Of course it was her. Staying where she was told was too much to ask of the stubborn woman.
She walked into what appeared to be a formal dining room in the mid-section of the house. It had a window that looked out onto the side of the house.
“Spread out. He’s got to be somewhere on this first floor,” Ian whispered.
Somewhere above a phone rang.
Ian winced.
So much for hoping the security company’s contract wasn’t up to date.
Ryan and Kade moved swiftly toward the other side of the house. Closet doors opened and shut, muffling the light thumps of feet overhead.
“Someone’s coming,” he said.
Ian wrapped his arm around Taylor and backed into the coat closet in the front entry, pulling the door mostly shut.
A groan mixed with the footsteps creaking down the stairs.
“Who’s there?” The man’s voice was gravely, rough.
Ian peered out through a slit as the figure of a big, beefy guy came into view.
Another groan.
“Vito,” Taylor whispered.
Ian nudged her farther back in the closet.
The guy reached the first floor and peered around.
Ian couldn’t see the other guys, but that was likely for the best.
“Fucking...” The man’s other words were lost as he turned and lumbered toward the kitchen.
Ian pushed the closet door open, just a bit, and stepped out. A long, low creak of the hinges set his teeth on edge.
The man whirled. Ian rushed him, his sneak attack foiled.
“Get Vito,” he yelled just before impact.
Ian rammed his shoulder into the man’s middle, carrying him up and back against the wall. All at once, people moved. The big guy landed a punch, ringing Ian’s bell, but he still didn’t let go. Ian grappled with the guy, even as more feet thundered down the stairs.
Ryan stepped up to the foot of the stairs and took the guy in the lead down, the rest Ian couldn’t see as he had to focus entirely on the big guy snarling at him.
Out of nowhere, a vase careened through the air, smashing against the guy’s head. His grip went lax and his eyes rolled back momentarily.
“Taylor! You bitch,” a woman shrieked from above.
“Got him. Go, go, go,” Kade bellowed as he rushed past.
Ian whirled, catching Taylor around the waist. This rescue was officially a bust. He sprinted toward the now-open front door, hauling her with him.
“Move, move, move.” Kade brought up the rear. Where the hell had the medic gotten a gun?
Ahead of them, Erik and Duke slid the stretcher into the back of the SUV. It wasn’t a professional job, but damn it, they were all getting out of there alive.
A bullet hit the pavement, not more than a foot away from Ian.
Fuck.
The others got the back doors shut as Ian threw himself and Taylor in through the side. Kade practically climbed over them as Blake pealed out.
“Everyone in?” Blake hollered.
“Everyone,” Ian yelled.
“Go, go, go, they’re following,” Duke said from the back of the vehicle. They’d laid the seats down to make room for the stretcher, but it was a tight fit.
Kade slithered over the top of the seat toward his patient while Erik made room for him. Ian peered behind them and pulled out his gun.
They’d almost made it.
He could see the slash of headlights behind them.
“Keep goin’, don’t stop for anythin’,” Ian said to Blake.
Taylor scrambled off his lap, only to get thrown up against the door.
“Shit!” Blake careened around a turn to keep from hitting a guy sailing through a red light.
“Keep it steady,” Kade yelled back.
“Watch out!” Duke braced his hands on the top of the truck.
The vehicle lurched forward. Taylor went sailing up between the two front seats, landing on the center console. The guys in the back sprawled this way and that. Vito made some of the most tortured sounds Ian had heard in a long time.
“Fuck!”
Again, the SUV lurched forward.
“They’re ramming us,” Duke said.
Blake cranked the wheel, turning onto another street. Ian saw the headlights behind them disappear, the car was so close.
Oh, no.
The pursuing car rammed them again.
Ian’s stomach jumped up into his throat. He flattened his hand against the top of the car.
The truck tipped.
This was going to be bad...
