Sold to the Capo-Chapter 122: SHOCK

VINCENZO’S POV

Pain. That was the first thing that registered in my mind as my eyes fluttered open. 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

My ears rang and I rolled over to my side.

What the hell had happened?

My memory was foggy. Last thing I remembered, I was in the car trying to get to Hale when something had hit the car out of nowhere. Not hard enough to kill you but hard enough to get us ruffled and injured.

As my eyes adjusted to the surroundings, I realized that the car was no longer in sight. What the hell had happened to the car?

Where were my men?

I soon caught sight of their lying figures on the path. Were they dead? I stood up, wincing from the pain in my joints but I ignored it and went over to the closest man, crouching down so I could feel his pulse.

Still alive. Just knocked out.

With that, I went over to the other man, feeling for a pulse. It was faint but still there. Throbbing softly under the feel of my fingers.

Thank fuck for that. I looked around our surrounding, my eyes squinting at the bright light that pierced through my eyelids. We were still on the path to Brunox street but our car had been hijacked and we were far from the end of the street. We still had a lot to do.

A low groan to my right had me snapping my head toward the first man. He stirred, his fingers twitching against the dirt. Good. At least one of them was waking up.

"Get up," I said, voice rough.

His eyelids fluttered open, and he let out a sharp exhale before pushing himself up with a wince. "Boss..." He coughed, looking around. "What the hell happened?"

I stood up, my muscles protesting the movement. "We got hit. Car’s gone. Someone planned this."

He cursed under his breath, rubbing his temples as he tried to shake off the daze.

I pulled out my gun that I had strapped to my belt. Clearly, i hadn’t lost anything in the crash, my phone was on the dirt a feet away also and I picked it, noticing the large crack to It but thankfully it was still useful. I looked at the gun again, checking the magazine. Still loaded. A small blessing. "Wake the other one," I ordered.

He nodded and crawled toward the unconscious man, shaking him roughly. "Come on, wake up, wake up."

I turned my attention to our surroundings. Brunox Street was close, but we weren’t there yet. I had no idea what they needed Grace for if she didn’t have the ledger.

And then there was Hale. I had no idea if he was still in position, if he was safe, or if whoever hit us had already gotten to him too.

The second man finally groaned, eyes barely cracking open. "Fuck... my head..."

"Good, you’re not dead," I said bluntly. "Get up. We need to move."

He groaned again but pushed himself upright. He looked like shit—blood on his temple, sluggish movements—but we didn’t have time to waste.

"We don’t have a car. Options?" I asked, scanning the area.

"We could head to Brunox on foot, but that’s risky," the first man said. "Or we find another ride."

"There’s no time to steal a car, I don’t see one forthcoming and we can’t afford to wait for another one," I muttered.

"Then we walk," the second man grunted, wiping the blood from his face. "How far?"

"Fifteen minutes if we move fast," I said.

They both cursed. "No choice then," the first man said, already getting to his feet.

I took out my phone, dialing Hale. He picked up after one ring.

Thank fuck for that.

"Don Enzo?" His voice was quiet, tense.

"You good?" I asked.

"For now. Had to ditch the car and take cover. I was right—it was a fucking trap."

I gritted my teeth. "You see who set it?"

"Not exactly, but there are men positioned all over. Someone’s monitoring the area."

"Cameras?" I asked.

This was going really bad as it was and I had no idea where Salvatore was. I could call him after this but Hale had been the one with eyes on Grace and Henry, he was the main person who I needed to speak to.

"Yeah. I found one already. There’s no way I can move without being spotted. Lost sight on Grace and Henry after a while"

I cursed. "Can you take them out?"

"Not without alerting them."

My grip on my gun tightened. "Then stay put until I tell you otherwise. I’m heading there now."

"There’s something else," Hale said. "Your car—it’s still moving."

I froze. "What?"

"The GPS. Someone’s driving it. If it’s not you, someone’s using your car to fuck with us. Your wife knows and we’ve communicated to the others so they don’t follow it. They’re trying to thin us out"

My pulse quickened. "Where’s it headed?"

"Still tracking it, but it’s not going toward Brunox anymore."

I exchanged a glance with my men. "Someone took my damn car."

Hale exhaled sharply. "Yeah. And they want you to know it."

I clenched my jaw. "Keep tracking it. I’ll deal with it later."

"Copy."

Sighing, I ended the call and called Salvatore who picked on the first call.

"My car got stolen. Stop following it, I’m going to Brunox street as planned. Double up your speed, I don’t intend to go into that warehouse without any backup, copy?" I said without beating about the bush.

"Got it. See you there"

I ended the call and shoved the phone back into my pocket.

"Change of plans," I said. "We move fast and stay low. Someone’s watching the area."

The men nodded, adjusting their weapons.

We set off, keeping close to the shadows, our footsteps barely making a sound against the pavement.

A few minutes in, I spotted something ahead—two figures near a black SUV. They weren’t moving like civilians. Armed. Watching the road.

I held up a fist, signaling my men to stop.

"We take them out quietly," I murmured. "No gunfire unless necessary."

The first man nodded, already reaching for his knife.

I moved first, creeping toward the closest one. He had his back to me, scanning the area, unaware of the danger creeping up behind him.

In one swift motion, I grabbed him from behind, clamping a hand over his mouth as I drove my knife into his side. His body jerked, but I held him steady, lowering him to the ground as the life drained from his eyes.

The second man barely had time to react before my guy slit his throat from behind. He gurgled, choking on his own blood before collapsing.

We dragged the bodies into the shadows of the looming trees, then checked the SUV.

Keys still in the ignition.

"Looks like we got a ride after all," I muttered.

"What do you think they were waiting for?" One of my men asked.

"I don’t know" I muttered.

We piled in, and I took the wheel, speeding toward Brunox.

Fifteen minutes later, we had arrived at the street though we parked the car a long way off. The street was eerily quiet when we arrived. Too quiet.

I parked a block away, scanning the area. Hale had been right—there were cameras. Hidden, but there. Someone was watching every move made here.

"Stay sharp," I murmured to my men.

We got out, moving cautiously toward the large warehouse that I spotted. It was the likely place where they could have taken Grace.

A black van sat in the middle of the street. No one around it. No movement inside.

Trap.

It had to be a trap set for me. They wouldn’t just leave it there without any form of supervision and there was no form of cameras anywhere around no matter how hard I looked. Yet, I knew there was a reason they had kept it there and be damned if I was going to shy away from it.

I exhaled slowly, gripping my gun tighter.

My men behind me were very close to me and instantly one of them came around to stand in front of me, his finger hovering over the trigger, ready to press down on it in the face of any threat

Then the back doors of the van swung open.

And out stepped a man I hadn’t seen in months.

My blood ran cold.

Julius.

A smirk tugged at his lips as he spread his arms. "Well, well. Vincenzo LaRosa. About time you showed up. Our last meeting was far from formal"

I didn’t lower my gun. "If you wanted a meeting, you could’ve asked. Instead, you stole my car, took out my men, and led me on a fucking chase."

Julius chuckled. "Where’s the fun in that?"

I took a step closer. "What do you want?"

His smirk widened. "Oh, Vincenzo. You already know."

I clenched my jaw. "Not gonna happen."

Julius sighed, shaking his head. "You always were difficult."

Then he snapped his fingers.

The side door of the van slid open—

And my heart stopped.

Because inside, bound and gagged, was someone I never expected to see here.

"Tesoro?"