“The door is hand printed; we can’t get out without their print,” the older one said as they kept pulling. Jesus Christ; telling them to stop, Angie unclipped the knife from the fat one’s belt, gripped his wrist, she struck hard, taking the hand. They didn’t even blink, which told her how bad it had been for them. Motioning them forward, Angie followed the women down the stairs. There was no way she was leaving one of them at her back. When they got to the front door, the younger one took the hand from her and pressed it to the scanner. All the windows were barred. The fucker was a sadist. Finally out, Angie told the girl to hit the car alarm button and pointed to a car that went off. “Get in.”
Going to the driver’s side, the older girl got in front of her, shaking her head. “I’ll drive; you’re too weak. I come from here. I know the area. Just tell me where to go.”
Looking at her hard, Angie gave her the address, stopping her with cold words. “He’s going after my daughter. If we don’t get there in time, I’ll put a bullet in your head.” Nodding her acceptance, they got in. Once they cleared the gate, the girl drove like a bat out of hell. Speeding toward their destination, Angie prayed to a God that she had not spoken to since the night when he forsook her in her hour of need.
*************************
“Fuck” Sophia muttered. He was here and the women were still awake. That fucking bitch Maria had knocked over the tea. The only thing that had gone right was that the guards were out of the way. Trying again to get the kid, Maria had scooped her up before she could. The fucking brat was practical attached to her or that old bat Joan’s hip. Looking down at her phone, Sophia saw the text telling her to open the door. Nicholas was going to be pissed. Looking over at her mother and Eva, she hoped they were smart enough to keep quiet, but if not—oh, well, this was their fault, too. Mother’s for not standing up to Father, and Eva’s for bringing that brat Michael to take her place as the favorite.
Getting up and telling them she was going to the bathroom, Sophia snuck to the door and unlocked it. Throwing it open, she was greeted by the sight of Nicholas. Her panties got soaked from just one look. After she gave him the brat, he would take her with him and they’d be married. He’d promised to let her kill that fucking bitch Angelica, so nothing would stand in their way. Who the fuck was Angelica to tell her she couldn’t marry, then try to steal her man? Yeah, Angelica had told her father she’d changed her mind, but like Nicholas said, what was to stop her from changing it back? He was right. He was perfect. Throwing herself in his arms, Sophia sealed her lips to his, loving the gleam when he pulled away. “Baby, I’ve missed you,” she whispered, earning a sharp tug to her hair.
Lust surged through her as he growled, “Where is it?”
Fuck; she forgot. Stepping back wearily. “In the other room. They’re still awake, though I took care of the guards.” She hurried to explain, earning his wrath. Anger poured from him as he threw her down, smiling at her sharp whimper of pain.
Stepping over her, Nicholas spoke to his men. “Get the child.” Turning back, he gave Sophia a hard kick. “You had one job, Sophia, and you didn’t do it. Do you know what happens to people who fail me?” he said, pulling his foot back to kick her again before he was stopped by the men hurrying toward him. “What?” he barked.
“We can’t find the kid. There’s no one in the other room,” his guy said blankly, obviously not wanting to be the one to tell him.
“Search the fucking house. Kill anyone you find, but bring me that kid,” he said softly, the coldness in his voice terrifying. She was finally seeing the real man, and instead of turning her on, she was petrified.
Getting down on his haunches, he gripped her hair and pulled her face level with his. “Baby, it’s me, Sophia. We’re going to get married,” She whispered, earning a sharp slap.
He smiled at the fear in her eyes. “As if I’d ever marry a weak little whore like you, who betrayed her own family for a hard fuck. Your cousin Angelica, on the other hand, she I will marry. She is everything you could never be. I was going to keep you to see if you were as strong as her, but obviously you’re not. So I’ll let my men have you. When they’re done, I’ll throw you into one of my whorehouses, where you’ll spend what’s left of your life spreading your legs for anyone who can pay,” he finished, spitting in her face and throwing her down. Weeping, Sophia curled into a ball. It was all Angelica’s fault; she’d turned him from her. If that fucking bitch was dead, he’d want her again.