The SUV rolled, crashing onto its side, then completely rolling over. Glass sprayed them from all sides. The top crunched in. Random shit flew down, pelting Ian with the odd assortment of stuff that’d gathered in the SUV over time. Ian hit the ground, shoulders first.
For a moment, his head rang. He couldn’t move. His hand throbbed, his neck screamed at him. Someone kicked his thigh.
One sound penetrated the fog.
The unmistakable ping of bullets against the exterior of the vehicle.
Fuck.
They were fish in a barrel here.
Ian shook his head and pointed himself toward the busted-out window. Gun in hand, he stretched his arm out and squeezed off one shot, then another. The space was too tight to get out of. The bigger man ducked behind the back of the vehicle.
“Watch the back. Duke? Erik?”
Glass crunched. He couldn’t tell if it was coming from outside or inside the back door.
Someone groaned.
“On it.” Duke’s voice was rough.
In the distance, sirens wailed, but there was no telling how far away the cops were or if they’d get there in time.
“Move.” Taylor pushed at Ian’s shoulders.
“No, Taylor. Stop!” He made a grab for her jeans, but she slipped out of the opening before he could stop her. “Taylor!”
Ian put his back on the ground and kicked at the door with both feet.
Taylor’s head was spinning, it was hard to breathe, and yet, she couldn’t stop.
Ian and the others were trapped inside the SUV.
“Hey!” She sidestepped the truck, waving her arms. “Hey, I’m over here.”
Julia didn’t want Vito, Ian or the rest. She wanted Taylor. For whatever reason, this thing was between them.
The big, scary looking guy with the tattoos ducked around the SUV, followed by a familiar face.
Ciro.
She’d been right all along.
Ciro lifted a gun, aiming it at her.
Taylor ducked behind an old, beat up newspaper dispenser. The bullet pinged off the metal, right where she’d been.
Well, that’d worked.
An inhuman roar resonated from the busted-up vehicle, and the passenger side door bulged out. Ciro and his hulked-out friend didn’t care. She peered around, catching sight of them in a window.
If she stayed where she was, Ciro would kill her.
Taylor gathered her legs under her and threw herself toward the front of the truck, sprinting around the vehicle. She heard the blast of gunfire as though from a great distance. Taylor pitched sideways, knocked off balance. Fire flared up and down her side. She gasped for breath, and yet she couldn’t get any in.
Red and blue lights cast long shadows on the building.
“Taylor? Taylor!”
Oh, shit. That hurt.
She clutched her side. Ian’s face hovered over her.
“Move, Ian. Move now.” Kade shoved at him.
Her body went hot and cold in quick succession. Sweat, chills and then sweat again.
She was dying.
Kade ripped at her shirt.
This had to be what dying felt like.
It hurt.
“Taylor? Taylor, focus on me. Breathe, come on, breathe.” Ian pushed her hair off her face.
Oh, God, here she’d thought he’d be the one to leave. She opened her mouth, trying to both ga
sp air and squeak her words out.
A cop yanked Ian to his feet.
“Where are the paramedics?” Kade’s voice was faint, quiet, distant.
She grasped for Ian’s hand, but he was too far away. She couldn’t reach him. Her lungs weren’t working right. She could barely draw a breath.
Taylor needed to tell him.
She needed him to know.
She loved Ian.
She hadn’t let herself realize it, hadn’t spoken about it, because she’d known he was the one who’d leave. Now she’d never have the chance.
Ciro pressed his back up against the wall and held his breath as a car passed.
Not a cop.
He exhaled and pulled out his phone.
The confirmation of his text being read was over fifteen minutes old.
Julia would have had time to get in the car, vacate the house and get to him by now. Where the hell was she? What was she doing?
In the last two days, he’d gone from knowing exactly what was happening to being taken for a ride. He didn’t like it.
Once he wrapped his head around the bigger picture, how Vito and Taylor fit into things, it should have made more sense. But nothing was. Julia was up to something, and Ciro hoped that she’d remember him. How he’d helped her, how good they were working together.
