by Sadie Jacks
Loving Talia
Amatucci Family Book Five
Sadie Jacks
© 2021 Sadie Jacks
All rights reserved. This book or parts thereof may not be reproduced in any form, stored in any retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means–electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or otherwise- without prior written permission of the publisher, except as provided by the United States copyright law. For permission requests, write to the publisher at [email protected]
This is a work of fiction. All names, characters, places, brands and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or places is entirely coincidental.
Please note that this e-book is ONLY distributed through Amazon. If you obtained this copy from elsewhere, please email the author on the email address above, as this is a pirated copy.
Editing by Niki Trento-Spencer
Cover design by Natasha Williams with Dazed Designs. www.dazed-designs.com
1st Edition
Other books by Sadie Jacks
Amatucci Family Series
Chase the Pain (Released August 28, 2020)
His Love is Pain (Released September 25, 2020)
Sweet Pain (released October 30, 2020)
Needing Arturo (released December 25, 2020)
Loving Talia (this book you’re reading right now)
Finding Domenico (releasing February 26, 2021)
Freeing Massimo (releasing March 26, 2021)
Keeping Raphael (releasing April 23, 2021)
Circle of the Stars – PNR RH (series complete)
Celtic gods/goddesses, dragon shifters, and druids
Breakaway
Bonded
Brutal
Brilliance
Iron Serpent Chronicles (series complete)
Not your typical PNR RH. This series takes a wide step to the side in terms of harems. Please note, not all characters introduced at the beginning of the series are in one harem. But every main character does get a happily ever after.
Caged Magic
Wild Magic
Warring Magic
Broken Magic
Magic Freed
Dedication
First and most importantly, Jesus Christ. If you are ever interested in the kind of unconditional love found in my stories between family members, then you give me a shout. I have someone I want to introduce you to.
Niki, Cherrie: You lovelies are awesome. I can’t describe it any other way.
Val, Mary, Karly, Kat: Thank you so much for being part of my team. You guys don’t know how much you mean to me.
Mom and Dad: I love you both more than I can ever express. Thanks for being the best parents in the world.
TRIGGER WARNING: This book is for mature readers. Please be aware that there is talk of potentially triggering topics within this book with references and/or detailed descriptions of violence, physical, mental abuse, rape, suicide, murder, and other sensitive topics that some readers may find offensive.
Chapter 1 – Talia
I gritted my teeth as the tires slipped and slid over the newest layer of ice and snow that covered the ground in pristine white. Instead of getting to watch it fall from the midnight sky, a cup of hot chocolate in my hands, a fuzzy blanket around my shoulders, in my best comfy jammies, I was rocketing across town to a meet up with a competing family. But I needed to do this. Win this. To win at least one.
The roads were treacherous. Slick and slippery. I rounded the final corner. Felt the road drift away under the tires. I tried to turn into the fishtail. Why did they have to meet out in BFE anyways? There were perfectly sketchy and abandoned warehouses downtown. But nooo. Just like a man to make me have to dance to his tune to get some satisfaction.
With a jerk and a shudder, the car finally straightened out. My heart fell back into my chest as the adrenaline slowly dissipated from my system. Assholes. Making me drive out this far.
Your destination is ahead on your right, the navigation system told me. Yeah, because I didn’t already know that, bitch. I made a mental note to have Nik play with the system some more. I didn’t like the automatic navigation option she’d written.
I gritted my teeth as my situation crashed down around me. Again. Racing off to deal with the Russians who said they had information on Amara wasn’t really how I’d thought this night would end. For the second time in a row, girls’ night had ended with Foster Fucking Ambright rocking my entire world. The moves that man had in bed were good enough to make me rethink my opinions on deities.
I eased to the corner, my headlights already off. Under the full moon and silent snowfall, the world looked peaceful and new. I scoffed. It was full of family, blood, tradition, enemies, and loss. The juxtaposition of the pristine over the gory reality of my life just pissed me off.
Thrusting the door open, I shuddered in the frigid blast of air. Time to win, girl. Let’s get this over and done with.
Getting out of the car, I walked as quietly as possible to the small dark house on the outskirts of town. The sighing crunch of snow under my boots sounded as loud as bombs exploding in the silent night. What I wouldn’t give to be as quiet as Mas.
I shook the thought off. My second youngest brother wasn’t here. Hell, he wasn’t even in the country. He was looking for his daughter, my niece. A girl neither of us had ever met. Amara de Silva.
She was why I was here. In a frozen meeting with an unverified contact. We were running out of leads. And that little girl was all that was keeping my little brother whole. I would go to the ends of the world to find her. I would stomp into hell to give Mas a fighting chance to meet her.
Hands in my pockets, I clutched the gun tighter. I wasn’t stupid enough to show up without fire power. Even knowing I’d probably be frisked before I got to talk to the head guy. It’s why I had taken a gun from the library and not one of my own.
