Hank pressed his hands against my uninjured side urging me to lay down. “Easy. Tatianna is here.”
My face flushed. I must have called her name in my sleep. I looked out the window and saw fluffy clouds in the night sky. The blood rolled down my side dampening my shirt with blood. “How much longer Dan?”
“We should be able to land in thirty minutes. There’s a car waiting to take you to the safe house,” said Dan.
I nodded. Hank and Lucas were looking out the window. Both were quiet, but I knew they were pissed. We are pissed that Sergi got away from us.
Nobody touched what belonged to me. Tatianna belongs to me. They will all die for their actions. There is not a place on earth that they can hide from me. I looked down at her. Her face was so pale, and she was much smaller than she should be. She looked like she had walked through the fires of hell. My hellcat was much fiercer than I thought she was.
I never thought someone like her could fit in my life. I’m the Don of the Mancini mafia, for Christ’s sake, but she’ll learn. I’m never going to let her go. I always get what I want, and I want her.
Hank was looking at something on his computer with GPS. If there was anyone that could find Sergi it was Lucas. “I want that bastard found by tonight.”
Great. It was raining in Miami. If bleeding like a stuck pig wasn’t enough, I now get to fight off infection. Gritting my teeth, I slid inside the black truck. It was just one of my toys that had black tinted windows and a bulletproof body style. I leaned down and brushed my lips over Tatianna’s forehead.
“Sleep little one.”
As soon as we pulled up, Doctor Young ran outside. “I have everything ready for you.” He snapped his fingers and four nurses rushed to place Tatianna on the gurney and wheeled her inside.
I suddenly could breathe easier. I knew that she was safe here and the best doctors in North America were working on her now.
When four more nurses came rushing to me pushing me on a gurney, and tearing at my clothes, I allowed them to rush me inside. “She’s to be cared for first.”
Doctor Young frowned. “You’ve lost too much blood. We need to act now.” He snapped his fingers and I felt a slight pinch on the right side of my neck.
I fought the warmth flooding my veins. My eyes were heavy, and my muscles relaxed. I didn’t want to be asleep, and I intended to be awake, powering through the pain. My body had other ideas and I slipped into a deep slumber.
The bright light peeked through the wooden blinds despite them being closed. My mouth felt like a dry cotton ball, and I was weak. I am not as weak as I was when I pulled up here, but I don’t have all my strength back. Hank sat in the chair at my bedside.
He sat there peeling and eating an apple with his knife. “How do you feel?”
“Like shit. Did you find the bastard?”
I sat up. There was no way I was lying down while he sat there towering over me. I am not one to appear to be weak, especially in front of my men.
“You gave us a scare. You have been out for three days. The bullets were laced with some poison. Doctor Young noticed immediately and was able to treat you before you had any damage to your organs.”
Damn. I had come close to dying if not from the blood loss then, from the bullets then from the poison. I’m a hard man to kill, and they will find that out soon enough.
“What about Tatianna?” I ran a hand across my forehead wiping up the sweat on the back of my hand.
Hank shook his head. “She was exposed to the Russian poison as well, but she’s fine. The doctor was able to save you both.”
This wasn’t the first time; I was glad I had Doctor Young on my payroll. He was worth every dime of the four million a month I paid him.
“Sergi and Salvatore have disappeared. The plane they were on was found in Yekaterinburg. What was left of it. I wouldn’t be surprised if Sergi killed Salvatore.”
“Find them both.”
Hank nodded and left the room.
I don’t do injured that well. Thrusting the covers off me, I slide my legs to the side of the bed. I am weak not that weak that I cannot get out of the bed. The green smoothie on the nightstand by my bed has me smiling.
Gulping the smoothie made me feel a bit better. The pain in my shoulder still feels like tiny blades embedded in my flesh. This is not my first rodeo with being shot, but this feels a lot different. The muscle weakness and the stomach cramps are too much. I wonder if this is how women feel when they bleed every month.
