I slipped the attendant my debit card to pay for my food and exited to the walkway. I had intended to pay and get back upstairs in record time, but I was already behind.
“Let’s sit, Bella,” Emily insisted with the tug of my arm.
I quickly nodded. “No, no. I promised I’d come right back.”
“Seriously? It’s alright for you to be away. He’s going to be okay without you for a few minutes. It’s you that I’m worried about.” Her brows furrowed. “With everything that’s happened, we’ve barely spoken.”
“We talk every day.” I knew she was right, but I had things on my mind. Things I didn’t want her to know. She didn’t need to know, either; that only put her in senseless danger.
“Five minutes,” she pleaded through her round caramel eyes.
My eyes sought the direction of the exit as I held a large red food tray.
“He’s fine. Five minutes to chill with your best friend isn’t gonna hurt anything.” She tugged my arm.
I contemplated leaving, but in the end, I needed a few moments with Emily. She was one person I trusted more than anything in this world and that was a welcomed reprieve at the moment. “Five minutes,” I challenged, my face masked one of seriousness.
“Deal.”
We found a small table in the corner away from those that entered for lunchtime.
“Oh, this looks good.” Emily dragged the cake-filled plate from my tray. I’d been looking forward to eating that carrot cake and had been craving it for a few days.
“Sorry, not sharing the goodies,” I laughed, shrugging when she seemed surprised. I wasn’t sorry.
“I heard Tony talking to Sal when I got to the hospital room.” She lowered her head at the table as she whispered. I watched her, waiting for the gossip to spill. “Give me a bite and I’ll tell.” her right brow lifted.
“Blackmail doesn’t suit you,” I disputed. Emily’s face drew into a smile. “Fine.” I pushed the cake forward.
She took her sweet time getting to the point before shoving a bite of white frosting between her pink-painted lips. My eyes pinned hers while she relished in the frosting. “What?”
“Get to it,”
“Geez, okay. I heard Tony talking about some guy…I didn’t catch the name but…” her brows raised and head tilted.
“What?” I asked anxiously.
“It sounded like they were planning revenge for something.” She shrugged and slipped another finger full of icing in her mouth.
“Not so loud,” I hushed her. “Do you think it had to do with Jax?”
“Not sure.” Her eyes wondered around the area. “Probably was though, right?”
What else could it have been about? “Did you hear anything else?”
“No, Alessandra came up from behind and scared the shit out of me.” Emily’s hand went for the salad.
“Really?”
“What? I’m starving.”
“Ugh!” I shoved the salad at her.
I’d have a conversation with Tony and Sal when we were alone. I’d been asking if there was anything new, and of course, they were lying to me. No one was taking me seriously. I was a woman; why would they take me seriously?
The standards women had to live up to if they wanted to be taken seriously was ridiculous and even then it wasn’t like it would actually happen. I felt like I’d been in a box then or maybe a locked closet. I was frustrated and angry.
Emily and I shared the chef’s salad and finished the cake several minutes later. Once we were sated from hunger, we cleaned up our mess and began the journey back to Jax. I was getting more nervous by the minute having been away from him for so long, but it was nice to stretch my legs a while.
Bella
A few hours had passed since I’d returned from lunch with Emily. Jax still lay in that same unmoving position. Mrs. Moretti had sat vigil in the corner of the room most of the day knitting or crocheting; I wasn’t really sure of the difference. She looked up, breaking concentration once in a while. Alessandra visited as well but spent most of her time in the penthouse or running errands. I’d instructed Tony to have someone watch over her at all times. I needed to decrease the possibility that my family would be hurt.
A knock tapped at the wooden door followed by a rich, husky voice calling, “Bella.”
Recognizing the voice, I covered a yawn as I looked up and answered, “Yes.” Sal stood in the doorway waving me to him.
I offered Mrs. Moretti a nod then took another look at Jax. I stood and left the room, closing the door behind me. “What’s wrong?” I suppose that question was probably far from normal. Asking what’s wrong just simply because someone has said your name. I shook off the thought.
