by Bianca Cole
“Are you expecting to find her at this location?” Kane asks, nodding at the GPS.
I shrug. “Austin said he’d pinpointed the guys I beat up to this location. Apparently, they’ve been holding a girl captive since they arrived in El Paso.”
Kane gives me one nod, focusing his attention on the road.
The GPS directs us to the outskirts of El Paso in a rundown area that seems rather uninhabited. It tells us to pull into an abandoned looking industrial site—the kind of place that is run by criminals.
“I hope this isn’t Juliano owned,” he says, as we enter the shady industrial estate. Places like this are so often mob owned, far from civilization and perfect for illegal operations.
The Juliano Mafia have their hands in many pies, as far as I’ve heard. They dabble in guns, drugs, prostitution and human trafficking to name a few. They’re nasty guys to come across, but they don’t have the same power as us. It’s crazy they’d try to take us on, especially since I’d heard Nick Juliano has his head screwed on.
I’ve never met him myself, but I know Rick has dealt with him before in the past. He often meets with leaders of other mob families to agree peace and territory. In the past, Nick Juliano has always been respectful of the Romano name. God knows what changed, but he’s went down a slippery fucking slope.
“This is the unit according to the GPS,” Kane says, pulling into a space outside a run-down old warehouse. It doesn’t look like it has been in use for years, but we both know better. Our family owns similar looking places all around the damn country.
“This smells of the Juliano mob,” I say, narrowing my eyes at the place.
Kane grunts his agreement, nodding his head. “We need to be careful.” He runs a hand over the back of his neck. “Do you think she’s in there?”
I shrug, keeping my eyes on the unit in search of any movement. There’s no sign of anyone in there or any vehicles parked outside. “There’s only one way to find out.” I open the door, sliding out of the passenger’s seat.
The adrenaline pulsing through my veins heightens as I march for the door. Kane speeds up and sets a hand on the door to stop me, forcing me to look at him. His eyes hold warning, grounding me. “Keep your head screwed on little brother.” He shakes his head. “Think before you act.”
It’s ironic to hear Kane saying that to me. Normally, it’s the other way around. Kane’s the hot head who can’t control himself. I’ve always been level headed one and a planner—until I met Ellie. She set me off course and derailed all my plans. She’s changed me in a way I never believed possible.
I swallow hard and the nod slowly. “I will, I promise,” I say, knowing my actions in there could put both of us in danger.
He lets go of the door and I pull it open, a screech echoing through the air. The darkness of the building calls to me, ready to swallow me whole. This is it. My time of reckoning. Will it be my undoing?
18
Ellie
Bruce stands in the center of the room, clapping his hands to draw everyone’s attention. At first, no one listens to him, carrying on with what they were doing or their conversations. He whistles next and still no one pays him any attention. I can’t help but smirk at how much of an ass he looks right now.
His face twists with rage and he pulls his gun out of his waistband. I watch as he aims it in the air and shoots it. Many of the guys flinch at the sound and everyone turns their attention to him.
“It is time,” he shouts, tucking his gun back into his waistband. “All of you should know the plan and your roles. I expect no cock ups or there will be hell to pay.” He nods toward the mezzanine above us. “To your posts now.”
I watch as everyone disperses, collecting their possessions and clearing the warehouse. A lot of the men walk toward the stairs, leading up to the mezzanine floor. All of them are leaving the main floor, except for Bruce. He is walking toward me, smirking at me with a sickening smile that churns my stomach. A smile I’ve seen far too often of late in his cruel treatment of me.
He delves into his pocket, pulling a thick gag out. He forces it into my mouth, before I can so much as ask what is happening. “No fucking this up,” he warns, tying the gag so tight around the back of my head it makes my jaw ache.
He says nothing else, checking the restraints around my wrists, ankles and stomach that are holding me to the chair, before turning toward the staircase up to the mezzanine. I let my gaze float up there, swallowing hard at the sight of at least fifty men staring down at me. All of them have their guns drawn. I don’t need to be a genius to know something fucking bad is about to happen—it gets to me that I have no idea what it is.
