“I agree.” Enda wrapped his arms around her. “Call me selfish or call me a terrible friend, but I never want to have to make that call about you, Ama. And I’m terrified that you’ll do something stupidly selfless and get yourself killed.”
Ama cried silent tears. “What if he does that to Selima? I cannot live with that, Enda.”
“We’ll figure something out, baby.”
“How?”
But he didn’t have an answer for her.
Raff was waiting in the relatives’ room with Gajendra and Omar. His phone bleeped and he checked it, relieved at something to do. It was a message from one of his contacts.
Yes. I know these men. Call me back when you can. I hope your lovely Inca pulls through.
If Raff hadn’t been so gut-wrenchingly terrified right at that moment, he would have punched the air. Finally, a lead.
The surgeon, exhausted and tired, pushed his way into the room, and Raff tried not to see the blood on his scrubs. Inca’s blood. The doctor nodded at him.
“She’s stable. We found the bleed; we had thought her spleen hadn’t been damaged initially, but that was where the bleed was.”
“Will she be okay?” That was Omar; Raff was too relieved to speak.
The doctor hesitated. “We’ve stabilized her. That’s as much information I can confirm. I’m hopeful. Let’s say that. You can see her in the morning, Mr. Winter. Until then, I suggest you go home and get some rest.”
Raff, of course, went straight to the home of his contact, where he found out the names of the men who had attacked Inca and could finally see a way to fight for the woman he loved.
Enda put down the phone in frustration and Ama rubbed his back. “What is it?”
“I have to go to New York for the day. The business goes on, even if we’re out of action, and I can’t ask Raff to leave Inca’s bedside right now.”
Ama hugged him. “Of course you can’t. I have Trevor and Dustin, the silent twins. You go, baby. We can’t let this whole thing stop our lives entirely.”
Enda kissed her. “Have I told you I love you today?”
Ama grinned. “Well, no, but you certainly showed me. And, if you like, you can show me again before I go to work.” She lay back, still naked from the shower, and Enda grinned, covering her body with his and hitching her legs around his waist.
“Is that right, Bella?”
Ama grinned and sighed happily as she felt his cock begin to swell, pressing hard against her thigh. “Put that in me, Gallo.”
“Such a nag,” Enda chuckled and thrust his cock deep into her, making her gasp. In moments like these, Ama pretended that the rest of the world went away and that she and Enda were the only two people alive.
They made love slowly, until Enda brought her to a shattering orgasm. She was still glowing when she walked into her office an hour and a half later. Lena grinned at her.
“You look radiant, boss. Anything to do with that gorgeous man of yours?”
Ama grinned, but they were soon bogged down in work. Enda called her as he was about to catch his flight.
“Are you sure you’ll be okay? I’ll be back around ten tonight.”
Ama smiled down the phone. “Honestly, baby, I’m fine. We have a ton of work, so I might be working late myself.”
As it turned out, she was right. The paperwork involved in her handing over her classes to the new teacher which kept her busy all day, and she blinked up at Lena as she came into the office.
“Lena, go home. I got this.”
Lena shook her head. “Nah, you stay, I stay. I thought I might skip out and get some coffee for us and Trevor and Dustin. Maybe a sandwich?”
“God, that sounds good. Are you sure you don’t mind?”
Lena grinned. “Not at all.”
Ama grabbed her purse. “At least let me give you some money.”
“Don’t worry about it. Be right back. Ham and turkey on rye, right?”
“You’re an angel.”
Lena gave her a strange smile, then left. Ama pondered her expression for a moment, then shrugged and went back to her work.
She was so absorbed in what she was doing, that when Lens brought the food and coffee back, she forgot about the drink until it was cold. She picked idly at the sandwich.
“Isn’t it good?”
She looked up to see Lena at the door. “No, it’s lovely, Lena. Sorry. I got distracted. Did you eat?”
Lena nodded. “I’ll put that coffee in a microwave if you like? Reheat it?”