A new man I’d never seen before stood in the doorway. Tall, mid-twenties, short dark hair, larger than the suit he wore. His face was uniform and monotonous. “This is Wyatt. He’ll be watching over Jax today.”
My eyes pinned Sal’s. “A word?” I pointed down the hall.
I walked away before they had, but I knew that they followed close behind me from the distinct footsteps. Sal in a pair of black shiny dress shoes that tapped against the tile floor and Tony in a similar pair although he made an annoying squishing sound as he stepped behind me. The elevator bank was just beyond the square couches that sat in the waiting room.
I turned to see the two men I’d grown up with. My eyes searched the area knowing that there wasn’t anyone near us. There was a camera in the right corner for security, but no sound could be caught. “I’ve trusted the two of you.” I pointed my black gel fingertip at them. “Don’t fuck with me. I’m already aware something is going down.”
Tony snorted, “Seriously?” He was calm.
“What do you think you’re gonna do, Bella?” Sal shook his head.
Slow deep breaths, slow deep breaths, Bella. My eyes closed. I tugged on the seam of my jeans along my thigh. “You want to see what I’m gonna do?”
They laughed. I was a joke, and until that second, I’d thought it would change somehow. Maybe they’d see me for the serious person I believed I’d been. But they would never see what I didn’t show them. So now I’d show them. I’d show them something they’d never expected.
I pressed my hand along each of their shoulders shoving them out of my way so that I could pass through the middle of our small group. If they wouldn’t give me what I so very nicely asked for, I’d get what I’d wanted for myself.
“Bella?” I heard them ask from behind me.
Tunnel vision took over, and for the first time since I’d been here I wanted to leave. I wanted to do something so powerful that I’d be the last woman a man in this family would laugh at.
Wyatt continued to stand at the door to Jax’s room. “Don’t leave this spot unless someone,” I turned to search for Tony and Sal, “one of them are at this spot. Do you understand?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“The name is Isabella Morretti.”
“Of course, Mrs. Moretti.” He offered a nod.
I opened the heavy hospital door seeing that Jax hadn’t changed in the few moments I’d been gone. My bag set along the windowsill. “I’ll be leaving the hospital for a little while.”
“Is something wrong?” Mrs. Moretti asked, sitting up in her chair.
I swung my bag over my shoulder then turned my head looking back and said, “Not for long.” I winked.
That poor woman had no idea of what to make of me. “Isabella?” she stood.
My feet had come to a stop at the door I was about to open when she spoke. I turned meeting her dark eyes. She watched me for several long beats then offered an approving nod and reached for her crucifix.
I also nodded in return, tucked my bag under my arm, and left the room closing the door behind me.
“Where are you going?” I ignored Tony.
“I’ll see you soon,” I said as I pressed the down arrow in the elevator bank.
“Bella?” Tony pressed his hand on my shoulder
to speak further, but the doors opened. I disconnected from giving him further time to speak and stepped inside the little death trap. “Don’t be stupid Isabella,” he pleaded through narrowed eyes.
I wanted to smile smugly, but I knew that look Tony held. I had only seen it a few times, but the times I had seen it were crucial. The doors eventually closed leaving me alone inside of the descending elevator.
Now what the hell was I to do? I didn’t even have a car at the hospital. I’d call my driver to pick me up then I’d have him drop me at the penthouse. But more than anything, I knew I needed Tony and Sal’s help. I wasn’t ignorant. What the hell did I know about any of this stuff? Not a damn thing, that’s what. That irritated the crap out of me more than anything ever could. Something as simple as admitting that I needed their help drove me insane.
I decided on taking the elevator back to Jax’s floor and demand that Tony and Sal help me find the person responsible for putting Jax in this fucking hospital. The elevator keypad indicated that I was approaching the lobby. I’d simply go back and suck it up. I didn’t want them to know how much I truly needed them, maybe I’d even make them think it was their idea.
