Roxanne (The Italian Cartel Book 2)

by Shandi Boyes

  Twenty-Nine

  Roxanne

  I breathe out the nerves making me a jittery mess before making my way to the reception desk at Dr. Bates’s OBGYN office for the second time this morning. The foyer is inviting with music playing softly in the background and scented candles wafting in the air, but the feeling of dread refuses to leave me. Dr. Bates was the least creepy of my suitors when I was put up for auction. He was well-spoken, dressed nicely, and excluding when he tried to un-cut Dimitri’s profit by offering to pay me directly for my virginity, he seemed pleasant.

  Fool me once, shame on me.

  He won’t fool me again.

  The information Smith shared about him when we discussed a way to bring him down for drugging Dimitri had me rechewing food I had earlier eaten. He has bounced his practice state to state, had more than a dozen affairs on his wife, and is linked to the disappearance of at least three women. All were in their final weeks of pregnancy, and all of them were blonde—his seemingly preferred choice.

  His knowable likes are the reason I kept my hair red. We’re not here to entice him into locking me up in his playroom of kinks. We want him to pass me onto the men Dimitri believes are responsible for his daughter’s captivity.

  Just the thought of being in the room with such men gives me the heebie-jeebies. Fortunately, the tingles I still feel buzzing on my lips from Dimitri’s awe-inspiring kiss is much more potent. It would encourage a saint to walk through Hell’s gates with a smile on her face and a wish for Satan to bring everything he has to the party.

  “You can go straight in, Ms. Grace,” informs the receptionist when I place down the clipboard she requested me to fill in on arrival.

  “Are you sure?” I scan the room brimming with patients, certain almost all of them were here before I arrived.

  “Yes,” she responds with a smile, drawing my focus back to her. “Dr. Bates is waiting for you.”

  “Okay.” I sound as uneased as I feel. The overflowing waiting room would make most women feel safe. There’s a weird comfort you get with numbers, but I’m not experiencing that. There is less chance of me being kidnapped since it’s the middle of the day, so my chances are even lower with a heap of spectators. I hope today’s charade isn’t utterly pointless. “Which way?”

  The receptionist hands me a gown and a small jar with a yellow lid before pointing to a hall on our right. “Bathrooms are through the second door on the left. Dr. Bates is the one just after that.”

  Nodding, I slowly make my way to Dr. Bates’s office. I could get changed as per the receptionist’s underhanded demand, but that would make the camera buttons in my dress futile. Considering it took Smith almost all night to fit them, I’d rather keep them in operation.

  After breathing out my nerves, I push open the door with Dr. Bates tacked on the front. “Dr. Bates, hi.” My greeting is ridiculously sweet, my role of knocked-up virgin played to perfection. “The bathrooms were occupied, so I hope you don’t mind me skipping that part of my appointment.” I bite on the inside of my cheek, hopeful a rush of blood from my gnaw will have Dr. Bates believing I’m blushing. “I don’t feel comfortable doing that…” I wave my hand over the ultrasound equipment next to a bed with obvious stirrups.

  He swivels around to face me, blocking the images of multiple blonde females on the screen of his computer with his wide shoulders. Since he dyes his hair, it’s hard to guess his age, but if forced, I’d say mid-forties. “That’s fine, Roxanne. I don’t need to examine you today.” As he drags his eyes over my fire-engine red hair, he stands to his feet. He’s dressed more casually than he was at my auction, which is shocking considering this is his place of occupation. “Is that new?”

  I sheepishly balance my chin on my chest as if I’m ashamed. “Dimitri preferred redheads.”

  It’s the fight of my life not to seek out one of the many hidden cameras Smith advised me about this morning when Dr. Bates replies, “I have heard that.” While smiling at my flushed cheeks, he gestures his hand to the examination table. “Why don’t you put down your things and take a seat.”

  I begin to wonder if we’ve misjudged him when my jump to his command is quickly chased by him checking my vitals. He takes my blood pressure, checks my pulse, and flashes a light into my eyes before asking a set of personal questions, such as, when did I last have my period.

  “Umm…” His question legitimately stumps me. With my last thirty-six hours spent ensuring Dimitri has made the right decision to trust me, I didn’t have time to sit down and calculate a date that would have me six or so weeks along. “Around eight weeks ago.”

  I touch his arm like I’m embarrassed to admit I had no reason to keep an eye on things like that only months ago. I’m honestly ashamed, so it’s an easy act for me to pull off.

  An unpleasant glint darts through Dr. Bates’s eyes as he asks, “Have you had unprotected sex since your last period?”

  The heat on my cheeks is real this time around. Not only is Dimitri eavesdropping on our conversation, almost every member of his team is as well. “Yes. Multiple times.”

  I almost choke on my last two words, stunned I’ve not once cited an objection to Dimitri’s inability to sheath his cock with protection. I shouldn’t be surprised. I barely keep a rational head when he looks at me, so I don’t see me having the power to bark out a set of orders when his head is between my legs.

  Dr. Bates drops his eyes to the monitor of his computer before asking, “Have you had sexual intercourse in the last twenty-four hours?” He didn’t need to hide his eyes for me to sense his annoyance. I can feel it radiating out of him.

