by Soraya Naomi
At a moment when everything around me is in disarray, I sense that prickling awareness that hits me whenever Cam and I are in close proximity and I’m immediately on alert. Luca and Wade are shooting at anyone who appears to be a threat as we move forward for unending minutes until I can decipher the form in the distance; it is a house. My gaze travels slightly to the right, and then I blink to make sure I’m not seeing things.
“Is that...” I squint my eyes. “Give me the night vision binoculars,” I tell Wade, who hands them over.
I hold them against my eyes and instantly recognize Cam running into the house. “It’s Cam. She’s in that house!” I extend my arm and drop the binoculars. “Split up and head that way!” And I take off toward the house that’s still far off in the distance.
Other members of the Syndicate cover me, and I pass my own soldiers who keep shooting all around. I’m not even halfway to my destination when I’m ambushed from both sides and topple to the ground.
A Ukrainian man punches me in the face, sending my vision reeling, but I wrestle him and we roll over the cold, wet ground, fighting and groaning as we go. Then I receive a furious kick to my shins and I scream out while another guard helps my attacker as he pins me down by my arms. The guard who’s standing cocks his weapon as I lie flat on the ground and look at him upside down, and the other guard rises. From this angle, the rain drops eerily from the sky, and all I can think about is how close I am to Cam.
It can’t end now. Not here. Not like this.
The man grins malevolently, focusing his aim between my eyes. Then, abruptly, both men drop, landing on top of me and blasting the air from my lungs.
I fling them off, and Luca holds out his hand to help me up. “Let’s get Cam.”
A kind of optimism that’s vicious in its intensity awakens me as I march forward. I’m worried and tense but still confident that I’ll soon be reunited with Cam.
CHAPTER 31
Camilla
Immediately, I’m wide awake as if I haven’t been unconscious for too long. My entire body is sore as I sit up and find myself alone. Behind me is a phone on a table, and I drag myself over to it because I can’t seem to stand up.
What did Medlov inject me with?
It’s difficult to concentrate, but I dial Adriano’s number.
“Hello,” Adriano answers immediately.
“It’s me. Are you here?” My throat is dry as the words tumble out.
“Cam! Yes. Are you in that house behind the mansion?”
“Oh my god! Yes, I’m in the living room. I knew you were here. Listen—” I have to tell him about the tape; that he needs to get Medlov, but he cuts me off brusquely.
“I’m on the way. I’m approaching the house. Are you alone?”
“Yes. Hurry!” I lean back against the table, releasing a breath of relief that he’s here.
“Coming through the door now. Where are you?” he demands, his tone inflexible.
I look out to the hall and frown, thinking there’s something different about the interior of where I am.
“Where are you?” I reply. “I’m in the living room.”
I rise slowly and realize that I’m not in the house where I last saw Medlov. I’m somewhere else.
“No!” I scream. “You’re in the wrong house!”
I move toward the window, seeing another house in the distance, and then a loud bang is the last thing I remember.
CHAPTER 32
Adriano
My phone rings when we skulk through the forest again, hearing more murmurs.
“Hello,” I say, out of breath.
“It’s me. Are you here?” Cam’s voice is groggy and anxious.
“Cam! Yes. Are you in that house behind the mansion?”
“Oh my god! Yes, I’m in the living room. I knew you were here. Listen—”
“I’m on the way. I’m approaching the house. Are you alone?” After almost nineteen hours of living in pure despair, hope springs free and I take off across the lawn.
“Yes. Hurry!”
“Coming through the door now.” There’s a wet trail in the hall that I follow into the living room, and my eyes dart around frantically. “Where are you?”
“Where are you? I’m in the living room...No!” She sobs, and my heart shatters into a million pieces. “You’re in the wrong house!”
An explosion startles me, and I spin around to see a bomb of fire igniting outside the window in the distance, and the connection with Cam is gone.
My gut tightens. “Cam? CAM!”
