"He's all yours. This means we're square, right?" The weaselly bastard asked Matteo as he made for the side door. Connor never turned to look at me, his suit clad body and blond hair setting off all the rage inside me.
"Is this some kind of fucking joke?" I asked, stepping forward to spin the bastard in his chair. Brown eyes stared up at me, full of fear and trembling. Brown eyes and about five years too young if I had to guess.
"What do you mean?" The way Gerald's brow furrowed made me hang my head in frustration.
"That isn't Connor Walsh, you fuck. Where is he?" Ryker growled at the loan shark.
I met Matteo's wide eyes when Gerald answered. "That's the man who made the deal with me. If that's not Connor Walsh, then who is he?"
"Fuck!" Ryker grunted, stepping up beside me as I went for the door.
"Samara," I said, and he nodded. There was only one reason someone would pretend to be a man I wanted dead. Fear and fury filled me in equal measure as I stormed outside.
We'd been stupid enough to fall for a fucking diversion and left my wife with only one guard to protect her.
I dug my phone out of my pocket, dialing her number to tell her to get inside.
To get to the panic room.
But it rang and rang and rang.
She was fine; she'd just left her phone in the house.
No matter how many times I told myself those same words, wincing when Ryker gunned the car and we sped off, I didn't believe them. Not for one second.
“She’ll be okay,” Ryker said, but even he didn’t believe that. “She’s tough.” At least the latter was true.
But fuck. If anything happened to her, I'd burn the world to the ground.
Fifty
Samara
The grass seemed to poke through the spandex of my workout leggings. They were the only pair I owned still, and I needed to invest in more, if I would keep up with the weekly sessions with Sadie after Lino dealt with Connor. Even though my entire body had hurt after the first couple, I found myself looking forward to the next one now. To the addictive rush of energy that followed the hard work out. I loved the way my body hardened to a more solid mass that still looked like me, and I loved the reaction of the men at the gym when I managed to do a move Sadie taught me.
Eventually, I fully expected to let her teach me to kick box. The gym was mostly filled with male boxers, but Sadie thoroughly advocated kickboxing for any of her female clients since it provided a whole-body workout. After Lino left, I'd pushed myself right out the door. I needed the distraction, needed to not think about the fact that he may endanger himself to protect me.
If he was caught because of me I'd never forgive myself.
If he was killed because of me, I'd die right along with him.
Jumping up into downward dog, I reveled in the stretch I felt through my spine, pushing it harder and harder until I felt languid. Yoga always relaxed me, and I'd enjoyed that, but it was an entirely different kind of exhilaration than it felt to workout with Sadie and enjoy the energy that came with it.
Since the entire property was fenced in, I hadn't bothered to go to the backyard. The pool we hadn't had a chance to use took up most of it, and since it was only March it seemed unnecessary. I'd found a spot in the front where the sun hit me full force, enjoying the rare sixty-degree day for the anomaly it was. I had an unobstructed view of the gate opening, and I stood from my position to watch.
It seemed too early for Lino to return, so I had to wonder if maybe he'd sent Ivory or someone to keep me company. I smiled, thinking of how thoughtful it would be, but the smile faded from my face at the sight of the unfamiliar car. It wasn't the SUV Scar drove when he brought Ivory around, and it wasn't the town car I'd gone shopping with Chiara in.
A well-used Ford pulled through the gates, and they closed behind the car as it stopped at the top of the driveway. Apprehension slid down my spine when Emilio stepped out of the booth, he operated the gate from, crossing his arms over his chest and watching the driver's door of the Ford open up.
One suit clad leg came out slowly. Then another.
By the time Connor's blond head came out from the seat and he stood to full height, I felt like I'd swallowed my heart. My eyes went to Emilio, who had started to close the distance between us in a smooth, steady stalk. He stopped within speaking distance, but never made a move to touch me. "Gabriele sends his regards."
My heart shuddered in my chest, the feeling of betrayal making me queasy as I stared at him. Lino had trusted him to protect me. I’d trusted him.
