“Please tell me it’s not gonna piss me off,” I say with a groan. “I don’t really need any more bullshit to deal with today.”
“It was from my cousin, Maria. She’s been in Croatia since she was married years back. I haven’t heard from her since the wedding, actually. Her husband…” He toys with his glass, shaking his head. “Her husband is Mirko Lovrić.”
I furrow my brow. “He’s a big player in the European sex trade, yeah?”
Paolo nods. “Dangerous guy. Unhinged as they come. He was always really controlling and made Maria forget about her family back here. He never let her visit, never let any of us visit her. Even after she had her daughter, we were never able to meet her. She managed to send a few emails and pictures making it seem like life was just great, but we always suspected there were issues.”
“So why’d she call after all this time?”
Paolo is quiet for a second, staring at the table. “She is here in Sicily with her daughter Aria. Something happened back in Croatia, and they somehow managed to escape from Mirko’s estate. I don’t know much else. She was very evasive when she called, told me she’d reach out again soon with a location of where I can find them.” His shoulders slump. “But that was twelve hours ago, and I’m nervous. I have my sons trying like hell to find out any information they can, but so far, nothing. Mirko is very rich and very powerful and kept Maria and Aria away from anyone who might get too close because he is psychotic and controlling.” He taps his thick fingertips on the table. “I’m afraid he might have found them and…hurt them. Or worse.”
“Tell me what I can do to help,” I say. “I owe you for helping me take down Salazar.”
He lets out a sigh. “Your family’s shipping company owns ports all along the Mediterranean coast. If they came here, it would have been by boat, not plane. It’s easier to travel on the water. They’d have attracted less attention.” Paolo scrubs a hand down the front of his face. “I need to know if they came through any of those ports. At least then I’d have a place to start looking. At this point, they might be anywhere in Sicily, and if by some miracle Mirko hasn’t found them yet, it’s only a matter of time before he does. I need to find them first.”
I push back my chair and stand up. “I’ll make a call. Don’t worry, we’ll find them.”
“Thank you, Vincenzo.”
“That’s what family does,” I say, giving him a quick hug before hurrying to the back door. I pull a gun from the waistband of my pants as I slowly push it open. I stare into the darkness, peering left and right.
But enemies never make themselves known until they’re damn good and ready.
I expel a sharp breath as I jog over to my SUV and jump into the driver’s seat. I lean my head back against the leather and grab my phone. Paolo didn’t give me much to go on, but before I stick my neck out to help, I’d like to know exactly what I’m signing up for. I send a quick text to my brother-in-law, Alex Severinov, with the names Villani gave me. If anyone knows anything about international sex trafficking scumbags, it’s him.
A few minutes later, I’m on a road headed toward the seaside town of Trapani, far away from Palermo. I need to get the hell away from the city, to process everything that has come crashing down on me over the past couple of hours. I slam my hand on the steering wheel.
“Goddammit!” I shout into the air. I really shit the bed this time. How the fuck did I get myself into this mess with Juan Salazar? How did I let him use my family and steal from us? I swallowed the bullshit about how he’d invest heavy in Tommy’s restaurants and then use them as fronts for his drug trafficking business. He dangled wads of cash in front of me along with promises for more and more, and I bought it. I gave him access to our distribution routes so we could keep growing our business partnership. It was basically an engraved invitation to fuck me up the ass.
Dry.
If Villani hadn’t called me…
I fist my hair.
Argh! Thank God he did. That’s all.
My father managed to burn pretty much every bridge in his life before he died.
Every one, it seems, except one.
Paolo Villani.
I’ve tried like hell for the past few years to re-build those piles of ash, and it’s been damn hard.
Actually, more like impossible.
Turns out that my father’s former associates don’t want to be aligned with his toxic legacy, leaving me on my own to fix my family and my organization. Until now, I thought I’d done a decent job. We’ve created alliances, we’ve expanded our businesses, and we’ve eliminated threats.
I thought for once, I had everything under my complete control.
Then I got comfortable and made myself vulnerable to the worst kind of enemy…one who’s supposed to be an ally.
I should have seen it coming, but I missed it.
I thought those days were behind me.
