The Sting of Love: USA Today Bestselling Author

by Gray, Khardine

  This … I can’t do this now. No more explaining. I can’t waste time talking when Willow’s in danger.

  “Willow…” I say more to myself, and Gibbs narrows his eyes. Of course, he doesn’t know who I mean.

  She’s mine, and I have to protect her. I run. The thought moves me, and I run faster than ever before.

  I jump on my bike and ride hard, cutting through traffic and down the narrow streets, anywhere that can get me to her as fast as possible.

  I get to her home. There’s no answer. It looks dark, like no one’s inside, but since I can’t be sure, I pick the lock and go in to check. The place is empty.

  The only other place I can think to look is her aunt’s restaurant. If she’s not there, though, I wouldn’t know where else to go.

  I don’t know her day-to-day enough to try and guess what else she might be doing. When we were together, we didn’t talk enough for me to pick up on anything else that might give me a clue.

  I lock the place up again and get back on my bike.

  The restaurant is in the city, where it’s always busy and bustling with life no matter the time.

  It takes me less than twenty minutes to get there and park around the back. It’s quite early, so the parking lot isn’t full. I walk into the restaurant and look around for her. It’s fuller inside than the parking lot would suggest with most of the people seated and others at the bar drinking.

  I look toward the kitchen and catch a glimpse of raven hair going through the door.

  People watch me as I race down the path and head through the door that says Staff Only.

  When I walk through, I don’t see her. Just the two chefs who snap their attention to me.

  “Can I help you with something?” the older man asks.

  “Willow. Where did she go?” I demand. He steels his spine, getting ready to show his authority. I have half a mind to pull my gun out and scare his ass, but I decide against it. There’s no point making things worse, and I don’t want them calling the cops.

  “Who are you?”

  I walk up to him and stare him down. He’s an Italian man in his late fifties. He has the look of a guy who knows when not to fuck with certain people. I hope I’m right.

  “I work for Claudius Morientz,” I answer and watch his skin go pale. Good, it worked, and he knows to back the fuck down. The younger chef knows his place too and tries his best to keep his attention away from me. “Now, one more time, where is she?” I ask.

  “She went out back to the alley. She wanted to take out the trash,” he answers quickly.

  “Wonderful. I guess I don’t have to tell you that we never had this conversation.” I cock my head to the side, and he nods vigorously.

  I don’t waste time. I head out back through the door, then through another that’s been left open. That’s when I see her.

  She’s holding a large black garbage bag and is emptying plastic containers into the recycling bin. She looks beautiful in her little wrap-over skirt and a tank top that shows off her breasts. That gorgeous hair flows out in the wind as she moves.

  Feeling my gaze on her, she turns and jumps, startled, when she sees me. I take a step toward her. Her lips part. Her eyes widened slightly, but there’s that twinkle I savored every time I was with her.

  “Donny…” She says my name barely above a whisper.

  “Willow, I have to talk to you.” I have to think of what the hell I’m going to say to her. She needs to get out of here and maybe even head back to LA. I don’t know. I don’t know what’s the best thing for her to do. Heading to L.A isn’t going to solve anything. Amadeo will catch up with her. I know he will.

  “About what? I thought you already said what you had to say,” she answers. Now hurt replaces that twinkle, and I feel like an asshole.

  “Willow, I’m really sorry, but you’re in danger. I need to get you somewhere safe.”

  Her mouth drops open, and she brings a hand to her chest. “What?” she gasps. “What are you saying to me?”

  “I’m really sorry. I came to warn you. Some guys saw you with me and think you’re mine. They’ll kill you.”

  “No, didn’t you just say I wasn’t yours?” Her voice shakes, and her hands tremble.

  I never thought to say she wasn’t mine because to me she still is. Even if I told Amadeo anything of the like it wouldn’t have made a difference. A man like him wouldn’t have made a threat on her life if he didn’t suspect she was important to me.

