by Penelope Sky
“Hello, Carmen,” he said in a professional tone. “Are you still in the shop?”
I must have slipped out in the two seconds they weren’t watching.
“The lights are out.”
“I walked a few blocks over to pick up a pizza. You can meet me there if you want.”
There was so much panic in his silence. “We’ll be right there. Bosco gave us very specific orders not to let you walk around at night alone.”
“Well, I’m two blocks away. I’m sure I’ll be fine.” I hung up then kept walking. I turned right again and made my way up the quiet street. There was no traffic except a black car that passed in the opposite direction. The windows were completely blacked out. It made a U-turn and then came up behind me.
I knew it was Bosco’s men, so I didn’t look over my shoulder.
I could see the sign to the pizza place jutting out from the building. It had a picture of a cheesy slice along with the name of the restaurant. I knew his men would pick up anything I asked for, but it seemed ridiculous to order someone to do something that I could do myself. Besides, it was nice to walk.
The car stopped behind me, and all the doors opened.
I rolled my eyes, unable to believe they were really going to follow me on foot. “I’ll be right back, boys. I can make it the rest of the way.”
“Wow, you’ve got spunk.” A distinct Russian accent sounded behind me, sinister, cold, and terrifying.
I stopped in my tracks, knowing this wasn’t one of Bosco’s men. I turned around, the panic already rising in my blood. My heart thumped against my rib cage, and I tried to think of something to do next. Bosco’s men were just around the corner, so there was nothing to be scared of yet.
My eyes met a pair of blue ones. They were bright, almost the color of the sky on a summer day, not deep the way Bosco’s were. With a few scars on his face and a lanky body, he seemed like the kind of criminal who had other men do his dirty work.
That didn’t make him any less scary.
I chose to be brave, knowing Bosco’s men would save me like they had in the past. “I was just about to get a pizza. Want a slice?”
He wore a navy blue suit, his hands in his pockets. Three men stood behind him, all carrying rifles that were pointed to the ground. He slowly walked toward me, smiling with crooked teeth. “I’m liking you more and more.”
The sound of several gunshots erupted in the distance. The noises ricocheted off the buildings, audible from a few blocks over. They were so loud, my eardrums stung. My body jolted, and the terror gripped me.
“The men are taken care of,” one of the guys reported to the Russian.
Jesus Christ, I was in trouble.
Another black car emerged from the other side of the street. It pulled up alongside the first. Four more men got out.
If Bosco’s men were dead, then there was no way for the others to know I was in danger. There was no way for Bosco to know I was in danger. I would be taken by this man, and Bosco may never find me.
Enough jokes about pizza.
The Russian studied me as he slowly crept up to me. “A woman like you is smart to keep bodyguards. Too bad they weren’t good at their jobs.”
I had no idea who this man was. He obviously didn’t know those men worked for Bosco, so why was he after me? Did it have something to do with my family? Or Griffin? “Those men belong to Bosco Roth. I also belong to Bosco Roth. So you should consider your next actions carefully.”
That actually stopped him in his tracks, his smile weakening at the threat I’d just unleashed. He clearly hadn’t taken the time to do his research before he approached me, because this was news to him.
“He’s a possessive man. You should leave while you still can.”
He recovered from the surprise and kept moving forward, approaching me with a cruel look in his eyes.
I didn’t take a step back, knowing there was nowhere for me to go.
When he was right in front of me, he lifted the back of his hand to my face and felt my cheek with the backs of his fingers. “So soft…so flawless.”
His breath smelled like cigarettes, and his slimy hands were ice-cold. He smelled like the back of a taxi, soaked with the scent of so many things it smelled like the odor from a skunk. With disgusting features and an even more disgusting presence, a grosser man had never touched me.
I pushed his hand away. “Don’t touch me—”
He backhanded me hard, so hard I flew into the cold concrete. “I’m going to enjoy doing that to you—over and over.”
