by Kiera Silver
She shrugged. “I don’t really care whether or not you like it, Larenz. I don’t ask what you and Lily do in the bedroom, and it’s not your business what I do with my men.”
“We’re your brothers. We look out for you.”
She turned to Armo and smiled, allowing her expression to soften slightly. “I know, and I appreciate that, but I also have two other guys looking out for me, and they haven’t done anything to hurt me. You’ve been dragged into this for no reason.” Abruptly, she frowned. “How the hell did you find me?”
For the first time, Dom looked slightly uncomfortable, and his gaze danced away from hers. “You know what we do, and our family is always at risk.”
She didn’t like his vague information or elusive tone. “How did you find me, Larenz?”
“There’s a tracking device in your back molar,” said Armo with a small sigh. “It allows us to find you wherever you are. Once Thorne and Croft bothered to tell us you’d been kidnapped, it was a simple matter of tracking you down, and we had the strike team assembled in less than an hour.”
She rolled her eyes. “Strike team. Somebody’s been playing too many Tom Clancy games on the Xbox.”
“It’s for your own safety,” said Dom.
She glared at him. “I get that, and I might have agreed to it if you’d bothered to tell me. You didn’t though. You just shoved a tracking device in my tooth at some visit to the dentist. Who does that kind of crap?”
“Actually, it was Dad,” said Dante. “We all have one. It’s a precaution. He’s the head of a mafia family, and now we are too. We were all vulnerable targets as kids, and he wanted to make sure he could find us if someone dared snatch us. We had nothing to do with putting in the tracking device, but I hope you understand why Dad did it. You would have been about twelve when it happened, since you need your permanent molars in first. They were still making the decisions for us when we were all twelve.”
With a sigh, she nodded. ““Fine, but why didn’t anybody ever bother to tell me?”
“We didn’t want you to know in case you were ever kidnapped.”
She shook her head, confused by Armo’s attempt at logic. “That makes no sense. If I were kidnapped, I’d feel a lot calmer knowing you had a way to find me.”
“Or you might be tortured into revealing the unit was in your tooth. We couldn’t allow that, so that’s the reason you were never told. Dad didn’t tell any of us until we were adults.”
She let out a long sigh. “Fine, but I’m not entirely committed to the idea of keeping a tracking device in my mouth. I just don’t like the idea of it.”
“If it keeps you safe, you should keep it,” said Connor, contributing to the conversation for the first time.
“Do you think you guys could leave the room for a few minutes so we can put on some pants?” asked Euan, sounding unperturbed by the turn of events.
They turned and filed out quickly, closing the bedroom door behind them. She was certain they were waiting out in the hall, or perhaps in the living room. Either way, she doubted her brothers and their so-called strike team would just file out quietly without more conversation. She turned to Connor, taking his hand in hers again. “I’m sorry about how they came in, but it might be a good thing.” She looked at Euan. “They can help you bring down Victor.”
Euan shook his head. “You know we want to do that ourselves.”
She nodded. “I understand you want to be the ones to deal with them, but there’s no shame in taking some help getting him, is there? This is my family, and maybe they’ll be your family someday too… If things progress…” She trailed off, feeling awkward about discussing their future. It was a strange situation, and she wasn’t entirely certain how a future with two men could work, but she certainly wanted to give it every effort. She thought they felt the same, but she couldn’t presume that.
“When you put it like that, how can we reject the offer?” asked Connor as he brought her hand to his mouth to press a kiss to the back. “If your family wants to help us, and they’re willing to, we’re willing to take the help. Aren’t we, Euan?” He sounded just a little uncertain.
Her attention turned to Euan again, in time to see him nod. “Yeah, I wouldn’t mind some help. It’s not every day you get your own mafia strike team at your beck and call.”
She giggled, the relief of the moment overwhelming her as she realized not only had her brothers’ rescue attempt left everyone safe, but it had brought them even closer.
