by Kay Maree
Chapter Twenty-Two
Sergio
I leave Kirsty to dress, throw on shorts and a singlet and head downstairs to the kitchen. My Sugars moans as I took her hard against the shower wall are still clear in my mind. I can feel the marks her nails left on my back and I feel a sense of pride that she branded me as hers.
I pad across the kitchen to the fridge and pull out the bacon and a carton of eggs. I'm eager to have breakfast ready for when she comes down, I'm sure she must be hungry because I'm fucking starving after our workout. But, not only for food, I crave the flavor of her on my lips in my mouth. I swear to Christ, she takes like sweet cinnamon.
A throat being cleared behind me draws my attention. I swing around to find Theo seated at the table and I growl, pissed off. He probably heard my girl's screams of passion and those are for me, nobody else. He obviously sees my irritation and he holds up his hand.
"I just walked in the door but, I'm guessing you and Kirsty were…."
I cut him off with a growl and fuck me, he chuckles.
"Settle down big fella, the scratch marks on your shoulders are a dead giveaway."
I smile and shake my head, the irritation disappearing.
"Found anything?" I nod my head to the computer in front of him.
"Yeah, it's why I'm here so early."
Before I can ask him what it is, my phone rings. I cross to the breakfast bar and when I pick it up, Dominic's name flashes on the screen. I hit the answer button and speak.
"Boss, Theo is here, he found……."
Dominic cuts me off. "Sergio, some cazzo set fire to Destiny, I need you to meet me there."
"Fuck," I growl angrily and run a hand over my face.
I won't refuse him, he hasn't asked me to do shit except look after Kirsty and keep at Theo for the past month.
"Si, Boss, give me twenty minutes and I'll meet you. Do we know who it was?"
"Si, I think it has to do with Demetri's Butterfly."
"Demetri's what?" I ask as I head for the stairs.
"I'll explain more when you get here. Make sure Theo keeps his eyes on Kirsty. Mickey is on his way to keep watch out the front."
"Si, Boss."
He ends the call and I hurry up the stairs to get ready and to let Kirsty know I have to go out.
***
When I pull the car up to the front of Destiny and scan the area I note the front doesn't look too badly damaged. I step from the car, lock it and head around the side of the building where I find Dominic, Antonio and Nico.
"Boss." I give the men a chin lift and note the damage to the back of the building.
"About fucking time, Sergio."
Anger wells in me at Dominic's words but I don't let it get the better of me. I know he's stressed about everything and now isn't the time to say shit so I keep my mouth shut.
"How's Kirsty?" Antonio asks.
"Better." He chuckles when I smile.
My eyes turn back to Dominic as he storms past me. "We need to get a handle on this shit."
"Why do you think it has something to do with the woman Demetri has?" I ask.
Dominic doesn't say a word. We follow him as he walks around a corner to the back of the building where there's a small maintenance shed, a symbol for the motorcycle club has been sprayed on the front in red paint.
"Fanculo!" I spit.
Dominic turns to face us and points at me. "You and me are going to see Demetri while Antonio and Nico clean up this fucking mess." Anger rolls off him in waves.
I nod and turn to head back to the car. Dominic follows, he shouts something over his shoulder to Antonio but doesn't stop walking. I slide into the driver's seat of my car and Dominic climbs in beside me. I start the car and ease onto the road while he tells me about the girl Dimitri is helping.
"The girl's name is Sophie and she was the old lady of a guy called Ace."
"The cazzo Demetri shot?"
"Si, from what I hear he was a nasty fucker. My heart doesn't bleed for a fucker like that but by killing him, we have brought the MC down on us."
He blows out a deep breath and I take my eyes off the road for a second to glance at him. He looks more stressed than I've ever seen him. Fuck, so much has happened in the past couple of months including shit with Bruno J and Paulie DeMarko.
"You said on the phone, Theo found something?" He taps his fingers on the armrest on the door.
"Si, but I left before he could tell me."
