“Husband?”
“You need to be kept safe, until I have your running papers in order. I’ll get your trust set up and moved into untraceable accounts. You should be able to survive off that for a long time if you’re frugal. A few name changes in several different states will hopefully throw Anthony off your scent. I’m gonna need time to do it, and you have to be married until then to keep you safe.”
He flopped down in his chair and rubbed his face. “Santino is the closest to your age who can be trusted. He’s twenty-seven, so it won’t be too farfetched. It’ll just be on paper, not in the church. We’ll be able to annul it before it’s time for you to marry Daniel.” He looked at me, as he picked up the phone to dial. “Are you alright with this?”
I took in a deep shuddering breath. I would do whatever I had to, if it would get me back to Daniel. “Yeah, just a month, right?”
“Maybe two, but I swear not more than three. Santino will be respectful. It’ll stay clean, so the annulment can go through easily.”
“Yeah, okay.”
“Good girl, I promise we’ll get you out of this mess.” He called Santino and told him to come down to his office. “So, I’m curious, how much do you know now? I suspect Daniel has told you more about our family. It’s not just the paper anymore, is it?”
I gave him an unwavering look. I didn’t want him to doubt that I knew what I was getting myself into by marrying Daniel. “Everything.”
“That’s a big claim.”
I snorted. “Tell me about it. We had nothing but time to talk.”
“You want to get more specific? As your lawyer, I need to be able to know what I’m defending. I know the Feds are going to be up my ass about this.”
“I know all of Daniel’s career options and who he would’ve studied under. I know those men out at the house didn’t get lost in the woods. I know Luke and Santino killed a lot of people to keep Daniel safe, and Dante and Dino can’t be trusted.”
“Shit.”
“Yeah, I do know too much, but I’m still not talking. There are too many people I want to protect, and ratting out one could hurt them all. Even if I do wish Anthony would go down in a fiery plane crash, you guys are worth keeping my mouth shut.”
He gave me a soft smile. “You’re one in a million. Daniel’s really lucky to have you.”
The door slammed open just then. “Alright, where’s my bride-to-be!” Santino came in with a huge smile, but it fell as soon as his eyes landed on me. “Holy shit, baby girl, what happened?”
“Anthony,” Victor said with a disturbing amount of venom.
“Jesus, are you alright?” Santino looked so pained, as he walked around me. “We’ve got to get her to Joey. She shouldn’t be out looking like that. She looks half dead.”
“That’s not a bad idea. You guys can spend your honeymoon in the hospital.” Victor pulled a paper out of his desk drawer. He didn’t even ask us to sign it. He signed both bride and groom spots, before he tore off the bottom piece and handed Santino the certificate. “Congratulations, you’re married. I’m going to go file this in the courthouse to make it official.” He came around his desk and kissed the top of my head. “Welcome to the family, little girl. You take good care of her, Santino. I’ll know if you don’t.”
“Don’t worry, Bro, I’m not letting anyone near her. I’ll have Luke and Sergio helping me keep an eye on her at all times. This is fucked up, even for Anthony. Marcello said he was bat shit crazy.”
“Are they okay?” I asked.
“We haven’t found them yet. Marcello was worried something was up when you went missing. He called us this morning and said he thought something was going down today. Don’t worry, baby girl, Marcello can hold his own.”
I knew he meant for his words to make me feel better, but the worried look on his face proved he questioned them himself.
Chapter 35 – Down and Out
Santino carefully settled me into his car and ran around to the driver side. He had his phone out, and when he climbed in, it was obvious he was talking to Joey. “We’ve got her. Victor found her, or she found Victor, either way, we’re coming in. Baby girl was hurt pretty bad. It looks like she’s had a patch job done, but I don’t trust anyone but you with her. We’re almost there. Thanks, Joey.”
“Can we call Daniel? Do you know where he is?”
“Nah, baby, I don’t. Only one other person knows where Daniel is, besides Anthony, and that’s Victor. He’ll let him know you’re alright.” He looked at me and grimaced. I could tell he didn’t think I was alright.
“Will I get a chance to talk to him on the phone at least? I really want to see him or at least talk to him.”
“I know, but he’s on lockdown like you wouldn’t believe. We think his phone is being monitored. Ant was pretty pissed, when he found out the family had been hanging around with him. We think he did something to Ann Marie for that, but she ain’t saying shit. I think she knows we’ll all go ballistic on his ass. After this, though, I don’t think she’ll care, especially if he touched little Marky. You don’t want to piss off my sister.”
We pulled up to the back entrance of the hospital, and Joey was there, holding the door open. He held a neutral face, like a good doctor. He walked me straight into a hospital room and stopped Santino at the door. “I need to examine her.”
“She’s my wife. I’m worried about her.” Joey looked between me and Santino. “Victor said it’d keep her safe, and that Anthony would leave her alone.”
A wide smile spread across Joey’s face. “Good thinking, Victor has a lot of finesse.”
“Fine ass? What the hell, Janice would have his balls, dick and hands if he was going after any fine ass that wasn’t hers,” Santino cut in.
I couldn’t help laughing, but it hurt. They both looked at me warily.