“Stop right there,” a masculine voice called out. The harsh Russian accent was easy to detect.
I halted, held my hands in the air. “I came alone.”
“We see that. Throw your gun out of your pocket. Toss it away.”
“Not until I see someone’s face,” I called back.
Two men stepped forward. Under the milky light of the moon, I couldn’t discern any distinguishing features. Both tall, they were covered from head to toe in black. Including the balaclavas that hid most of their faces. Only their eyes and bridges of their noses shone in the weak light.
They carried themselves with the ready attention of seasoned soldiers. Weight dispersed and ready to move in any direction. Their guns were pointed at the ground, but I had no doubt that they could be aimed at my heart in zero point two seconds.
“Gun. Now,” the speaker said.
Neither of the two soldiers seemed to be the speaker. So I had at least one other person unaccounted for. That said nothing of any more they might be traveling with.
Awesome. Maybe I should have waited for Foster to come with me.
My pride bucked. The hell you say. You’ve got this, girl. Now, pull up your big girl panties and start dealing.
I pulled my gun from my pocket, tossed it out into the street. “Make sure someone picks that up, yeah?” I shot them a smile. To be honest, it wouldn’t matter if the police found it. We had a good librarian and he didn’t miss a trick. Ever.
“I’m unarmed. What’s your information?” I kept my hands out to the sides of my body. Maybe I didn’t have a
ny guns anymore, but my hands and body had been honed and toned into weapons of their own. Krav Maga was my defense of choice, and I was good at it. Very good.
“We do not do business in the open. Follow the men. They will lead you inside. In accordance with our terms, no harm will com—”
From up the street, a dark vehicle rounded the corner. The muzzle flash and sound of suppressed gunfire filled the sleepy street.
I cursed as I hit the ground. “You fuckers!”
“You brought back up?!” the man screamed at me.
The vehicle—a dark cargo van with blacked out windows—pulled up beside me.
Shit. This was bad. This was very, very bad.
I tried to get to my feet. Tried to run or even crawl away. The snow was my downfall.
More gunfire poured from the vehicle as two men jumped out of the back. Their steps were sure and easy as they ran for me.
I finally made it to my feet. I darted up and around the car, pulled my phone from my pocket. Punching in the crisis code, I tried to type out a message to my family and keep away from the men who were trying to box me in.
Just as I was about to hit send, a sharp pinching stab pierced my neck and through my terror My fingers went numb as my brain decided now was a good time to take a little nap. Well shit. This wasn’t good at all.
Chapter 2 – Foster
I cradled my arm against my body. Sighed. “Did you really have to shoot me?” I asked Arturo, the oldest of the Amatucci children.
“Yeah. I did. You should be glad that I only winged you. Now explain. In great detail.” He waved me over from the kitchen island to sit in one of the chairs.
“Could you at least put some damn clothes on? Interrogations with a naked dude should be listed under cruel and unusual.” I sat down. Ripped a pillow case off the seemingly million throw pillows strewn around the loft. Fashioning a crude tourniquet, I staunched the blood flow in my arm while Turo got some clothes on.
He was back out in the open concept living and dining area, his woman next to him.
“What the fuck, Foster? You didn’t get any pussy tonight, so you decided to crash everyone’s parade?” Nik said as she stomped across the floor to the kitchen area. She got some kind of kettle thing down along with a bag of something else.
“Talia went out to meet with the Russians,” I said, looking Turo straight in the eye.
“You said that already. Tell me something new and useful or you end here.” He raised the gun to point at my chest. The man didn’t miss what he aimed at either.
“The agency is interested in some of your contacts,” I started.
From behind me, Nik gasped as she slammed something down on the counter. “The agency. As in the CIA?” She slapped me up the back of the head. “You asshole. You’ve been dealing double for the CIA and you’re just now telling us?”
Her arm came up around my neck, locking me into the hold as her free hand batted wrenched my head down so I could barely breathe.
With one arm out of commission, I couldn’t do a whole lot to break her hold. And I didn’t really deserve to get out of this unscathed. Bullet grazing notwithstanding.
“Cricket, we need him,” Turo said.
I looked up at him as my vision went a little fuzzy at the edges.
“For now,” Turo finished.
Nik let me go, I sucked in huge breaths as I rubbed my throat. “Why the fuck do you call her that? She’s not some annoying chirpy insect.”
Turo smiled. “There are certain species of female crickets who cannibalize their mates during sex. Ryker once said that Nik eats men for breakfast.” He wiggled his eyebrows.
Nik stomped around the back of the couch. “That’s why you call me cricket?” She slapped at his chest.
He laughed, nodded.
At least they weren’t focused on me anymore. But I did need them focused on Talia. She was more important right now.
“To answer your question, Nik, no, I wasn’t double dealing for the Agency. They approached me when Willow and Ryker did their deal on her parents. They wanted me to dig around, see what I could find on you guys. Here and abroad. Seems they’re more interested in some of your contacts, than in you personally. So that’s a win.” I smiled. That was more damning by faint praise than anything else, but at least they weren’t actively being traced.