Ama glanced at the cold coffee cup and wrinkled her nose. “No, it’s okay. It’s never the same. Sorry for forgetting about it.”
Lena shrugged. “It’s no problem.” She hesitated at the door and Ama smiled at her ruefully.
“Seriously, Lena, you should go home. I’m almost done here.”
“Then I’ll wait.” She went out of the door and Ama frowned. Lena was acting …weirdly? Was that the right word? Usually her younger friend would be out of the door as soon as office hours were over, ready to party all night with her friends. Ama didn’t know how she had the energy to do that and still be early for work every morning.
Ama stood and stretched her aching body. The two glass walls of her office, which looked over the conservatory’s atrium, reflected her own image back at her now that the atrium was in darkness.
A thump came from outside of her office, and she glanced around, expecting Lena to poke her head around the door and apologize for dropping something. Instead, she heard a muffled cry and darted to the door. Tugging it open, she saw a masked man grabbing Lena.
“Hey!” Anger and adrenaline rushed through Ama as she went to help her friend, wondering where the hell Trevor and Dustin were. She body-slammed the guy, who was twice her size, and he dropped Lena, but grabbed Ama and tackled her, shoving her back into her office.
Ama staggered back, and the man was on her, driving his fist into her stomach. Ama couldn’t get her breath and Lena attacked the man from behind as Ama tried to stand.
The man knocked Lena across her desk, and as Ama rushed at him, he grabbed her and slammed her down onto her desk.
Amalia kicked him hard in the balls and the man went down. Ama slid from the desk and ran to help Lena. She almost made it. As Lena screamed, Ama was grabbed from behind.
“No! Don’t hurt her!”
But her attacker threw Ama full-force through the plate glass window. The glass shattered and Ama slumped to the floor.
Pain. So much pain.
Her attacker rolled her over, and Amalia realized she had been impaled on a shard of glass which now protruded from her side. She felt faint. Her attacker gave what sounded like a laugh and yanked the glass out of her. More pain. But she couldn’t scream or move. Then she heard Lena screaming. “No! No! Don’t, please don’t. I did what you asked me to do!”
Ama gave a gasp, pushing herself up into a sitting position just as the man drew the lethal edge of the glass across Lena’s throat. Ama screamed at him.
“No!”
But it was too late. Lena’s throat split open and she clutched at it as it began to gush blood. She looked at Ama, her eyes huge with terror and sorrow. “I’m sorry,” she croaked, and then slumped to the ground, pumping red, hot blood onto the floor. Ama tried to move, but the pain of the wound in her side made her struggle and her attacker easily picked her up. As he threw her over his shoulder, she caught a glance of Trevor and Dustin slumped outside the office. Were they dead? There was no one else in the conservatory this late, no one to know she was being taken. She screamed and yelled, but then her assailant slammed her head against the wall and knocked her out.
The news broke as Enda was driving back from the airport and he nearly crashed the car. “No, no, please …”
All the radio report said was, “Murder at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music …two young women attacked. One has been confirmed dead. The other is missing …”
He knew instantly. Ama. Jackson had fo
llowed through on his threats. As he turned towards the conservatory, he strained to hear the radio through the roaring of blood in his ears. Please no …
His cell phone buzzed loudly and he pressed the hands-free. “Gallo.”
“Enda, it’s me.” Olivier. “Ama’s missing. Have you heard about the killing?”
“Yeah,” Enda said, relief flooding through him. Missing. Not dead. “Ama’s been taken?”
“Yeah. Jackson had someone on the inside, we think. Ama’s assistant. Ama’s security detail was drugged. They told us the assistant went out for coffee, as they were working late. The two bodyguards drank theirs, but they found Ama’s coffee cup still full. Look, where are you?”
“I’m on my way to the conservatory.”
“Don’t go there. Come home. The F.B.I. are all over the scene and you being there will complicate things. The security guys are being checked out in the hospital, but they’re coming here after. We’ll coordinate the search for Ama and Selima from here.”
