Queen of the Underworld

64

None of spoke. We didn't want to have to admit anything or give light to the worst of our thoughts.

We had a pattern. A pattern that was needed to confirm Mussolini's involvement in everything. A pattern that gave us some sort of hope. A pattern that would give me some sort of insight of what's going on. Insight that I desperately needed.

But those three names were ruining our hopes. My hopes. They were keeping me from thinking that maybe, just maybe, with this new information, I might have the slightest chance of making it out alive.

But now, I hate myself for even allowing the thought to cross my mind. There was only one way this was ending and it didn't involve romantic rides towards the sunset.

"Wait," Ash said, holding up a hand at us. "It says their gangs were thought to be involved in something else. This is a pattern in its own self."

"What?" Gabriel leaned to look into his phone and grabbed it. He started typing furiously, surely trying to hack into files that could get us all life in prison, but no one cared at this point. Cops were either on a payroll, or too scared to act on us.

"Holy fuck," he breathed. "Their gangs have one thing in common. They were all thought to be involved in— get this— human fucking trafficking. This just keeps getting better and better."

Nicolas huffed, "so what? Gangs being involved in human trafficking isn't something new. That's nothing to go on."

I bit my lip. "Wait, but, does it say what connections they have? Like to what countries or other gangs?"

Gabriel smirked, "if your boyfriend would have let me talk, you would have found out that I'm not stupid. I know and I found something else, Nicolas."

Nick rolled his eyes and flipped him off. "You've got the brains when it comes to computers, I've got them in gangs. Forgive me, cazzo."

"So what?" Veronica asked. "Cut the shit and get to it, Gabe. I'm anxious."

He rolled his eyes playfully, "they've dealt with each other many times. It would only make sense if they're in the same ring. Like for example, Bring resided in— "

"Los Angeles," I finished for him. "I've heard that name before. Ronald Bring. He was a tough son of a bitch and people were afraid of him. LA is gang infested, and he was one of the biggest pests."

"And Fiorella. Obviously resides in Italy. Not Sicily, but Italy. She has ties with other countries too."

"Like Germany?" I asked.

Gabriel cocked an eyebrow, "yeah. How do you— "

"When Mussolini took us, one of his men called me a Hündin. I looked it up when I was home, and it was German. Means bitch."

"Why didn't you speak up sooner?" Mateo accused.

I scoffed, "well, I'm sorry, I was fucking tortured, Mateo! How was I supposed to know one stupid fucking insult made a difference? So, what about Germany?"

"So, unless that man is a rouge, then Mussolini has ties to Germany and Canci." Gabriel out the phone down and we all stayed quiet.

"I highly doubt he's a rouge," Nicolas muttered. "German mafia in Italy or Sicily is rare and having a one man connection is almost unheard of. If he was anybody important, I would have recognized him. So, that just leaves him being part of a bigger organization. Human Trafficking in Germany is common. If the Germans and Mussolini joined forces, it wouldn't be strange. It just means the trafficking ring we've been following is Mussolini's."