  I almost nod before recalling why I left my grandparents’ ranch this morning. As far as Dimitri’s enemies are concerned, we’re over and done with, his annoyance about my ‘supposed’ pregnancy the cause of our breakup. “No, I haven’t.”

  “Great!” Dr. Bates’s shouted word startles me. “So, there shouldn’t be any issues with your test.”

  Panic and fear roll through me at the same time. “Test? I thought you didn’t need to examine me today?”

  You could class Dr. Bates’s smile as cute if he didn’t have the markings of a psychopath. “Not a physical test. A pregnancy test.”

  I gulp back my sigh when he stands from his chair to gather the jar the receptionist handed me five minutes ago. “You can use my private restroom.” He presses his palm against a wooden panel next to his desk before moving to stand in front of the doorway leading to the hall, blocking my only exit. “Then you won’t have any worries about stage fright.”

  “I don’t really need to go.” When the humor on his face evaporates, I switch tactics. “But I guess there’s no harm in trying.”

  After snatching the jar out of his hand, I make a beeline for his private washroom, ensuring the door latches shut behind me.

  “I’m so sorry,” I apologize to my reflection in the mirror. “I didn’t think he would do a test.”

  My lack of knowledge can easily be excused. Up until a few weeks ago, I was a virgin. It doesn’t make me naïve, but it most certainly has me on the back foot when it comes to things like babies and pregnancy tests.

  “Please tell me you’re not going to watch me pee.”

  Dimitri can’t answer me. The radio frequency Smith needed to track any calls coming in and out of Dr. Bates’s office means I couldn’t use the fancy bead-like listening device I did when my virginity was auctioned.

  Confident Dimitri is too possessive to let anyone see me in a vulnerable state, I walk to the toilet, hook up my dress, yank down my panties and tights, then pee into the jar Dr. Bates was kind enough to open for me.

  With my knees shaking in disappointment, half my pee lands on my hand instead of the jar. It frustrates me, but it has nothing on how annoyed I’ll be when my ruse backfires in my face in a couple of minutes. When my test comes back negative, Dr. Bates may become suspicious we’re onto him. If that happens, he may shut up shop for the fifth time this decade. Then our
chances of finding Fien will be even lower than they already are.

  Once my hands are scrubbed clean, and the panic is washed from my face, I exit the bathroom. Dr. Bates appears as if he hasn’t moved. I know that isn’t the case. He not only has a pregnancy test in his hand, but there’s also an outline of a cell phone in his pocket.

  Sorry, buddy. Your bank accounts aren’t about to become overloaded with funds, I mumble in my head while handing him a jar of pee.

  While Dr. Bates dips the end of the pregnancy test into the jar, I conjure up an excuse to leave. “How long do these things take? Should I wait outside while you do your magic?”

  Light hair falls into his eyes when he peers at me over his shoulder. “No, that isn’t necessary. They only take a minute at the most.”

  Knowing what the results will be, I gather my belongings from the examination table before hovering near the door. My nervous bob shifts to a shake when Dr. Bates says, “Or in your case, only thirty seconds.”

  I feel my pupils dilate to the size of saucers when he lifts a positive pregnancy test in the air a mere second before he peers into an obvious camera in the corner of the room. Then, not even a second later, I feel someone creeping up on me.

  Thirty

  Dimitri

  “Get her out.” I leap up from my chair, too bristling with unease to sit for a second longer. “Get her out now!”

  I’m stunned I can talk. My brain is fried from taking in Roxanne’s positive pregnancy test. It makes the ruse I was certain was just about to bust more authentic, but I’ll be fucked if I let my enemies get another one of my children.

  I also don’t want Roxanne to go through what Audrey went through. I could barely stomach it when it happened to my wife. I won’t handle it occurring to a woman I love.

  As Rocco leaps into action, I dart my eyes between the many monitors in front of me. Roxanne appears as shocked by the results as me. She stares at the now-blue stick with her mouth hanging open and her eyes bulged. Her expression is the same shocked one Audrey wore when her test came back positive. However, she isn’t being subjected to the verbal tirade I spat out upon discovering the news I was about to be a father.

  Back then, I thought my world was crumbling.

  Now I know it most definitely is.

  Even with my wish to kill the highest it’s ever been, I keep a rational head. Flying off the hinges won’t help anyone right now. It won’t help me, it won’t help Fien, and it most certainly won’t help Roxanne.

  “What was that?” I point to the monitor, the quickest flurry of black darted past. It could have been the shadow of one of the many pregnant women mingling in the hallway, but it seemed wider, more deviant.

  It feels like the world caves in on me when the dozen monitors surrounding me suddenly plunge into blackness. It’s a total communication blackout, leaving Roxanne utterly defenseless.

  “Move!”

  Smith forcefully plucks one of the techies from his chair so he can take over the controls. He taps on a gel keyboard like a madman, bringing up one camera at a time. He’s working as fast as he can, but to me, it isn’t fast enough. My worst nightmare is coming true for the second time, except this time, I’m knee-deep in the controversy.

  I agreed to Roxanne’s suggestion.

  I put her in danger.