***********************************
How the fuck could she just have disappeared? Slamming the glass into the wall, Lucca watched it shatter. Five days earlier, four of their men had been killed, two more they weren’t sure would pull through, and the last few wounded enough that they were still in the hospital. It had been a setup and they were still trying to find out by whom. No one outside the family knew their plans. The only reason Maria, Joan, and the baby had made it back was because Angie had sacrificed herself for them. She probably could have gotten away with their daughter easily, but she never would have left the others behind.
There had been no demands and no body, which meant she was who they were after. The list of her enemies put his own families to shame, if they knew what she had been doing for over half her life. Not including the rejected fuckers who thought they had a shot with what was his. “Lucca,” Sal said, walking swiftly through the door. “Come on; your father needs to speak with you.” Turning, he pushed past Sal and went his father’s office.
Men from their family and hers filled the room, her uncle Angelo coming himself to help with the search. Not giving Lucca a chance to speak, his father pushed a photo toward him. The guy looked familiar, but Lucca couldn’t place him. “That is Joseph Abbate, Enzo’s most trusted man.” Rage filled Lucca; had the bastard’s brother figured out what had happened? “I know what you’re thinking, but you’re wrong,” his father said, taking a second picture he put on display for the room. “This is Nicholas Cingolani.” Turning to Angelo, he added, “Your new son-in-law’s brother. Who also was a very discreet friend of Enzo’s and very interested in my son’s wife. Joe the Butcher, as they call him, took a large demotion after Enzo’s death. It would seem the brother was raised by the mother and does not hold with hurting woman. I would think Joe would have a special grudge against Angie as well as Nicholas because you turned him down in favor of Lucca.”
Absolute rage filled Angelo, though you couldn’t tell by his tone. “Is my new son-in-law involved?” he asked, already planning what would be done if the answer was yes.
“No, Angelo, the boy’s clean; it’s the brother we’re after. I’ve found out something he has managed to keep quiet. It seems the brother, with the late Enzo, owns a number of brothels and bondage clubs, real sadistic shit. There is also a training house that has been kept extremely quiet. We purchased one of the very broken girls from his club through a third party, and she was able to tell us about it. The girl was terrified, but we were able to convince her to give us the address.” He looked around the room. “No one knows about this outside this room. Until we find the traitor, it can’t leave here; not even the women can know. Tonight, we raid the house. Because we’re leaving in large numbers, we’ll put out a separate story to throw off suspicion.”
Fuck. Finally they had something, but Lucca wished it was anything other than what he just said. Thoughts of what was being done to his wife swirled through his head, but he pushed them back, knowing there was nothing he could do about it now. Keeping his voice even, Lucca asked, “Do we have someone sitting on the address?”
“No, it’s too risky. We can’t tip him off and take the chance of him moving her or killing her,” Antonio said, leaving the if she’s still alive hanging in the air. “From what the girl has told us, the place is a fortress. Bars on the windows, handprint entries, a place of no escape.” Looking at Lucca, his father added, “We’ll leave in two hours. Go prepare. I need to speak with my underboss privately.”
Goin
g for a drink, Lucca brought the bottle, setting it on the desk before taking a seat. When the door finally closed, his father poured a large splash of alcohol into his glass before speaking. “As the boss of this family, I need to tell you we’re going in there to even the score for our people. Your personal reasons have to come second to what’s best for the family.” Holding up his hand, he added, “As your father, I hope she’s still alive and we can save her. As your father, I have to tell you that what leaves that place may no longer be your wife.”
Lucca have never hated him as much as he did in that moment. “No matter what, she is my wife and she is still alive. I have never met a woman more stubborn or driven to survive out of spite. She’ll be alive because she won’t die until she kills that fucker, which unfortunately for her, she won’t have a chance to do because I plan on taking extreme pleasure in doing it myself.”