Enda pulled the car over to the side of the road and stopped. He hesitated for a moment. “He’ll kill her, Olivier. He’ll kill them both.”
He heard Olivier sigh. “Not necessarily, Enda. Ama’s a smart girl. She’ll know to play up to his fantasies. To convince him she’s ready to be his. If he falls for that…who knows what Ama can make happen. We have to believe in her now.”
Enda nodded, closing his eyes. “I do. I believe in her. But I can’t stay here doing nothing.”
“I know. Come home, brother, and we’ll get on it tonight.”
Raff stroked his wife’s hair away from her face. Hours of surgery had saved her again, but it had drained her, and she had been sleeping on and off for a few days now, barely able to hold a conversation. A worried Raff asked the doctor about the possibility Inca may have suffered brain damage, but the doctor reassured him that wasn’t what was going on.
“She’s just exhausted, Raffaelo, and in my opinion, she’s probably rocking back from the assault. I’ve been worried that she hadn’t seemed to process what happened, and I think this is that. PTSD is common in victims of assault, and especially with Inca’s past, this doesn’t surprise me. She’ll rally, I promise. In the meantime, Psych will help her.”
Raffaelo had been relieved it was something they could handle together. It killed him that Inca had been targeted yet again; how much was one woman supposed to take?
Stella tapped him on the shoulder as she came to visit Inca. Raff smiled at her. “Thank you, Stella. It’s good of you to come.”
Stella nodded. “It’s my pleasure. Why don’t you go home and get some rest?”
Raff looked back at Inca. She was sound asleep again, her breathing regular. “I will, I think. Call me if you need anything.”
He was almost home before the call came. “Raff …I have them.”
Raff’s adrenaline spiked. It was his underworld contact. “Where?”
The contact named an abandoned warehouse outside the city. “You’re sure it’s them?”
“Oh, yeah.”
Raff’s jaw clenched. “I’ll be right there.”
As he drove out of the city, he tried to stay calm and remind himself that these men might have information that could help them find Ama and Selima. That he, Raff, could ruin everything by killing them. Because, right now, that’s all he wanted to do—rip the bastard who had stabbed his beloved Inca limb from limb with his bare hands and smash the brains of the man who had held her, making her helpless to resist.
You’re not helping yourself here, buddy. But he couldn’t help remember the terror in his wife’s eyes as these men tried to kill her.
When he reached the warehouse, he sat in his car for a few moments, trying to steady his nerves. Como, his contact, came out to see him. “Hey.”
Raff nodded. “Hey. Thanks for doing this.”
Como half-smiled. “This scum hurt your lovely girl. It’s my pleasure.”
Raff followed him into the warehouse. The two attackers were on their knees, bruised and bloodied. Como’s men had obviously beaten them. Raff didn’t care. His eyes fixed on the man who had knifed Inca so mercilessly. The man stared back and smirked.
“Well, if it isn’t the whore’s husband.”
Raff’s fist smashed into the man’s jaw a second later, his temper unleashed. He beat the man almost to unconsciousness before Como pulled him back. Como bent his mouth to Raff’s ear.
“My friend …stop now. Look at his accomplice …he’s scared. He’ll talk.”
Raff nursed his battered hand and stepped away from the coughing and breathless man on the floor. He looked at the accomplice, who turned wide, terrified eyes on him.
“Please,” said the man, “I’m sorry. I’m sorry I helped him …I promise you, I thought he was going to torment her …I didn’t see the knife.”
Como made a disgusted noise. “Filthy liar.”
Raff took a step toward the man and he cringed backward. Como’s guard kicked him in the small of his back and he groaned. “I swear, friend, I didn’t know…”
“…Who paid you?” Raff said in a grim tone. “And don’t lie.”
“Jackson Gallo. That’s what he,” he jerked his head towards his injured companion, “told me. He told me Gallo said he needed a distraction so he could send a message to his ex-wife. We were supposed to go kidnap your lady. That’s what he told me …he told me to grab her and hold her arms behind her. He had a camera. Said Gallo wanted to see her scared. What he meant was …he wanted to see her die. When he stabbed her …I panicked. Thought if I did anything, he’d kill me too and take the money for himself. I’m sorry about her. I am.”