Padding down the hall, I head to my bedroom. After donning a pair of slacks and a loose crisp white shirt I feel more myself. I also tucked the nine-millimeter in the holster at my waist and a Glock on my holster at my leg. I always believe in being prepared.
I am restless and I don’t know why. I finally cave and go to Tatianna’s room, to check on her. If I am honest with myself, I have been avoiding this moment. She and I need to talk. I don’t want her to know that she’s under my skin. Everyone else in this house knows, but she can’t. She needs to know that I call the shots always no matter what. I am in charge, my law is absolute, and she will obey.
Sergi is what is between us. Nothing has changed there. I will kill that bastard, plain and simple. She, on the other hand, will probably want me to spare his life. I would never do that. He sealed his fate when he tried to kill her. She may forgive him, but I won’t.
Closing the door behind me, I walked to the bed. She looked so small sleeping in the king-size bed. In many ways, she was so soft and innocent, and that is what has me wanting to taint her. I want to bring her over to the dark side. My side. Good girls like bad boys, and I am as bad as they come.
I bent and kissed her head. “Rest hellcat. I’ve got you.”
Leaning against the chair in my office I closed my eyes. I hope this weakness leaves my body soon. I hate being cooped up in the safe house, while those cowards hide from me. My phone rings and I see the number flash across the screen.
Victor didn’t call too often but when he did it was always useful. I bent to grab my phone and bullets flew past my head shattering the windows. Rolling to the floor, I pulled my gun and aimed fire out the window. The silver car pulled up with men with an AK 47 hanging out the window. Bullets were flying everywhere.
A black car skids to a halt. Several men jump out. The door to my office flies open and Vance, Jon, Silas, and Clyde run inside. Each of us, take aim and fire on the bastards that dared to attack me on my turf. A few minutes later Garret comes strolling into the office with a Cuban cigar hanging from his mouth. He has several grenades strapped across his chest and a rocket launcher on his back, and he isn’t wearing any damn pants. He must have come straight off the toilet.
Garret runs up to the window and tosses a grenade out the window, and it lands inside the window of the black car. The car explodes a moment after. There are twenty men left, and they are scrambling to get away.
“Let’s get them. They die tonight.” I hopped out the window firing on the men. I hear my men firing as well.
Carlos’s crew were crazy to think that they could show up and kill me. The cowards shot a female in the head and pulled her out of her red Honda cruiser. My feet pound the pavement as I take off on foot after them firing round after round into the car.
“Fuck,” I shout as I stop in the middle of the street to catch my breath. The red cruiser is quickly fading out of sight.
Hank pulls up in my truck. “I left half the men there to protect the women.”
“Don’t lose them.” I jump inside and nod. I am reloading as he gains on Carlos’s men. When we got close, I opened fire again and struck two of their tires.
The car spun out of control and crossed a lane quickly gaining control before encountering oncoming traffic. There are a lot of cars out late Friday night, and two cars get between Carlos’s men and me.
My hands slam on the dashboard as Hank honks the horn motioning for the two cars to move the hell out of our way. By the time the two cars mov
e, Carlos and his men have made a sharp turn, getting away.
My hands pound on the dashboard. “Damn.”
Soon the cops will be here. Hank reversed and quickly takes the backroads back to the safe house. On route, I am already making calls to officers Jonathan and Bernard; they are on my payroll for a reason.
We get back to the safe house and Lucas is outside. He’s shaking and I know that something isn’t right. I have never seen Lucas shake in my life. This is the man that almost died of torture when he was captured by the Islamic extremist.
I hopped out the car slamming the car door. “What is it?”
Lucas opens his mouth. “They are gone.”
My eyes widen and I rush past him into the house. I take the stairs three at a time ignoring the fatigue in my muscles. The sight of the dead bodies of my men down the hallway and corridors infuriate me. I burst into Tatianna’s room. Her bed is empty.
