I suspected there would be plenty of rounds left in my magazine, since the sound of a gun would have announced my location better than anything else I could have done.
They were the first kills I felt absolutely no guilt for. Perhaps it was another sign of my humanity slipping away, or maybe it was just a sign of what a man would do for the woman he loved.
Anything to keep her safe and sound. Anything to go home to her at night.
My only regret was that the man who shot her didn't suffer before he died, as Sadie would undoubtedly feel pain from the wound for weeks and then have to spend more time than she'd like easing back into her workout regimen.
A stir-crazy Sadie was not one I looked forward to dealing with under normal circumstances, but in the face of her near death?
I was more than happy to take care of her.
Every day for the rest of our lives.
“Sean’s upstairs,” Sadie said hesitantly. “Very much dead, but I thought that might be important to mention.” She winced as my jaw tightened. Eventually, we’d have to talk about what happened. But first she needed to be treated.
"Let's go," Matteo ordered. "I'll take you back to the house in the SUV. Ryker and Rafe will stay to deal with cleanup," Matteo glanced back at the two men as he guided us out. "I wish I could see what those two maniacs come up with when they work together. I might have to come back just to find out."
Matteo grabbed a towel out of the back of the SUV, bunching it up and pressing it against Sadie's shoulder. "Let's avoid you bleeding all over the seats if we can," he said with a cocky grin that made me want to stab him in the face.
So maybe the red haze hadn't left entirely.
Helping her into the seat would have been easier if the damn woman didn't insist on doing everything herself. Shot. Not shot. It didn't seem to matter much to her as she hauled herself into the backseat, even though her face twisted with pain. Rebel settled on the floor at Sadie’s feet, her trusty companion who I’d never allow to leave her side. Watching her go into beast mode had only increased my kinship for her.
Any other woman and I might have worried more that Sadie thought differently of Rebel or I, having seen what we did and the way we slaughtered nearly a dozen men without batting an eye.
Simon and Matteo climbed into the front as Sadie hummed to herself. Her hands shook a bit as Ryker hurried out to hand me her gun and her tote that he must have found on the floor. “How many bullets are missing?” I asked, unsure if I wanted the answer as Simon drove off.
“Three,” she said instantly.
“And how many did you kill?”
“Two,” she sighed, leaning her head against my shoulder.
"You good?" I asked.
She nodded, her lips thinning as Simon drove down the road at breakneck speed. "I know I teach women to protect themselves. I taught Ivory how to kill Adrian long before we knew he existed. But it's just different doing it myself. I should be more bothered. Shouldn't I be more bothered? I just killed someone," she rambled.
"You shouldn't be bothered. He would have killed you, Carina. You're more needed in this world than he ever could be," I reassured her. "I don't think you should ever be concerned with ridding the world of scum."
"Does that go for you too?" she asked, getting right to the point.
"Right and wrong. Sometimes the lines get blurred, and it's hard to know if you're the one who's right or not. Some of the greatest villains in history thought they were the hero in their story. I never want that to be me. And fighting someone else's war… made it even harder to find that line," I admitted. "But I will never regret killing the bastards that wanted to take you away from me. Away from your family and Ivory and Luna."
"So you won't have any new problems sleeping?" she asked.
"No, Baby Girl. I won't have any problems sleeping tonight as long as you're okay."
Pulling up to the community, the gates were flung wide open with just a glance at the SUV and driver. Simon navigated the streets in silence, Matteo typing frantically on his phone to coordinate a response and probably tell Ivory that Sadie would be fine. The relationship those two had was enviable.
I loved that one day our kids would have the extended family our friendships offered.
Pulling up at my house, relief filled me at the sight of the Doc waiting on the front porch and tapping his foot impatiently. Climbing out quickly, I hurried around the car to help her out despite the roll of her eyes. Doc's eyes landed on her, widening in recognition as he noticed the blood on her shoulder.