  “That’s not how it works. I have to get you out. You—” A bullet whizzes past my ear and strikes the ground next to her feet. She screams, and I grab her, shielding her with my body while I pull my gun and aim in the direction the shot came from.

  It’s begun. The fucker was being serious. Not that I doubted him.

  Up on the roof there are three men dressed in black. They all get ready to shoot again, but they’re not fast enough. I end them all, and Willow screams as they fall to their deaths.

  Damn it, there’s another two guys emerging from the side, guns ready.

  I can’t have a showdown here, and not while I have to protect Willow.

  We have to get out of here. This shit just got real. They won’t stop until they kill her.

  I reach for her again and run with her to my bike. I hand her the helmet, and she puts it on.

  “Hold on to me, you hear me?” I shout, and she nods vigorously. Her beautiful eyes brim with tears.

  We get on the bike, and I take off down the road. A car follows close behind, speeding, and I know it has to be them.

  My worry is that if they shoot, we’ve got no cover on this bike. A car would have been better to protect her, but I didn’t have a choice at the time.

  I push past the speed limit and take the shortcut to the market. There the roads are narrower and verge onto paths. If I can get to the smaller roads, we’ll stand a better chance to get away. They fire, but I manage to evade it.

  People scream and run out of the way, taking cover. More bullets sound, and I pray they don’t hit my girl. She holds on to me for dear life, and I curse the day I laid eyes on her and took that step I never should have taken to cross the line. It was the day I was going to throw her bracelet into the sea. I wish I had.

  Look at us now.

  I can feel her fear, can smell it. Guilt consumes me for it.

  I look ahead and see hope. The road narrows down into a path. The car won’t be able to fit down there. I ride through and continue at the same speed then take the route that will lead me down the country roads.

  I think I’ve lost them. There are no cars on the road, so I get down it fast. The only thing I can think to do is risk going back to my house to get one of my cars.

  Then what?

  I don’t know. I just know we can’t stay here.

  I can’t stay here with her.

  So, my house it is.

  We ride into the garage, and when she gets off, she rushes over to the side near the hedge and throws up. She barely manages to get the helmet off before everything comes up.

  The least I could do is go over to her and hold her hair back. She allows me to do that, but the minute she finishes, she pulls away from me and tries to walk away.

  “Where are you going?” I yell, grabbing her arm and yanking her to a stop.

  “Let go of me, you asshole. How could you do this to me? You knew you couldn’t be with me right from the start, yet you encouraged whatever the fuck it was we had. Now look at me. Get away from me. I have to go.”

  Go?

  Yes, she should go. I just don’t think she’ll make it wherever she’s going. If I did, I’d let her go. I’d leave her alone to leave me, but I’m pretty sure if I did that, the next time I saw her, she’d be dead.

  I pull back on her arm harder. It hurts her.

  “Willow, I can’t let you go. They’ll kill you.”

  “So, what are you going to do, Donny? You asshole!” She slaps me across my face and hits me hard in my chest, b
ut I still hold on. “Let go of me.” She winces.

  I can’t let go though. I won’t do it. She doesn’t understand how much danger she’s in. She doesn’t understand that I’m the only person who can protect her, and even that I’m not sure of. Men like Amadeo don’t care and have no regard for life. It’s blood and vengeance, no matter the cost. No matter the innocent in the circumstance.

  “You’re hurting me, let go!” she wails and I hold on tighter, desperation turning me into a monster as Amadeo’s words ring through my head. I remember the threats he made for her. My girl. I can’t let that happen to her, and not because of me.

  Thinking fast, I form a plan in my mind. The type of plan only a devil like me can offer. It’s a really bad idea but the best I can come up with right now.

  She’s not going to like it. No more than I do.

  I catch her face and hold her throat like I’m going to snap it. Terror washes over her beautiful doll-like face.

  “Donny…” she breathes.

