Giovani sat at the desk as he read the reports then he sat back on the chair.
In the two weeks since David Corzella's death, things had slowly gone back to normal and there hadn't been a sighting of the Saints anywhere in Milan.
"Maybe someone hired them to only take out Corzella," he thought when the door opened and Lucinda entered the room.
"Well?!" she demanded while she walked to the desk and he stood up then he walked around the desk to stand in front of her.
"Is there something wrong?" he asked.
"Have you dealt with the Saints?!"
"No, I haven't."
"Why not?!"
"There is no reason to. They are no longer in Milan."
"Do you know that for sure?"
"Mother, it's been two weeks. If they were after us, they would have done something by now. My best guess is they were sent here to take out Corzella."
"No. They are still here. I can feel it."
"Mother…"
"Find them!"
He watched her storm out of the room when Lucinda slammed the door shut and he sighed. Shaking his head, he went to sit down at the desk and he looked at the reports. He lightly shoved the reports back as he turned the chair to face the window and he strummed his fingers on the arms of the chair.
Safe Haven
"Hold still," Angelica said while she slowly rotated Connor's right ankle and he looked at the ceiling. She wrote the information on the medical file when she lightly tickled the bottom of his right foot and he laughed.
"Can I get up now?" Connor asked.
"Yes," she said with a nod.
Connor carefully stood after he put his sneakers on when he gently placed weight on his right foot and he slowly walked around the room. He didn't feel any pain as he smiled and he gave Angelica a thumb's up before he left the room. He headed down the hallway when he went up the stairs and the doors to the upper deck opened. He stepped outside then he walked to the railing and he leaned his forearms on the railing.
"How's your ankle?" Angelique asked after she stopped to stand next to him. He glanced over at her, looked at the water then he looked down at his right ankle.
"It's alright," he said with a shrug.
"That's good. Follow me."
Connor gave her a confused look as he pushed off the railing and he followed her to the doors. The doors slid open as they went inside and he followed her to the stairs. After going downstairs, he followed her into the gym and he saw Romeo and Murphy standing near the mat.
"What are we doing here?" Romeo asked. Angelique walked to the mat when she stood in front of them and Connor stood next to her.
"Smecker wants you three to do some training. So, why not now?" Angelique asked, pointing to the mat with her hands.
"I jus' healed up an' you wanna spar?" Connor asked.
"That's what I just said."
"We already know how to fight," Romeo said.
"Are you afraid?" she asked, arching an eyebrow.
"No."
"Come on, Romeo. Show her what you got," Murphy said with a grin.
"I don't want to hurt her."
"Believe me. You are not gonna hurt her," Connor said and she arched an eyebrow.
"Whenever you're ready," Angelique said as she got into a defense stance and Romeo looked at Murphy. Murphy saw some rope sitting on the small table near the door when he walked to the small table and he picked up the rope. He walked back to Romeo when he walked behind Romeo and Romeo placed his hands behind his back. "What are you doing?"
"Getting ready to fight," Romeo said and Murphy tied the rope around Romeo's wrists.
"How are you going to fight with your hands tied behind your back?"
"You'll see," Connor said.
Angelique frowned when Romeo charged at her and Angelique got out of the way. He turned as he bounced on the balls of his feet and Angelique swung at him. Romeo ducked as he tried to kick her, but Angelique blocked him and he smiled.
Murphy and Connor watched them spar as the twins smiled at each other and Romeo ran at Angelique. She got out of the way while Romeo ran to the wall, ran up the wall, jumped and he slid his arms around his legs, freeing himself. He untied the ropes while Angelique walked closer and Romeo arched his eyebrows up.
"What do you think?" Romeo asked.
"I'm impressed," she said, folding her arms under her breasts. "How long did it take you to learn how to do that?"
Romeo explained while they walked back to the mat and she looked at Connor and Murphy.
"Connor is right about one thing. It's too soon for him to be sparring. So, I guess it's your turn, Murphy," Angelique said.
