by Soraya Naomi
He’s right – I’m going to die here because of my foolishness and some unstable ex-boyfriend. I knew I couldn’t trust him with the way he was MIA so often and how odd our relationship was when he didn’t want to break up with me, yet we rarely saw each other. We never had a bond or a spark like I have with Henry.
And how ironic is it that while I’m part of a mafia family with numerous enemies, I’m going to die here due to my own stupidity. Glancing sideways at my little Strawberry’s unmoving paws, the will to fight abandons me.
Abruptly, Keano releases me and I fall to the side again, howling. He towers over me with his weapon directed at my head and fishes out his phone before glaring at me.
You can’t trust anyone in this messed up world!
His thumb slides over the trigger, and I squeeze my eyes shut before I hear a bang and scream. Then my eyes fly open, and I realize I haven’t been shot. Looking up, I see Keano and another person who’s blocking the doorway bustle out without a backward glance at me.
In the distance, I detect more noises, and with all my power, I try to roll onto my back, but I’m exhausted and terrified. Footsteps come closer before two people darken the doorway, both raising their arms with a pistol in hand.
I yell in fear, “No!” And look down on instinct, every muscle in my body hurting.
“Mary! It’s me.” I recognize Henry’s voice, and my gaze shoots up again.
I’m dazed and panicked, sobbing as he caresses my head and unties my feet and wrists. As soon as I’m free, I sit up, but my head spins and I reach for my side because of the throbbing in my spine. Henry shifts behind me and lets me lean back against him.
“Mary, what happened?” he urges and commands the other guy, “Stay at the door.”
I inhale deeply and pry his hands loose, crawling to my pet and wiping my nose, weeping, “He shot her!”
“Who?” Startled that the voice is right behind me, I crane my neck and see that Henry’s standing at my back with an empathetic expression, yet his posture is coiled tight as he hunches down and palms my cheek.
But when I notice blood on my hands, I fire upward, irate in my grief. “Keano did this!” Then I meet the other man’s eyes. “Did you catch him?”
The guard shakes his head while he aims his gun outside the door, and I push past him.
“No! Mary. Goddammit!” Henry shouts as I tear down a lit, narrow hallway to another door at the end.
“Mary, don’t go outside!” he orders, yet his imposing tone doesn’t stop me like it usually does.
Elbowing through the door, I discover we’re in an industrial area and it’s already dark outside. Several cars are parked in front of the brick building, and one more comes to a screeching stop as I pass a BMW.
And I demand to know from the first guard I reach, “Did you get Keano?”
“Not yet—”
“Where did he go then?”
When he glances left but tries to grab my arm, I burst past him, across the street where I see more men sprinting toward other buildings.
“Mary, stop!” Henry growls, and all of a sudden, I’m lifted off the ground from behind, kicking my feet in the air.
“Stop. Dammit!” he repeats against my hair as I struggle against him. “Calm the fuck down. Please.” The tremble in his voice and forceful grip have me going slack while we both breathe harshly. Henry kisses my temple, saying in a more gentle tone, “Calm down, baby.”
I sob and place all my weight against him when he sets me on my feet, hugging me firmly around my waist.
“He didn’t have to kill her.” I rest my cheek against his chest as he nuzzles me.
“He’s fucking crazy. And we’ll get him, baby. I promise. But I need to know if you’re all right. Did he hurt you?”
Henry loosens his hold while I shiver from a gust of wind, biting back the pain in my head and spine. Only, now I notice Adriano, Carmine, Luca, and two guards standing behind us. Henry whirls around as Adriano arcs a brow.
Carmine hurries forward, framing my cheeks. “Are you okay?”
I shake him off. “No! Keano killed my dog, and how did he get away again? I thought your soldiers were smart, but Keano keeps escaping. Now look what happened!” Clutching my hair, I grimace from the sting in my scalp.
“Lower your voice, Mary,” Adriano states, scanning me from head to toe. “Are you hurt?”
I touch the side of my head. “I have a bruise and my back hurts, but I’m okay.”
