He heard Carmi in the background yelling something. Raph groaned and said, “Fine, and apparently we need to make sure the guys at both hotels are aware of the men we are looking for. They were talking about sending their own messages, she heard them when she snuck up on them.”
“Great, okay, I will make the calls,” Ricco said.
He hung up the phone and Bella pounced on him. “What happened?”
“Carmi was shot in the arm and the leg, they are on their way to my house, where we will be joining them. She heard the men say they were sending a message of their own, we need to alert both of our staff. Like I said, from here on out, you and I are like glue. We will be going out to my house, where we are going to have plenty of men, we have one hundred acres, and those bastards can bring the fight to us.”
Bella sat back and said, “Fuckers will die.”
“I hear ya, and I agree, but first we need to get to the house,” Ricco said. He took her hand and then sat as they waited.
“That fucking bitch has nine lives,” the man yelled and slammed his hand against the top of his car.
“How do you know she is alive?” his brother said.
“The scanner is saying no casualties, and Di’Midea and the bitch are currently at the police station.”
“Damn, you gonna call him and tell him we missed again?” his brother asked and he turned and glared at him.
“Fuck no,” he snapped and looked at his friend. “We make some calls, gets some more guys here, and we hunt their asses down. When we are done, those fuckers will know not to cross the Black Hearts again. They took our money, they took our clubhouse, and now, we are gonna take it back.”
Acciai had done just that, thrown them out of town broke, it would have gone so much different if all of the guys had been there. Unfortunately, they had been on a run, bringing drugs across the border. The old Ops place was the perfect place to smuggle from, add to it the money they had been skimming, they had been living large for months since the Ops left. That was until Acciai’s men came to town and took over. Their Prez had a plan, he was going to get back what was theirs by making Acciai sorry he ever tried to fuck with them.
The plan was supposed to be simple, get their rival to take out Di’Midea and bargain with the casino for their land back. But the bitch had turned them down and killed one of their brothers who went to make contact. No one messed with them, ever. So far they may be losing, but it was not over, not by a long shot, these old timers who were playing mob wouldn’t defeat them. There was too much at stake, and way too much had happened to forgive. No, the Black Hearts had a new rival, they just didn’t drive bikes, the pussies were soft, and they were going to fucking pay.
Chapter Six
Bella was silent on the drive. She had answered all of the police’s questions and remained cool and calm. Inside though, she was raging, her temper was about ready to explode if she was silent a moment more. But she held her tongue, even though it was almost painful to do.
Ricco had called his casino, and she had called Bruno. Her man was not happy at all she was going to be going to Ricco’s house with only a wounded Carmi. Ricco finally relented to allowing Bruno and one of his men to come as well. They were probably already there, and if she had to guess, she would say they had probably brought an arsenal with them. Her father would have given him the passcode to the vault where their guns were held.
She turned and looked at Ricco who looked relaxed. He was driving with one hand on the wheel, the other he had sitting on the middle console, which incidentally was very close to hers. She remembered what it felt like sitting in the police station waiting with Ricco as he held her hand. He was an asshole, a self-important asshole, but he could be nice. He had seen how she needed someone. She could be cold as ice to everyone but Carmi, her father, and God love the big dipshit, Bruno. They were her support; they were the ones who knew most everything about her. Put them all together, and they could tell anyone whatever they wanted to know, but they never would. That was why she loved them.
For a long time, she didn’t know if she could even feel love when she got older, the kind of love you knew you could feel, well, when you looked into the eyes of someone who was getting married, or was falling in love. Bella had yet to experience that kind of love, but at least she finally figured out what she felt for Carmi and Bruno were akin to what she felt for her father, which meant she loved them, fiercely, and it pissed her off to think she could lose one of them.
As they turned down a road, which looked like it went nowhere, Bella looked around, they had been driving for a while now. She really hoped Bruno had grabbed her clothes like she asked, or else this place was too far away to run to the local store to pick up a change of clothes.