Connor made his way to me, his face as thunderous as the last time I'd seen him, as fixated on me somehow being the answer to his problems. The problems he created himself, the problems that had led us down a vicious spiral in our marriage until I'd taken the brunt of his frustrations.
I turned, fleeing for the house. I had to hope that if I could just get inside, maybe Emilio didn't have a key. Even if he did, I could get to the panic room in the basement. Lino never mentioned it after the first time he'd brought me to the house, but I never forgot it was there. Never forgot how to engage the locks and shut myself away.
I'd never forget something so important.
Connor followed, sprinting after me. I cursed my shorter legs, pushing them harder when he made up distance between us too quickly. The grip of his arm on mine felt like it damn near ripped my arm out of socket, but I pushed through. "Get in the car, Mara." I kicked at his knee, swinging his arm around like Sadie had taught me and driving him to his knees.
Then I ran. I ran faster than I'd ever run in my life. My arms and legs pumped desperately. The weight that collided with my side sent me sprawling to the ground, and Emilio came down on top of me. His legs straddled my hips, his hands clasping my wrists at the side of my head to pin me. My breath came in a shuddering pant, and I tried to tune out Connor as he whimpered on the ground where I'd left him. He acted like I'd broken his arm, moaning in pain when I probably hadn't even dislocated the damn thing.
"Lino will kill you slowly, you know," I hissed, using the words as a distraction. "And Matteo will watch."
"They'll never know. You'll be long gone by the time they get back from the little stunt we arranged, and I will be conveniently unconscio—" His words faded into a shout, when I jerked my arms down to my hips and thrust my hips up in one move.
The first few times I'd done it had felt like patting my head and rubbing my tummy, but after practicing more times than I could count, it came as second nature. The force of my hips combined with the sudden loss of support at his hands threw him off balance, and he propelled forward to smack his face on the ground.
But he was still on top of me.
Still trapping me, and he'd have taken my nose with him if I hadn't turned my head at the last second. I clung to his waist, hooking the legs that I'd freed around his so that I could spin him to his back and jab my elbow into his already busted up face.
If I got away, if I survived, I'd kiss Sadie.
I'd owe her my life.
"Fucking bitch!" Emilio roared, grabbing my ankle as I stumbled to my feet. I went down, barely stopping my face from hitting the ground.
The shoe to my side sent such an intense pain through my torso that there was no breath.
There was nothing but agony as the second kick came, a loud crack echoing through the yard. Connor sneered down at me, grabbing me by the hair and hauling me to my feet as I wheezed and screamed in pain.
"Let go!" I grunted, stomping on his foot as I forced myself through it. I shoved my head back into his nose, wincing at the pain that exploded in my head as something wet coated my hair. For a moment, I thought it might be my blood. That somehow I'd managed to crack my head open, but when Emilio stood and wrapped his hands around my waist to lift me off my feet and haul me to the car, I got a good look at Connor's face.
His busted nose was a fountain of blood running down his face as he whimpered.
I had my answer to how I'd react if L
ino came home with his blood on him.
I'd fucking celebrate.
"No!" I screamed. "No!" I kicked and tried to fight, but Connor finally came to his senses and grabbed my feet. With one holding my torso and one controlling my feet, there was little I could do. Nothing I could do since the position made my ribs scream, made it so I couldn't breathe past the pain. "I hope he makes you suffer," I hissed.
Connor's eyes widened before he gave me a dark, sardonic laugh. "When did you get so bloodthirsty?"
I was about to hiss an answer, ready to spit something back about the fact that I was only thirsty for his blood.
And Emilio's. And Gabriele's.
But there was a muffled thump and Connor crumpled to the ground. My feet went with him, and the impact jarred my body.
My torso hit the ground a few seconds later, and I wanted to cry. Wanted to scream. But there was nothing. No air in my lungs, only the pain in my ribs.