There’s no way to prepare myself for this mentally or gain any control over the situation. I tremble as fear slices through me like a knife through butter. My hands shake against the hard wood of the chair, cutting the rope deeper into my cuts.
I let my eyes return to the mezzanine to find Bruce’s evil, dark eyes fix on mine. His lips quirk into a smirk as he recognizes the fear in my eyes, reveling in it like he always does.
The roar of an engine pulling up outside floods the otherwise silent warehouse. The prospect of learning what I’m here for edging even closer.
A grating screech of the warehouse door being pried open echoes through the empty, metal structure. A flood of quick footsteps follows, making my heart rate spike. What the hell is happening?
Although it’s a whisper, a voice cuts through clear as day, “She has got to be in here.”
I blink a few times, wondering if I truly heard the voice I never thought I’d hear again.
Leo’s voice.
There’s a quiet grunt in response as the footsteps get closer.
I panic when I realize he’s walking right into a trap—they intend to kill him. There’s nothing I can do to stop him or warn him. The gag is bound so tightly around my mouth, I can’t move my jaw. I can’t warn him by making a noise.
I glance up to the balcony, and Bruce is smirking down at me. His gun snug in his hand as he points it toward me. He’s loving this. Leo isn’t stupid but he can’t be expecting the ambush waiting for him. I can’t let him die, but I’m powerless. He’s walking into a warehouse with at least fifty armed men waiting for him.
Bruce is using me as bait to get to Leo. I keep my eyes fixed on the entrance to the warehouse, waiting to see him. The prospect of seeing his face still excites me despite everything.
When the footsteps stop and someone appears at the entrance, it isn’t Leo. Kane Romano stands in the doorway, shoulders wide. It’s two beats before Leo appears by his side, eyes meeting mine within a second. It feels like my heart soars, seeing him again. There’s a moment of pure longing that passes between us as we stare at each other.
I shake my head, trying to warn him. Instead, he starts forward. My eyes fix on Kane’s attention and I shake my head, trying to get him to understand. He reads my panic, grabbing Leo’s arm and pulling him to a stop.
“What the fuck—”
Kane claps his hand over Leo’s mouth, warning in his gaze. Leo’s eyes widen as Kane whispers something to him.
They’re both out of view of the men waiting above me. One wrong step could end in death for both of them. It doesn’t look like they’ve bought any backup with them. They may be Romanos, but, they’re not invincible—no one is.
Both Leo and Kane search the warehouse, scanning for something. I glance up at the mezzanine, noticing Bruce glaring down at me. He has his pistol aimed at me head, warning in his eyes. I can tell he’s itching to shout at me to tell me to stay still. He can’t though. Not without giving away their position and their entire plan.
I tear my eyes away from him, shifting my gaze over to Kane and Leo. They’re no longer there and my heart sinks. Maybe they’ve decided it’s too much of a risk. My chest aches as I realize I will never be back in Leo’s arms—everything is against us. To be honest, I never expected to see him again.
Why did he come he
re?
The Romano Mafia don’t like people taking what is theirs. Leo could have come here to claim his possession and assert his family’s dominance. That’s all this could be—a load of macho mafia bullshit.
I don’t dare allow myself to hope that he cares about me the way I care about him. Even if the prospect makes my heart soar, I know it’s an unlikely scenario. Bruce broke into their home and disrespected their family. This isn’t something they can allow to go unpunished.
I tremble in anticipation, feeling so useless. Bruce knows how to tie a bind that I can’t slip, and today is no different. All I want to do is get out of this chair and go to him, even if this is only about revenge. I don’t care. I’ve lost my heart to him, and I need to see him more than anything, hold him tight.
Bruce clears his throat, forcing my attention back to him. He lifts a finger to his lips and then drags his thumb across his throat, threatening me in silence. I swallow hard and focus my attention on my lap. I don’t trust myself to keep my eyes on the doorway, knowing my reaction could give away their return.