They slipped from bed first, grabbing their clothes and dressing. She got out of bed a moment later, waving to the bathroom. “After our little experience in the garage, I need to shower before I join you guys. Why don’t you go talk to my brothers and figure out how we’re going to get Victor Croft? Even if they didn’t want to help you, when they find out what a sleazebag he is, and that he’s been stalking me, that’ll be enough to get them involved.”
“As long as they don’t take over,” said Connor.
She nodded. “I’ll help you keep them in line if they try to do too much.” They were brave words, and she meant them, though she knew it was difficult to control the triplets, especially when they shared a goal. They were like forces of nature, and she pitied anyone in the path of their wrath. Or she would have if it hadn’t been Victor Croft, who really needed to disappear.
She moved to the bathroom, turning on a hot shower. She would’ve liked to have stayed in it for hours, but she needed to get to her men and her brothers, wanting to reassure Dom, Armo, and Dante once more that she was fine. She also needed to call her mother and father, or just go see them.
That was her inclination. She needed to face them and apologize for her actions, for reacting as harshly as she had when prompted by hurt feelings and a sense of betrayal. She wanted to hear their side of the story and find out why they hadn’t told her about her real mother. After meeting the Thornes, she had a pretty good idea they had chosen to shield her from that side of her family, but she wanted to confirm their reasons. She had every intention of forgiving them, and had already done so, but they still needed to talk.
With that in mind, she dried off and dressed quickly before reentering the bedroom. She stumbled to a stop when she saw an unfamiliar man in white scrubs standing in the center of the room. She frowned at him. “Who are you?”
“I’m the doctor. Your brothers wanted me to have a look at you.”
She rolled her eyes. “I’m fine. Their fussing isn’t necessary.”
He shrugged a shoulder. “You probably are fine, but if I don’t do what they say, I’ll catch hell. They’re the Morettis.”
She let out a long sigh. “Yeah, they are. Fine, but let’s get it over with, and nothing too intrusive. Honestly, I’m fine. I haven’t been hurt at all.”
The doctor approached her with an aloof air. “Sit on the bed please, so I can take your blood pressure and check your vitals.”
She did as he asked, still feeling it was ridiculously unnecessary, but just the sort of over-the-top and overprotective gesture her brothers would have made. It didn’t surprise her that they’d had one of their medical staff on standby during the rescue attempt, in case someone was injured. It definitely didn’t surprise her that now they wanted the doctor to check her over despite her assurances to them that she was fine. They were just being their overprotective selves, and she decided to allow it, though she’d nip it in the bud if the doctor took too long.
He put the stethoscope to her chest, listening for a moment before he moved around behind her. She waited to feel the stethoscope against her back, but instead, a burning pain prickled at the back of her neck. She jerked in shock before bringing a hand to touch the spot. She pulled it away and looked at the small drop of blood on her finger. “What the hell was that?”
The doctor didn’t bother to answer, and before she could ask anything further, she was completely unconscious.
Chapter Nine
Connor listened to the conversation flowing a
round him, occasionally contributing something, but still not entirely sold on the idea of letting the Morettis help with their campaign of vengeance against Victor Croft. He paced restlessly around the small confines of the living room, finding it stifling even though the triplets had sent all of their men outside. It just felt overcrowded, and he wouldn’t be at ease until Sophia finished her shower and joined them.
A glance at the clock told him she’d been in there almost forty minutes now. How long could it possibly take for a quick shower? He was starting to get concerned, and at first he tried to tell himself to back off. There was no reason to act like a mother hen just because she was in the shower.
Still, he couldn’t deny a hint of unease and the wrenching sensation in his abdomen. He slipped away quietly after trading a quick look with Euan, who was talking to one of the three about Croft’s pattern and daily habits. Connor had no idea which of the three he was speaking to though. Being identical triplets, it was almost impossible to tell the Morettis apart.
He made his way down the hallway, figuring at most she’d be irritated with him checking on her. He wouldn’t be reassured until she was in his presence again, and he could put his hands on her. In a strictly non-sexual way in front of her brothers, of course. He just needed the physical contact.