Behind me Emilio whispered a desperate, "fuck." I watched him turn to run, staring up at the sky in relief. When I finally felt like I could move, I lifted my head, finding Connor’s body laid out on the ground in front of me. There was a hole in his forehead.
An entry wound.
There was another muffled thump, and the sound of Emilio shouting in pain.
The sound of men running past me caught my attention.
“Get your hands off me!” Emilio shouted.
"For once, you should hope it’s me who touches you and not Lino," a man I didn't know said. His voice was rough around the edges, like he didn't speak often and had to adjust to using it.
Lino's face filled my vision, and even in my dazed reaction I think I smiled up at him.
"Thank fucking God," he hissed, tugging me into his arms. I didn't fight, didn't even react to the pain that seared my insides. All I wanted was to be in his arms.
To be safe.
"It's over, Little Dove. Connor’s dead."
"Your father," I gasped.
Lino stilled, leaning against the car so that he could draw me into his lap. "What about my father?"
"Emilio said your father sent him," I whispered, finally lifting a hand to touch my ribs. Lino made no move to shift me off him, but his hand darted down to my long-sleeve shirt and lifted. I didn't bother to look, but I knew from how it hurt that there had to have been some marking. I imagined it would turn into quite a pretty boot print in time.
Lino cursed, calling, "Ryker!"
"Yeah?" That rough voice asked, and then the speaker stepped up beside us. He was shorter than Lino and Matteo, but only by a couple inches if I had to guess, and he made up for the lack of height by being ripped with muscles. His eyes were a vivid blue, striking as they narrowed on the place where my ribs hurt. His square jawline seemed savage, cut from stone, and his nose had a scar across the bridge and all those things seemed to contradict the full, almost feminine pillow lips that curled up into a sneer.
He was terrifying. but there was something soft in those intense blue eyes as he turned up to look at my face. "Get me Doc," Lino said. "And fucking find my father and you lock him in the warehouse. I want to do it; do you hear me?"
"Lino," I whimpered.
"Got it," Ryker stormed off, and his rough voice sounded as he made a call.
“I just need to do one more thing and then we can get you cleaned up before the Doc gets here,” Lino murmured, shifting my weight so that he could stand with me in his arms. His hand seemed to leave a trail of red wherever it went, and he hissed.
"Not mine," I murmured, looking down at Connor's body as we passed. I wanted to kick his pretty face in, because the bullet hole wasn’t enough damage for what he’d put me through.
"You did some damage, Samara," Matteo grinned at me as we passed. "Ivory and Sadie will be proud." I wanted to laugh at the ridiculousness of it but didn't dare. Not with the pain ripping me in half.
When we stepped up to where Enzo and Georgio stood over Emilio, I noted the way he held his shoulder and rocked where he sat. The glare he gave me as Lino set me to my feet in front of him made my heart clench again.
I had no idea what I’d done to make him hate me so much.
“Why?” I whispered, and my bottom lip trembled. While I hadn’t had a bond with him the way that Ivory and Scar did, I would never have expected him to do something like this.
“You’re a stain on the Bellandi name,” he hissed through his teeth. His eyes went over my shoulder where Matteo stepped up beside me, and I winced at the vehemence in the glare he gave Emilio. “It was bad enough that one Bellandi married outside the family, but for Lino to procreate with a Jew is unthinkable. We had to get rid of you before you could get pregnant.”
I’d thought it had been because Lino was of the age where men were expected to settle down, but all the inquiries and pushes about us having children, every last one had been a deception to make us want to wait. A way of fishing for information about whether it was an immediate concern. “My father encouraged this?” Lino asked, drawing the gun from inside his jacket.
Emilio sneered. “It was his idea. He found Connor long before you managed and gave him shelter in his home until we could get rid of you. He arranged the buyer, since he had the contact from his bitch of a second wife.”
Lino growled, raising his arm to press the gun against Emilio’s forehead. Emilio glared up at him, not bothering to beg for his life.