Perhaps they will return with backup. They can’t have come all this way just the two of them. Leo appears again in the doorway, drawing my attention to them. Kane is next to him and both of them are holding devices and wearing thick goggles on their heads.
Leo’s bright gaze locks with mine again, sending a shiver through my spine. Despite myself, I flood with warmth. There’s a loud commotion as Kane sets off his devices and Leo does the same, both of them pulling their goggles down over their eyes.
It’s only a few moments, until it’s clear what the devices were. The room floods with smoke, making it impossible to see. My eyes sting as the smoke floods around me, forcing me to shut them tight. I’m hopeless in all of this.
My heart pounds faster, as gunshots go off around me, making me sick to the stomach. There’s no way those guys shooting can see. They’re just setting off rounds blind, which is fucking absurd.
The fact Bruce tied my legs to the chair legs makes it impossible for me to stand up. At least if they’d been free, I could have forced myself to the floor. Instead, I’m a sitting duck while these assholes fire rounds left right and center. I gasp as one bullet misses me by inches, taking a chunk out of the chair behind me.
A tremble runs through my spine as I realize just how likely it is I’ll get hit. I clamp my eyes shut, praying Leo gets to me before anyone else down. He can’t have made it to me only for one of us to be shot, but it would be my luck.
The prospect of touching the man I’ve longed for these past two months is so close to my grasp, but yet so far away. The man who kept me fighting despite not knowing if he cares about me the way I care for him. Fate has a way of playing cruel tricks on you, and all I can do is pray this isn’t one of those times.
19
Leo
The deafening claps of gun shots fills the cavernous warehouse building. This is exactly what I feared might happen, but what I expected. Adrenaline floods through my veins as I draw my gun, glancing over at Kane. He gives me a short nod with his gun in his hands.
The goggles we wear protect us from the stinging smoke and help us see through it. My instincts were on point about tonight—this will be a bloodbath. We move together side by side, edging into the warehouse. These idiots are shooting their guns without knowing where the fuck we are.
The silhouette of a guy heading toward us catches my attention, and I aim for his gun arm. The bullet meets its mark, and the guy crumples to the floor, crying out in pain. I dodge a wayward bullet of one man waiting for us.
Kane shoots another guy to our left in the nick of time, just as he was about to notice us. The risk to my life doesn’t matter, but if I get hit, I can’t save Ellie. She is all that matters to me. The smoke screen is giving us the element of surprise, but it’s delaying us too. I can’t even see Ellie anymore, despite the googles making it easier to see.
I’m so desperate I lost my head over this. For the first time in my life, I’ve walked myself and my brother into a fucking death trap. Ellie was the bait being dangled in front of me, and like an idiot, I took it. I can’t let myself think about who set me up or why right now. My mind is focused on one thing, right now—getting the three of us out of here in one fucking piece.
I know she’s sitting in the center of this room. I fix her position in my mind as I move forward. It grates on me I can’t see her through all this fucking smoke. Kane’s bright idea.
Although, it was the only idea either of us could come up with. The adrenaline rush makes my heart pound fast. The thick smoke swirls around us as we press on, almost bashing straight into an armed guy. Kane catches on, shooting his kneecap out from under him. The aim here is to get Ellie and get out—no killing.
We’re on a rival mob’s territory and killing people here will only escalate tension. I intend to make Ellie’s ex-boyfriend suffer as much as I can, but I get a feeling that chance won’t come to me today.
The guy Kane shot falls to the floor, wailing and clutching his busted knee. I step around him, kicking his gun out of reach. This really is life or death—an attempt to wipe us out in a devised and planned attack on the Romano family.
Kane moves by my side, shooting down people with a brutal, fast precision. He’s the best marksman I know. He shoots the next guy a little higher than he should on his chest. I hope to high hell it’s not Ellie’s ex as the guy he just shot could die from that wound, and he can’t get away that easily.
Ellie comes into my view as the smoke clears, forcing me to walk quicker toward her. I can’t slow down as she is my sole focus, my sole goal. Two long, torturous months not seeing the woman I inexplicably fell for. Now, she’s only a few feet away from me.