Matteo waved out the open window as Simon retreated, heading back into the fray, undoubtedly. The sooner Ryker and Rafe finished with the cleanup, the sooner they could get back to hunting Tiernan down and putting him in the ground. "She's the one who was shot?" Doc asked as I stepped up to the panel and inserted my security code.
"Yes," I grunted as Sadie strode past.
“Rebel!” Sadie called. “Stay off my bed, you bloody little monster.” The dog lifted a paw to lick it, going to the back door and pawing to be let into the yard. Sadie quickly walked over, her compulsions making her more than happy to have the dog wait out her bath somewhere Sadie wouldn’t need to clean.
There was a moment of silence before Doc spoke. "And you do realize I'll need to touch her, yes? I know how you lot get about your women being poked."
I leveled him with a glare. "As long as the only thing you poke her with is a needle and forceps, you'll walk out of here alive," I warned.
"Oh, for the love of God, Enzo. He's a doctor. He's probably seen much worse than my shoulder," Sadie said. She went to raise a hand to place on her hip, wincing at the reminder of the pain in her wrist. "Let the damn man do his job and get this bullet out of me so I can get drunk and forget that it hurts like a bitch 'kay? Thanks."
She went to one of the stools at the island, easing herself onto it and leaning forward onto the counter. "The shirt will have to go, Baby Girl," I smirked, grabbing the blanket out of the basket under the coffee table where my sisters stashed it because they liked to say that everyone needed a throw blanket.
Women.
"Cut it off me, because this arm is not stretching up over my head for anything," she said as I wrapped the blanket around her waist. Tugging the shirt fabric out from underneath it, I took my blood-stained knife from my pocket and sliced the fabric open. The angry red bullet wound stood out against her tawny skin, blood leaking down to stain her white bra red.
Doc wasted no more time, stepping over as I shifted out of the way. Sadie used her injured hand to clutch the blanket to her chest, leaning that elbow on the counter for support. "I'll numb it first," he said. Sadie rolled her eyes like it should have been obvious. But many of the Bellandi men didn't require a numbing agent.
Men tended to be stupid like that.
He pulled the syringe out, filling it with a local anesthetic and touching the top of Sadie's shoulder to warn her of what was coming. She winced when the needle slid into the oversensitive skin surrounding the wound, her face pinching as he withdrew and repeated the process until he'd surrounded the entire thing. Stepping back to put the anesthetic away, he grabbed his forceps, and a curved needle and suture out of his pack and set them on the counter. Sadie paled at the sight of them, but swallowed past her obvious fear.
The doctor poked the area around the wound, waiting for Sadie to react to what should have been agonizing pain. "Anything?" he asked.
"Anything what?" Sadie repeated.
"Guess not," Doc chuckled. "Hold still." He went to work, pressing cotton balls to the wound to soak up the blood that interfered with his view. He grabbed the forceps once he could see well enough, pressing them to the inside of the wound. Sadie winced lightly, drawing my attention back to her face.
"You okay?" I asked, worry filling me. There was no reason she needed to feel more pain.
"Yeah. It isn't bad," she said, but the focus on her face made me hesitate. "Really. Just let him get it over with."
A glance back at the Doc confirmed he'd already found the bullet, wrapping the forceps around it and was working to wiggle it out of her flesh. "You were lucky," he said, dropping the bloody bullet on the counter finally.
The forceps, he set on the counter, not caring that they dripped blood everywhere. Sadie grimaced at the sight of it, still my compulsive monster despite the gaping hole in her shoulder.
As Doc started to stitch her up, I knew she'd be fine.
Compulsions lasted through bullet removal, evidently.
35
Sadie
He was driving me up the fucking wall. "I can move, you know. My legs work just fine," I snapped as he rushed to grab my phone off the counter where I'd left it. I unlocked it with my left hand, the thumb feeling awkward as I typed in the passcode. But the cast on my right wrist made it nearly impossible to use. Ivory’s message stared back at me, her fifth one in the last three hours. Asking if we needed anything.
Good grief.