“What’s hurting?” Joey’s eyes were darting calculatedly over my ribs, as if he had x-ray vision.
“My ribs, I’m pretty sure a couple of them are broken.”
“Santino, out, just because you have a paper, doesn’t mean you get to look. I know for damn sure Daniel would ring your bell if you looked at his girl.”
Santino looked like a shamed puppy. “I know. I’m just worried about her. I’ll go get some food from the machine down the hall. You got your glock on you?”
Joey looked troubled for a moment and shook his head. “No, give me a minute to get it out of my locker. I take it you’ll have people watching her in shifts?”
“Yeah, it was Ant who did this. He’s fucking nuts. No one is allowed near her, aside from Luke, Victor and Sergio. If anyone else comes in looking for her, you send them the other way, and get one of us to talk to them. We’re playing this hand close to the vest.”
Joey looked over at me concerned. “I’ll be right back. Do me a favor and carefully take off your bandages, so I can see what we’re working on.”
Once Joey stepped out, Santino watched me guardedly, as I peeled the few visible bandages off my arms and legs. His eyes kept settling on the one on my neck that covered my ear. When I didn’t remove it, he looked like he wanted to ask about it.
“It’s a burn. I’m not taking it off, because I don’t want to risk infection.”
“Burn?”
“Can we not talk about this?” My body remembered the flame all too well. I wished I had an icepack.
“No, yeah, of course, I’m sorry. You’re probably still working on it. Yeah, I’ll keep my mouth shut. Just let me know if you need me. I want you to be okay.”
I always thought Santino was a lug head, but he really was a sweetheart, just like my Daniel. “Thanks, Santino. I really appreciate you helping me out.”
“Hey, you’re my wife,” he said with a shrug.
I chuckled, but stopped short, because it hurt.
“Victor said you were snagged by the Feds. Didn’t they get you treated at the hospital or anything?”
“I think they got hold of my bogus records from the firs
t time I was brought in and decided I was fine.”
“Fuck that, Joey will give you the works, and then Victor will stick it to the Feds for fucking up again. Sometimes I wonder, with all the shit they pull, how are they any better than us?”
“You guys are looking out for family. They’re just looking out for their job. Who do you think the better man is?” I asked. He scrunched his brow, like he wasn’t sure. “You guys are better, because you have more reasons to get dirty to protect your families. They’re just covering their asses.”
“Oh! Little girl swears! I’m sure that went over well with Danny.”
“He never said anything to me about it. It’s not like I did it much. I really don’t do it a lot.”
“Don’t let Mamma Bartoli catch you with that mouth. She’ll get you with a bottle of dish soap, and that lemon shit stays with you for days,” he bemoaned.
“Thanks for the warning.”
Joey came back in and flashed Santino the gun that was in a holster under his doctors’ coat. Once Santino was out of the room, Joey helped me undress carefully. “Do you want me to wait and call Ann Marie down to help with this?”
“No, she needs to be there for Marcello and Marky.”
“What? Are they alright? I haven’t been called.”
“I hope you don’t get called, but I do know Marky was grazed by a bullet the last time I saw him. Santino said they’re out looking for Marcello and Marky now. I hope they’re alright.”
“Who was shooting at Marky?”
“It was the Feds, but I’m more worried about what Anthony is going to do to him. Marky shoved his arms, so his kill shot missed me. He tried to play it off as being in a hurry, but even from across the clearing, I could see Anthony was pissed.”
“Marcello was telling Ann he didn’t think Anthony was right in the head anymore. He’s always been a little nutty, but here lately, he’s had more than just a few screws loose.” He worked around my back, tying my hair up out of the way and letting out a hiss. “Jesus, let me take some pictures of this, alright? I’m sure Victor will want some for evidence. I’m gonna give you something for the pain before we do the x-rays. Have you been given any medication recently?”
“I’m not sure. I had something, maybe this morning, but I honestly didn’t know what time of day it was or when it happened. I’m pretty sure I was drugged, to see if they could get me to talk, but I was too out of it to know anything about that.”
Joey was pinching his nose like he was pissed. “I’ll get a tox screen done on you.”
I remembered he was the one who had sedated Daniel. “Can you call Daniel for me? I want to talk to him.”
He looked so sad. “Oh, sweetie, I wish I could, but I don’t think anyone has his phone number. I think Victor has a way to contact him, but I’m pretty sure it’s not through the phone. Ant went nuts, when he found out he was chatting on the phone with everyone like a grandma. He cut him off, and the only number he has now is watched by Ant.”
I was crushed. “How will he know…?”
“It’ll be a while. He was under the care of another doctor for a short time. He really hurt himself, when he went nuts looking for you.”
I whimpered, knowing how much it must have hurt him to have lost me. “Is he alright, do you know?”
“Yeah, we got word back that he was better, but that was the last of it. You should talk to Santino more about how they talk with him. I know it’s not a phone, though. Hell, it could be snail mail for all I know.”