The phone slips from my hand while sound around me is muted. Then Luca’s shaking my shoulders, forcing me to snap out of my stupor.
“Where is she, Adriano?” Luca glances outside before his worried eyes meet mine.
“In that house,” I whisper distractedly and burst out of the room with my gun in hand.
“Cover Adriano!” I hear Luca yell as I run as fast as my legs can go.
Cocking my weapon, I pull the trigger when I spot a Ukrainian. I keep on going while fury from the knowledge that my greatest fear might become reality builds up. It takes forever to get closer to the fire, which is being extinguished quickly due to the storm raging outside, but after never-ending minutes of running, I’m finally treading through rubble while I hear the occasional gunshots being fired somewhere on the estate.
“Where is she?!” I shout to my soldiers around me.
Frantically, I skate over the wreckage to the white cottage, which is partially blown up with dying flames of the fire licking at its wooden structure. Without thinking, I jump through the collapsed front doorway, waving my hands in front of my face to clear the haze of smoke from my line of sight.
Coughing, I call out, “Cam...Cam!” My voice chokes. “Where are you?”
Luca’s shadowed me inside and helps me search for her as my soldiers bound up the stairs toward the second floor.
I enter what looks to be the living room, which is only slightly lit by the moonlight, and scan the blackened couch and a damaged desk. And then my world stops. On the floor, between the coffee table and the sofa, is Cam, covered with debris. My gun clanks to the floor as it falls from my hand, and I drop to my knees, shoving the remains of the table aside and throwing wooden fragments off her body. Wearing a maid’s uniform, she’s covered in blood, water, and dirt, and she’s not moving.
“Luca!” I yell, and I bend down, placing two fingers against her pulse. “No, Cam! No! There isn’t a pulse!” I press again and swallow the lump in my throat.
Her face is bruised, and her neck is bloodied. My worst fear has become reality.
Luca checks her pulse as well. “No, there’s a pulse, but it’s very weak.”
I ghost my fingers over her forehead, afraid of hurting her more. She looks so lifeless.
“Don’t move her,” Luca warns. “She might have internal injuries.”
“I’m not, but she’s so cold.” My tone is soft, and my eyes well up. “I need to get her to a hospital.”
More guns are being fired in the area around us as Wade bursts into the room, sending me an empathetic look when he sees Cam lying on the floor and me beside her.
“Is she...” he asks with apprehension.
“Unconscious,” Luca answers. “Although it looks like she’s had a blow to her head because there’s a lot of blood on the floor around it. We need an ambulance.”
“Yes, we need an ambulance now. Every second could count to save her life!” As I speak the words, I shake my head to clear it and jump into action. I ache to hold Cam in my arms, but I block out my extensive rage about what’s been done to her. And the killer inside me that’s been trained by the mafia for over ten years takes the reins, which will allow me to keep my head cool until I know she’s safe. “How many guards are still around here?”
Wade asks Henry for an update in his earpiece and relays to us, “The mansion hasn’t been taken over yet, but we’ve killed more than half.”
“So wha
t are our options? We’ve already established that I can’t carry her out to my car; she might die in my arms!” I feel like I’ve been stabbed and the life is draining from my body as I have to watch her lie there while we’re stuck here without medical assistance.
“Then we have to bomb the mansion and kill as many of them as possible,” Wade answers. “In this storm, we can risk small explosions. If any neighbors catch sight of them, which I highly doubt will happen, we can spin our story. But this means we’re going to annihilate the Ukrainian mafia. We’ll have to kill each and every one of them.”
“Do it. But I need some Ukrainians to be kept alive for questioning, and I want Yakiv Medlov alive,” I demand, because he will feel my wrath.
Immediately, Wade instructs Henry to inform everyone of the change of plans.
“Luca, go ahead and call for an ambulance. And Marc needs to be on standby at the hospital. Make sure he’s ready for us when we arrive.”