“I’d like to kill you slowly,” he snarled, but he glanced at me. “But I think I’ll save that for my father instead. You lived like a minion who didn’t matter, and now you get to die like one too.” There was no bang, no blast like I would have expected. Just the thump of the bullet and his eyes going lifeless as he fell to his side.
I didn’t flinch. I’d never seen a man shot before, not until Connor. But anyone who could sell me to another person wasn’t a man. They were rabid dogs who needed to be put down, and all I felt was pride that my husband had been the one to do it.
"Going to clean her up. Doc is on the way," Lino murmured, lifting me into his arms again.
"Good. We'll clean up out here,” Matteo responded. As he said the words, a box truck pulled into the driveway. I didn't want to know or think about how many bodies they'd thrown into that box truck, so I buried my face in Lino's neck and let him take me inside.
✽✽✽
The hot water felt rejuvenating. Like I'd gone into the shower one person and came out another.
"I almost lost you," Lino murmured as he towel-dried my hair.
"I thought that the loan shark was with Connor. What happened?" I asked, and Lino sighed as he tugged a shirt over my head and helped me into some sleep shorts.
"Decoy. Wasn't Connor at all, but the fucking shark was too stupid to notice the difference. We came back as soon as we realized it was a decoy, because you were the first thing I could think of that Connor would want me distracted from. I'm so sorry, Little Dove." His forehead touched mine as he lifted me and laid me out on our bed. "I fucked up."
"I'm fine," I whispered. "You came back in time, and you couldn't have known Emilio would betray you like that."
"I promised I'd protect you. I failed to do that," he grunted, and he stepped back from me. The way his shoulders slumped, I could see every bit of self-hate and blame and the way it wore on him.
"You helped me protect myself. If you hadn't encouraged me to go with Sadie—" I broke off, thinking about the reality of where I might be now if I hadn't managed to stall just long enough. "I don't even know how long I fought them off, but it felt like forever."
"Sadie taught you that, not me."
"And you shot them," I murmured. He'd killed two men for me, killed in cold blood and not even batted an eye. “I’m sorry that you had to do that for me.”
He chuckled, stepping back into my space. "That's not a weight you need to worry about, vita mia. It wasn't the first time I've killed, and I'm certain it won't be the last." I stared up into those dark eyes, wondering how he
could survive so much abuse as a child, survive being turned into a hardened killer, and still look down at me as if he couldn't live without me. It seemed unnatural. Like it couldn't be possible for one man to feel so much for me, when he should be deadened to feeling in general.
I knew he'd been well on his way as a child, but somehow, whatever this bond was between us had rescued that small piece of him. Preserved it for me. "What will you do with your father?" I asked him, staring up at him with wide eyes as the Doctor arrived.
"Don't worry about it. Trust me when I say that I won't lose any sleep over what I do to that man."
I nodded, settling in while the doctor poked and prodded at my ribs. Lino held my hand, wincing with me every time I showed any signs of pain.
He may have been brutal.
But he was my brutal.
And I knew in that moment that I wouldn't change him for the world.
Fifty-One
Lino
The warehouse seemed more ominous than ever. I didn't spend a ton of time in it and had never been a critical part of the wet work. Considering that I ran the legitimate businesses, we tried to keep my hands as clean as possible. But there would always be circumstances that we couldn't control. Personal vendettas. Moments where I needed to be involved to make a show of force against the politicians and businessmen that filled my days with bullshit.
But going there knowing I'd commit patricide was a new one for me. I tried to drum up some sympathy or guilt over it, but the knowledge of what he'd done to Samara outweighed any guilt that might try to sneak in. I could tolerate a lifetime of abuse against me, but I wouldn't tolerate the fact that my wife had been hurt in his stunt.
That he'd tried to sell her.
I pulled open the door, heading for the freezer and opened that door as well. I didn't bother closing it behind me, because my father would never be so undignified to scream for help. He knew better than any just how futile it would be.
Forgivable Sins: A Dark Mafia Romance (Bellandi Crime Syndicate Book 2) Page 33