Adriano brushes his hand over my curls in a comforting manner. “You were gone for hours, Mary. We were worried sick. We’ll get him. I have an entire team hunting Keano down.”
“I want him dead,” I snarl, furious.
“I’ll burn him alive,” Adriano promises, and I wind my arms around his middle, sobbing into his chest as Carmine strokes my hair, both of them calming me.
“Strawberry’s inside there, dead,” I cry.
“We’ll bury her, okay?” Adriano assures me, and I nod before I rear back, trying to pull myself together.
“Where’s David?”
“We haven’t found him yet,” Carmine answers while Henry’s being strangely quiet, as if he’s a million miles away.
I reach inside my trench coat pocket to grab my phone but come up empty. “Where’s my phone?”
Adriano explains, “Keano destroyed it and a soldier found it in a trash can at the park.”
I pin my gaze on Henry. “So how did you find me?”
“Your coat has a GPS tracker,” he explains, like it’s the most normal thing, so I reach for my side, but he adds, “Inside pocket.”
Opening the top of my coat, I check the inside pocket and touch a small, round object. “Who did this?”
Adriano shakes his head in denial, and everyone’s glancing at each other as the guards return to their cars.
“I did,” Henry answers without shame.
Saddened, fuming, and confused, I glare at Henry while he stashes his gun in the back waistband of his slacks.
“What else have you done without telling me?” I mutter.
He flinches, yet Carmine interrupts, “Go easy on him, sis. If he hadn’t bugged you, we wouldn’t have found you in time.”
“How long was I gone? And how did you guys discover that I was missing?”
“Four and a half hours,” Henry replies. “I called you and your phone was off. Via the tracker, I located this area; we’ve been searching here for over half an hour.”
Adriano inquires, “What did Keano say and do, Mary?”
I’m staring at the ground, trying to recall everything he said, as I relay, “He chloroformed me at the park and I woke up here. I thought it was still afternoon. He was ranting about how he used me to get into Club 7. That’s why he didn’t want to break up with me; he wanted access to the club. But why? Almost anyone over twenty-one can get into Club 7 by simply paying the cover and walking through the front entrance.”
Adriano replies, “But as your guest, it wouldn’t appear suspicious for him to roam around, probably forming his strategy on how to hack us.”
“Keano’s a hacker?”
“Yes, he’s apparently a small-time black hat,” Henry responds, and I frown when Adriano and Henry glimpse at each other.
“What’s that look?” I prompt, not wanting to be left in the dark anymore. All these men around me organize my life while I don’t have a clue what the hell’s going on.
“There’s a hacker who attempted to get into Club 7’s computer system weeks ago and again today, and Henry managed to pinpoint his location to somewhere at your school,” Adriano says. “Keano is that hacker. He was there at your school today, attempting to hack us, while he was also watching you.”
“Oh, I just remembered something – there was an accomplice with him right before he bolted out.”
Henry’s eyes widen, and he demands, “Are you sure?”
“Yes, I saw a shadow and heard a voice.”
“Male or female?” Adri
ano asks.
“I don’t know; it was hard to tell because it wasn’t very loud, but I think it was female.” I rub my neck as I study Henry clenching his fist.
When he catches my attention on him, he loosens it. There’s something about his behavior that concerns me.
Then, out of the blue, seemingly displeased, Adriano asks, “So...let’s talk about what’s going on between you two.” He points at Henry before pointing at me.
Uh-oh, this is why Henry’s so on edge. Have my brothers forbidden him to be with me?
I know damn well that Henry dislikes answering for his actions, and he’s going to flip since he’s been put on the spot. However, while I’m racking my brain about what to say to get us out of this, he shocks the hell out of me when he flanks me, winding one arm around my middle, and simply responds, “We’re dating.”
And it’s the most treasured I’ve ever felt. His admission of our dating is Henry’s form of a commitment – I hope.
All eyes redirect to Adriano, and Luca goes to stand beside him as Carmine evaluates my every move.