It was the second time a man had hit me—and I was getting really sick of it. I didn’t stay on the ground long because I refused to bend to a man. I refused to accept defeat. I pushed my way up again and silently threatened him with my gaze. My cheek was pulsing with inflammation, and I knew my cheek would be red for days. “You’ll die for that.”
He smiled, like that was the response he was hoping for. “You’re just like Mia. I was hoping you would be.”
Mia. The only terrible man who would know Mia would have to be… It only took me a few seconds to figure out who he was. He was the man who’d raped and tortured my sister-in-law, the one who took away her ability to have children.
No way in hell was I gonna let him do that to me.
“You motherfucker.” Just as my father taught me, I gave him a right hook that happened so fast he didn’t see it coming. It wasn’t packed with as much momentum because I didn’t have as much time to draw back, but my fist landed where it belonged.
He turned with the hit and grabbed at his face.
All the men aimed their weapons at me.
“You’re going to regret that, sweetheart.” He slowly turned back to me, his eye already swelling.
“No. I don’t think so.” I threw my leg up to kick him in the balls.
He grabbed my leg and threw me on the ground.
My back hit the concrete and my body screamed in pain, but the adrenaline kept me on my guard.
“I’m gonna break your leg just to teach you a lesson.” He snatched my ankle and dragged me toward him.
Shit, he was serious. “Get off me!” I kicked as hard as I could, refusing to be crippled so he could beat me even more. How did Mia survive years of this if I couldn’t last even a few minutes?
“Help me,” he ordered his men. “I’m breaking it right at the knee.”
“You psycho!” I threw my whole body into it, fighting with everything I had.
Two men came and pinned me to the concrete so I couldn’t move at all.
“Mia said the same thing.” He grinned then positioned my leg. He looked down at me with a sneer. “On the count of three.”
Oh my fucking god.
I tensed for the pain and prepared not to show it.
I’d never been so scared in my life.
Bosco, where the fuck are you?
“One.” He grinned wider, seeing the sweat form on my forehead. “Two…”
Jesus Christ.
Gunshots rang out.
The two men holding me were down.
“Oh, thank god!” Egor looked up to see the commotion, so I yanked my leg back then kicked him hard in the chest.
He flew back.
“Take that, cunt!”
Cars filled the block, and the men fired at each other.
Egor scrambled to his feet to sprint away.
“Little bitch, you’re mine.” I lunged at him and got him by the ankle, bringing him to the ground. “How about I break your leg, huh?”
He turned around and struck me in the face.
I was immune to pain now. There was too much adrenaline, too much hostility. He did something unforgivable to my family, and I wasn’t letting him get away. “I’m gonna kill you for what you did to my sister.” I’d never killed anyone in my life, but I had no hesitation to do it now. I got on top of him and whaled on him, slamming my fists into his face. “Motherfucker!” I kept hitting him.
He shoved me off, his face bloody. T
hen he kicked me back, getting himself free.
Suddenly, all the sound died away. The gunshots were over because one side of the battle was dead.
Heavy footsteps approached. “Take her away.” Bosco’s deep voice was different than usual, full of rage he’d never expressed around me before. He didn’t care about me at all. He had eyes only for the man who’d made the mistake of crossing me.
Two of Bosco’s men came and helped me to my feet.
“Bosco, I—”
Bosco held up his hand and silenced me—without even looking at me. “Carmen, you aren’t going to want to see this. Go to the car.”
I didn’t say another word, knowing the man I loved wasn’t available right now.
His men guided me to the sidewalk and then opened the back door. I hesitated before I got inside.
Bosco stood over Egor and didn’t say a word until I was out of harm’s way for good.
The battery to the car was still on, so I cracked the window when no one was watching, wanting to hear everything that was about to happen.
Egor spat blood out of his mouth before he looked up at Bosco.
Bosco stared at him with the same rage as before, his body so still it didn’t seem like he was really alive. He looked like a statue, a spirit that had come to bring Egor into hell. “You killed my men. You touched my woman. You know what your punishment will be.”