She knew right when they entered onto Ricco’s property, how did she know, because Ricco whom she had thought was relaxed had not been, but now, he was, she could feel the tension in the car release and she wanted to sigh.
Bella looked closely at the road, she could see little markers and wondered briefly what they were, then Ricco who must have been reading her mind said, “They are sensors; anyone comes on the property we will know it.”
She nodded and said, “Your house is pretty far out here.”
“Well, in this instance it will work in our favor, when those fuckers come, we will know and be ready for them,” Ricco said grimly and the house, if you could call it that, came into view. Holy shit, it wasn’t a house, that was an understatement, it was a damn castle in the middle of the freaking desert. Seriously, a castle had turrets and this thing had like three of them. It was like her fantasy house, it was gorgeous, and she could not wait to explore it.
“Oh my God,” Bella whispered when she walked into the room where Carmi was still being tended to. The doctor had only apparently arrived thirty minutes before they did so they were currently on Ricco’s huge kitchen table, which was now turned into a surgery center removing the bullets that were in her shoulder and her leg. And, she was still awake although on a massive amount of drugs.
“Bells!” Carmi sang and waved with her good hand. “Come here and gimme a smoochie!”
“Why the fuck is she still awake?” Bella roared.
The doctor didn’t jump, he only looked up at her and smiled and shook his head. “Ma’am, she said she had a gun and would shoot my tally whacker off if I knocked her ass out, so I took her at her word since Raphael has a black eye from bringing her in here apparently.”
“Carmella Maria Antonia Louisa Grapa,” Bella snapped.
“Uh oh,” Carmi said, pouting her lips. “I am in trouble, you used my whole name! Don’t be mad, Mom.”
“I can’t believe you got shot, and then you refused to go to a hospital, you are having surgery on Ricco’s table! He has to eat there,” Bella said, stomping over to her friend who had a sheet covering her body. She looked like shit, she was pale and her hair was all over the place. There were even little splatters of blood on her face still. Bella cringed, why did Carmi test her this way?
“How bad is it?” Bella snapped and Carmi opened her mouth. “Not you, I want it from the doctor, and so help me God, if he says you need to be in a hospital, you are fucking going.”
“Ma’am,” the doctor said softly. “My name is Dr. Brennen. I have been taking care of Ricco and the Acciai family for years, trust me, I know what I am doing, and if she needed to be in a hospital, nothing would have stopped me from taking her there. The bullets didn’t hit any organs, they were in her fatty tissue and didn’t hit bone thank goodness, she will be sore and uncomfortable for a while but she will bounce back fairly quickly. The worst part was her blood loss, but Raph is a universal donor and gave her a few pints. He is in the other room laying down for a minute, just because he wanted to give more but I stopped him. Now, I only need to get the bullet out of her shoulder and we are all done, I will have her stitched and if you would help me clean her up and get her to a bed, then she can rest.”
Bella took a de
ep breath; damn he was good. His voice was so soft and soothing, she actually felt relaxed when he spoke, it was amazing really. Bella nodded and looked down at her friend who was staring at the ceiling with a frown. She was completely stoned.
Ricco moved and touched her waist, almost as a reassurance, and then he moved to walk into the living room where his man was laying down. She hadn’t even got to look around when they walked into the door, a man had pointed to the kitchen and he looked grim, so her and Ricco had almost run in that direction to see Carmi.
“I don’t feel nuthin…” Carmi slurred and Bella rolled her eyes but she put her hand on her friend’s forehead and smoothed her hair back repeatedly while the doctor finished taking out the bullets. It seemed to take a long time, but then of course it could be because she was listening to Carmi mumble about little pink bunnies and green men who were biting her nose. Yeah, she was taking notes ‘cause this shit was good.
When the doctor finally announced they were done, Ricco and Raph both walked into the room. Carmi saw Raph and yelled, “You bastard! You carried me over your shoulders, do not think I will forget that.”