The doors slid open, and I stepped to the right side of the small space, wishing I had taken the stairs. I was getting a grip on my fear of elevators, but it wasn’t without its moments. I pressed the floor I needed to return to then stare at the elevators’ floor. From my peripheral sight, I could see a pair of large shoes enter then another pair following close behind. They passed me and moved to the back of the elevator.
I raised my head the moment one of them spoke as I recognized his Russian accent.
“Hello, Kotik,” a deep strong Russian voice hummed.
Slowly I searched the two men standing with me. A few more words in Russian and I knew these men were here for Jax or maybe they’d been here for me. I didn’t consider the outcome when I smiled and slipped my hand inside of my bag. My gun was just inside. I’d wrapped my hand around the stock and felt the power rip through my weakness.
My eyes didn’t waver or disconnect from their large, muscular, square jaws, ready to kill whom they’d come here for… and it was likely they’d come for my family.
Of the two men in the elevator the one that stood closest to me slid his body to his right and extended his hand. There was a black box hidden behind his large fingers. Everything happened so quickly leaving me to only see a moment of what he was doing. Three breaths, three heartbeats, three blinks from my eyes, three Russian words I didn’t understand and then everything went black.
***
Power. I could swim inside of the satin and entangle myself within the depths of satisfaction. That’s what I’d thought before today.
Something squeezed my wrists, pulled at my feet, and held me tight to a hard chair. The air I breathed suffocated me and burned at my throat. I coughed until I woke inside of a darkness I hadn’t remembered. A soft smoky glow caught my attention. My eyes were adjusting while I woke fully. A sharp pain coming from the back of my neck made only minimal movements possible from the laid back position it held.
What could have happened? I wondered, trying to shake the fog that seemed to prevent my mind from processing the last events to my memory.
What was the last thing that I did remember? The elevator. I was on the elevator with two Russians! I finally remembered
Those bastards! I fought the bindings that wrapped me into a prisoner, and I screamed, “You motherfuckers!” I hissed.
Footsteps then Laughter soon followed my outburst. “Isabella, not the words of such a beautiful woman. No, no.”
The pain in my neck burned when I pulled forward seeing the man behind the patronizing voice. “Who are you?” I ground my teeth together desperate to know who he was.
“Ah, you know who I am.”
“Orlov?”
He clapped his hands together three times, asshole. “Very good, Kotik,”
“You were the man on the elevator?” He had been the man. He’d been hiding in plain sight. Furthermore, he’d been the man on the elevator earlier as well. He’d been close enough to kill me several times before I ever knew who he was. I’d failed at each and every opportunity that I’d had to kill him.
“Isabella Sagatori, mmm. I must say you are a beautiful woman.” he gawked while he watched me.
“What am I doing here?” My eyes roamed the area seeing only a desk. Everything beyond that was filled with darkness.
“You were looking for me, so I thought I’d give you what you wanted. What is it exactly that you want, Isabella?”
I sat still as I waited for him to speak further. I’d let him talk until I had all of the information I needed. Prisoner or not, I’d use it to my advantage. I truly knew nothing of this man. I’d been so wrapped up in Jax and getting the revenge I craved that I’d not really taken the time to learn anything about the enemy.
“Revenge,” I growled.
“Ah, yes, revenge. I know it very well.” He leaned against something, a desk perhaps. “What do you know Isabella, of this revenge you speak of?”
“I know that I plan on having it,” I sassed.
“Is this revenge you seek for the unfortunate beating of your husband?”
“Yes,” I said simply.
He nodded pulling something shiny from behind him. Was it a knife? He pulled the object to his front and flipped it with the jerk of his wrist; a bright light filled the darkness. The object had been a lighter and he was using it to light a cigar. I'd taken every breath I could between the rage and the heartache. My emotional state had been lacking composure, to say the least. I laughed just thinking about the crazy that lingered inside of me then. “What are you going to do?” I could smell the strong cigar as he puffed on it only a few inches away.