The happy couple broke up. Both turned to glare at me. I wasn’t sure which of them to be more wary of at that point. Nik was swift in her dealings. Turo…I bet that man liked to drag things out. Make his point in vibrant, swirling colors of pain and torture.
“And you let her go out to this meet alone?” Turo asked. His dark brows lowered, his voice went calm.
I shook my head. “I tried to go after her. Hell, I tried to get the guys downstairs to keep her from leaving. But they’re loyal to her and the family. Not to me. They kept me here.”
“Sure, pawn off the blame on to the lower rung guys, Ambright. You asshole,” Nik muttered.
She wasn’t wrong. But I wasn’t really concerned with niceties. Ever. Unless it suited my purposes.
“Which bratva is she meeting with?” Turo asked as he lowered his weapon. He pulled his phone from his pocket.
“Medvedev.”
Turo’s jaw clenched as he shook his head. “Get your contact list lit up. I want eyes on her in five minutes. Every minute you take over that, gets you a new hole in your body. If I have to reload, you die.”
I had my phone in hand and up to my ear before he finished his threat. What the fuck had I been thinking? That they would allow me to discuss with them rationally? That they would be blasé about the fact that their sister was meeting with a competing family and we could laugh about it after dinner?
“What, Ambright?” the woman snarled. “You’ve already ruined my night. What could you possibly have to add to it?”
“I need eyes on her. You’re the best bet. Give me a link and I’ll help you.”
Barbara ‘Babs’ Stuart sighed down the line. In my almost seventeen year history with the director of clandestine operations, I’d never heard that kind of emotion from her.
My entire body braced for impact. I pulled the phone from my ear. Looked up at Nik and Turo, motioned for them to keep silent. “Tell me, Babs. Now.”
“She’s gone. Three of the Medvedev lackies were on the ground, riddled with bullet holes.”
Turo opened his mouth.
I shot him a look that promised his death.
He closed it. The look he gave me in return made me wish death had been in his gaze.
“You should have been seconds behind her, Babs. What the fuck happened?” I buried the anger, the fear, the outrage. None of that would help me. Help Talia.
“We were less than a minute behind her. The tracker on her car was clear and steady. We were getting ready to pull up and scoop everyone up.”
I fisted my hand on my lap. “Give me what I want, Babs. Give it to me now. No questions. No strings. Nothing. And I might let you live.”
“If you’d done what I told you to do the first time—”
“How many fucking times do I have to tell you?” I screamed. My control obliterated at the idea that this was my fault. “I don’t work for you anymore.” I took a steadying breath, tucked everything back in where it belonged. Getting emotional wasn’t going to help anyone.
Especially Talia.
“Find her, Babs. Reach out, call in whatever favors you have to, but you find her. Or I’ll come find you.” I hung up. Fought the rib crushing pressure in my chest.
“Five minutes, Ambright,” Turo said. He pulled the trigger.
A shout escaped my mouth as another bullet sliced through the outer edge of the same damn arm he’d shot earlier. “FUCK!”
“Sixty seconds before round three.” He smiled slightly as he casually looked at the clock on the wall.
I lifted my phone again. If the Russians had taken her, I had Russians to call. Lots and lots of Russians.
I just prayed I wouldn’t have to call one in particular.
Calling her would not end well.
For any of us.
Chapter 3 – Talia
THWAP!
My head bounced against something hard, jarring me from the void of sickly nothingness. On my back, all I could see were the low lights overhead. Bile coated the back of my throat as I tried to breathe through the nausea. The sloshing and slipping of my brain from one side to the other.
“She’s awake,” someone called in a high voice.
Unable to push it down, I made it to my side before my stomach gave a giant heave.
Only to be caught by whatever they had over my mouth.
Vomit rushed up into my nose, was forced down into my throat. My airways. Terror and fear swamped my mind as all my options for breathing were removed. I was going to die here. Suffocating on my own vomit.
“The fuck! Get the tape off her mouth. She’s going to die and then where will we be?” a man yelled as someone darted forward in the cramped space.
As soon as the ripping pull of my delicate flesh was completed, I was coughing and spitting. Fire burned my nostrils as air forced its way through the narrow openings. My esophagus and trachea felt like charred remains after a bonfire.
I lay panting on the seats as the briny scent of stomach refuse wafted up towards me. My eyes watered as my belly threatened to evacuate itself again. I moaned, curled up in a ball.
Focus, girl. Focus. You need to get your game face on. Pull your shit together and start making a plan.
Opening my lips a little, I pulled air in and out of my mouth. Tried to block the scent of vomit from my nose. I had a feeling I would be smelling that rancid, putridness for years. It was implanted in my olfactory memory.
A hard hand gripped my hair, wrenched my head back.