"I don't think so," Murphy said with a shake of his head.
"Why not?"
"I don't like th'idea of hittin' a woman."
"Didn't stop you before," Connor asked.
"Hey, that was different. She kicked you in th'nuts."
"I was bein' disrespectful."
"What are you talking about?" Angelique asked.
Connor and Murphy took turns telling the story about what happened at the meatpacking plant and Romeo snorted a laugh. Angelique rolled her eyes when she got into a defense position and she motioned with her hand for Murphy to attack her. Murphy sighed as he got into defense position and Angelique waited for him to make a move.
"Whenever you're…"
She quickly ducked as he swung at her and Murphy lightly bounced on the balls of his feet. She saw the determination in his eyes as she swung at him, but he blocked her and she smiled.
"Get 'er, Murph!" Romeo called out.
Connor and Romeo watched them spar when Angelique kicked Murphy's legs out from under him and Murphy landed onto his back. She went to sit on his stomach as she held his shoulders down and she saw he had his eyes closed.
"I win," she whispered in his right ear as Murphy snorted a laugh and he opened his eyes.
"Get off," Murphy said..
She got off Murphy when she stood and she helped him to his feet.
"So, do you think we still need any more training?" Romeo asked.
"No, I don't," Angelique said.
"Then we can go?" Murphy asked and she nodded. They headed for the door when two armed guards appeared in the hallway and Connor frowned after the guards pointed their weapons at them.
"Stand down," Angelique said as she looked at the guards. The guards were in full battle armor and riot helmets and Connor noticed one of the guards barely moved his finger over the trigger..
"What's with th'battle gear?" Connor asked.
"Agent Smecker needs to see you in his office," the guard on the left said.
"Why didn't he just use the coms?" Romeo asked.
"He didn't want to take the chance of the three of you fucking off if he did," the guard on the right said.
"What were you supposed t'do if we didn't wanna go see him? Shoot us?" Murphy asked with a grin and Connor snorted a laugh.
"Yes," the guard on the left said and Angelique's eyes slightly widened.
"Move aside," Angelique said. The guards moved back as Connor, Murphy, Romeo and Angelique walked out of the room then down the hallway and Connor glanced at her. He saw the anger on her face as she walked faster and Murphy went to walk next to his brother.
"Wonder what's got up Smecker's ass if he's sendin' guards t'fetch us," Murphy grumbled.
They headed for the elevator doors as Angelique pushed the call button and the doors opened. They entered the lift car while Connor held his hands out to stop the guards from entering and the guards frowned.
"Sorry. No more room. Take the next one," Connor said as he pushed the button and the doors closed. Angelique pushed the button as the elevator car moved down and the twins looked at each other. The doors finally opened as they walked down the hallway and Connor went to walk next to her. They stopped in front of the door to Smecker's office and she kicked the door until the door opened with a loud bang. They walked in the office when they saw Angelina and Angelica standing near the chairs in front of the desk and Eunice and Sibeal were sitting in the chairs.
"Glad you could join us," Paul said.
"Fuck off. Why the hell did you send armed guards with kill orders to get Connor, Murphy and Romeo?!" Angelique demanded.
"You did what?!" Sibeal asked with an angry look on his face.
"Needed to make sure they'd show up," Paul said.
"What do you want? We were in the middle of trainin'," Connor said.
"You had Connor train!? He just recovered from his injuries!" Angelica said, looking at Angelique.
"He didn't train. Just Romeo and Murphy," Angelique explained.
"If you ladies will pull in your claws, I'll explain why I wanted to talk with you," Paul said as he looked at the information in the file on the desk and he slid the photograph toward Eunice. She picked up the photograph as Murphy and Connor looked at the image of two men and three women walking into a building and Connor looked at Smecker. "The man on the left is Peter DeFloro. He is one of Yakavetta's underbosses. Deals mostly in human trafficking. Has multiple houses all over the world and has been investigated several times. Nothing's ever been proven. Like with Yakavetta, he seems to be spotless."
