“Ah, shit!” His head flies backward as he clutches his nose. “Bitch!”
Unsteadily, I aim my gun and let bullets fly recklessly, shooting him in his stomach. He sways backward in shock, and I surge up, but the second attacker loops an arm around my waist, knocking the breath out of me, and hinders my escape.
In reaction, I raise the pistol and slam it back into his face.
“Stupid cunt,” is hissed into my ear.
Getting use out of my self-defense classes, I bend forward with all my strength and jam my gun backward two more times so that the pain forces him to loosen his hold on me. In the dark, I can barely make out his features, but a glimmer of moonlight betrays his menacing expression right before I flee deeper into the darkened, looming trees.
Worn-out, I can’t run anymore, although I’m still being followed. Distress almost cripples me, making my limbs shaky.
“You’ll pay for that!” His voice echoes through my eardrums.
When I hear the man gaining on me, I’m able to get moving again, pumped full of adrenaline. I dodge under a branch, and tree limbs slice the exposed skin on my hands and cheeks as I make my way to another garden where I discover a footpath.
“You fucking cunt. I’ll find you!” The man’s tone becomes angrier with every passing second.
Without having any time to think, I crouch alongside a hedge and scurry down an obscure path lined with trees. I settle on a brisk pace along the moonlit track, a pale road leading to the unknown. When I go around a wide curve and hear a sudden loud snap ahead, I halt, straining to detect further movement. Two or more men are advancing on me from both directions of the pathway. As my eyes begin to adjust to the darkness, I look around for a way out, but I only spot hedgerows, flowers, and a wooden bench that seems to be a children’s bench that’s built very close to the ground. Leaping over it, I swoop low and notice a scant place to hide underneath it. While lying flat on my back with the gun grasped in my left hand, I scoot my body to the side and underneath the crammed, filthy space with my nose almost pressed to the underside of the bench and my arms flat at my sides. My own short, deafening breaths almost suffocate me. I lie there, winded, my back pressed into pine needles, and listen as a hint of light streams through the cracks between the boards. Then I feel something crawling on my neck, and I shudder, swallowing back a whimper. Bugs slither through my hair, and I bite the inside of my cheek, fighting the urge to cry.
No!
I shut my eyes tightly, forcing myself not to imagine what kind of horrific insects are walking over my skin, and I lie completely still, knowing that something far more frightening awaits me if I’m discovered.
“Where did she go?” someone asks. But no one answers, spiking my anxiety.
The voice is right on the other side of my hiding place. And the bench thumps as one of the men kicks it. I remain absolutely motionless, frozen with terror as the frigid air sinks into my jeans, thousands of needles pricking my skin.
Then my name’s being called again, but from farther away. I pray that this is a sign that the immediate danger has passed.
How long should I wait before moving?
Thankfully, I hear my salvation just in the nick of time. “Cam?!”
It sounds like Adriano! Could it be him? Hold on just a tad longer.
The hairs on my neck stiffen. My pulse races as I slowly turn my head to look through a crack in the wooden boards, and to my absolute horror, I see an eye looking back at me.
“Gotcha!” he hisses.
I scream and jerk from the shock, accidentally knocking my forehead against the bench, before I’m hauled out by my ankle in one swift motion. Someone topples onto me as my gun is kicked from my hand, and I shriek from the pain in my fingers. Then I distinctly feel a sting in my neck, and the last thing I remember is the sound of Adriano’s frantic voice searching for me in the far distance.
CHAPTER 24
Adriano
“Where the fuck did she go?” I’m in a foul mood now.
“Adriano.” A Capo comes up to me, restraining a woman who’s wearing a light-brown coat and has a short auburn bob similar to Cam’s.
“What happened?” I release Wade.
“Everyone ran toward the entrance of the street after this woman.”
I eye her. “She was a decoy. So where’s Cam? No one saw which way she went? And most of you blindly followed one woman?”