"Shut up and deal with it," Enzo grunted. Rebel's head rested in my lap, my little monster clinging to me more firmly than ever with my injury. Between the three of them, I'd probably commit more murders by the time I healed.
It'd been a day. I'd lasted nearly an entire day of not being allowed to move, humoring Enzo's attempts to treat me like I couldn't function. But the time had come for it to end.
"Can I do something?" I begged, leaning forward to snatch the phone out of his hand as he brought it to me.
"Sadie, you were shot yesterday," he said, his voice exasperated as he glared at me. "Give me today. Tomorrow I'll take you to the estate, so Ivory gets off my ass about seeing you. We can sign the contract for the warehouse there."
"We're still buying the warehouse?" I asked, staring up at him.
"Do you not want it?" He looked at me like the thought had never occurred to him.
"It is kind of bloodstained," I admitted. "And full of bullet holes."
"We'd be tearing up all the floors and walls, anyway." He waved me off. "Besides, I think Rafe would say that building a business on top of the blood of your enemies is always a wise business decision."
"Should I be concerned that you are now taking advice from a man who Ryker says is psychotic?" I asked, quirking a brow at him. He chuckled, lifting Rebel's head off my lap to shift her over to the side. She growled in her sleep, such a ferocious little monster, as she resettled on the other side.
"I don't feel the need to suddenly burn my enemies alive, don't you worry," he said in what seemed to be his attempt at reassurance. "Except maybe Tiernan."
"No sign of him?" I asked. He shook his head.
"The warehouse may be where you nearly died, but it's also where you survived and where you first told me you loved me. It may not be pretty or perfect, but it's us. Gritty. Real. Ride or die," he murmured, reaching into the back of his pants.
Enzo took my left hand in his, raising it slightly so he didn't hurt my shoulder too much. The ring he slid onto my finger gleamed in stunning platinum. The teardrop shaped onyx stone sat nestled in a thin band of diamonds as he moved it past my knuckles. "I know you won't be able to wear it sometimes with fighting, but we'll get tattoos to go underneath it."
"Oh, we will?" I asked, turning a dry look his way as he left the ring there. My eyes immediately went back to the very simple and beautiful ring. I'd never thought I wanted an engagement ring, finding the shining gleam of diamonds so impersonal and predictable, but the stunning onyx gem might have converted me instantly.
"Yes," he said, touching his lips to the corner of my mouth. "You can pick the design. We'll get them the day we're married."
"Seems like you have it all figured out," I grumbled, glaring at him.
He grinned in the face of it. "All you have to do is say yes."
"Did you ask me a question?" I returned, shifting my body to face him.
"Nope. Still," he murmured, teasing my lips with his as he taunted me into giving the response he wanted. "Say yes."
I giggled, desire pooling in my stomach. With the kid gloves he'd treated me with since the injury, neither of us had the sexual outlet we’d wanted after all the adrenaline. "Yes," I whispered, grinning against his mouth when he lifted me off the couch and made for his bedroom at the back of the house.
That alone would have been worth the concession of marriage.
Let alone the reward of the rest of our lives.
My shoulder hurt. As much as I appreciated Ivory and her love, the tight grip she had on me was less lovable.
"Ow," I said. She pulled back with a grimace, staring at the sling on my arm as tears filled her eyes.
"I'm sorry. Fuck, I'm sorry," she cursed, dropping her head to lean on top of mine as she pulled me back into her arms with less force. Luna tottered along at her feet, racing around the room while Matteo fretted that she'd fall and hurt herself. Never mind that the kid had been walking since before her first birthday.
Enzo and Scar watched in amusement, but Enzo's eyes filled with something I'd never seen before. We hadn't talked much about kids beyond the desire to wait a bit. But when the day came, I knew he'd be an amazing father. It seemed almost strange, all of us being together while some of us were missing. We tended to all get together in huge groups, but the visit hadn't exactly been planned.
