by KL Donn
“Why the fuck does that even matter?” Santi draws my attention again as he tosses his phone across the room. Staring at my brother’s shocking loss of control, I raise a brow. “We’ll talk about it later,” he mutters and opens the laptop in his free hand, pulling up the outside surveillance of the house.
I watch in horror as Capo is shot with a dart from a few feet away, and Nicola is jabbed in the arm with a needle as her mouth is covered by Salvatore. Even from the video, I can see her eyes glaze over quickly.
“I’m going to fucking kill him. Any idea where he is?” I ask the room as a whole.
“He has a safe house in Baida in the wife’s maiden name,” Santi growls, rage written in every line of his body. Whoever he spoke to has my brother in a mood I’ve never seen.
“Let’s go.” I don’t want to waste another minute. Nicola’s safety is my only concern.
“Stop,” Santi snaps, and I turn to see his challenging stare.
“What?”
He struggles with something for a minute before blowing out a deep breath. “I promised Nic I wouldn’t say anything. That if she stayed out of danger, then she’d be the one to tell you. But she’s in fucking danger now. Fuck.”
“Spit it out, Santi!” Maso shouts.
“She’s pregnant, man.” Stunned, I stare at my brother, speechless. “Or she might be. The doctor thinks she is, but not very far along. He wants her to go for a blood test in a couple of weeks when it would be more obvious with hormone levels or some shit.”
“When the fuck did you learn this?” I shout, my rage intensifying. “Why the fuck would she tell you and not me?”
“She didn’t tell me. I listened in on her and the doctor yesterday. I didn’t want her lying to you about why she was sick. I never thought she’d be fucking pregnant, so don’t get pissed with me, little brother.”
A goddamned baby.
She’s having my baby.
And she’s in the hands of a madman.
Nothing will stop me from killing them all.
The doorbell ringing draws my attention, and before I can snap the head off of whoever is there, Pace grins and crows, “I called in reinforcements last night,” as he opens the door to reveal Natale and Carlo Morello.
“I heard they didn’t take my warning seriously when I said she was off-limits,” Natale growls as he enters the house with his father. “Time to show them who runs this island, Domino.”
Pushing the new information about Nicola to the back of my mind because I’ll never be able to focus if I keep thinking about it, I Cheshire cat at the kid. “Let’s roll some heads.”
Nicola
Still dizzy and nauseous, I huddle in a corner of the basement away from the door, where they can’t see me. I know it won’t take Domino long to discover my absence, but we’re at a property I’ve never seen before, so I have no idea if he’ll know where to find me. And that’s terrifying.
The Salvatore’s have already taken everything they could from me; I don’t have anything left. Except my life.
If their plan was to kill me, I can only imagine they would have done so already. So maybe Vincenzo intends to sell me again?
The not knowing is what’s going to do me in.
I can hear raised voices as footsteps stomp around on the floor above me, but I can’t discern what the argument is about. It doesn’t matter, I tell myself. Taking a few cleansing breaths, I try to gain my bearings and peer around the room, searching for a way out. There is a small window on the other side of the room. If I could find something to lift me up, I might be able to shimmy my way out.
As I propel my body up the wall, my eyes roam around the dark space, the only light projecting from the window I plan to break out of. Skulking along the damp wall, I stay away from the stairs, wanting to avoid detection if someone happens to open the door to come for me.
Behind the steps are some rubber bins that won’t hold my weight, but as I get farther back, I find a sturdy cooler and quietly pull it out. Dragging it to the window, I stand atop it, and I’m still not tall enough. Going back to the cubby under the staircase, I look for something else.
Coming up empty, frustration eats at me, and my temper begins to spike. Which is never good, especially in this situation because it’s not just me I have to think about. The possibility of a baby is real, and I can’t risk bringing any harm to it.
Staring at the rubber bins, an idea forms. Taking the lids off each, I nest the containers within each other to create one firmer one and place it upside down on top of the cooler. Stacking the covers on top of that for extra support. I gently stand on the apex, keeping my feet on the edges.
Gazing out the window, I see a fence about two feet away, so it must be the side of the house, making it unlikely that anyone would be watching this area. Yanking on the window lever, it doesn’t budge, even after unlocking it. Taking off the robe I put on this morning, I wrap the material around my fist and tap at the corner of the window.
Lightly at first, making sure no one comes running before slamming my fist straight through. My captors’ arguments don’t stop, so I slide my wrapped hand along the edges until all the glass is gone.
I already know my skin is going to get torn up, but I place the robe along the bottom edge of the window anyways before pulling myself up.
My balance on the bins is precarious as I barely hold my weight up. Wiggling through the tiny frame, I can feel flesh being torn from splintered wood and glass as I work my way free of this hell hole.
With no time for a victory cheer, I remain low and look around me. There are no other windows on this side of the house, so they won’t notice me. Studying the rooftops for cameras, I don’t find any yet.
Grabbing the robe so I can cover myself back up, I ignore the pain of the cuts on my thighs, sides, back, and stomach as I quietly make my way to the front of the house. Peaking around the sidewall, the driveway is long and clear of trees. I’ll get spotted if I run this way.