“No, there were more decoys. They’ve been paid to walk around here, but none of the women have useful information for us,” the Capo explains.
I scrub my mouth briskly while Luca gives out orders, but not before he mutters, “I said there was another master plan. Fallon, go home with my Capo and take Rosalia with you. Wade, take five soldiers with you and search this entire area. Where’s James?”
“Right here. Mine was a look-a-like as well.” James joins us, out of breath.
“This was all planned out. Medlov wanted Cam,” I state as the realization dawns on me.
I push people out of my way and return to the bookstore within seconds, but it’s already locked and closed. Snatching my gun, I check both sides of the lengthy street and go right to some kind of park. Luca’s on my tail, and I tell him, “You go with two soldiers across the street. The rest, follow me.”
I peek through the gate into a well-trimmed garden and notice shadows moving before I hear a yell. Without wasting a moment, I climb over the gate, but the garden is poorly lit and filled with greenery.
“Cam? Cam!” My unsteady tone is unlike it’s ever been before.
“Camilla?” The two soldiers behind me echo my call and disperse while I roam through the hedges.
Standing still, I make another effort to decipher any sounds, but only the howl of the wind reaches my ears.
After several minutes of what feel like hours of checking the area, I come up empty, so I pace back toward my car.
As I move through the throng in the street, Luca runs up to me. “Adriano, where are you going?”
“I’m going to Medlov’s house because I can guarantee that he has her.” I keep on walking with determined strides.
“No.” He seizes my upper arm, coercing me to stop. “Maybe she isn’t there. Or maybe there’s a trap for you at his house because he was counting on us to lose control and act without thinking.”
I glare at his fingers curled around my arm. “Let me go. Don’t try to stop me!” Then I pull my arm free.
Continuing on to my BMW, I hear Luca command our men to follow me.
I slam the door closed and call Henry, who answers immediately, as always. “Text me Yakiv Medlov’s address right now.” And I hang up.
Unable to spare even a second to get my bearings, I swerve onto the road, almost grazing cars as they honk. But I don’t give a shit and step on the gas, skating a red light.
Exactly seven minutes later, I race through the open gates of Medlov’s estate, and my tires screech over a concrete driveway. This is definitely a trap because there are security guards everywhere, and Medlov has left the front gate wide open for me, but logical thinking is failing me completely.
I brake in front of the white mansion, and without cutting the engine, I bolt out, taking the steps three at a time and knocking on the heavy door with my gun.
My fuming reflection stares back at me in the glass side panel as I bellow, “Medlov!”
More cars pull up behind me right before the door is opened by a greying, middle-aged butler. “Sir, what can I do for you?”
“Where’s Medlov?” I smack open the door, pushing the servant out of the way and barging inside an enormous, pristine foyer with twin staircases curving up to the second floor.
“It’s okay, Alfred.” Medlov comes down the stairs as I advance on him at the bottom of them.
Alfred? Really?
I extend my arm, cocking my Smith & Wesson. “What did you do with Cam?”
Reason left my system the second I found out she was missing. My heart is screaming
to take any risk to get her back, but my mind is arguing to not put myself in this vulnerable position.
“What’s with the home invasion?” Medlov acts all innocent.
“Don’t play games with me. Where. Is. Cam?” I aim my weapon between his eyes, but he just stands there conceitedly as his soldiers, and mine, enter the foyer.
“Don’t come into my house and threaten me,” Medlov chides.
“Where the fuck is she?” I only have one thought occupying my mind.
“What are you talking about? You just saw me; when would I have taken her?”
“Where’s Cam?!” I click off the safety.
Then, out of nowhere, someone jumps me from the side, but I manage to keep my footing, and with a ferocious grunt, I strike my fist into his stomach and knee his groin before tossing him aside and lurching at Medlov.
My soldiers are held back by his soldiers as Medlov and I topple onto the stairs, wrestling, and I beat the back of his head against a step.