Three of my ribs were cracked, one on my left side and two on my right. The gash in my back was torn and looked to be infected. Joey thought I had most likely been out for the two unaccounted-for days I had no recollection of. I did have a minor concussion, but it being a few days past the day it had been acquired, Joey didn’t seem too worried about it. I was finally re-bandaged and given appropriate legal drugs for the pain and infection. I fell into a heavy sleep.
I woke up screaming three times, my nightmares about being taken again and tortured were too real. The last time I woke, Sergio was at my bedside. He gently shook my shoulder to wake me. “I’m sorry, did I wake you?” I asked.
He grinned huge. “Not even close, little girl. Just ‘cause I’m on nightshift, don’t mean I sleep.”
“Sorry.” I felt like an idiot.
“Nah, Joey said I should call him if you keep waking up. I think he wants to knock you out hard.”
I nodded, not really sure about that. I didn’t know Sergio as well as I knew Luke and Santino.
“I’m going to step outside, but I’m staying at the door, okay? I’m not leaving you. I’m just standing on the other side, so I can make a call.”
“Okay.” I let out a deep breath, trying to keep it together. I didn’t realize how much anxiety I had about him leaving, until it was made clear that I would be in the room alone.
He was only out of the room two seconds, when my chest tightened up, and I cried out in pain. He came running in, along with a nurse I didn’t recognize. “What’s wrong with her?” he snapped at her.
“Her pulse is racing.” She grabbed an oxygen mask off the wall and held it over my face. “Take a deep breath, honey.”
Even though it was said in a woman’s voice, it still caused my stomach to roll. My empty water pitcher was by the bed. I grabbed it and lost the little bit of bad hospital food I had eaten.
“Jesus, what the fuck is going on?” Sergio was getting pissed, and it wasn’t helping matters.
“I got her,” Joey said, rushing in. “Gabriella, I need you to look at me.” He held my face in his hands. “You’re safe. Do you hear me?” I took a few more deep breaths. “You need to settle down, inhale, exhale, and concentrate on that. I’m here, you’re safe with me. Nothing is going to change that. Are you here with me?”
I finally settled down enough and nodded yes.
“Good girl.”
“What happened?” Sergio pushed.
“PTSD from her abduction caused an anxiety attack. It’s important to know her triggers. Do you know what they were?” he asked me gently.
“He left, just out the door, but I couldn’t see him.”
Sergio slumped down in his chair. “I’m sorry, baby girl.”
“It’s not your fault,” Joey waved him off. “Was there anything else?”
“She called me honey,” I whispered, so embarrassed that a single word could cause so much turmoil.
“Good, that’s good. Sergio said you’re having a hard time sleeping. I think it’s been long enough since your bump that I could maybe put you into a deep sleep for a little while. Your body needs rest to heal. Before you agree to this, I have to warn you, Santino will be in charge, if something happens while you’re under. He’s your husband on paper.”
“Like he’d ever risk sandwich girl,” Sergio scoffed.
Joey chuckled and looked back at him. “You know that, and I know that, but I need to do what makes her feel the most comfortable.” He turned back to me, smiling softly. “I really think you being under in a dreamless sleep for a bit might help you. You need some rest and peace for your body.”
“How long?”
“How long would you like to rest? Not more than a week, though.”
“Has anyone got a hold of Daniel yet?”
Sergio gave me a sad smile. “We got him…well, Victor got him a message. He knows you’re safe, but Victor didn’t tell him you were hurt. He was worried Daniel would come running and make a mess, before Victor could get you out safe. If you want to send him a message, I’ll see what I can do. It’s gotta be short, so it fits on a sticky note, and in code, so strangers or even other people like Anthony wouldn’t know what it means. Can you do that?”
“Yeah, just give me a minute. Then can you knock me out for a week? I think I’d like to sleep off the more painful part of this recovery.”
“Of course, I’ll go get things prepared, while you give Sergio your message.”
Coming up w
ith a code that no one would understand was nearly impossible. I thought of what I wanted to tell him. It mostly was just I love you and I miss you, and to hide that to be unrecognizable would be difficult.
“I think I’ve got it,” I let Sergio know.
“Alright, baby girl, lay it on me.” He pulled out a notepad and pen, ready for my message.
“Still not bothering and never will, thin blanket on top, mixed towels, rocky road, chess, bacon, ladybugs, clap your hands soon.”
Sergio laughed, as he read it back to me. “I don’t know what the hell you said, but I hope he gets it.”
I listened to him read the words again and smiled. I knew he would. “He will.”
Joey came in and asked if I was ready. It didn’t take long to hook me up and finally put me under. I was ready for some peace.
Chapter 36 – Military Secrets
The week passed, and I woke to Santino and Luke standing on one side of the bed and Joey on the other. Santino looked so worried, as he held my hand in his, patting it gently. “How are you feeling? Are you alright?”
I didn’t feel in pain anymore, and my face was feeling a lot better. “My skin’s a little tight, but I feel good.”
“Women pay good money for tight skin,” Luke teased.
“You have some really nice scabs grown over your wounds. They look great. The burn on your ear is coming along nicely. I don’t think it’ll scar like your arms and will most likely only show up when you get too much sun. Some sunscreen will help with that.”
“Have you heard from Daniel?”
Straight Up Interfererence Page 25