Chapter 26
Something was wrong. As they silently approached the house through the open gate, the door was clearly wide open, too. Fuck; they were too late. They were gone. Someone had told them they were coming, but who? The only ones who knew were the most vetted, the most trusted; it had to be one of Angelo’s men.
Moving into the house, Lucca’s thoughts changed when he stepped over the discarded dismembered hand on the floor. No, not warned them; someone had escaped. Motioning to the others, they spread out to search the house, needing to make sure she wasn’t still there. Following a trail of blood up the stairs, Lucca found a room full of dead bodies. As he looked at each one, he was glad that that fucker Nicholas wasn’t among them. About to check the next room, he was stopped when Sal yelled “Lucca” loud enough to echo through the silent house. Motioning to the others to keep searching, Lucca went down the stairs and into what appeared to be an office. The wall was filled with monitors, each labeled with different locations within the house. Looking to Sal to see what he’d found, Lucca was stopped by the paleness of his face. Not meeting his eyes, Sal pressed a few buttons, and different images of Angie filled the screens.
Each screen had a different hour, day, and time over the last five days of her captivity. Lucca didn’t realize others had come into the room until he heard the sharply drawn breaths. The sight they saw was of his naked wife strung up in different stages of a beating that would have killed a man. Moving to one particularly brutal screen, Sal turned on the audio.
“Why do you keep denying me just a small scream, my love? Beg me to fuck you and it will end,” the dead man said while stroking her freshly cut body.
As if amused, she smiled. “Ah, Nicholas, I told you that you weren’t the man Enzo was. Let us continue. I grow bored with the whine of your voice.” Her words earned her a beating that the toughest of men would have cracked under, but she didn’t make a sound.
Turning to a screen that was labeled just hours ago. “This one, Sal.”
“You, my beautiful pet, are amazing. I would have killed Enzo myself to possess you. You’ll die before I can break you. I see that now. I can’t allow that; I won’t allow that. You were born to be mine. You’ll be my wife and the mother of my children.”
“Never.”
“Always. Always, my love, if you want to see your daughter stay alive. Your uncle Angelo has come to help search for you, and he brought his family. Right now Sophia is with your little bastard. Tonight most of the men will be gone, having been given a tip on what they think will lead them to where you’re being held, and Sophia will drug everyone left in the house. Tonight, my little princess, I will get your bastard and you’ll have a choice: either watch me kill her or submit to me. Tonight you will beg me to fuck you.” He kissed her hard before releasing her. “In a few hours I’ll own you completely. Lucca will be dead and we’ll be married.” Going to the door, he threw it open, calling to his men. “Take her down and have her cleaned, then dress her in her wedding gown.” Pulling out his gun, he shoved it under the guard’s chin. “Make sure no one tries to take what is mine.”
Before he could walk out the door, “Nicholas,” she called, stopping him. “Tonight you will die.”
“Tonight, my love, I will sink into heaven,” he answered.
Fuck; looking over, Lucca saw his father already had his phone out, telling Maria not to trust Sophia and to get everyone to the safe room. “The guards aren’t answering,” he said, telling us that half her plan was done. Angelo’s face was set in stone as he realized his daughter had been helping the enemy. We didn’t have time for this shit. “Go!” Lucca yelled to them. Before he could follow them out the door, he looked over as a screen that caught his eye: her in a wedding dress, killing the men he’d found in that room. She’d escaped and was heading home, fear for their child giving her the strength to ignore injuries that should have had her on the floor, withering in pain.
******************************
In the distance, someone whispered urgently for her to wake up. Opening her eye, two terrified sets where in front of her. Raising the gun in her hand, Angie realized who they were before firing. She must have blacked out during the ride. Letting her arm fall, she pushed herself up, ignoring the excruciating pain the movement caused, and looked around. In the distance she could see the gate to Lucca’s family home. A movement deep in the shadows told her someone was keeping watch. True fear filled her as she realized she might not be strong enough to save her child. “What are your names?” Angie whispered, her throat so dry that even that small sound caused it pain.