“I know you have her!” I yell viciously, but he punches me in the face, blurring my vision.
A shot rings out, and a scorching pain sears my shoulder. Craning my neck, I see blood seeping into my dress shirt, and Luca darkens the doorway, assessing the situation. He holds up his hands when he realizes that we’re overpowered, and Medlov and I both sit up on the stairs.
“Take your Capo crimine,” Medlov spits at Luca, swiping a trickle of blood from the corner of his mouth.
Luca moves to me and bends to place his shoulder under my arm to help me stand, whispering, “This is our one chance to get out of here alive. We’ll be of no use to Cam if we’re dead. We need to regroup.”
His words puncture my soul because my instinct is blaring that she’s here, but I also recognize that I don’t have a choice, and that tears me apart. Still, I let Luca guide me outside.
Right before Medlov’s soldier closes the door, Medlov yells from inside, “We don’t have Cam yet, but we’re having a lot of fun hunting her.”
And they bolt the door just as my fury explodes, and I fire a round, letting bullets ricochet off the bulletproof windows.
“I will come for you, Medlov!” I declare, biting through the ache in my shoulder.
Soldiers duck down, and Luca knocks my gun from my grip. “Adriano, calmati.” Calm down. “We need to go now, and you need that wound tended to. Fuck, we can’t afford to lose any more time by going out on our own like this.”
“I don’t think we should leave. She has to be here,” I reply, swaying on my legs from the loss of blood, but my temper keeps me upright.
“We don’t have a choice, Adriano. And I don’t think she’s here. There’s something going on, and we’re completely in the dark; that’s not a position I enjoy.” Luca snaps his fingers, and the soldiers jump into action. “You ride with me. A soldier will take your car back.”
For a second, I’m frozen, incapable of making a decision, but Luca forces me into his Maserati.
“Rally up all of the soldiers, Luca. No one sleeps until she’s found,” I say while I’m experiencing an emotion wholly unknown to me – complete and utter panic.
CHAPTER 25
Camilla
I groan as consciousness pulls at me. My eyelids flutter open, and I find myself lying on a soft mattress. Lifting my hand, I flinch from the soreness on my palms, which are covered in scratches and dirt, and my head is pounding. As I look around, trying to figure out where I am, I notice something moving along the lapel of my coat. I bolt up, scrubbing my hair like a madwoman and rubbing my neck violently to get rid of the insects.
Unexpectedly, I hear a familiar voice yelling, “Medlov!”
It sounds like someone switched on an intercom, because although I can clearly hear Adriano’s voice, there’s no one in the room with me. Across from the bed is a window, so I edge closer and look out into a white foyer with curving stairways, one of which Medlov’s descending. The front entrance is just being opened, and Adriano’s harried face appears.
Thank goodness he’s found me!
“Adriano?!” I slam my hands against the glass, ignoring the pain in my palms, but no one seems to hear or see me. The window must be mirrored and soundproof.
“Don’t play games with me. Where. Is. Cam?” Adriano demands and points his weapon at Medlov.
Is Adriano alone?
At that moment, soldiers barge in too, and Medlov and Adriano speak, but the sound is muted.
What are they talking about?
A horrifying scene plays out as I have to watch Adriano losing control. Brutally, he attacks Medlov, who remains calm, probably expecting this.
I scream and pound against the glass when the soldiers start to fight as well, and I see one shooting Adriano in the shoulder as he’s struggling with Medlov on the staircase.
“No!” Panicked, I turn around and spot a chair in the corner.
Grabbing the back of the chair, I beat its legs against the window until they splinter. However, the glass won’t break, so I throw the chair aside and press my palms against the window, silently praying that Adriano doesn’t get murdered due to his lethal and uncontrolled madness about not being able to find me.
But suddenly, Luca’s there and helping Adriano outside. It occurs so fast that Adriano’s gone before I realize what’s happening.
“No! Where are you going?” I shout as I bang on the window, even though I know they can’t hear me.