A nearby gunshot rings out and a bullet misses me by inches, forcing me to a sudden stop. This situation has become too dangerous. Ellie is trapped to a chair, unable to move out of the way of any wayward gunshots. She’s at risk of being caught in the escalating cross-fire. We may have had no other option, but I’m regretting this plan already.
The sight of a man I recognize with his gun pointed at right at Ellie’s head makes me freeze. He’s ridiculously tall, and I try to remember where I’ve seen him before. The guy can’t see as he’s squinting, but I see his finger pull down on the trigger, sending my heart into a fast-paced gallop.
He aims the gun right at her head—my woman’s head. The bullet flies toward a clueless Ellie. Her back turned to it. It feels like time turns to a crawl as I lunge toward her. There’s a deep desperation inside of me to stop that bullet, forcing me through the air.
I clash with Ellie, sending the chair clashing to the floor with her on it. She makes a muffled sound as her body hits the hard, concrete floor. A spray of blood coats my face and clothes, sending me into a frenzied panic. I search her body for the gunshot wound, finding no evidence of harm.
Her eyes meet mine wide and then she looks down at my arm. It’s only at that point that I realize I’ve been shot in the arm. The pain blocked by the adrenaline coursing through my veins. It doesn’t fucking matter anyway—she’s all that matters. It will hurt like a bitch when the rush wears off, but I’ll live.
Ellie tries to speak, struggling against the tight gag in her mouth. I let my fingers word, undoing the knot at the back of her head. She gasps a deep breath and then speaks, “You’ve been shot.”
I shake my head. “I can hardly feel it, but we need to get the hell out of here,” I mutter into her ear, using my good arm to grab the cold, jagged metal strapped to my calf. Ellie is lashed to the chair, forcing me to cut off the ropes tying her.
Once they’re cut, I feel rage flood me. The tight ropes have opened older, infected wounds. The blood is dripping down her arms. I clench my jaw, trying not to think about what she endured while in their capture. I know if I think about it, I won’t be able to leave here without killing every fucking asshole here.
“Who did this to you?” I ask, letting a finger trace
one gash.
Her eyes meet mine and she shakes her head. “It doesn’t matter right now. We need to get out of here.”
I wince as I move to my hands and knees. “Can you crawl?”
She nods her head. “I can, but you can’t with that arm.”
“Let me worry about my arm.” I keep my voice calm, despite feeling more out of control than I’ve ever felt. Nothing has ever been so dangerous. I’ve had nothing so precious to lose as Ellie before. We’ve only just been reunited, and I can’t let us be parted ever again. “Follow me,” I say, giving her a stern stare.
She glances at me, before bowing her head in submission, accepting my wish. If we weren’t in such danger I’d be reveling in this moment. The moment we move, bullets ricochet off the metal structure and walls around us. The smokes effectiveness reducing by every second, making this place even more a minefield.
Kane drops to his knees by my side. “Leo, you are hit. Is it bad?” he asks.
“I’ll live,” I say, feeling the pain of the wound more now.
His eyes go to Ellie and he gives her a nod. “We need to get the fuck out of here as fast as possible.”
“No shit Sherlock,” I say, noticing the smoke is almost all gone now. We’re targets, waiting to be shot.
Kane crawls toward the exit, keeping his head low. I freeze as a bullet hits the floor, missing Ellie’s head. My hands are on her before I can explain, pulling her to her feet in one quick move. “The smoke isn’t working, so we need to make a run for it.”
Kane jumps to his feet, turning his back toward us. “I’ll cover you.” He lets off three rounds, shooting three men to the floor with faultless precision. I hesitate for only a second, before I pull Ellie into a run by my side.
Our feet pound against the concrete as we rush toward the exit. I keep my hand tight around hers, vowing I won’t let go of her—no matter what happens. Since the smoke has cleared, the cuts and bruises all over Ellie’s face are clearer and it makes me crazy. Not to mention, those cuts on her wrists. I can’t allow myself to think about what she endured in their captivity.