  “Forgive me, mio amore,” I mutter, and then I press hard on the pressure point at the side of her neck.

  She faints instantly, but as her eyes close, disappointment fills them, along with hurt. Two things I never wanted to see in her eyes for me.

  “Forgive me, Willow,” I whisper against her ear as I hold her limp body against my chest. Shame fills me, and guilt sweeps through my soul. I really wish I’d left her alone.

  I lift her up, set her in the back of my car, and get some ropes to bind her.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Willow

  I sense him, feel him.

  Feel his touch on my skin.

  It’s everywhere, and I relish it. He touches me the same way he looks at me… like I’m everything.

  I struggle to open my eyes. I know I’m dreaming. It feels like I am, like I’m caught in that slow-paced haze a dream carries. But if I’m with him… Donny, I’m okay.

  The rough feel of his hands on my neck makes me snap open my eyes, and I jump like I’ve heard a loud noise. There’s nothing, and he’s not here.

  But…where is here?

  I’m sitting on a bed, a king-sized four-poster bed made of wood. The sheets that cover me are burgundy and silky. The room I’m in is large, like a hotel suite. It’s not my room and not a room I’ve ever been in before.

  I glance down at myself and see I’m still dressed in my clothes from yesterday.

  Running a hand through my hair, my fingers tangle in knots, and I wince. I’m sure my hair is the least of my worries though.

  Where the hell am I?

  I bring my hand to my head and think. I remember Donny. I saw him, but why… we broke up. I remember seeing him at the restaurant and cursing myself for being happy to see him.

  As the recollection of that moment hits me, everything else does too, and I all but leap off the bed.

  I remember it all!

  Shit! The men chasing us. The danger. The danger Donny put me in.

  The danger I put myself in because realistically, it’s all my fault.

  There were so many signs to tell me something wasn’t quite right with him. What more did I need than seeing the gun for myself?

  But no… I liked him so much I just cast it off as him needing the gun for protection.

  Now look at me, and where is he? He knocked me out and brought me to this place.

  When I think of Lurlene, tears sting the backs of my eyes. What if those people come for her too? What if they go to her trying to find me? Shit, I can’t even call her—my bag is back at the restaurant in the break room. My bag with my phone inside it.

  Oh God… what have I done? How could I be so stupid? I should never have gotten so involved with a man I didn’t know.

  I walk around the room and stop dead in my tracks when my gaze lands on the archway at the end of the room. It leads on to a balcony.

  I go out there and my breath catches in my lungs when I see nothing but the sea all around me.

  “Holy fuck, where am I?” I can’t even guess, but for me to be where I am, I think I must be way on the other side of Sicily or somewhere. That’s just the thing. The or somewhere part of that equation. I don’t know where I am, and that’s the problem. Baffled and bewildered I stagger away from the balcony.

  “Donny,” I cry out.

  Backtracking into the room, I head to the door, reach for the handle to pull it open, and wince with fright when I discover it’s locked.

  The damn door is locked! He’s locked it, locked me in here. Jesus Christ. If he’s locked the door and I can’t get out, that means… he’s kidnapped me.

  I beat on the door with my fists as panic fills my soul. Suddenly, everything feels small and restrictive.

  “Donny, you let me out of here!” I wail. “Let me out!”

  There’s no answer, but then, is he even here?

  Footsteps echo on the other side of the door in answer to my thoughts, then a key rattles inside the lock.

  I step back as the handle turns and the door opens.

  He walks in with worry etched in his thick brows, and I’m shaking so much I can’t find any words to say to him.

  He knocked me out. He did something to my neck, and then everything went dark. I must have been asleep for hours. It’s the middle of the day now. I wouldn’t have been asleep for that long. So did he do something more to me?

  I should be afraid of him. I know I should, but mostly I’m enraged that he abused my trust.

  “Doll—”

  I raise my hand and slap him across his cheek. “You bastard.”

  My hands come away shaking.

  “Willow.”