The man was jabbering now, and Raff felt pain shoot through him at his words. So, needless. So, cruel. He turned back to the stabber. “You. Talk, now. Anything. And I’ll think about sparing your life.”
The man spat blood on the ground. “I don’t know anything. Except what he just said. Gallo wanted her killed. Said it sent a message to not fuck with him. I asked him why he didn’t do it himself. He told me he couldn’t leave the States—that he was in ‘seclusion.' That’s the word he used.”
Raff chewed his lip. “Was this a phone call or video call?”
“Video.”
“You record it?”
The man shook his head. His nose was streaming blood. “No.”
Raff sighed in frustration. “Tell me about where he was calling from. The room. What was outside the windows? What was the room like?”
The man hesitated. “I got the impression it was …I mean, there were no windows that I could see and his voice sounded echoey. If I had to guess, I would say it was underground.”
Raff studied the man’s eyes. He had no reason to lie now; he faced almost certain death the minute Raffaelo gave the order. Even a hardened criminal like this man knew the only way to save himself was by helping them.
Raff turned away and walked back to Como. The other man leaned into him. “What do you want to be done with them?”
Raff didn’t answer, struggling with his morality, and Como saw this. “Raff, whatever you need …we’ll deal with it. There need not be any link to you. Let me deal with them.”
Raff bowed his head and rubbed his eyes. It would be so easy to just let Como kill them and deal with the bodies. But Raff knew of old how much the weight of responsibility would weigh on him. He’d had to kill before to save Inca’s life, and it hadn’t sat well with him, although he wouldn’t change a thing. Knox Westerwick had been stabbing Inca when Raff had killed him. This was a different situation.
He looked at Como. “No. They might know more. Give them to the police.”
“Are you sure?”
Raff nodded. “Very. Too much blood has been spilled already. They can go to jail.”
He knew he had made the right decision for himself, for Inca, and for Amalia. Any information was critical now, and as he drove back to the hospital, he called Enda and relayed the information he had discovered
. A tired, shattered-sounding Enda thanked him.
“Is there any news, Enda? Anything?”
“Nothing as yet, Raff. But this will help …we know now they are in California somewhere. If your contact is right and they’re somewhere underground, it narrows things down, assuming there’s a record of it somewhere.”
Raff heard the desolation in his friend’s voice. “I’ve been there, Enda. I know what it’s like. We’ll find them, I promise.”
Enda gave a strangled sob. “God, I hope so … I don’t know what I’ll do if we don’t.”
Ama’s head was screaming with pain, and for a long moment, she debated whether or not to open her eyes at all. Her mind was fuzzy, her chest felt tight, and she became aware of her wrists being tied, plastic biting into the skin. Her mouth was tinder-dry, and she couldn’t get a sense of time or place.
She opened her eyes. There was a harsh strip light above her and it made her eyes water. She blinked rapidly, then saw him. Jackson.
“Hello, my darling.”
Ama struggled into a sitting position and saw she was in a cell-type room, with gray concrete walls and no windows. “Where’s my sister?”
Jackson smiled. “Safe. Her room is significantly more comfortable than this one. If you’re good, I’ll consider putting you together.”
Ama’s chest tightened even further. “You have me now, Jackson. Let her go. Please.” Everything inside her rebelled against begging him, but for Selima’s safety, she would do anything.
Jackson laughed. “Really? You think it’s that easy?”
He came to sit next to her. “Now, I’m going to untie you. If you try anything, my men will torture Selima before they kill her. Do you understand?”
Ama nodded and Jackson pulled out a knife. He cut the plastic ties and Ama rubbed her wrists in relief, eyeing the blade Jackson held. He saw her watching it and grinned. “Yep. I don’t even need to tell you that this will end up in your gorgeous body if you even think about escaping, do I?”
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