"Shit, okay. Once we figure out what's happening with Demetri, we'll head to your place and find out. Does Kirsty know the safe house is your place?"
My stomach twists knowing I have been keeping it from her but, it's never really come up in our conversations. I shake my head as we pull up at Demetri's.
"Sergio, she needs to be told."
"Si, I know, Boss."
We get out of the car and cross to the electric gate in the fence which surrounds Demetri's home. Dom punches in the code and we wait while the gate opens.
I look up to see Demetri waiting for us on the porch.
"Boss, Sergio," he greets.
"Ciao, Brother," I answer.
"We need to talk." Demetri nods to Dominic and leads us inside to the kitchen.
I stop short at the sight of a beautiful girl dressed in Demetri's clothes. She has long mousy brown hair and piercing green eyes. She's tall but not as tall as us and she has nice curves. There is fear in her eyes and the bruises on her face are only now fading.
"Butterfly, can you give us a minute?" Dimitri smiles.
She nods, picks up her coffee and heads for the back door. We watch as she leaves and when we hear the back door close, Demetri speaks.
"What happened?"
Dominic explains about the fire at the club and the spray paint. Demetri runs his hand over his bald head.
"Boss, I'm sorry I did that shit at the club but I'm not sorry I killed him." He breaths out heavily. "He lorded it over everyone in the club that night and then gripped my girl so hard, she squealed and flinched in pain. He dragged her from the club to the alley out back where he wanted to fucking rape her. She fought him hard but he punched her in the face." He slams his hands down on the kitchen bench, lowers his head, sucks in a deep breath before looking back up and continues. "I'm glad that fucker is dead and I'd kill him again in a heartbeat if he was here now."
"Fuck, Demetri, I wasn't pissed you killed the fucker. I'm pissed it happened where it did." Dom means we don't draw attention to ourselves, we take that shit to the docks, out of sight.
I replay Demetri's words in my head and ask, "your girl?"
"Si, I knew she was my girl the minute she walked into the club. The things that fucker did to her, he's lucky I shot him and he died fast." He paces the floor. "What now?"
"You keep your ass here with that girl and leave the rest to us. We need to settle this shit. I'll get Antonio to call you."
"Si, Boss." He flips the kettle on at the same time we here the back door open.
When I turn, his girl is standing looking at all of us.
"Butterfly, this is Dominic and Sergio. This is Sophie." Demetri introduces us all and she slowly makes her way over to shake our hands. She's pretty but my girl is all I need.
"Let's have a coffee," Demetri says.
I want to say no, that I have to get back to my girl but, Dominic beats me to it.
"We have some other stuff to take care of but bring Sophie over to the house sometime this week. Once Brooklyn learns of her, she'll aggravate the shit out of me until they meet."
Demetri and I chuckle. There isn't a man alive who would risk annoying Dominic, not if they wanted to keep their teeth but, Brooklyn could ask anything of him and he'd fall to his knees to make sure she's happy.
We leave the house, get back into the car and head back to my place ten minutes away. I remain silent as I drive, I know not to speak when Dom is deep in thought. I pull into my driveway and switch off the engine.
"Let's find out what Theo found,
have a coffee and I'll take you back to your place."
"Si, brother."
We stride to the door, I twist the handle and push it open. I'm frozen in place when I see my place has been tossed. I shout out for Kirsty but there's no answer, I know in my gut she's not here but I bolt up the stairs with my heart in my throat. I search the rooms frantically but there's nothing.
"Fuck," Dominic yells and a string of Italian curse words follow.
I barrel back down the steps, taking them two at a time and race to the kitchen. Theo is on the floor, his laptop smashed into pieces beside him but that's not what has my blood running cold.
Dominic is standing in front of someone and there is blood everywhere. I'm too scared to step aside to see who it is. Dominic steps away and I see Mickey strapped into a chair, he's dead. He's been fucking tortured.
Dominic snatches a paper from Mickey's chest and reads what it says.