The younger one pointed to herself. “I’m Mia and this is Katie,” she said, pointing to the other woman.
Christ, she was going to throw up. Taking deep breaths, she concentrated on controlling her body. Once she was sure she wasn’t going to be sick or pass out, Angie said, “Listen to me carefully. I need your help. I’m going to get behind the guard at the gate. When I’m in place, I’m going to need you to let him see you so I can finish him.”
Shit; the young one was shaking her head. “Can’t you just shoot him from here? I saw what you did to the others at the house.”
Fuck; she didn’t have time for this. “I can’t. There are no silencers on the guns. If I shoot, they’ll all know and my daughter could be hurt. I need to get behind him to use the knife.” Reaching out, she gripped the girl’s wrist. “Please, I know you can just run, but my daughter needs our help. If you won’t do this for her, do it to help yourself. They will come after you if they live, and there will be no hiding from these people. You know that,” She finished, letting her go and reaching for the door. Whether they helped or not, she needed to move now.
Sliding out of the car, Angie stayed low. The white wedding dress would act like a beacon if he saw her. “When do we go?” the older one, Katie, asked.
“Five minutes,” She whispered before disappearing into the brush. Pain was her companion with ever step she took. Her muscles were weak from being unused and the position she had been forced into for the last few days. She was going to die and she accepted that, but she’d be dammed if her child was. The best she could hope for would be to hold them off long enough for Lucca to get back. She had no illusions of winning or surviving; she was a realist. Finally in position, Angie was beyond grateful that there was only one guard outside. Sweat poured over her and her vision danced in and out from her climb over the wall, but she was ready. Everything she had ever been through, that she had trained for, had prepared her for this moment.
Gripping the knife she had used earlier to chop the guard’s hand off, she watched as the two women walked in the middle of the road toward the gatehouse. It took a moment for the fucker to notice them; he had been playing with his phone. Are you kidding me? Angie thought before smiling grimly, glad that it didn’t matter whether you worked in a burger place or for a family, good help was hard to find. Finally dropping his cigarette, he shoved his phone back into his pocket and rushed toward the gate, where she was waiting in the trees. As he was reaching for his gun, she moved out of her hiding place right behind him. He mus
t have caught a glimpse of her from the corner of his eye because he turned before she could shove the knife into his unprotected back. Slamming his hand into her wrist, she was barely able to keep hold of the knife. Launching forward before he could completely turn, Angie got lucky and brought them both to the ground, with her on the bottom and the knife lodged in his heart. Blinking her eyes, she tried to stay conscious, but between the hit her head took to the ground and his dead weight pressing on her, she was terrified she was fighting a losing battle.
Suddenly, it was gone and she was able to breathe. Turning her head, he saw the two women rolling his body off hers. Lying there as long as she dared, she pushed herself up, regretting it when she almost blacked out. She just wanted to lay there and die, but that wasn’t an option. Crawling to the body, she searched until I found his phone. Wiping her bloody hands on her dress, she sickly thought that if she died like this, the cops would nickname her the bloody bride.
Finally able to use the phone, she dialed and almost sobbed in relief when he picked up on the first ring. “Who the fuck is this?”
“Lucca.” Angie breathed out in relief. “I need you.”
Silence met her for so long, she was afraid the call had disconnected. “Angie, we’re on our way. We’re about fifteen minutes out. Where are you?” he demanded.
Pulling herself from the ground with the girls’ help. “I’m at the house. You need to hurry; there are—” she started, but stopped when a gunshot sounded. Dropping the phone, Angie pulled away from the women. Ripping the knife from the fucker’s chest, she grabbed his gun and raced for the house, fear giving her strength. Uncaring of the danger, she rushed in, gun raised, ready to shoot anything that moved.
Angelica (The Family Book 1) Page 15