When he stepped into the bedroom, he let out a cry. It was unoccupied, but what had drawn his attention was the blood stain in the center of the white sheet. He let out a strangled gasp as he moved closer, aware of pounding feet behind him as his brother and her brothers responded to his first cry.
As he moved closer to the spot, his stomach twisting with dread, he was reassured by the amount of blood that she couldn’t be dead. Whoever had injured her, at least it wasn’t a large enough wound or bleeding copiously enough to be life-threatening. He hoped.
Euan skidded to a stop beside him, letting out his own cry of horror at the sight of blood. “What the hell?”
“Check the bathroom,” he said to the triplet nearest the door waiting. Connor clung to the hope that maybe she had just started her period and was still in the bathroom. He didn’t think that was right, but he hoped it was the outcome. That hope fled when the Moretti brother returned, shaking his head and looking pale.
Euan was the one who leaned closer and noticed the tooth in the middle of the pile of blood. He picked it up with a grimace. “Is that her molar?”
Connor felt ill as he nodded. “Yeah, it is.” For a desperate moment, he wanted to cling to the theory that she had ripped out the tooth herself and left to send some kind of message for her brothers, if not for him and Euan. He knew in his heart that wasn’t the case though, and he couldn’t cling to the false hope. If he tried to convince himself she’d run away voluntarily, they would lose precious time tracking down whoever had taken her.
Victor Croft. He had no doubt about that, but he was trying to figure out how it had been accomplished.
“Croft wasn’t in your rescue group, was he?” he asked the one he thought was Larenz.
Dom frowned and shook his head. “No, of course not. I don’t know or trust him, and even though he claimed to be Sophia’s fiancé, I didn’t want him involved in this. I only put people I trust on the team.”
“Or people you think you trust,” said Connor. Seeing the other man’s frown deepen, he held up a hand. “Half of you were wearing masks like a strike team. Maybe someone infiltrated your group without you even realizing it.”
The brother nodded, looking sick at the idea. “That means we brought him right to her, and with all the people in the first few minutes after we stormed the house, it was the perfect distraction.”
One of the other Morettis moved to the window, which had previously been painted shut. Other than nailing a couple of nails into the sill to keep her in when they’d first taken her hostage, neither Connor nor Euan had done anything with that window, since it was impossible to open. Or so they’d thought.
“What is it?” asked Larenz. “Do you see something, Armo?”
“It looks like someone used a saw on the window.” Using a single finger, Armo pushed up the window, and fresh night air filled the room for a moment. When he let go, the window fell on its own back into the sill with a small crashing sound.
“Where would Victor have taken her?” asked the one Connor thought was Dante.
He wasn’t sure if it was a rhetorical question, since none of them had an answer. Panic and anger struggled for supremacy inside him, and he did his best to suppress both emotions. Neither one would help him find Sophia, and that was their top priority. There was no telling what Croft was doing to her at that moment, but speculation was enough to make him choke on bile. His hands clenched into fists of rage, and if Victor Croft had been in the room with him, he would have torn him apart with his bare hands.
“Do you think he plans to send her back to us in pieces?” asked Euan, his complexion deathly pale.
Connor shook his head even as the triplets blanched. “No, I don’t think he plans to return her at all. You saw the room full of those creepy pictures of Sophia. Whatever he plans to do to her, it’s fully to satisfy his sick urges for her and not as a way to get revenge on us.” There was a slight bit of hope in that, because though Croft might put her through hell, he wasn’t likely to kill her unless she pushed him by being defiant.
As badly as the man wanted her, he would probably have a high tolerance for defiance, and as long as she was still alive, there was hope. Hope they could find her, hope they could help her put back the pieces in a coherent picture after Croft ripped apart her reality, and hope that she would still want to be with them. He clung to that hope as he racked his brain, trying to think where Croft might be hiding their woman.