"Any idea where he is?" Murphy asked.
"He's here."
"So, instead of takin' him down, you took photos of him?!" Connor asked.
"Taking him down is your job."
"Ah, now I get why you've been bugging me to accelerate Connor's physical therapy," Angelica said.
"I needed him up and running before DeFloro left Milan."
"I told you accelerating it would have caused permanent damage to his ankle."
"He's also standing right here," Connor said, crossing his arms over his chest. Murphy felt the anger coming from his twin when Murphy walked to the desk and he picked up the rest of the photographs. He walked back to Connor as he handed Connor the photographs and Connor looked at the images. "Do you know where this house is?"
"Yes, we do," Paul said.
"Do you know if DeFloro's there?" Murphy asked.
"It's his main house. He's always there."
"So, what's the plan?" Romeo asked while looking at the photographs.
"You go in, take DeFloro out then you leave."
"We don't know th'layout of th'place or how many guards he has," Connor said.
"You didn't know that at the drug warehouse."
"He's right. We didn't," Murphy said.
"Which is why we need t'really plan this out," Connor said.
"Since when have you been so cautious?" Paul asked.
"Since now."
"Uh, not to change the subject, but what happened to that Interpol asshole?" Romeo asked.
"Yeah. What did happen t'him?" Connor asked as Smecker sighed and Smecker looked up at the ceiling.
Milan
Callahan stood at the curb as he watched people walking down the street and he sighed. In the two weeks since his kidnapping, he had wondered why he had been released. His mind replayed waking up in the alleyway where he had been attacked and he had contacted his team for a pickup. His face was still bruised, but he was given the greenlight to return to duty and he silently vowed to find out who it was who kidnapped him.
He snorted out a breath of air when he saw the door to the building across the street opening and he raised the binoculars. He was careful not to be seen as he looked at Peter DeFloro and Dante Corletti walking down the stairs and they headed for the sedan parked at the curb. The sedan then moved away from the curb and Callahan moved the binoculars down.
"He's on the move," Rory said after he pushed the button on the small walkie-talkie pinned to the collar of his coat.
"Got a lock on him," a female voice said and Callahan looked at the building. He knew DeFloro ran his human trafficking business from the house, but they had never been able to get into the house. Callahan flexed his fingers when the soft beeping sound alerted him and he removed the cellphone from the inner pocket of the suit jacket. He looked at the screen when he pushed the button and he read the text.
Here is something I thought you might like.
On the screen were the blueprints to the house, how many guards were in the house and the location of the alarms and Callahan smiled. He placed the cellphone back in the pocket of the suit jacket then he quickly walked down the sidewalk.
Safe Haven
Connor sat on the lounge chair while he pushed the sunglasses up and he looked up at the sky. Murphy was swimming and Romeo was in the lounge, watching a movie. Connor reached for the glass of wine sitting next to the lounge chair when he took a sip and he watched the water droplets slide lazily down the glass.
"Hey," made him look to the left while Angelique walked closer and she knelt down next to the lounge chair. Her eyes moved down his torso to the black swim trunks he was wearing then down his legs to his feet and Connor noticed the pleased look on her face.
"Enjoyin' th'view?" he teased and she rolled her eyes.
"I thought you might want to look at this."
Connor took the tablet from her as he looked at the blueprints and he frowned.
"What am I lookin' at?" he asked.
"According to my sources, these are the blueprints to DeFloro's base of operation."
"An' where did you get them?"
"That's for me to know…"
"An' fer me t'never find out," he said with a nod then he looked toward the pool. "Hey, Murph! Get over here."
Angelique watched Murphy get out of the pool as the world seemed to slow down and she blinked her eyes a few times. He picked up the white towel as he walked to the lounge chair and he gave Angelique a smile grin.