  Once again, nothing happening is her fault.

  “Where is she?” I ask fearfully when the return of the live feed to Dr. Bates’s office comes up empty. As my eyes dart from screen to screen to screen seeking the feeblest snippet of red, my blood boils. She has to be there. The cameras were down for barely twenty seconds. No one can move that fast—not even me.

  “There!” shouts a blond-haired techy who’s pointing to a screen on my left.

  Relief engulfs me when my eyes drink in Roxanne’s svelte frame and beautiful face. It doesn’t linger for long. She’s no longer on her feet. She’s been carried down an isolated corridor in the arms of a man wearing all black, their brisk walk shadowed by Dr. Bates. She is also without clothing.

  “Their taking her out the hidden entrance,” I advise Rocco via the comms server I’m praying is still in function.

  When my demand is followed by a painful stretch of silence, I shout, “Get him on his cell.”

  Smith’s voice makes it seem as if his throat is being shredded with the same razor blades cutting up mine. “On it.”

  I rip my fingers through my hair when the buzz of Rocco’s cell phone rings out of the speakers of Smith’s computer over and over again. He isn’t in any of the frames, he’s nowhere to be found, and Roxanne’s unconscious body is being thrown into the back of an unmarked van.

  “Prepare to commence trace.” I watch in feared awe as Smith takes hold of the reins like he was born to do it. He activates the chip in Roxanne’s arm and advises Clover coordinates are on their way before he raises his eyes to mine. “Are you sure you want Clover to move in now? This was the plan, Dimi. Roxie could lead us straight to Fien.”

  I’m so fucking torn. It truly feels like this decision will tear me in two. If I don’t move now, I could lose Roxanne. If I hold off, I could bring both her and my daughter home—but what happens if that occurs after Roxanne has already been hurt. What if I’m too late for the second time?

  I’m convinced my enemies are wired-tapped into my inner-workings when the decision is taken out of my hands. Just as quickly as the surveillance devices shutdown in Dr. Bates’s office, we lose our connection with Roxanne’s tracker.

  Fury boils beneath my skin as I stare at an unmoving blue dot on a map of the town I should have owned years ago. “What happened?”

  Smith shrugs. Anger is written all over his face. As he strives to find answers, he punishes his keyboard. I struggle not to do the same to his face when he sinks into his chair with a groan a few seconds later. “They removed her fucking tracker.”

  “What do you mean?” I ask, my voice unlike anything I’ve ever heard before. “No one knows she was wearing a tracker, so how do you know they’ve removed it.”

  My confusion is alleviated in the worst way possible when Smith hooks his thumb to the screen of his laptop. Rocco is in the middle of the monitor. He’s bleeding, red-faced, and holding up the tiniest little microchip to a security camera in the back alleyway of a Publix Supermarket chain.

  I played with more than I could afford to lose, and I fucking lost—again.

  The end…

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  Dimitri and Roxanne’s story continues in the next explosive part of the Italian Cartel Series. Reign will release November 11, you can preorder it here: books2read.com/u/47XWZN

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  If you want to hear updates on the next books in this crazy world I’ve created, be sure to join my readers group: Shandi’s Book Babes

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  Or my Facebook Page: www.facebook.com/authorshandi

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  Rico, Asher, Isaac, Brandon, Ryan, Cormack, Enrique & Brax stories have already been released, but Grayson, Rocco, Clover, and all the other great characters of Ravenshoe/Hopeton will be getting their own stories at some point during 2020/2021.

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  If you enjoyed this book please leave a review.

  Acknowledgments

  To all the peeps who make this happen, a huge thank you.

  To my editor, Nicki @ Swish Design and Editing, my proofreader, Kaylene Osborn, my mom, the alpha readers, beta readers, and the people who download my books without even reading the blurb. Thank you, thank you, thank you. I truly appreciate you from the bottom of my heart.

  You rock!

  I can’t do an acknowledgement page without mentioning the man who makes this all possible. To my husband, Chris. Thank you for being you, and for being my number one fan before I had written a single word.

  I love you, boo.

  Today, tomorrow, and forever.

  Shandi xx

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  Also by Shandi Boyes

  Perception Series

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  Saving Noah (Noah & Emily)

  Fighting Jacob (Jacob & Lola)

  Taming Nick (Nick & Jenni)

  Redeeming Slater (Slater and Kylie)

  Saving Emily (Noah & Emily - Novella)

  Wrapped Up with Rise Up (Perception Novella - should be read after the Bound Series)

  * * *

  Enigma

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  Enigma (Isaac & Isabelle #1)

  Unraveling an Enigma (Isaac & Isabelle #2)

  Enigma The Mystery Unmasked (Isaac & Isabelle #3)

  Enigma: The Final Chapter (Isaac & Isabelle #4)

  Beneath The Secrets (Hugo & Ava #1)

  Beneath The Sheets(Hugo & Ava #2)

  Spy Thy Neighbor (Hunter & Paige)

  The Opposite Effect (Brax & Clara)

  I Married a Mob Boss(Rico & Blaire)

  Second Shot(Hawke & Gemma)

  The Way We Are(Ryan & Savannah #1)