Egor didn’t show any fear even though there was no possibility he wasn’t scared.
“I will burn your men alive for what they did to mine.”
I looked to the left and saw the men handcuffed in a group, most of them bleeding from their wounds. The streets were silent because no one was stupid enough to go outside right now. The police steered clear. I shouldn’t feel bad for what the men were about to go through, but I did. Being burned alive seemed harsh.
Bosco wore a black suit with a black tie, sleek and stylish in contrast to what everyone else was wearing. With broad shoulders and wrath in his jawline, he looked like the executioner he always told me he was. “And I will slit your throat right here for what you did to my woman. I will watch the light leave your eyes, and I will fill the sewers with your blood.”
My god, Bosco wasn’t kidding.
“Any last words?” Bosco extended his hand to one of his men, silently asking for a blade.
One of them unsheathed a knife from his own belt and placed it in Bosco’s palm.
Bosco gripped it and held it at his side, his fingers exploring the grip.
I opened the car door and got out. “He’s the one who tortured Mia.” I wanted Bosco to know that this man deserved the highest amount of suffering, that he didn’t even deserve last words. Every man deserved one last wish—but not this guy.
Bosco’s men motioned me to get back in the car.
Bosco didn’t take his eyes off his captive, as if he didn’t acknowledge what I’d said. “You raped and tortured an innocent woman for three years—and took her away from her son.” He gripped the blade even harder, making his knuckles turn white.
I knew the part about Luca bothered him the most since he’d lost his own mother.
Egor stared at him but didn’t confirm it. “You are—”
Bosco moved in a flash, yanking him by the hair and dragging him across the sidewalk.
Egor grunted and tried to swat his hands away.
When Bosco had him right next to the sewer, he brought his knife to Egor’s throat and did the job, making Egor look into the sewer as he did it. “Your blood isn’t even good enough for shit.” He released his hair and let him fall forward, the blood dripping everywhere.
Egor made choking sounds until he bled out and died.
I watched the whole thing, wanting to see this man dead.
Bosco stared at him even when it was certain Egor was dead. “Burn his men alive,” he ordered, holding out the bloody knife for someone to take. “And leave his body here. Tell the police not to move it until it starts to rot.”
Just when I thought this was all over, more cars pulled up.
The men raised their weapons and prepared to fire.
I recognized the man who rose from behind the driver’s door. It was my father.
“Lower your weapons,” Bosco commanded his men with a subtle wave of his hand.
My father didn’t care about Egor or Bosco. “Where is she?”
Carter got out of the passenger seat. Uncle Crow was with them too. They were all armed with artillery too. They must have known Egor was coming to get me, but since they had to drive from Tuscany, it took them much longer to get here.
I got out of the car. “Father, I’m okay.”
His eyes settled on me, and a wave of relief flashed across his face—and then the tears emerged. “Sweetheart.” He ran to me and wrapped his arms around me, his body acting as a cocoon to keep me safe. He cupped the back of my head and pressed his face against my forehead.
I felt his tears drip onto my face.
“My little girl…” He squeezed me harder and wept, not caring about the dozens of men standing around watching. He didn’t care about Bosco. He didn’t care about crying in front of his brother. “The whole drive here… I couldn’t…” He couldn’t get the words out, overcome with emotion. He was the strongest man I’d ever known, and not once in my life had I see him cry.
I cried too. “I’m okay…”
He kissed my forehead three times, his hands cupping my face. “I know. That’s why I can’t stop crying.” He pulled away and allowed me to see the tears that reflected in his eyes. “Because I’m so damn grateful you’re okay. It’s hard enough to know what Mia went through…but not my girl too.”
Watching him cry made me cry harder. “I’m right here… I’m not going anywhere. I’m safe. Egor’s gone…”
“I know.” He closed his eyes for a second and took a deep breath, forcing himself to bottle up his emotion. “Your face is red. Do you need to see a doctor?”