Why are they leaving? Is Adriano lethally wounded?
“Adriano! Luca!” I continue to scream to no purpose, and the burst of hope that flared up when Adriano arrived, dissolves just as quickly.
Confused, I edge back to the bed. Feeling the soreness in my entire body, a tear streams down my cheek, not from physical pain, but from the devastation of my heart. Because not knowing if Adriano’s okay hurts far worse than any of my injuries. Now that the adrenaline rush has subsided, terror fills its place.
I’m alone with the enemy.
My rampant thoughts are interrupted when Medlov, accompanied by two of his guards, unlocks the door and settles his scowl on me.
“Well, you look wild,” he taunts. “I hope you like your accommodations? And that you saw your pretty boy crumble just now?”
Lunging up in anger, I’m held back by my arms by his men.
“Jeez, you Italians are very aggressive,” Medlov mocks and warns, “Don’t hurt her.”
“You’ll never get away with this. Adriano will hound you until he finds me.”
“Now you may hit her,” he comments.
I get smacked in the cheek and bite my lip against the pain.
Medlov inches closer to me. “I’m counting on that. However, he did just leave you behind.”
He’s trying to plant seeds of doubt within me.
“But without you, he’s much weaker. You’re his Achilles heel. And it’s time someone teaches the Chicago Syndicate a lesson, which is the only reason I let your man walk away.” The corner of his mouth slowly rises. “The games have just begun, Camilla.”
“What the hell do you want from us?” My voice is flat and hard.
“Calm down, and we can talk.” He waits for me to settle. “Do you want to talk?”
I stand, unmoving, between his soldiers as they let go of my arms, and that’s apparently enough of an answer for Medlov, because he continues.
“What I want is for all of you to fucking treat me with the respect I deserve in this town.” His eyes narrow into impenetrable slits.
“Jesus Christ, we’ll never work with you,” I throw back, disbelieving that he’s still singing that same tune.
“Work with me?” His face twists as if there’s a bad taste in his mouth. “It’s not about working with me anymore. I only wanted to partner with the Syndicate in the very beginning. But not only did your organization ignore my offers, you fucking built the most successful sex club in the Loop, so now I’m losing all my clientele. Your Syndicate started this!”
“Do yo
u even realize how big we are?” I insult, not recoiling under his imposing presence.
He cocks his head cheekily. “Hmm, that’s where the initial problems arose. It was quite difficult to discover information about your team. Well, almost impossible, and that’s the only reason why I had to wait so long and watch Adriano Montesi and Luca DeMiliano become more powerful with each passing month. And that doesn’t sit well with me, especially since they have a flourishing sex club that was intended to be mine. I was supposed to receive all holdings from Sal in case of his death, but to my complete surprise, the transfer to Montesi was airtight and legal. I still don’t know how Adriano arranged that.”
I stay quiet and absorb his words, finally able to piece this puzzle together.
“Italians are untrustworthy and only work with other Italians. I want you out of the sex club. I want Club 7. I asked them nicely to at least do business with me, but the Syndicate’s men are arrogant and think they’re untouchable. But now, I’ve proven them wrong, because I managed to take you.”
“If you wanted me, why did you take Rosalia and involve Fallon?” I don’t understand this.
“My interest was never in Rosalia or Fallon. Taking Rosalia and requesting the meet with Fallon were part of my plan to get to you. The only thing that seems to weaken Adriano is you, and I needed that fucking well-oiled team out of the Loop so that I’d get a chance to take you. Again, it was all to get to you because you are the key to getting what I want. I tried to observe you, but that’s practically impossible. You’re guarded better than the president, which told me you had to be someone very important to him. So I contacted Serena, the vindictive ex, who was easily persuaded. She’s not as ingenious as she lets on. I used her crazy infatuation with Adriano’s power to get her to provide me inside information.”
For Cam (Chicago Syndicate Book 4) Page 17