"Fucking piece of shit!" He screams out before kicking a small table across the room.
I take the paper from his hands and every muscle in my body locks up, I'm ready to kill after I see the words which are written….
Can't save her now
Chapter Twenty-Three
Kirsty
"Wake up, you stupid little bitch."
I groan in pain when someone kicks me hard in the stomach. I roll over, coughing hard, feeling like I'm going to throw up. When I blink my eyes open, I see Bruno J standing above me. Tears flood my eyes when I remember what had happened earlier.
"You honestly thought you could get away from me little pie? You thought those assholes could protect you?" He bends forward and cackles in my face, my stomach rolls at the stench of his breath. I can't believe I'm back here, I'd tried to fight them but there were too many of them and when I saw what they'd done to Theo, I gave up.
I sob when I think about what they'd done to Mickey, strapping him to a chair. His screams echoed in the house, they were questioning him and when he refused to answer, they would cut him. I begged him to tell them what they wanted to know, but no matter what they did, he stayed firm and I was forced to watch as the life drained from his eyes.
"Time to get up." Bruno J grabs a handful of my hair and drags me onto my feet.
Instinctively, my hands flew to my head to lessen the pain. With his free hand, he slaps me hard across the face, splitting my lip. I run my tongue along the stinging wound and taste blood in my mouth.
He drags me to the wall and pushed me into place by jamming his shoulder into my chest, knocking the air from my lungs. He snaps handcuffs, hanging from a ring on the wall, to my wrists. I suck in my breath when he pulls out a knife and slices it through my clothes, leaving me in only bra and panties.
"Okay little pie, it's time to teach you all over again. To teach you all the lessons you knew before those fucking Italians took you." He shakes his head. "I have a friend I owe you to and it's cost me a fucking fortune to hold him off until I could get you to him. So, you're going to repay me by being a good girl and doing exactly as you're told. Aren't you?" He grabs my face hard and I wince at the pain in my lip before nodding. I close my eyes willing Sergio to find me. A tear slides free, I know what is coming.
Bruno J leans forward and rams his tongue into my mouth, instead of giving up and accepting my fate, I latch on with my teeth and bite down as hard as I can. I taste his blood in my mouth.
He yells, pulls back and curses as his arm draws back and he punches me hard in the face. Because I'm bound against the wall, I have no way to avoid it and take the full force.
"You stupid little bitch." He spits blood onto the floor by my feet. "Karen!" he screams out. I hear the sound of high heels clicking on the tiled floor. I cringe inwardly, trying not to let my fear show.
"Pie needs another lesson before Paulie gets here. Don't mark her up too bad or he won't take her."
"Sure thing, Boss." She has a sadistic smile on her face and I brace for what's to come next. I close my eyes when I hear the door close and her cheap perfume surrounds me.
I close my eyes and calm my racing heart by thinking about what Sergio had said. I am yours and you are mine. I'm stronger than I was because of him, because of his love. I need to fight for me. For us. To feel. I hear a cupboard door close and when I hear the crack of a belt, I open my eyes. I watch as she stalks toward me.
"I told you, you can never hide from us." She cackles viciously.
The first couple of blows land and I suck in a breath against the pain. I become lax, allowing the cuffs to take my weight, my head lowered. I lift my eyes and watch her return to a cupboard, she puts the belt away before coming back to me. I take deep breaths, my legs sting and shake.
Karen reaches up and unfastens the handcuffs and I realize this is my only chance. I blow out a deep breath, steadying myself as both arms are released.
I grab the bitch's shoulders. Lean back and head butt her. My head spins at the hard contact but I steady myself, I look up to see her holding her nose which pours blood.
"You stupid little bitch," she screams. Before she can make a move, I punch her in the face. Left. Right. Left. Exactly as Serio taught me. She lands on her ass on the floor and one of her shoes slides free. I snatch it up. I'm not thinking when I jump on her and start hitting her in the face with the heel, my final swing punctures her eye and blood spurts all over us both.