  I raise my hand and slap him again, hard. I’m getting ready to do it again but he catches my wrists, and I feel his strength as he holds me. I never doubted that it was there, and I don’t doubt that he’d hurt me too if he had to.

  “You knocked me out and brought me here. How have I been asleep for hours?” I shudder.

  The pained look in his eyes is a tell that he’s going to tell me something more I won’t like. “I had to give you something to keep you asleep. It was just so I could get you here.”

  “You drugged me?” I flinch and a tear tracks down my cheek. It pains me to think he would do something like that to me.

  “Willow I’m sorry.”

  “I’m going to the police. You can’t just do this to me.” I grimace trying to pull my hands free.

  “Willow, I’m sorry.”

  “You think sorry will make it all better? Where am I? Where am I Donny?”

  “You’re somewhere safe.”

  “Safe? That’s rich. Aren’t you a mobster? You just kidnapped me and drugged me. Who will keep me safe from you?”

  “I’m not going to hurt you.”

  That must be a lie because he tightens his hold on my wrists and pulls me into his chest.

  “You’re hurting me now,” I gasp, and he loosens his grip on my hands but doesn’t let me go.

  “I’m sorry, Bella. I didn’t mean for any of this to happen. I never knew it would. I ended things with you because this is the type of shit I never wanted you to get mixed up in, but it happened anyway. You have to stay here where I can keep you safe.”

  “Won’t they come here too?”

  “They don’t know about this place. Only the people I trust with my life know about this house. Nobody will find you here.”

  “You kidnapped me. Please let me go, Donny. I can go back to LA,” I beg.

  “That won’t do anything. If I thought it would, you’d be on the next plane back. The only thing I can do in this case is eliminate the threat. Once it’s gone, I swear to you I’ll let you go, and you’ll never have to worry about seeing me again.” He lets me go and I back away from him.

  “Once it’s gone? You mean once you kill them?” He doesn’t answer, and my blood heats. He does mean to kill. That’s the only thing he could mean. “What about my aunt? What will happen to her? Those men came to t
he restaurant.”

  “I have people watching her. Men I can trust. She’ll be safe with them around.”

  I can’t just trust that and believe what he tells me. “What about me? She’s going to wonder where I am.”

  “She thinks you’re with me, like before.”

  “You spoke to her?”

  “Yes, I told her you’d be spending some time with me.”

  Oh my God. Lurlene isn’t even going to question that. She’ll just believe we got back together and I’m at his place. Like before. This is such a damn mess, and I got myself in it.

  “I can’t believe this. I can’t. Donny, how did this happen?”

  “Someone set me up.”

  “Set you up? Like how?” A million things race through my mind.

  He brings a hand to his head and releases a shallow breath. “I was trying to sever links with men who were human trafficking. I was trying to stop it. I guess, bad as I am, I was trying to put a stop to it and it blew up in my face. The people involved want to kill you to teach me a lesson.”

  I shake my head at the explanation. Human trafficking and mobsters. This isn’t my life. What am I supposed to think about that answer? I just want to get out of here.

  “I need to get rid of the problem, Willow,” he adds. “And I need you to cooperate.”

  “And if I don’t?” His gaze hardens, and I shake my head at him. “Damn you… I wish I’d never met you.”

  Tears stream down my cheeks, and he backs away, leaving me.

  The door closes, but he doesn’t lock it. He doesn’t have to. I don’t know where I am, and from the looks of things, I’m so far away it’s going to be difficult to get back to anywhere I know.

  What the hell am I going to do?

  Trust him?

  I can’t.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Donny

  She wouldn’t like to know how bad I wished she’d never met me either.

  I already felt like an asshole, but when I spoke to her aunt, I felt even worse. I don’t like lying. I never did, not even telling those little white lies, and fuck did I ever truly feel like a criminal lying to her aunt, telling her Willow and I were back together again and I’d whisked her off for a mini-break.