I laughed, tugged on my rope-covered hands, and raised my head seeing his shiny incandescent eyes glower back at me. Contemplating my next move would be what saved or killed me. I was going to live or I would die. In that moment, those two situations were the only possible scenarios. But I was going to choose how it would go.
“You played ball in a man’s world Isabella,” he laughed and pulled the cigar from his lips. “You know where I get these?” He watched me, waiting for a reply I guessed then shrugged. “Cuba,” he stated, inspecting the cigar before he put it back between his teeth. “They have the best tobacco in Cuba.” He turned and pulled a chair sliding the metal across the floor; the torturous screeching made caused me to cringe. “But I pay the highest dollar because it's the best cigar I'll ever smoke.” I remained quiet and watched him all while also allowing my eyes to wander around the dark cold room. I didn't know if there were men beyond the small amount of light that loomed from the lamp on the desk or if we had been alone. “It's a bargain really. I'd pay more if they'd ask because it's worth the satisfaction that I get from having the best.” He continued.
I was bound to a chair and my wrists burned from the rope that cut into my flesh. My father’s words came back into my head with full force while I sat there waiting for him to kill me. “You’re a Sagatori. They can only have what you let them have. They can only take what you let them take, but you… you can have and take anything you’d like because the world is for your taking,” Papa had said this to me many times. Until now, I hadn't understood what it meant.
“You, Isabella, are worth everything I could pay. You are worth the price. You wait for your husband to wake up and save you. How far has that gotten you?” His expression was one of seriousness. “Well?” He stood leaning against the desk. I remained quiet. “It's a shame and a waste. You make a good wife. You’re loyal, but you'll die just the same.”
“Die? You think that you can control me with threats? Just kill me!” I spit.
His back had been to my front when he turned and responded, “No, it's not me that will kill you, Isabella.” He turned again walking into the darkness before I was able to respond.
I pulled and tugged forceful
ly against the rope attempting escape when I heard a pair of squishy footsteps approaching. A large man wearing a holster on his left shoulder and a hat that covered his face reached for me. My eyes pinned to his movements while my body stiffened. He would kill me, and that would end this. He spoke in Russian words I didn’t understand. He placed a bind around my eyes and released my hands only to tie them in front this time.
“What’s happening?” I moved my head trying to loosen the material from my eyes.
He spoke again in Russian while he pulled me along as if I were a mere rag doll and nothing more.
I listened to the whispers in the distance. A creak of the floor— a machine, maybe an engine— roared to life. Now I was worried. I fought the man as he held my arm with a grip I couldn’t get loose from.
A loud popping sound caused me to duck instinctively. The noise came fast. One. Two. Three. Pop, pop, pop. Gunfire. The grip that had held me, loosened. Russian voices echoed and footsteps rustled. I reached up to the blindfold and pulled it down when the man’s hand let go of my arm. His large body lay lifeless on the ground with blood oozing from his head.
I crawled behind a large metal box as I searched for his gun. I found it hiding just underneath his large body. After pushing and then finally rolling him over slightly, I was able to pull it from the holster with my wrists still tied.
“Bella?”
Chase?
I gripped the edge of the metal box I used as shelter. I peeked over the edge seeing Chase and two other men standing in the middle of the warehouse. Chase hovered over a man. He pulled something from behind him and metal flickered in his hand, revealing a gun.
“Stop!” I stumbled forward, reaching out with my hands. With composure, a deep breath, and more composure. I stood tall, my heart pounded and I was nervously shaken, but this was my time. “Don’t,” I stumbled from behind the box that had turned out to be part of a conveyor belt. Once I’d found my footing, I stepped over the dead body that lay beneath me. My foot landed deep into a pool of fresh blood.
Bella (A Sagatori Family Saga a Mafia Romance Book 4) Page 2