Bullet holes are throughout the house with bloody trails down the halls. It is all too much. I hear Hank and Lucas at my back, but I don’t turn around.
A rage inside me threatens to overtake me. I see her hospital gown lying on the floor. My hands ball into fists at my side. These bastards were here to kill me. They want war, and now they’re going to get it.
Hank placed a hand on my shoulder. “We’ll find them, and they will be back with us within the hour.”
I open my mouth, but I cannot talk. I try but nothing is coming out of my mouth.
My phone rings again. I can finally answer this time without getting my head blown off. “Talk.”
Victor Owen had been my lifeline. He was also the one that was going to help fill in the blanks on this mystery. Carlos is not powerful enough to do what the hell he just did. He obviously had major help from all the right people, and I need to know who these people are. Everybody wants to be king of the city but there is a reason why the Mancini mafia is king.
It will take a lot more than this to take my place and my turf. The streets will run red with their blood. I am going to kill them all. Walking out of her bedroom, I head down the hall. Hank and Lucas follow at my side. I head inside my bedroom and check the secret security feed.
I forced myself to settle in my seat and play the video footage. The dumb asses didn’t bother taking the security cameras or destroying the footage. This was a simple snatch and grab. They were mistaken to take her, touch her, and she had better be alive when I get there.
“I found out who’s been helping Carlos. The mystery man, whose photo you sent me. It’s Tommy Vance,” said Victor.
I frown. “Why is the government helping Carlos?”
“He is a part of the USI Joint Task Force. He’s giving me some problems also. He needs a vacation like yesterday.”
“Consider it done.” I hang up. A second later Victor sent me Tommy’s address.
After watching the security cameras, I snapped my fingers. “Let’s pay this scumbag a visit.” This asshole had knowledge, and I would make him talk. They always talked for me.
21
Tatiana
Pain sliced through me like a thousand daggers dipped in lava. My shirt was soaked with blood. I had been shot. It seemed like I was having an outer-body experience. A part of me was glad for the pain. The pain meant I was alive. I stilled as shouts above me had my eyes open wider. Several of the streetlights flickered as I was slid onto a gurney and rushed inside a building. I am not sure if I will live or die, but I do know one thing; Sergi shot me.
When my eyes fluttered open, I grimaced. The smell of alcohol and dried blood was thick in the air. The incessant beeping of the machine monitoring my heart was driving me crazy. The small room had two hospital beds and that was it. Wherever Vincenzo had brought me, it wasn’t the local hospital.
I have avoided thinking about him as much as I can, but I cannot ignore it now. Vincenzo jumped in front of me taking my bullet. No matter how I closed my eyes, I could still see him jumping in front of me.
I sat up in the bed. My heart pounded in my chest as I saw someone standing in the doorway. Sweat trickled down my forehead as the man walked into the room. Looking around I quickly assessed what I could do to protect myself.
“You’re safe,” said Vincenzo. He turned on the small overhead light in the corner.
I shook my head, at how comforting it was to hear his voice. “Where are we?”
“We’re at a safe location where you can heal and mend.” He pulled up a chair and sat down.
Vincenzo did not look like he had taken a bullet for me. He was wearing a dark blue shirt instead of the crisp white button-down shirt that had been stained with his blood. There was some tension around his mouth, but it was almost unnoticeable.
I opened my mouth. What do you say to someone that just took a bullet for you? It seemed like thank you just was not enough.
“Thanks for what you did back there.”
He placed his hand over mine. “John will be in here to give you something for the pain. You need to rest.”
I shook my head. “I don’t want anyone to give me any medicine. I’m fine, and I don’t think I can handle the thought of being completely at someone else’s mercy.”
His lips thinned, but he didn’t say anything, when he motioned for the male nurse to come inside. I tried to sit up and make my wishes known to the nurse. Vincenzo placed his hands on my shoulders keeping me laying snug against the pillows.
The man looked at Vincenzo before injecting something into my intravenous line. A few minutes later, I felt most of the pain start to lower in intensity and my eyes felt too heavy to remain open.