“Dating...” Adriano echoes darkly. “Is this true, Mary?”
“Yes,” I confirm, letting Henry decide again when to take the next step in our relationship.
In reaction, Adriano says to Henry, “I don’t like it when members date my sister.”
“It’s not just dating,” he retorts.
“Please don’t grill us right now,” I plead. “We’re adults and he’s good to me.”
Adriano’s unreadable, and I’m not sure whether or not he’s pissed. “Since it’s been a long day, Carmine will take you home, Mary. I need to talk to Henry. Alone.”
Henry and Adriano examine each other, both composed and forbidding.
“No. I’m not going to let you threaten him away from me. I—”
“Go. With. Carmine,” Adriano repeats, and Henry palms my cheeks, kissing my forehead.
“It’s okay. Let Carmine take you to Dr. Calderone to make sure you don’t have a concussion.”
Mixed up about everything and just wanting to be with Henry, I whisper, “I’m scared. Don’t go with him, Henry.”
“I have to, but I’ll be okay,” he answers, yet it doesn’t come out as if he truly believes that.
Regrettably, we’re interrupted when Carmine holds my shoulders and pries me away from Henry.
“No! Don’t hurt him, Adriano!” I beg, then I stare at Carmine with tears filling my eyes.
He wraps me up in a hug. “Stop it, Mary. Let’s go. You need to be checked by our physician.” And he hauls me with him to his car.
In a daze from everything that’s happened, I get inside the vehicle with Carmine’s help, watching Henry until we pull onto the street, so afraid that Adriano might do something to him, because I know how ruthless he can be.
***
Two hours later, I lie in bed in my old bedroom in my parents’ apartment. Although I’m fine physically - the Syndicate doctor just gave me painkillers for my pounding headache – I quietly sob into my pillow for Strawberry while my thoughts fly wild.
The worst moment of my life happened today. I feel grief for Strawberry, my first pet, who was innocent in all of this. I feel hate for Keano and crave retaliation.
However, the thought of losing Henry strikes a fear in me so great it undermines every other emotion. I feel so much love for this man who seems to always look after me – albeit in a much too controlling way by tracking me without informing me. Nonetheless, his confession to my brothers proves that he’s at least trying to open up more and meet me halfway.
While I’m worried sick about the man I love, sleep is impossible. Desperately, I pray he isn’t being harmed.
CHAPTER 31
Henry
“I asked you weeks ago if there was something going on between you and Mary,” Adriano sneers at me before Luca, who’s standing next to him, mutters something into his ear.
“And I was honest.” I don’t cower under his glare as a shiver goes through me from the icy wind of the evening. “Back then, we were only friends. It started after she broke up with Keano.”
He clenches his jaw. “If you’re dating her, then I don’t want to see you with other women anymore. And you better take good care of her.”
“You haven’t seen me with anyone for a while already, Adriano. And everything I do is to protect Mary. I planted the tracking device because you warned me that she can be irresponsible, but I also did it because I need her to be safe for my own fucking mental well-being.” There’s a moment of reflective silence, so I press on, “Mary told me she didn’t trust Keano. And I think I’ve figured out his plan. I checked the school records and Keano was never a student. He only went there as a way to meet Mary, the sister of the owner of Club 7. She’s a much bigger target than we realized due to the success of the dance club. It has nothing to do with the Syndicate; Keano has no idea about the Syndicate. With Mary, he got inside the club and tried to find anything he could use to, most likely, blackmail you as the owner. Only, he didn’t get far because I blocked him the first time he tried to hack into our system, and after that, his entire plan went haywire when Mary broke up with him and Carmine and I locked him up in the warehouse. Also, he’s not operating alone, obviously – from what Mary told us.”
Then, at last, I piece the puzzle together. The person working with Keano could be Tara. Yet I wonder who initiated this plan. Keano or Tara? The reason is crystal clear though; they’re both flat broke.