Headlights cast long shadows on the street once more.
He crouched down behind the garbage can.
After he’d shot at Taylor, he’d seen the lights. He’d scrammed, getting his ass out of there before the cops swept him up with the low-life gangsters Julia’s so-called friend had supplied them with. Better them taking the fall than Ciro.
Where the fuck was Julia?
She wouldn’t leave him high and dry, would she?
23.
Ian paced the waiting room, back and forth, one side to the next.
He should have made her wait at the pub. He should have hogtied her and left her in a closet. Something. Anything. But he hadn’t trusted her not to leave him. So, he’d opted to keep her with him—because only he could keep her safe.
What a load of bullshit.
“How long has she been out of surgery?” Blake checked his phone.
“A while.” Erik stretched his arms behind his head.
Ryan and Duke had left earlier. Ryan, because they wanted to at least pretend he wasn’t involved, and Duke had to open his shop. Neither Blake or Erik would budge. They’d plopped down in chairs and continued on in silence for the first hour. None of them needed to talk.
Taylor’s blood still stained Ian’s clothes, his hands. He could see her eyes going unfocused, the life leaving her body.
She’d almost died in his arms.
“Anyone heard from Kade yet?” he asked no one in particular.
“Nah, he’s probably still getting his ass chewed out.” Blake glanced away.
Ian hadn’t missed noting that the cops on scene knew Blake by name, but what’d happened after that was a blur. The last couple of hours were fuzzy.
“Shouldn’t a doctor have come out to talk to us by now?” Ian was ready to bash down a door or something. They’d been here for hours upon hours. A doctor or someone should have told them something.
The waiting room door opened and Kade stepped in. He’d changed out of his bloody clothes into sweats and a T-shirt.
“Hey, she’s been moved to a room.” Kade thumbed over his shoulder.
“What? What’d they do?” Ian rushed toward Kade.
“Easy.” Kade held up his hands. “Given how she came in, the staff was being cautious. We can go in, come on.”
“What’d they do to her?” Blake asked as they fell in line behind Kade.
“Bullet got lodged in a rib.” Kade guided them into an elevator and pressed a button. “They had to go in, suture her lung and extract the bullet. Thankfully, there weren’t any bone fragments, so it was pretty straightforward considering what could have happened.”
“Any word on Vito?” Ian’s main concern was Taylor, but the first question out of her mouth would be concern for her cousin.
“I checked him before I was called in. They were treating the infection and giving him a transfusion. From what I saw, he’s likely dehydrated and fighting some kind of nasty infection.” The elevator doors opened and Kade gestured to the all. “This is us. She might not be awake yet. Post-op was hurting for space, so they sent her directly to a room instead.”
They continued in silence, past the night shift doing their rounds and darkened rooms. Kade led them into one of the few brightly lit ones.
A man in a wheelchair sat at her side, her hand in his.
Ian stuffed the initial reaction to punch the guy’s lights out deep down. This was her cousin, they were family. He needed to remember that.
“You’re lookin’ better.” Ian circled to the other side of the bed. “How is she?”
“Who are you?” Vito glanced around the room. “Who the hell are you?”
“We’re just friends.” Kade shrugged and hooked his thumbs in his pockets. “How you feeling? They got your pain under control?”
“Uh, yeah. Who the fuck are you?” Vito’s gaze narrowed, or maybe he just blinked. It was hard to tell, with the bruising and swelling.
“We’re the people who saved your ass.” Ian pulled one of the two chairs closer and perched on the edge.
Kade moved in, talking to Vito in low tones. Of all the guys, Kade had wound up on the inside of most of the events so far.
Ian stared at Taylor’s face. Her color was back. She had a big bump on her forehead and some swelling on her nose. Likely from the accident. They were all banged up from the way the car had rolled.
“You’re goin’ to be fine, babe.” He squeezed her hand and leaned closer, brushing his lips across her brow.