“You know, you don’t listen well.”
His lips lifted upwards as he stood. “I didn’t take a bullet for you to lie here in pain. I won’t let anyone hurt you again.”
Just then glass shattered to the floor. My eyes flew open. I tried to shake my head and clear the fog that clouded my mind when I heard several bursts of automatic weapons unloading bullets into the building. It sounded like we were under attack. Pulling the needle from my arm, I got out of the bed.
I managed to get enough strength to wobble to the door. Reaching it, I kept my head low before veering into the hall. Soon whoever was attacking would be in my room, and I needed a weapon at least. Rushing into the next room, I spotted a letter opener on the desk. I grabbed it while I searched for a gun. I’d rather a weapon over no weapon, but a letter opener wasn’t going to do me much good. Several heavy footsteps headed toward me.
I ran into the closet and ducked behind the hamper. This was one time in my life I was grateful for being small and petite. When the door thrust open, and I heard men speaking Spanish my heart sank. It was not Vincenzo and his men.
Placing a hand over my mouth, I closed my eyes when the closet door was forced open. I ceased to breathe. The man slammed the door shut and walked away. I did not move hoping that the men had gone.
After waiting ten minutes, I crawled out of the closet. Clutching the letter opener in my hand I ran toward the door. I could hear bullets still being fired. Vincenzo must have left. After listening at the door for a while, I opened it. I saw a barrel of a shotgun. Closing the door back I leaned up against the door hoping the man would walk down the hall.
My eyes opened wide when the door opened again, and he came inside. I came from behind the door and stabbed the man in the neck with the letter opener. When his hand went to his neck, I yanked the gun away from him and shot him in the chest. Taking a deep breath, I ran out the room.
There was so much blood and smoke in the hall that it was hard to see. I kept my head low and ducked down the windy hallway. I heard more curse words in Spanish followed by heavy footsteps and several rounds of bullets. I quickly scurried into the first bedroom. My breath hitched at what I saw.
Ginerva Esposito was tied to the bed with a black ball gag in her mouth. What the hell was she doing here? The men here did not sound like Christian Esposito’s men.
I snapped out of a trance
as I heard footsteps coming closer. In a minute, they would be here.
“Come with me if you want to live.” I ran toward her. Grabbing the straight blade off the dresser I quickly cut the ropes from her hands and legs.
The bedroom door burst open. Four men ran inside the room. I fired the gun aiming at the two that were closest to us. I tried to fire the gun again, but nothing happened.
One of the men swung an upper-cut catching me square on my jaw. Pain shot through my head as I slumped to the floor. I looked up as the man wearing a black mask leaned over me. His lips curled into a snarl, and he kicked me in the side. The pain was almost too much, as I felt his hands wrap around my neck, thrusting my head against the floorboard. My nails dug into his hands as I struggled against him, but it was no use. Spots formed over my eyes and my head became light. From the corner of my eye, I saw Ginerva. I hope she makes it out of here alive.
Ginerva ran picked up the gun and fired it at the guy blocking the door. The bullet lodged in his chest as he slumped up against the door and slid to the floor.
Bang. Another shot rang out. The guy fell on me trapping me underneath him. Blood poured out from the bullet hole in his head. I scrambled to my feet. My heart raced in my chest, as I saw her standing there with the gun.
She reached down and grabbed the nine-millimeter out of the man’s holster and handed it to me. “Let’s go, unless you want to die.”
After checking the chamber, I followed her to the door. “Thanks.”
We ran further down the hallway. She covered the left and I covered the right and the rear. When we reached the back of the house, we ran toward the back door. After killing ten men, we were still surrounded.
Ginerva blew her hair out of her face. “I’m almost out of ammo, and we’re surrounded.”
I didn’t have to look at my gun, to know that I did not have much ammo either. “Why are they still here? They have to know he’s not here.”
Taken by Vincenzo Page 14