No Strings Attached

CHAPTER 30

"We're going to the club which we know Simon will be at," Gabriel says.

"Ana gets his attention, chats him up a little bit, gains both his interest and his trust," Griffon continues.

"Obviously we have eyes and ears on the situation the entire time, so that Ana's safe," Ari adds, giving me a small smile as I laugh softly and shake my head.

"Once I've spoken to him for long enough, I'll get him into one of the private rooms in the club," I say, looking around the table as everyone nods.

"We can have people already in the room, ready to help out, as well as people in the club keeping an eye out in case things get messy," Luca says, smiling a fatherly smile at me as I nod.

"I'm happy with that, are you guys?" I say, my gaze flickering over Le Aquile Rosse.

They all nod, "So long as your safety is guaranteed throughout it, I'm fine," Ari says, his eyes squinting as he smiles.

"I'll be fine, I promise," I say earnestly, flashing him a smile as he grins back at me.

"We'll do this tomorrow night, so we have the rest of the day and tomorrow to prepare weapons and such," Gabriel says, "And we'll have to decide who's going and who's staying, we can't have too many people otherwise we might get noticed," he continues.

"Noticed by who?" Vincenzo adds dryly.

"Simon. He may not be part of the underworld, but Leonardo's educated him enough on prominent figures and hits. Meaning he knows about your family," Gabriel says, and I can tell he's getting sick of Vincenzo's constant doubting and lack of trust.

Vincenzo nods, "Inside the club, I'll go with Alessio and Anastasia, the rest of you either stationed inside the room or outside for a quick getaway," he says.

"How come we're getting left out?" Lea whines, frowning at her brother.

"Lea and Issy can come, it'll look more natural if I'm in a group of girls," I smile, winking at Lea and Issy as they both grin at me.

I study Vincenzo's face as his jaw locks, "I don't want to put them in dangers way," he says.

"In case you've missed the last 20 years, I'm perfectly trained and capable to looking after myself," Lea says bitterly, her tone scathing as she glares at Vincenzo.

"We're in charge and I say they can come, end of story," Everett says in a bored tone, winking at the girls as they both smile wickedly at Vincenzo.

Vincenzo seemingly takes the loss and quickly moves on, clearing his throat before looking at Gabriel.

"What time do you want everyone ready by?" he asks, and I cover my smile with a hand at how pained his voice is. It's obvious that he's hating giving up control but fuck is it funny to watch.

"Ready by 11, we want the raid done and everyone back here by 12 at the very latest," Gabriel says, narrowing his eyes as everyone nods. "So does everyone understand what's happening?" he asks again, a satisfactory smile on his face as everyone nods again.

"Perfect, unless told otherwise by any of us," Gabriel motions to Le Aquile Rosse and myself, "Meet here at 10:30 once you're all ready and kitted up,"

"Sounds like fun," Alessio grins, clapping his hands together as Everett laughs loudly.

"Everyone out," Vincenzo suddenly snaps, pinching the bridge of his nose between two fingers as he closes his eyes.

The air in the room shifts as everyone pauses, immediately standing up as Vincenzo looks up, his jaw locking.

"Not you," he grits out, grabbing my arm and pulling me down as I go to stand up.