Mafia Queen

Chapter Thirty

Angelo

"You can't stop me from doing this." Charlotte stared back at me flatly once we were alone. There was a look of determination on her face that I had only seen once before. The day she walked away from Luca and out of all of our lives for four years.

"I know I can't." I sighed. "You're going to do what you want, but I don't think you understand what you're saying."

"Angelo—" she protested.

"No, you need to hear this, Charlotte. You want to be in charge so bad? Then act like it. Take Luca out of the equation—you have to know how dangerous this is. We have half of our manpower, Marco is still recovering, and Niko already out smarted us once. And now you want to parading in there? This isn't some sill game of dress up Charlotte. It's literally life and death. I wouldn't send my most experienced UC in there right now. Niko is a loose cannon, and your chances of getting out of there unscathed are slim to none. He runs a sex trafficking ring, for God's sake, Charlotte. He beats and rapes women for fun, and it doesn't take a genius to figure out what he'd use you for. Even if he falls for it and buys you."

"Axel has a plan, Angelo. It's not like we're just winging it. I know this is risky, but I need to do it. Luca wouldn't think twice if I was in that position. In fact, he would have been there three weeks ago."

I rolled my eyes. "Char, Luca is a mafia Don who has had decades of training for something like this. Of course he would have been, but that isn't even comparable. What if something happens to you and neither of you comes home? Your children will grow up as orphans. Have you even thought about that?"

Her face fell as she considered what I said. "Obviously, that's not what I want. But how am I supposed to look at them and know that I could've saved their father and I didn't?"

I let out a heavy sigh. The worst part was I knew she was right. We had to do something and right now, this half-baked scheme was the only viable option we had. Most of our guys were still recovering from the explosion, and there was no way we could organize a full attack. I wasn't about to ambush Niko with half of my men, and I would need a hell of a lot more information before going through with something like that, anyway. Having someone on the inside was our best bet, but that didn't mean that I was going to send Charlotte in.

"Would you settle for me sending an experienced UC in?" I figured I already knew the answer to that question.

Charlotte shook her head adamantly. "I can do this, Angelo."

She was a tough person to argue with. "Let's just say I agree to this...."

Her face lit up.

"Don't get your hopes up yet. That's a big maybe." I narrowed my eyes at her. "One of us is going with you. And you'll wear a camera at all times."

She nodded wildly. "Absolutely."

"If things get iffy and I pull the plug, we're out of there. No questions asked."

She nodded again, her tough facade dropping just slightly. "Thank you, Angelo. We're going to find him. I know we will."

Charlotte and the feelings of hers... Did she suddenly become a psychic, and I wasn't aware of it? "I'm not saying yes to this until I hear Axel's plan."

"Of course." She smiled.

"You do realize that if you're right about all of this and we bring Luca home, he's going to slaughter me for letting you in there, don't you?" I let out a sharp laugh.

"You can leave him to me." She giggled, a familiar light returning to her eyes I hadn't seen in weeks.

"Oh, I plan too." That is, if we all made it out of this alive.