“No. I hurt him way more than he hurt me.”
A painful smile moved onto his lips. “Attagirl.” He cupped my cheeks and kissed me on the forehead. “I love you so much, Carmen. I can’t even begin to describe…”
“I know you do… I love you too.”
He looked at me again and wiped his tears on the sleeve of his jacket. He cleaned up the best he could before he turned back to Bosco and everyone else. He obviously wasn’t ashamed of his tears.
Bosco met his gaze then nodded to Egor’s body. “I took care of it.”
Carter was standing over the corpse. He stared without blinking, and then without preamble, he spat on him.
Crow stayed in the back, his gun in his holster because there was no more fighting to do.
Bosco looked just as pissed off as before. “This is the man who hurt Mia. Why is he after my woman?” He didn’t seem to care how he referred to me in front of my family. He was still in the fog of war, acting savage and barbaric. He’d acted this way when he fought The Butcher in the ring. There was no reasoning with him when he got like this.
Carter pulled his gaze away from Egor. “He found out that I had Mia. He called me and said he wanted her back. When I refused, he said he would take my sister instead. He didn’t tell me that he was right behind her until a second before he hung up.”
Bosco stared at Carter for a few seconds before he turned his gaze back on my father. He stared at him like he hated him as much as Egor. There was nothing but bloodshed in his eyes, like killing Egor once wasn’t enough. “You never would have made it on time.”
My father said nothing, but he held Bosco’s gaze.
Bosco stepped closer to him. “You wouldn’t have fucking made it on time.” He slammed his hand into his own chest. “I did. I’m here. I protect her. I slit his goddamn throat, and I would do it again in a heartbeat. She’s not in danger because of me—but because of you.” He pointed right at my father’s chest.
My father had just broken down right in front of me. I couldn’
t let him be yelled at right now. “Bosco, that’s enough.” I walked up to him and gently guided him back.
Bosco wouldn’t look at me. “This was your fault. You fucked up—”
“Enough.” I yanked on his arm. “I said, enough.”
Bosco kept staring at my father, but he didn’t disobey me.
My father spoke. “Carmen, he’s right. He’s absolutely right.” He came closer to Bosco, all his hostility and anger gone. Now there was just a broken man left behind, a man crushed by what had just happened to his daughter. The thought of losing me was enough to humble him into silence. “I wouldn’t have made it quickly enough. I wouldn’t have had enough men. I wouldn’t have saved my daughter…if it weren’t for you.” He took a deep breath, stilling the tears that wanted to emerge in his eyes again. “I owe you my life. I owe you everything. And…you’ve proven that you’re right. And I’m wrong.”
Bosco’s face finally softened, his furor slowly disappearing like smoke from a dying fire.
“You can protect my daughter. I feel better knowing that she has you, that you can save her better than I ever could. I would have hunted Egor down and never stopped until I found him…but she would have already been captured, and that would have been enough to haunt me.” He extended his hand. “Thank you, Bosco. I mean that…”
I waited for Bosco to reciprocate, hoping he wasn’t too high on blood lust to be reasonable.
But he wasn’t. He shook my father’s hand. “You’re welcome, sir.”
My father nodded before he dropped his hand. “A good man wouldn’t have been able to stop that from happening…”
“No, he wouldn’t,” Bosco said in agreement. “A Barsetti woman doesn’t need a good man. She needs a powerful man, the kind of man who can move mountains and planets. That’s me.”
Father nodded again. “I think you’re right.” He stepped away and walked to Carter, placing his hand on his shoulder as they both stared at Egor’s body. My father spat on him too.
Bosco turned to me, his eyes smoldering the second he looked at the puffiness of my cheek.
“It doesn’t hurt,” I said. “It felt so good to punch him in the face. It felt so good to watch him die. I’m glad all of this happened…because he didn’t deserve to take another breath. It’s a gift you’ve given to my family. Thank you.”