God, he’d thought... In those last few moments, her life had flickered. He’d seen it. If the hospital hadn’t been so close, if Kade hadn’t been with them, things might have been different. Somehow, this stubborn, determined woman had wormed her way into his heart without even trying to.
“So, who are you then?” Vito’s voice pierced Ian’s focus.
He glanced at the other man, taking in the possessive hold on Taylor’s hand, the stubborn thrust of his jaw. Overprotective family? Taylor had indicated Vito was the one person she had in this world besides Stacey.
“I’m Ian, nice to finally put a face to the name.” He didn’t bother offering his hand.
Vito pointedly stared at Ian’s fingers, which were stroking Taylor’s curls. Vito had a few things to get used to as far as Ian was concerned. He wasn’t going anywhere, not so long as he had a chance to show Taylor that he meant every word he’d said to her.
A knock at the door had them all glancing up.
“Hey guys, busy night?” Owen stepped over the threshold. His badge and gun were in place, which meant he’d likely been dragged out of bed to deal with this case.
“You could say that.” Kade shook his head.
“Hey, Blake.” Owen stared at his old partner.
Blake nodded and found some interesting spot on the floor to stare at. They’d been partners before, best friends even. It had to be hard for Blake to see Jordan in his old spot at Owen’s back.
Jordan brought up the rear of the party and closed the door.
“Come to bust our asses?” Erik asked. He’d taken the other chair and sprawled out without a care.
“I had some questions, if you had some time?” Owen glanced around the room.
“Questions? That’s it?” Blake scowled.
“Yeah, well, be glad. The gang unit is pissed. They’ve been working on a case to bag those guys for a while and now they’ll have to start over, unless they can get those two we picked up to talk.” Owen crossed to the bench up against the windows and pulled out his phone, stylus at the ready.
“Did you get her?” Vito asked.
“Julia?” Owen glanced up.
“Yeah.
”
“No, by the time officers made it back to the house, it was empty. There’s no sign of Julia or any of her people, but we did get the two MS-13 guys, so maybe they’ll tell us something?” Owen shrugged.
“Like hell they will. You’ll get more out of a rock.” Vito shook his head and sighed.
“What can you tell us, Vito? What’s Julia plannin’?” Ian prayed the man knew something, anything, that would help them.
“Can you start at the beginning?” Owen asked. “I was hoping to get your take on things.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Vito’s shoulders slumped. He seemed to deflate.
“Sure you do,” Ian said. “Look, we all know the mafia has a strict do not talk policy regardin’ cops and the like, but you’re doin’ yourself no favors bein’ loyal to them. Look what they did to Taylor.”
“It’s never-ending.” Vito scrubbed a hand over his stubble then winced.
“Then help us close this chapter, at least.” Ian wanted the man to talk, but they couldn’t force him to.
“What if this is off the record?” Owen glanced around. His partner wasn’t there, which meant they were dealing with the man Ian knew best. His friend.
“All right. Fine. Ask your questions.”
“How about from when you helped Taylor escape? Anything you can tell us would be helpful.” Owen scribbled something down without ever glancing away from Vito.
Vito let go of Taylor’s hand and sat back in the wheelchair, but his gaze remained on Taylor. “Julia came to me, told me she wants me to off Taylor. I knew I couldn’t, so we got together and figured out a way to get her out of town. Someone must have talked. A couple weeks ago, Julia’s guys, Angelo and Ciro—”
“Angelo Roselli?” Owen asked.
“Yeah, he’s a real wise guy.” Vito shook his head.
“And Ciro, what’s his name?”
“Ciro Merlino, he was at the house last night with Julia.”
“He could be our missing shooter.”
“He’s a slippery son of a bitch.” Vito picked up a cup of water and sipped from it before continuing. “Julia tells me she knows what really happened. The guys work me over and then leave me in her basement. Couple days ago, she waltzes down, tells me we’re getting married. Next day—bam. We’re hitched.”
Alpha Prince (Twisted Royals, #1) Page 22