Raph snorted and said, “Shit, if you would have just let me carry you the right way it wouldn’t have hurt. But no, you fought me, so I had to do what I had to do.”
Carmi glared at him and stuck out her tongue. “Fuck off.”
“Kids,” Ricco drawled. “Can we get Carmi cleaned up and off the dining room table so maybe the cook can make some food for us all to eat. I haven’t had a damn thing since breakfast and I am starving. We need to figure out what the fuck we are going to do.”
Bella sighed, he was right, they needed to get Carmi off the table and into a bed, that was for sure. The doctor began handing her sterilized clothes to wipe the blood away from her face, then her arms and hands, and down. When she reached her top part, Ricco and Raph left, although Bella did notice that Ricco had to pull Raph twice before the big man followed him. All the while he was staring at Carmi and her expressions of pain when Bella touched something sensitive.
“Bells,” Carmi moaned. “Can I have ice cream when this is done? You know how that makes me feel better.”
“Yeah, honey, you can have ice cream,” she said softly and then finished cleaning up her friend. She noted every single bruise, cut, and stitch on her friend’s body, those motherfuckers were going to feel every single one in the end, she was going to make sure of it.
“Gimme a run down,” Ricco said and ran his hand over his face. Bella and Carmi were still in the kitchen. He wanted to hear about it before they all met for the meal. It would take a good hour or so to get it ready and he wasn’t waiting, plus he wanted to know before Bella, he still felt the need to protect her.
Bruno, Bella’s man, said, “Rome is currently in high security mode; they are searching everything from the garage to hotel rooms when the maids go in to clean. They are being discreet but we had to do it. So far nothing. The video of the men going into the building is being sent to the computers here. I hope to have a firm ID before the night is over. We know they are from some motorcycle club, they were wearing cuts, we just couldn’t ID the patch from the camera, it was too blurry.”
Raph nodded and continued, “Carmi verified that there were four men on the roof, all of them had assault rifles and all of them were looking for your car. She heard them mention several things before they saw her. One, that they were going to make sure their statement was heard far and wide. Two, that you and Bella were both on the hit list, and three, they answered to someone else who was not there. So in other words there are more of them, I would guess soon they will find out we are out here, and they will begin to make plans on attacking us here.”
Ricco nodded and said, “Then let them, the sooner the better. I am not sitting out here on my hands waiting for them. We need to find out who the fuck they are really, verify they are the ones Mr. Acciai fired and booted out of the mine. If they are, they belong to the Black Hearts MC, which according to my search earlier, have about fifty or so men. I say we had better plan for the worst and expect the best. But there are only ten of us, a doctor, and my staff. We are outnumbered, but we do have a full armory and some surprises on my land. We can handle them just fine if need be. Until then, we find out everything we can about the MC and its members. We make sure the casinos are safe and running without us there. And most of all, we make sure that when they come, we are ready.”
Both of the men nodded and Ricco turned and looked into the kitchen where Bella was nodding to what the doctor was saying. This was yet another side of her, strangely he kept seeing more and more things he liked about the woman. The way she handled herself with the police, the way she was quiet on the ride out, not because she was uncomfortable, but because she knew they both needed to process what happened. Most women he was involved with weren’t like that, they were constantly asking him how he felt and what was going on. They would yammer about feelings and other crap until he almost felt like his ears were bleeding. It was refreshing to have someone who was a little like he was. Ricco was a thinker.
Bella turned and looked at him over her shoulder and motioned with her head she needed help moving Carmi, he nodded and muttered, “Get some answers before dinner. I will handle Bella and Carmi for now.”
Raph opened his mouth but saw the look on Ricco’s face. He nodded slowly and then took one last look in the kitchen, he was apparently satisfied since he walked down the hallway toward the communications room. Yep, he had one, and it was a good thing too.
