No Strings Attached

CHAPTER 50

"Did you find anything in the attic?" Everett asks,

"Just a bunch of old shit," Gabriel says, "Nothing useful,"

"Were you looking for anything specific or just general?" Griffon asks,

"Anything Penelope and Castro or we had on Leonardo or the De Santis', but we couldn't find anything," Ari says,

"No documents, files, photos, records, nothing," I sigh.

"Why were you looking for stuff on the De Santis'?" Griffon asks,

"To see if there was any history between us, or them and Leonardo that we didn't know of," Gabriel explains.

"Mom and Dad were Adelyn's first customers at her cafe, and Luca almost married Mom but both him and his Dad said no," I say, repeating information we've all heard a hundred times over.

"I don't know how I feel about being directly aligned with a Mafia," Griffon sighs, "Being neutral among them all was safe, and convenient at times,"

"Well it's not exactly something we can just cut off," Everett chuckles wryly, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"I don't think they'll actually use us for missions," I say, "Honestly, I think they'll just part ways with us and not bother us after this is all over,"

"You think?" Everett asks in an unconvinced tone.

"Yep," I say, with more confidence than I actually feel, knowing Enzo will fight for me to stay.

I sit up straight as we approach the gates to the De Santis' estate, opening automatically as they sense our car.

Ari drives through the large front garden, down the gravel path and stopping outside their garage. We all pile out of the car, walking to the side of the house to a more discrete entrance. I punch in the code Enzo gave me and open the door for Le Aquile Rosse to walk through.

"Just us?" Gabriel murmurs,

"Yep," I reply, leading them through the house and downstairs to where Leonardo is being held. The guards nod at us and unlock the steel door, pushing it open to reveal Leonardo chained to the back wall, his body in a heap as we walk inside.

I flick the lights on and wait until the door is closed behind us before looking over at Ari. He rolls his eyes and walks over to Leonardo's body, kicking him in the stomach.

Leonardo immediately shoots up, his body recoiling as he sees us.

"Good, you're here," he hisses, looking up at Ari, "Now you can help me escape,"

I don't even know what to say as I blink slowly, a thundering laugh coming from Ari. "Help you escape?" he erupts into laughter again, "You sick son of a bitch," he chuckles, sending a powerful fist into Leonardo's face, his head flying back from the impact and slamming into the concrete wall.

"You killed my best friends and you expect me to help you escape? I don't fucking think so," his voice turns to ice as he sends another punch into Leonardo's face.

"I've been nothing but good to you, you'd be nothing without me," Leonardo splutters.

"We'd be nothing without you?" Gabriel scoffs, rolling his sleeves up, "We'd be nothing without you?" he repeats, picking Leonardo by his shirt, "We fucking made you!" he shouts, his booming voice bouncing off the walls before he slams the back of Leonardo's head into the wall. "We made you who you were!" he shouts again, "And how do you repay us? You kill our best friends and leave us for dead," he spits on Leonardo's face before throwing him back on the ground. "You disgust me,"