Trekking back, I hope there’s a way through the neighbor’s yard, or I might be stuck. Approaching the window I escaped through, I peer inside before darting across the opening to ensure nobody has noticed my absence yet.
As I gaze around the back of the house, it appears more camouflaged with furniture and bushes, but the spacious patio doors looking into a dining room that’s open to the rest of the house aren’t comforting. Desperate, I begin testing the fence boards to see if any are loose and I can fit through. I need to escape this yard and quickly. I only have seconds, minutes if I’m lucky, before they discover I’m missing, and I’m more than terrified of what will happen when they do.
Sure enough, I come across a loose enough board that I can tug from the bottom until the nail comes out, and I force my body through the narrow crack. Thankfully, the neighbor’s yard has more coverage, and I can sneak around to the opposite side, where I notice a smaller fence to hop over into the next yard. I don’t know how long I continue to do this, yard hopping, but when I hear voices shouting, I slowly make my way to the street in time to spot Vincenzo’s henchman speeding past. Hidden by a large bush, he doesn’t capture the sight of me.
With my escape discovered, I know it’s only a matter of time before I’m found. I don’t know if it’s luck or the universe finally on my side, but as I’m about to turn back around and find a better hiding spot, I recognize a familiar vehicle slowly rolling up to the Salvatore home.
Stepping out of my hiding spot, I rush to the road so I’m not missed. Tires squeal as breaks are jammed, and as soon as Domino is out of the vehicle, all my emotions catch up with me, and I fall into his arms.
“You found me,” I cry, wrapping my arms around his neck so tightly that I’m almost sure he can’t breathe.
“What the fuck did they do to you?” he snaps as the tattered robe falls from my body.
If I let him go or he releases me, I’m going to hit the ground. “I did this. Well, not on purpose. I had to break a window to get out, and the cuts were unavoidab
le. I have to tell you something, though.” I’m getting dizzy again, and I think this time is because of the adrenaline crash.
Picking me up, Domino places me in the backseat of one of the vehicles. He clasps my face in his hands, his worried gaze examining my eyes. “Cara mia”— leaning forward, he places a tender kiss on my lips—“I was fucking worried.”
“I know,” I whisper, exhaustion pulling at every line of my body.
“Hate to interrupt, but how many are in there?” Santi asks.
“Three,” I mumble, then shake my head. “No, two. Vincenzo and Aida. The other guy just sped off before I saw you guys.”
“Dom, you coming?” Santi asks, impatient to permanently end this nightmare.
“Go.” I push Domino after his brother. “Get them. End this.”
“Pace, stay with my girl.” The man scowls but nods as he watches his brothers and who I believe is Natale Morello race down the street to the house of horrors I just escaped from.
“So, this is her.” An older voice draws my attention as he approaches us. Staring up at the man, who looks a lot like Natale, I don’t have the energy to be polite, glib, or anything else, so I smile and watch the direction Domino shot off in, praying he comes back in one piece.
Domino
If I’d known getting Nic back was going to be so fucking easy, I wouldn’t have brought an arsenal with us.
“Nat and I will take the front. Donato, you watch the street. Santi, Maso, go around back.” Once everyone’s in place, I kick in the front door in time to see Vincenzo haul ass up the stairs. Two shots at the knees and he’s falling backwards down the steps and landing at my feet.
Aida screams from behind us, and as Natale spins, I spot her gun. The kid lets off a shot, hitting her wrist, and she faints.
“I like when it’s easy.” Natale grins as he picks up the woman’s gun. “All clear!” he calls out as I stand over Vincenzo’s groaning body.
“Can I burn the house down now?” Donato jokes.
“Go for it,” I tell him as I place zip ties on Salvatore’s wrists and feet. Maso duct tapes his mouth and hoists the man on his shoulders as I immobilize the wife next. Santi takes her as Natale and I walk out the front door, watching as Donato, indeed, sets the house ablaze.
Swift steps take me back to my woman to find her eyes closed as she leans her head against the seat. “Doc’s already been called,” Pace says before I can ask.
Nodding at my brother, I pick Nicola up and place her in my lap. Wrapping my arms around her delicate frame, I’m still livid at everything that’s happened. But, knowing she’s safe allows me to focus on things like, how am I going to punish Salvatore and his wife. How is she going to want to punish them?
As everyone loads into their vehicles and we begin the drive back home, I feel like the day was anticlimactic and wonder if we missed something. It’s not until Santi starts cursing in the front seat that I succumb to the temptation to voice my opinion.
“What is it?” He hands his phone back to me.
I watch news footage, slightly stunned as they announce the murder of Chief Mario Santini in prison and the arrest of more than one hundred men who were assumed to be a part of the trafficking ring the cousins had going on.
“It’s up to you now, whether Salvatore gets crucified for one or for all,” Carlo Morello tells me as he nods at the phone.
“This was you?” I shouldn’t be shocked.
“And your father. I’m sure he’s told you we want things to be different now. We want the safety for our families so that nothing like what happened to Natale befalls any of your children.”
Handing the phone back to my brother, I stare down at the woman in my arms, and I know that before I can turn the Salvatores over to the authorities, she needs her own closure with the people who raised her for a decade.