Ryker was busy hunting Murphy. Lino was busy trying to coordinate the initial repairs on both of my warehouse gyms. The poor sap.
"Where's my paperwork? I want to own a damn gym." I laughed, but the truth was my father had already said he'd be signing over the original Fists of Fury. He'd held onto the reins for too long so I'd always know there was help if I needed it, not because he didn't think I was capable. That conversation had been a long time coming for both of us; as it turned out, neither of us knowing how to start it. From zero to two—I'd own a gym with multiple branches damn near overnight. Wasn't it funny how quickly life changed?
Enzo laughed, grabbing the stack of papers off the counter that we'd both sign at my suggestion. Being only mine offered less protection than having Enzo's name and the Bellandi backing on it. While I was excited to rebuild the gyms to my exact desires, I only wanted to do it once.
No more burning buildings for me.
Enzo pointed out all the places we needed to sign, grinning at me as we took turns with an audience. The intercom buzzed from the front gate, and Matteo went to it and pressed the button. "Yeah?" he asked.
"Judge Ryan is here," the front gate guard said.
"Let him in," Matteo responded, though his brow furrowed. I had no clue who Judge Ryan was, but I suspected Matteo didn't often have house calls from judges. Still, Enzo and I kept signing and initialing, making our way through the stack of papers until we'd signed the last dotted line.
"We own a gym," I whispered, watching as Don emerged from the other room to answer the front door when Judge Ryan knocked.
Scar stilled as Judge Ryan stumbled in through the front door. Blood soaked the front of his dress shirt, his salt and pepper hair disheveled as he blinked rapidly and his lips moved slightly like he was mumbling to himself.
"Where's Irina?" Scar asked, his voice deathly quiet. When Judge Ryan didn't answer, he repeated it on a roar. "WHERE'S IRINA?!" The windows shook with the force, and I flinched into Enzo's arms. Feeling like I'd missed something very vital, too wrapped up in my own world, I watched as Judge Ryan turned his attention to Scar.
"Are you hurt?" Ivory asked more gently, stepping up to touch his arm.
He flinched back. "Not mine. Bryan’s. Found him in Irina’s apartment. They—” He paused, swallowing past what I suspected was bile crawling up his throat. “Mutilated him.”
"Where's Irina?" Ivory asked, fear filling her eyes for the woman we'd quickly become friends with after Samara introduced her to us.
"They took her," Judge Ryan said, his eyes finally snapping back to the present. "They took my girl." He held out a piece of paper that Ivory accepted, bringing it over t
o Matteo. He clenched his jaw, handing the note off to Enzo and moving for Scar who stood bone still at the edge of the room. His eyes never left Judge Ryan as his chest heaved.
"We'll find her," Matteo murmured softly. It was the voice I recognized, the rare affection Matteo showed to people when he could feel they were on the verge of their breaking point.
I glanced down at the note in Enzo's hand.
One Bellandi whore.
Scar shoved away from Matteo, reaching for the gun at his waist and making for the door as his face twisted. Enzo moved from my side quickly, stepping into his path and blocking him off. "I know. I know," he said, drawing Scar's rage filled face his way. "We have to find her first. You're no good to her if you're dead before we find her."
"Then fucking find her!" Scar shouted as Enzo fought to pry the gun from his hand.
Ivory stepped up, touching her hand to his cheek and bringing his attention down to her. "They'll find her and bring her home, Scar. She's going to need you when they do," she said, slipping her hand over the gun. He released it to Ivory's grip, letting her tuck herself into his chest after she hand it off to Enzo. Looking over at her husband, her stare was hard. "You find her now," she said, bloodthirsty fury filling her eyes.
Matteo and Enzo both nodded, heading out the front door without another word.
To find the one who'd been taken instead of me.
Epilogue
Enzo
Stepping into the private VIP room at Tease, I glanced around in confusion, wondering where the fuck my little wife had gotten off to.
Shielded Wrongs: A Dark Mafia Romance (Bellandi Crime Syndicate Book 4) Page 32