I push away, scurrying along the floor on my ass, watching as she collapses into a pool of her blood. I take a deep breath and smile when I think of how proud Sergio would be. When a door slams open, I jump to my feet, ready to fight again.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Sergio
"Make sure Nico stays with them until I get back and get him to make sure the alarms are on." Dominic paces as he speaks into his phone. "Si, now get your ass here." He ends the call and jams the phone in his pocket.
"Boss, I need to go and find her." I sound pissed because I am. We're wasting time and thinking about what could be happening to my woman is driving me out of my mind. I hear Theo groan and turn to see him sitting on the sofa.
"Fucken assholes," he spits out while rubbing the side of his head.
"The bullet grazed the side of your head, I stitched you up. You'll be fine but you'll probably have a headache for a while." Doc packs up his bag.
I slam a bottle of pain tablets down on the table in front of him along with a glass of water.
"Talk." I fold my arms across my chest. I know I'm being an asshole right now but I need the information.
"Fuck, Sergio, give him a second," Dominic growls.
"We don't have a fucking second!" I shout out in frustration. I feel the weight of Dom's hand come down on my shoulder and he gives it a squeeze. Uncrossing my arms, I run a hand through my hair, trying to calm down.
"I need my laptop." Theo slams his glass down on the table after taking a couple of pills.
"It's smashed to fucking pieces," I inform him.
"I have a spare in the car."
Thank fuck. I race out to his car and thank fuck it's unlocked. I reach inside and push the button to release the boot, grab the laptop and head back inside to where Theo is now waiting at the kitchen table. I place it down and wait for what feels like forever for him to start it up. He taps the keyboard and when he swings it toward us, there's another picture of Bruno J on the screen. This one is different though, there's a woman with him.
"When I was searching through everything last night this picture popped up. Her name is Karen." He points to the picture of the brown-haired woman.
"I dug a little deeper and it turns out she's indebted to Bruno J. She lives in Stockton. She also has a place in Sydney but my bet is they are in Stockton at the moment and that's where Kirsty is."
"Let's go," Dominic orders at the same time Antonio races through the door. He looks different and it takes me a few seconds to realize his arm is no longer in a sling.
"What's up with that?" I point at his arm.
"Fuck, I was
over it, I don't need it."
I nod before we race to one of the cars out front and jump in. I hope to Christ we get to my woman in time.
***
We crawl down the street until we come to an old run-down house, fuck, it's barely standing and calling it a house is a bit of a stretch. It's taken us twenty-five minutes to get here and my stomach is churning, thinking what they could be doing to my girl. I don't blame Antonio, there was no faster way to get here. There's only one bridge which leads into Stockton and it's busy as shit because the road over runs through an industrial area.
We pull to a stop a couple of doors up and Antonio switches off the engine. "How are we going to do this, Boss?" He checks his guns and I pull mine out again, ready to get this shit over and done with.
"Sergio and I will go through the front door, you cover the back and catch anyone who tries to escape. It's time we ended this shit, here and now."
"What the fuck are we hanging around for?" I growl before stepping out of the car.
Dominic grabs my arm. "Sergio, calm down and get your shit together or instead of getting your woman, you'll leave the house in a body bag."
"Clear heads," Antonio says as he joins us.
I know what they say is true but I'm struggling to control myself. I need my woman back in my arms, to know she's safe. I nod at the pair of them even though I'm churning with worry.
We make quick work of crossing the front yard to the front of the house and Antonio keeps to the shadows as he creeps around back.
I peek through the torn curtains at the front window and see two men talking. I look back to Dom and hold up two fingers. When I look back, I see another person come from downstairs and head towards the back. I turn back to Dom and indicate one more. He nods his understanding.
We creep to the front door and Dominic gives a signal before smashing in the front door. The old wood offers no resistance and it splinters on impact before what's left crashes against a wall. We barge in and start shooting.
BANG!
BANG!
