crave | 16+

XXIII

ELIJAH

I DON'T REMEMBER his eyes being this green. Almost emerald. Like the diamond. He looks the same as he did when I played poker with him, and a few other men from the New York inner circle. The one Josephine joined me on. I park my Aston Martin and get out of the car. Behind him, stands his own soldiers. His bodyguards. My stomach twists, not due to nerves, but because I'd sworn when I became who I was, that I would never seek refuge or help from the Cosa Nostra, and here I was.

Asking for both. All because of a girl.

This could be even worse and escalate. Not just because of Josephine's absence, but because of the fucking mob I was about to strike a deal with. I had no enemies. I wasn't friends with anyone, but I respected them all, and in return they respected me. But this? Seeking help from no other than the New York Familia, the fucking mob? It was bad. It meant that I was completely out of options, because I knew– I know my brother. I know this is a personal matter, a response to me disrespecting him the other day.

And he better hope, for the sake of his dick, that Josephine is fine when I find her. Because I will find her, if it's the last fucking thing I do on this earth.

"Garcia," I greet, as I walk up toward the entrance of his mansion. It always seems to bamboozle me how huge it actually is. Cain makes much more than I ever will, but I don't mind that. The enemies he'll always have, will ignore me when they're hunting him. I can't imagine living a life where you'd always have to look behind your shoulder, or be wary of the people you trust. But that was the deal, when you inherit your fathers empire.

I catch the tug at the sides of his mouth, but he recovers before a smile can break out. "Christ," he greets back, followed with a nod. His bodyguards, Axel and Nikolas, gave me a scowl but I ignore them, as I inch closer to their boss. Their Capo. The smile Cain has been trying to swallow, finally breaks the surface and my blood boils by the sight of him grinning at me like a child. Did he find this amusing?

"Shall we?" he asks, taking a step to the side. I nod and follow him into his mansion. A whole lot of men are there, but still, I don't see his wife. Cain is a dangerous man, and sometimes a merciless one too. But if you're lucky he can grant it to you. I've seen it happen before. Long before he and I became the men we are today, long before he was inducted into the Mob and had wanted me in too. No, he was once a merciful man. Then he married Violette Winter Miller, and the mercy left with his wedding wows. One way to get on Cain's bad side? Fuck over his wife.

The gun in my holster beneath my shirt burns on my skin, as I walk past all of Cain's men. I know they won't attack until their Capo gives them the green light. All part of their oath to the Cosa Nostra, and least of all Cain. But I don't know what Cain must've told them before I arrived. Never expect friendship, always expect a knife in your back. Something my scum of my father tried to beat into me, till it finally stuck. Maybe I owe the old bastard something, after all. His advice has helped me a lot. Doing what I do, and my brothers for that case, trust was something either of us could afford. Just look now; I had put my trust into my brother, and now he's fucking kidnapped my girlfriend.

Cain stops at a door, which I assume is his office. He opens the door, and I follow him into it. I'd share the details about how it looks, but being frank I can't find a fuck to give right now. His bodyguards follow us as well, and I can't help but let a laugh out. It seems to catch Cain's attention as he slumps down into his seat.

"Amusing?" he questions. Unspoken tension lingers between us.

"I just find it interesting how the Capo of the New York Familia can't have a meeting alone," I say, shrugging to the two puppies behind me, trailing Cain's every move. A sound of disapproval can be heard from either Axel or Nikolas, but I ignore it, still looking at Cain.

Cain sends me a smile, with no warmth behind it. "Precautions are always a need."

I incline my head, looking around a bit. He knows why I'm here, he just wants me to say it out loud. He wants me to submit to him. Fucking asshole.

"I know you know where she is," I finally say, breaking the silence.

"I do," Cain says. "But why should I tell you? We're not friends, and you're not entitled to my information, or any information inside the Familia for that matter."

I clench and unclench my fists under the desk. My nostrils flare. I've always been praised for my patience, but right now, Cain was pushing it, and he knew it too. If it were Violette who'd been kidnapped by someone he trusted, he would have turned the world upside down trying to find her.

"Did you help him?" I ask.

The shadow of a grin comes alive on his lips. "No, Elijah. I don't involve myself in small hiccups like this. I have other more important things to take care of."

So important, he had time to have this meeting I suppose.

"And believe it or not," he continues, "I respect the women in this world. I wouldn't help one man kidnap his brother's girl."

I scoff, not believing him for a single second. He firsthandly kidnapped Marcello's pregnant wife, to show some fucking kind of power, and only returned her when Violette found her in their basement in Cain's vacation house. But all of this is a story for another time. All that mattered now was Josephine, and finding her.

"I'm not so sure Bianchi Marcello would agree," I say under my breath. I don't look up to meet the eyes of the stone Cain is sending me. "Listen, I'm not here to fuck around. If you want to tell me where the fuck she is, I'll be indebted to you, you know so. But if you're going to sit here and mock me, I might as well fuck off and look for her myself."

A slow round of applause. I narrow my eyes at him, my fingers itching to reach for the gun under my shirt and plant a bullet in his head. Only reason I haven't done it yet, is because of Humpty 1 and Humpty 2 stand ready with their own bullets in case I try anything.

"Oh, I'll tell you. But first I want two of my questions answered." I fucking hate him.

"Go on," I urge him, impatience slowly seeping out of me.

"Why'd you not get inducted with me? We could've ruled New York together. You could have been my consigliere," Cain asks me, as if I've missed out on the opportunities of my life.

"I didn't like the restrictions it came with. The Familia would have been first, before anything, and I worship other stuff more than the Mob. I don't mean disrespect, but I saw my chance and ran before I was caught in an oath that meant I'd leave the Mafia, dead. I've seen what you do to men who run, women who flee from arranged marriages. I didn't want that," I answer Cain truthfully.

Cain nods his head. I can't tell if he's satisfied by that answer, but I didn't give it to him to succumb to his needs. It's the truth. "Do you love her?" Cain asks.

"Yes," I say with no hesitation.

"Enough to kill your brother?"

I can't tell if Cain is trying to egg me on, but again, I answer him with no hesitation.

"If it has to come down to that, yes."

Cain nods once again. "She's at the abandoned hospital beneath Christ Ring." He opens his top drawer, and pushes something that looks like blueprints toward me. I didn't even know there was anything beneath Christ Ring, and I own the fucking den. I grab the blueprints, and get up from my chair. Cain does the same. I offer him my hand, and he grabs it, shaking it.

As I turn on my heel, I stop by the sound of Cain's voice: "Take Axel and Nikolas with you. You'll need all the help you can get."

I turn my head to meet his eyes and nod. He takes it as the silent 'thank you' I meant it as, and I walk out of his mansion, his soldiers tailing me, before I walk toward my car and get into it. I drive off the street, right toward Christ Ring, and see a Porsche Cayenne tailing me. Nikolas and Axel.

As I drive toward my race-ring, Cain's words play on repeat in my head. You'll need all the help you can get. I don't know why he'd said that, but I was about to find out.

. . .
u guys don't understand the depths and lengths
i had to go to, to make this chapter make sense.
anyway, does anyone notice how i included cassian?
maybe Bound Till Death is coming backkk??? ouu idk (i do im js teasing)