“I’m already calling him.” He presses his phone to his ear.
Not five seconds later, the ground moves and we hear another explosion, underscoring the necessity of working fast to complete our mission.
Cam feels freezing cold, which worries me immensely, and while I’m searching the room for something clean or dry to cover her with, we’re interrupted by a soldier returning from the second floor.
“Adriano, there are countless women upstairs who’ve been bound and beaten.”
“His slaves. So this is a slave house. Do they speak English?”
“I don’t think so. I didn’t hear any of them speaking English. And they didn’t see me.”
“Probably kidnapped girls. After we leave, we call the police to give them their location. Then they can start building their case against Medlov, because I will ruin his empire.”
But my priority right now is Cam’s life. Though vengeance will be sought and I will get my retaliation against Medlov – in the near future.
“We have the place secured, and the ambulance can get through the front gate,” Henry informs me through the earpiece. “They’ll be there within seven minutes.”
While we wait, I sit beside Cam’s still body and watch over her with a hollow feeling in my gut.
Fortunately, the ambulance arrives within five minutes, and I don’t lose sight of her for a second as she’s strapped onto a stretcher and rolled outside.
Once in the ambulance, the killer in me makes way for the man who might be losing the woman he loves. I shed my Capo crimine armor, and all that’s left is a broken man who fears for his girlfriend’s life.
The one thing I dreaded, the one thing I tried so hard to prevent has happened; she’s hurt. And just like I knew it would, it completely breaks me. I can’t remember the last time I cried in the thirty years that I’ve been alive, but tears streak down my cheeks, scalding my skin in their scorching wake while I stroke her hand and press my lips against her knuckles.
CHAPTER 33
Adriano
For twenty horrendous minutes, I have to watch paramedics hook Cam to a breathing machine while checking her vitals and calling the hospital with instructions.
At Northwestern Memorial Hospital in the Loop, Cam’s taken to a private room in the intensive care unit where Marc and James are awaiting us.
“Sir, please let go of her hand so that we can examine her.” Doctors and nurses push me aside.
I’m forced to release Cam’s hand and stare at the blood stains that are left on my palms, and then I keep my eyes on Cam until they disappear with her through the doors.
“What are they doing with her?” I ask in a terse tone.
“They’re going to do a CT scan, Adriano,” Marc answers in a sympathetic voice right before he follows the doctors. “We have to check her for internal and/or head injuries, and then we’re going to take her into surgery. I’ll return as soon as I know more.”
Desperation claws at me, and I take a seat. I’m unraveling little by little now that my mind is comprehending the severity of her state. I lean my elbows on my knees and drop my head in my hands. Voices drift around me, but none are coherent, until I hear Luca calling my name. I turn my head toward him as he sits beside me and Fallon hunches down in front of me.
“Amico, are you okay?”
I shake my head, and Fallon rests her hand on my knees. “What did the doctor say?”
“They took her to get a CT scan, and then she’s going into surgery. All I can do is wait for Marc to let us know what’s going on.”
Fallon’s eyes fill with moisture, but she blinks back her tears. “She’ll be okay.”
I purse my lips when I feel my own eyes watering and whisper unsteadily, “I can feel her slipping away, Fallon. I-she didn’t look good.”
“No,” she says firmly, trying to uplift me. “We have to keep the faith. When she wakes, she’ll need you.”
“She’s right,” Luca agrees with her. “You have to stay positive until we know more. This waiting around is going to drive you crazy, and it’s probably going to take a while for them to give you an update. Why don’t you go home to shower and change?”
“I’m not leaving this hospital for a second,” I retort adamantly. My entire body refuses to be any farther away from Cam at this moment.
Fallon and Luca share a meaningful look before Fallon offers, “Give me your keys. I’ll get you a change of clothes.”
“Wade is coming over so that you can decide what you want to do with Medlov and his team. Or I can decide if you don’t want to,” Luca explains as I hand my keys over to Fallon.
