in an hour, send an army."

***

My car squeals as I slam into a spot in front of the alley that holds Benny's. I'll buy a fucking new one if I have to. I leap out, lock it, and race inside.

In the dim light of the dive bar, three things become immediately obvious. One, no one in this room actively means anyone else ill. I can see everyone's hands and no weapons. Two, the room only holds three people, two of which are Teo and a broad, college-age guy I don't recognize. Three, the third person is Eleni, and she's terrified.

I sprint the rest of the way to her and wrap her in my arms. I know it's stupid, but when she leans into me, shaking, I don't care.

"What happened?" I snap.

Teo nods to the guy I don't know. The guy starts to put his hand out to shake, then seems to notice the way Eleni's clinging to me and shoves his hand in his pocket instead.

"I'm Benicio, but please, call me Ben," he says.

"What happened, Ben?" My voice sounds like it could melt iron. I consider killing this kid if he doesn't get to the point soon.

"Right. So I go to the same college as Eleni, and I saw her show up with this squadron. Clocked them from a couple hundred yards off, and then I recognized her." He swallows. "My dad is one of Mr. Coppola's capos. I recognized her from the, uh, website."

My vision goes red. I dedicate all my brain power to not crushing Eleni in my arms. She doesn't need to hear this.

"Anyway." Ben looks away from me. "I didn't have anything to do, so I figured I'd just keep an eye, see what happened. The first guy in the suit got nabbed when he went for a piss."

I narrow my gaze. "Nabbed?"

"Taken. Kidnapped." He shakes his head. "They looked like Lombardi fucks to me."

My stomach drops to my toes. "And the rest of her...squadron?"

"The one in the T-shirt was led away by a cute girl, then grabbed. I didn't see the one in the car, but it was empty when I walked back outside, so it seems like a safe bet." He shrugs. "So I bolted back inside, called Teo, and got Eleni out of there before anything bad could happen."

Emotions war in violent waves inside me. To have Eleni safe, breathing, in my arms, is nothing short of a miracle. To lose Seb, Vinnie, and Matteo is a blow. Luca got the fucking drop on me. He took me, took everyone off our games. And he's going to burn for that.

In the silence following Ben's pronouncement, El speaks first.

"They took Seb?"

I turn to her in my arms. Her eyes are swollen, and I can just make out dried tear tracks on her cheeks, but she's no longer shaking. In fact, there's nothing scared in her now. She is a fire, blazing bright, ready to consume anything in its path. "If he was one of the three, yeah?" Ben says.

"Did you see where they were taken?" I ask.

Ben shakes his head. "I figured getting her out of there was more important."

"They took Seb," Eleni repeats. "Just because I was there. If I hadn't been, he'd be fine."

"It's not your fault." I run a thumb over her cheek.

She shakes her head. There's something going on in her head that I can't quite figure out. But she makes a good fucking point. I need to get Seb back before Tony burns the city down looking for him.

"Teo." I hold my hand out toward the bartender. "Phone. And I want Thano on the other end of the line."

He dials silently and hands me the receiver. After only two rings, Thano picks up.

"Teo? What-"

"Not exactly," I say.

He pauses. "Dante. To what do I owe the pleasure?"

I laugh, anger pulsating through my veins. "I'm done fucking around, Coppola."

"I haven't been fucking around," he replies. "Would you care to tell me why the hell you're calling me with threats from an internal line?"

"One of your capos actually had a decent kid." I glance at Ben. "Pulled Eleni out of a tough situation and brought her here."

He exhales. "Glad it's not a takeover."

I grip the phone tighter. "Hear me when I say this: Luca captured three of my men. I take another blow like that, and it's about to be. Why the fuck haven't you found him yet?" "These things take time"

"And you're all out of that," I spit. "If you want a crumb of Lombardi territory, put boots on the ground now and get me a fucking location!"

Thano sighs on the other end of the line. "I like being threatened as much as the next man, but it bears saying. You have what Luca Lombardi wants. Why don't you just lure him out instead of wasting both of our time?"

I look down at Eleni in my arms. She is still burning with that righteous fury. Every moment I have tried to keep her safe, she's fought to put herself right in the middle of things. Maybe it's time to trust her like I said I did. I hang up on Thano Coppola.

"Well?" I say.

She smiles at me, all hunger. "I'm in."