"What's up?" Murphy asked, rubbing his hair with the towel. Connor handed him the tablet as Murphy looked at the blueprints and Murphy placed the towel over his right shoulder. "What is this?"
"That's th'blueprints t'DeFloro's place."
"Romeo!" Murphy called out and Romeo walked out of the lounge after he opened the sliding door.
"What's going on?" Romeo asked, walking closer. Murphy handed him the tablet as Romeo looked at the blueprints and he frowned. "What is this?"
"That is th'blueprints t'DeFloro's place," Connor explained.
"Are these for real?"
"Yes," Angelique said.
"Do you have any information about th'security system?" Connor asked as he looked at Angelique. She walked to Romeo when she swiped the screen with her right index finger and Romeo looked at the screen. He handed the tablet to Connor and Connor looked at the information. "Looks like th'basic setup."
"How many guards do they have?" Murphy asked and Connor swiped the screen with his left index finger. He looked at the information then he handed the tablet to Murphy and Murphy looked at the screen. "Hmph…"
"Anyone up for a little recon?" Romeo asked.
"When?"
"Tonight," Connor said.
"Sounds like a plan."
"Think you can get us some gear?" Connor asked, looking at Angelique.
"I am going to ignore that question. Be ready around seven thirty," Angelique said as she took the tablet from Murphy then she walked away. Murphy looked at Connor then Murphy broke out laughing and Connor sighed, rolling his eyes.
Milan
Peter DeFloro stood at the window as he looked out at the darkness and the streetlamps cast a soft glow over the sidewalk. His mind kept replaying David Corzella's funeral and how he scanned those gathered around the grave for any signs of who might have put the hit on his friend.
"You got sloppy, Dave," he whispered when he heard a knock on the door and he turned to face the door. He removed the gun from the drawer as he silently closed the drawer and he cautiously headed for the door. He reached for the door handle when he opened the door enough to see his assistant standing in the hallway and he opened the door some more. "What the hell do you want?"
"Vito told me to tell you they're acting up again," Anthony Nerelli said and Peter sighed.
"They wouldn't be acting up if he would feed them."
"If we feed them, they get feisty."
"Just give them enough to shut them up."
"Right," Anthony said with a nod. Peter closed the door as Anthony headed for the stairs and he went downstairs. He stopped at the bottom of the stairs when he noticed Vito Zentori standing near the door and Vito was looked out the window next to the door. "What are you looking at?"
"I think someone's out there," Vito said.
"You always think someone's out there."
Anthony walked to Vito as he looked out at the darkness then he looked at Vito.
"There isn't anything there."
"I swear there's someone out there."
"Then go out and check," Anthony said with wide eyes.
Vito flipped him off as he opened the front door then he left the building. Vito scanned the surroundings with his eyes when he went down the stairs and he stood at the bottom of the stairs. The streets were empty and the buildings across the street were dark. He removed the gun from the holster when he held the gun tightly in his hands and he felt his heart slamming in his chest. He saw nothing and he sighed, placing the gun back in the holster.
"He's right. There's no one out here, Vito," Vito grumbled and he shrugged, headed back up the stairs, opened the door then he went back inside.
Across the street.
"Eejit," Connor said as he lowered the infra-red binoculars.
Murphy nodded as he scanned the building and he silently counted the heat signatures. He lowered the binoculars when he scratched an itch on his nose then he leaned against the wall.
"He's here," Romeo said as he looked at DeFloro walking by the window and Connor and Murphy raised the binoculars. They switched the settings as they watched DeFloro moving back and forth and he seemed to be agitated by something.
"Wanna go do some gratuitous violence?" Connor asked while looking at Murphy.
"That's a dumb question," Murphy teased and Connor lightly shoved him. Murphy shoved him back as their eyes locked and Romeo went to stand between them.
"Call it in," Romeo said, holding his hands up. Nodding, Connor picked up the walkie-talkie as he pushed the button and he looked out the window.