Bruno followed him as he walked into the kitchen. Bella leaned a little toward them and whispered, “She is out of it; I think if the two of you help me we can get her to a bed without waking her up too much.”
Ricco and Bruno nodded and they moved, Ricco to the feet and Bruno to the head. He nodded and then grabbed her feet and lifted. They slowly and carefully picked up the small woman and carried her carefully to the stairs and up the steps, then down the hall and into the first guest bedroom they came upon. It was at least one of the girly rooms, although it didn’t fit the small woman too much, she seemed more of the leather than lace kind of girl. Bella on the other hand, looked in the room and almost smiled at the soft blues and greys that decorated the space.
When they got Carmi on the bed, Bella took over, making sure she was under the covers and completely resting before she turned to them and nodded. “I got it from here, I will be down in a while for an update.”
They were being dismissed and Bruno nodded but Ricco waited until the man left the room before he went to her and wrapped his arms around her.
“How are you doing?” he whispered into her ear and she shivered.
“Better,” she admitted and sighed then looked up at him. “Thank you for making sure she had the best care.”
“No worries,” Ricco said and leaned forward and kissed her lips softly and said, “Dinner will be in a while; I will make sure you know when we are ready, okay?”
Bella nodded and then smiled a little and looked over her shoulder to Carmi who was looking around confused. “I better make sure she doesn’t freak out.”
Ricco nodded and kissed her again. “You need anything, just yell, I will be right down stairs in the living room.”
“Okay,” Bella said and pulled away from him, with what looked like reluctance. Shit, this was so not the time, but damned if his cock didn’t give a shit.
Chapter Seven
Bella walked down the stairs and finally had enough time to look at the foyer, and the rest of the main floor. The second was all bedrooms and what appeared to be a sitting room with a television. There was a third floor but she hadn’t gone up that high, she didn’t want to appear nosey, even though she was.
The place was amazing, the colors were all welcoming and really—it was perfect. It didn’t seem like a mansion, she liked it. When she got to the end of the staircase, she stopped and looked. It was decorated in creams, golds, and browns. Very soft mute colors that li
ghtened up the entire house. She heard voices in the direction of the kitchen so she wandered that way. When she entered, there were two older females preparing dinner, they had been laughing but when she walked in and noticed her, they instantly stopped.
Bella shifted slightly and said, “Hello, I was just looking for Ricco, and wondering what smelled so amazing?”
Both of the women looked at her closely and the one who was doing the actual cooking said, “Mr. Ricco is in his office.”
Bella smiled, damn this was awkward. She hated like hell her lack of social skills with women. It had always been like this since her mother died. She really wished like hell that she knew what to say, but honestly she didn’t. Everything would come out stupid and rude most of the time.
“Okay,” Bella said stiffly and then moved to the hallway.
Then the woman said, “And what you are smelling is minestrone, linguini with clam sauce, a nice fresh focaccia, and dessert is cannolis.”
Bella turned and looked at the woman who looked like maybe she was expecting Bella to be rude or insulting. Okay, it was a test, she could totally do this. Bella smiled nicely then said softly as not to sound like a complete bitch like usual. “That sounds great, I have missed good Italian cooking. After my mother passed away, no one made minestrone like she did.”
The woman’s expression softened and then Bella added, “She made it with borlotti beans?”
Then the woman smiled at her big and came toward her with her arms outstretched. “Mio caro, this is how I make it. You will feel like your mama made it.”
Bella smiled and let her wrap her arms around her. And she smiled, wow, she could do it. The other woman smiled at her with a genuine smile now and she almost felt giddy.
“Now,” the woman said when she pulled back. “My name is Maria, this is Lucia and we are the cooks as well as the house staff. If you need anything from me, you will just tell us. Now, go find the men, tell them dinner is ready and they are to be at the table. And make sure you do not sit by Raph, he always tries to steal people’s cannolis. You sit by Ricco, he will take care of you.”
Capo Ricco Page 5