Sophia woke with a pounding head and pain in her mouth. It took her a moment to remember the events, and to piece together she was lying on a car seat in a moving vehicle. She opened her eyes, which felt weighted, wincing at the pain throbbing through her jaw. She reached up to touch it without thought, wincing again as new pain flared as soon as she touched the outside of her jaw line. Cautiously, she used her tongue to explore the spot that was causing so much pain, eyes widening when she found a hole in her mouth, packed with gauze.
That brought her back to a fully alert state, and she jerked upright as her eyes wildly searched the car.
She was in the back of a limousine, and her only company was the doctor who had assaulted her. She frowned at him. “Are you even a real doctor?” The words came out slightly garbled because of the gauze packed in the back of her mouth. As her brain started working again, she realized presumably the doctor had removed the tooth with the GPS tracking device after hearing their conversation about its existence. “How did you know which tooth to take?”
“Mr. Croft prepared me for many eventualities. He rightly assumed you’d be chipped somewhere, so he provided a scanner. It’s just like the kind you see at the vet.” He sounded disinterested. “And to answer your first question, yes, I’m a doctor.”
She glared at him as pain throbbed in her jaw. “What happened to first, do no harm?”
He shrugged. “I have a taste for the more expensive things in life, and I found a certain moral flexibility helps me achieve my goals quicker.”
“My jaw is killing me. You must not be much of a doctor.”
He seemed unbothered by the insult. “I’m a doctor, not a dentist. It’s not quite the same thing, you know. It was the first time I’d ever taken out a tooth, especially under such circumstances. I don’t think I did too bad of a job. At least you have all your other teeth still.”
“Thanks bunches,” she said sardonically. “Where are you taking me?”
He eyed her impassively. “To the rendezvous point to meet Mr. Croft. After that, I’m going home, and you’re going to…wherever he’s planning to take you.”
She scowled at him. “That doesn’t bother you? You’re going to hand me over to that creep without even a twinge of remorse?”
> He lifted a shoulder. “I don’t know you. You’re nothing to me, so why should it bother me?”
A chill seeped through her, and she realized she wasn’t going to be able to get through to him. She’d try appealing to his decent side, but it was obvious he didn’t have one. She fell into silence, her brain working overtime as she searched for a solution. There had to be a way to escape the doctor before he handed her over to Croft.
As if he’d read her thoughts, though more likely he’d just realized the pattern of her thinking based solely on logic, he said, “Just so you know, I have a gun, and so does the driver. You aren’t going anywhere. And if I have to shoot you, I’m going to be pissed off, because that means I have to operate on you. These aren’t ideal conditions, and you might die.”
She blinked. “I’m surprised you care if your patient lives or dies.”
He smirked at her. “Of course I care. Mr. Croft has only paid half the agreed-upon fee for delivering you so far, and I don’t want to be out fifty-grand.”
She looked away from him, allowing the conversation to die. She had nothing more to say to the psycho doctor, and her head was pounding too much to really focus. She looked up when he extended a bottle of water, touching her forearm with it. She wanted to be stubborn and resist any offerings from him, but her throat was dry, and the coppery taste in her mouth was disgusting. She took the bottle reluctantly though, not wanting anything from him. “Is this drugged too?”
The doctor shook his head. “I have some ibuprofen for you if you want it, but the only sedation I had, I already used. If I were you, I’d take the ibuprofen, because there’s no telling what Croft has in store for you.” Despite his counsel, he seemed completely unbothered by her fate.
She wouldn’t have accepted the medication, but when he extended it to her, it was in a travel pack, sealed and clearly labeled as ibuprofen. It could have still been something else, something he tampered with, but she decided to take the risk. If it was some other drug that knocked her out, maybe it would make whatever she faced with Croft easier to endure anyway. If not, and it was strictly ibuprofen, it might help take the edge off the throbbing in her jaw. As she ripped open the packet, she frowned as he thrust a small bag at her. “What’s that?”