"Lady Ass Kicker, this is Immature Asshole. Do you copy?" Connor asked as he let go of the button and Murphy and Romeo looked at each other. "Hey. That was her idea not mine."
They heard what sounded like laughing coming from the walkie-talkie when someone cleared their throat and he looked at the walkie-talkie.
"This is Lady Ass Kicker," Angelique's voice said and the laughter grew louder.
"Got visual on th'target. Need th'greenlight t'engage," Connor said.
"You have been watching way too many action movies."
"Knock off th'bullshit. Should we go get him or not?"
"What do you think?"
"I thought this was jus' recon," Murphy said.
"You thought wrong, Fluffy Bunny Hair," Angelica said.
"Fluffy Bunny Hair!?"
"Yeah, that's your call-name," she said as she pictured Murphy blushing and Connor snorting a laugh.
"What's my call name?" Romeo asked.
"Gunslinger," Angelina said and his eyes slightly bugged out as he smiled.
"How come you two get th'cool call names?!" Murphy asked, but he silently admitted he liked his call name.
"Stop acting liked a baby and get your asses down here," Angelique said.
"You are so pushy," Connor said.
"And you're still an asshole."
Connor looked at the walkie-talkie as he turned the walkie-talkie off and they headed for the door. They left the room when they went downstairs and they left the building. They headed down the alleyway as they walked to the black van and Angelica opened the back doors. They got into the black van while Murphy checked to see if anyone was watching them then he turned to look at Angelique. Angelique opened the black tote bag when she removed four Berrettas, a pair of silver-plated revolvers and a pair of Saw-backed Bowie knives with finger rings and Connor, Murphy and Romeo smiled.
"No rope?" Connor asked.
"Don't need it. There's a fire escape at the back of the house," Angelina said.
"You might need this," Angelica said as she handed Murphy the glass cutting kit and three headlamps and he nodded, placing the glass cutting kit and the headlamps in the inner pocket of his black Navy pea coat.
"Let's go," Connor said. Connor and Romeo placed on the ski masks before they hopped out of the back of the black van and Murphy looked at Angelica. Connor turned to look at his twin and Connor rolled his eyes. "Murph!"
"Right," Murphy said with a nod when he placed the ski mask on, lightly kissed Angelica's cheek then he hopped out of the back of the black van. Angelique watched the twins and Romeo carefully heading down the alleyway and Angelina looked at Angelica.
Moving out of the alleyway, Connor, Murphy and Romeo kept to the shadows as they headed for the house while Connor pointed to the alleyway to the left and they quickly headed across the street. They entered the alleyway when Murphy removed the headlamps from the inner pocket of his black Navy pea coat and he handed a headlamp to Romeo then he handed a headlamp to Connor. Connor showed them how to turn on the headlamp then they placed the headlamps on their heads and they headed down the alleyway. They carefully looked around the corner when Murphy pointed to the dumpster and the ladder to the fire escape and they nodded.
Connor cupped his hands while Romeo placed his right foot in Connor's hand and Connor boosted Romeo up onto the dumpster. Romeo jumped a few times until he caught the bottom rung of the fire escape ladder then he pushed the release button and the fire escape ladder moved down. Connor and Murphy had kept watch in case the noise from Romeo jumping alerted anyone and Romeo made a soft whistle to get their attention. They climbed up onto the dumpster as they looked up at the fire escape ladder and Connor sighed.
"Let's go," Connor said. He reached up for the bottom rung of the fire escape ladder as he started climbing and Murphy followed him. Romeo took the rear as they went up to the top of the ladder and they stood on the fire escape. Murphy checked to see if the window was unlocked as he shook his head then he handed Connor the glass cutter kit after he removed the glass cutter kit from the inner pocket of his black Navy pea coat. Connor opened the glass cutter kit when he removed the small suction cup and the glass cutter and he handed the glass cutter kit to Murphy.
"Uh, guys," Romeo said after he had looked at the window and they saw three women standing in front of the window and the women had guns pointed at them.