Luca urges Adriano backward with him while they talk heatedly. As a precaution, I extend my arm, reaching around for my gun, not being able to ascertain Adriano’s mood. He scrubs his hand over his mouth while Luca speaks to him, and his eyes cut to me as Luca steps forward again, raising a brow as he glances at my hand on my gun.
“Calmare.” Calm down. “I, for one, am pleased you bugged Mary, which is something I’d do with Fallon too. And Adriano would lock Cam up to protect her if he could.” Luca smirks as Adriano throws him a feigned glare, and I finally relax.
“Jesus Christ! For a second, I thought maybe you were going to kill me.” I let out a loaded breath.
“Perhaps for a second, I also wanted to,” Adriano points out, yet his scowl is gone. “But Luca has made me understand how this works in our favor. Mary seems to listen to you. And you seem to have a good, calming influence on her, which she needs. But, Henry, if you break her heart, I’ll shoot your dick off.”
I hold up my hands as Luca buttons his suit jacket to leave, since we can’t keep standing around here, and adds, “How are we going to keep Mary safe now? Speaking of which, Janey is already in contact with the realtor to purchase the apartment at the Astoria; she’ll arrange everything within a couple of days per our request.”
“We’ve underestimated how easily Mary can be taken and how crazy Keano is. She definitely can’t go back to her own apartment,” I state resolutely.
“I agree.” Adriano evaluates me before he shows me a slow grin. “You owe me for not informing me right away that you’re dating my sister, so you tell her.”
My brows shoot up, yet I smile, pleased that he’s listened to Luca and isn’t angry about Mary and me. “Fine. But this makes us even,” I counter, and he dips his chin.
To ensure Mary’s safety, I’ll endure her wrath, because I know damn well that she’s not happy with us telling her what to do, but I refuse to be negligent or allow myself to get distracted again.
Adriano concludes, “And, Luca, tell the Capi that if Keano isn’t caught ASAP, I’ll start firing them. I want every soldier working tonight to search for him. Mary’s right. How the hell can that boy keep slipping through our grasp?”
He won’t anymore, not now that the scenario of his strategy has materialized in my mind. Anonymous is Keano, and I bet he followed Mary to school this morning but couldn’t get to her there and then was trying to hack from the library this afternoon. Tara must be somehow working with him; maybe she’s helping him hid
e and that’s why she disappeared? These two wanted to take money from Club 7, not realizing they’d be stealing from the mafia. Though this is just conjecture at this point, I can verify my theory, but I need my laptop. Moreover, if Tara’s mixed up with Keano, it’s even more important that no one discovers her involvement with me.
“I’m going to check the feeds from the security cameras around here to see if I can determine where Keano’s gone,” I tell them the truth, partly.
“Okay. And the Capi need to tell the soldiers not to kill him until we know who his accomplice is. I want this handled quickly, dammit. And you”—Adriano directs his finger at me—“take care of my sister.”
I nod without hesitating. That’s my number one priority these days. I thought I was suffocating when I left Club 7 and her phone was turned off as I arrived on campus.
I need to set things in motion to bait Keano and Tara; therefore, I can’t be with Mary at the moment, even though I’m outraged that Keano hurt her and ended Strawberry. I’ll gut Keano when I find him. I’m part of this organization, this family, and now Mary is becoming a part of me.
I’m fucking done playing nice.
***
Back at home not an hour later, I switch on one computer, accessing Keano Mathews phone records from since before the summer. I scour the history back to the night of the poker game when both Tara and Keano were present at Club 7. If they knew each other, they must’ve talked that night. Then I notice one number that was contacted at three a.m. Only once though, so I call it with one of my burner phones, and to my surprise, my call is answered.
“Where are you?!” Tara screams, and I laugh mockingly into the receiver.
“I’m looking for you,” I reply, and it’s deathly quiet for a few seconds before she spews.
“Fuck you, Henry!”
“No, the time of fucking with me is over. Now I’m going to fuck with you. I know you and Keano are working together. You were expecting his call and are wondering where he is, aren’t you? He’s a dead man walking. And you better start running too—”