I manage to push down my unreserved agony when Wade arrives with Carmine, and we relocate to the empty waiting room for privacy.
Raking my hair back, I stop at the window. My fatigued and pain-stricken face is unrecognizable in the reflection of the glass. “Do you have Medlov?”
“No,” Wade answers. “He’d already left the estate.”
“I said that I want him,” I yell with bitterness. “If he gets away with this, I will fucking blow up the entire Ukrainian Village!”
“Adriano, we’ll catch him,” Wade reassures. “Medlov won’t get away with this. Airports are being checked and the roads are blocked. He can’t even leave Chicago. There’s a manhunt going on outside.”
“Good, and remember that I want him alive. He’s mine to torture,” I insist. “What happened at the estate after I left?”
“A dozen Ukrainians that were still alive have been imprisoned,” Wade clarifies. “We found Cam’s clothes in one of the bedrooms on the second floor. Henry was able to hack into the entire estate’s security system and is wiping every piece of security tape that has Cam, you, or any of us on its footage. Chicago P.D. will be notified and will identify the girls Medlov kidnapped and kept enslaved on his estate.”
“Is Chicago P.D. already on the way to the estate?” I inquire.
“No, I’m waiting for Henry to confirm that he’s deleted every digital trace of us first.” Wade checks his phone screen when it lights up with a message.
“Then also dump Santino’s body on Medlov’s estate for the police to find; they can contact the FBI, and Medlov will be blamed for Santino’s death. Shut that organization down!”
“I’ll get Capo John on it,” Wade confirms and steps closer to me. “You okay? Need anything else?”
“No, thank you for handling all of this.”
“Hey, it’s my job.” Then his voice grows serious. “She’ll pull through. She’s a fighter.”
“That’s what I’m clinging to, Wade,” I admit before he exits, leaving James, Luca, and me lost in our thoughts.
***
After three hours, Marc appears in the doorway, and I leap to my feet.
“She’s still in surgery.” Marc swipes his surgical hat off his head.
“Marc,” James implores, “don’t sugarcoat it. Tell us honestly what her condition is.”
Marc’s face saddens, and sweat forms on my forehead as I’m confronted wit
h his less than encouraging expression.
“It’s not good, James. She has a head injury that caused severe brain damage and internal bleeding.”
“What are you saying?” Concern laces my words.
He meets my eyes. “That they’re working as hard as they can to keep her alive, but she has extensive injuries.”
“Was she in pain?” I ask, praying that she wasn’t.
“I don’t think she ever regained consciousness, so I can’t tell you for sure. Sorry, Adriano. I’ll be back as soon as possible.”
Practically swaying on my legs from sheer exhaustion and discomfort, both from the physical ache in my shoulder and the emotional anguish regarding Cam, I clutch my hair. This is the moment that I lose it. A guttural groan reaches my ears, and I realize that it’s my own as the room starts to spin.
She might be dying. She might be dying.
That dreaded sentence bounces around in my mind, and something clicks. A red haze overtakes my sight, and I shove the items that are strewn on the table next to me off with a swipe of my arm.
Luca closes the door as I ransack the room, throwing furniture around until I’m wrecked.
And so the fucking waiting game continues, yet again. Only this time, every minute of the unknown is gradually smothering me.
CHAPTER 34
Adriano
Dawn breaks while the entire family waits with me for news about Cam’s condition. James, Alessa, Rosalia, Fallon, Luca, and Carmine stay by my side as more awful hours pass at an agonizingly slow pace. I pray that my time with her hasn’t come to an end before we’ve gotten a chance to truly start.
As I sit here watching the door, last night’s events flash across my mind. However, when a brunette doctor enters the room, I surge up so quickly that I get lightheaded.
“Miss Guillermo’s family?” the doctor asks, looking to me standing in the middle.
“Yes,” I manage to croak out, because her weary demeanor bothers me.