Chapter 12
Domino
I spent all night between Nicola’s sweet thighs, showing her just how much I love her. How worried I was. We spoke about the Salvatores, and even though she craves vengeance, she was ready to be done with them, recognizing that they would have likely lied to her anyways. She then requested that we hand them over to the authorities.
We did.
But that didn’t mean I was done yet.
One more man was still in need of punishment for hurting my girl, and after sending Pace on an errand, Nicola and I are now headed back to the farm so she can confront him.
So I can show him just how much he fucked up.
Santi was able to find more information on Ricardo Ciro, and there were over a dozen inmates he raped while they were under his control. Thankfully, his time on this earth has come to an end after today.
As I park in front of the barn, Nicola slowly awakens. “Are we here now?” She smiles over at me, and I nod.
“We are. And if at any time you want to leave, say the word, and you’re gone.” She frowns with confusion but nods anyways.
Pace is waiting at the door and nods at us as we approach before opening it.
Sitting in the middle of the room, in the same chair that the chief once occupied, is the man who thought he could have a piece of my woman. Nicola pauses beside me as she takes him in. Her grip tightens in my hand before she continues on.
His lip is split, and one eye is swollen shut. Glancing back at Pace, he shrugs it off. “He wanted to be a pain in the ass.”
Spitting out a mouthful of blood, nearly hitting Nicola’s feet, I don’t hesitate to land another punch to this asshole’s gut. He groans, his head rolling around his shoulders.
“How many more?” Nicola asks the man.
When he doesn’t answer her, Pace grabs a chunk of his hair and yanks his head up. “Answer her, or you’ll end up like that guy.” He nods to the fingers on the ground that we left behind from the chief.
Ciro turns a little green before visibly swallowing. “Twelve,” he croaks out.
“If I ask you to kill him, will you?” Nic looks at me with implicit trust.
“You know I will.”
Staring back at the defiant man strapped to the chair, I can see him trying to figure out whether to be contrary or apologetic.
Turning her back, she commands, “Do it. The bastard doesn’t deserve mercy.”
Nicola
Leaving the barn, I fight back the urge to vomit. Not from the choice I made but the morning sickness. Ricardo isn’t worth the air he breathes, and he certainly doesn’t deserve to live on the same planet as the girls he ruined.
I understand that I ordered a man’s death. I thought I would be sick over it. I thought I would have remorse. But instead, as I hear the sound of gunfire echoing around the cavernous barn, I feel nothing but relief.
I’m glad he’s dead. I don’t know if that makes me a terrible person or not, and what’s worse is, I don’t think I care. I feel at peace with my decision, and as Domino exits the barn, wrapping his arms around me, we watch the sun set over the hills until it’s dark before going home.
Before stepping into our lives together, forever.
Epilogue One
Nicola
A Few Weeks Later.
I can’t stop grinning as I walk out of the doctor’s office. Santi and Capo wait for me at the curb. I know he leaked my secret to Domino after the whole kidnapping debacle, but nobody will admit to it.
Domino hasn’t fessed up to knowing I carry his baby. Santi won’t say whether he told his brother or not. And I’ve been terrified of confronting either man because I’m afraid of how Domino feels about it.
After I was found and stitched up, I was given the choice to question the people who ruined my life before they were sent to prison. Conversely, I spent less than a minute in their presence before leaving without a word. I’d sacrificed too much of my life to them already, so I didn’t want to waste another moment. Since letting go of the hatred, my own anger has dissipated. I’m not so quick to infuriate anymore, and I like it. I feel a sense of peace I’ve been mi
ssing for a long time.
And because of that, I can accept this incredible news confirming the pregnancy and be truly happy about it. I never dreamed I’d become a mother, find love, or family. But I’m getting them all now.
“Well?” Santi raises an impatient brow. I’m close to all the brothers, but he and Pace are also my friends.
“You’re going to be an uncle!” I jump up and down. Capo gets excited and begins barking and circling my feet.
Groaning, Santi mutters, “Dom’s going to kill me.”
“Why?” I hesitate before getting in the car as he opens the door for me.
“Because you confirmed it with me before you did him.” My smile is back. He’s right. But I know exactly how to calm the beast in my man.
“It’ll be fine.” I pat his chest as I slip into my seat.
I’m buzzing with excitement as we drive home, and as soon as we’re in the driveway, I jump out as Santi yells at me because I didn’t quite wait for the vehicle to stop. Then, rushing up the front steps to the house, I burst through the door and head straight for Santo’s office, knowing the brothers will all be there.
Having Santo and Evelina home has been wonderful. Until them, I never truly knew what parental love was, but they both treat me like the daughter they never had. Evelina loves to spoil me with all kinds of stories of Domino and his brothers from when they were younger as we lounge by the pool. I’ve laughed more since they came home than the whole of my childhood.
Listening carefully behind the closed door, I open it when I don’t hear anything I probably shouldn’t.
Domino’s eyes heat as soon as he sees me. “Get out,” I bark at his siblings. Nobody moves. They just stare at me. “Get out!” I shout louder, trying my best not to give away my happiness.