It’s been a little over a year since my father was gunned down, and I’ve struggled to pick up the pieces ever since. With five brothers, a sister, and all of the crap they find themselves in the middle of, it hasn’t been an easy transition for me.
But that’s my problem to solve.
It always has been, ever since we were younger and my father forgot his job as protector of the family. It was me who watched over my brothers and sister, me who made sure they were fed and got to school on time, me who took care of the house when he went off on one of his unexplained rampages, anxious to take out his rage on some unsuspecting moron who looked at him wrong.
I’ve managed the family for as long as I can remember, kept their asses alive, and still managed to keep our organization intact.
My brothers and sister think I’m on a perpetual power trip with no final destination.
It really pisses me off, but they’re still alive.
And thriving, too.
Because of decisions I’ve made.
Until this Salazar thing came back to bite me in the ass.
I grit my teeth, continuing along the dark, desolate road toward the shore. My villa is quiet and peaceful, unlike anything else in my life, so more and more, it’s become my escape when things goes sideways.
Which happens more often than I’d like, but that just goes along with the territory when you’re the boss of a high-powered, organized crime family.
As I drive along the coast, breathing in the sea air, I remember the days when my whole family would vacation on the beaches of Trapani. Things were so much simpler then. It was before we lost Mama to cancer. It was before my father turned into a vindictive vigilante more concerned with killing than parenting. And it was before our lives were turned upside down by a laundry list of enemies who’d vowed to destroy our empire.
As the air fills my lungs, I forget about all of that for a few fleeting seconds. I can see my family smiling and happy as we splash around in the surf. Those days were easy.
But these days?
Complicated as hell.
And things have taken a definite turn for the worse now that I have a Mexican drug cartel trying to take over my territory and my livelihood.
I clench the steering wheel tight. I can’t go back to the time when this family was unraveling like a cheap rug, faster and faster with each passing day. I was able to stop it in the past, but what if I can’t this time?
What if we lose everything?
Christ only knows we’ve been at risk of that before.
I can’t take that chance again.
I gaze out at the moonlight glittering over the waves of the Mediterranean as the trees become more and more sparse. With each passing second, the stress knot loosens until my spine no longer feels like it’s about to snap from being so stiff. I ease up on the gas as I take a sharp turn, speeding down toward the shore.
A bright light on the side of the road flashes, blinding me for a split second. I yelp, swinging the steering wheel to the left to get away from whatever is shining at me. Thank fuck there are no oncoming cars at
this hour.
Crunch!
Shit…
That didn’t sound good.
What in the hell did I just run over?
My tires screech and squeal, skidding along the pavement until they hit the patch of dirt on the side of the road, right next to what appears to be a large tire and…I squint in the thin streams of light coming from the front of my car…handlebars?
I slam my foot on the brake and throw the SUV in park before fumbling in the console for my gun.
There’s no good reason for anyone to be out here at this hour, and while I’d like to say I’m a stranger to these parts, enemies always seem to have a knack for tracking their targets.
And a staged crash scene is always the perfect trap.
Someone could have easily followed me from Villani’s restaurant, headlights off.
I push open my door but leave my engine running.
Just in case.
I step out of the car, my feet landing on the pavement, shattered glass crackling under the soles of my shoes as I walk toward what looks like a decapitated moped. The cracked headlight lays a few feet away, still beaming in the direction of oncoming traffic.
The culprit for my sudden swerve out of harm’s way.
Kind of ironic since I’m pretty much always in that specific path.
For once, I was saved, which is more than I can say for the person who crashed that moped.
I creep farther away from the road, squinting in the darkness. Streams of moonlight help me see past my nose but just barely. The only sound I hear is the surf crashing against the shore, but still, I feel like I’m not alone out here.
Tiny hairs on the back of my neck prickle, and the chilly sea air slithers through my clothes, making my body shiver. I take a few more steps toward the grassy patches, my foot hitting against something hard and I jump back with my phone in hand. I turn it on, pointing it at the ground and the thick, caramel-colored riding boot that I almost stumbled over. I pick it up, peering at the blood splatters on the pebbled leather.
I inch forward, still holding the boot. There’s no guardrail along this road, and the drop is pretty steep, something which I’m glad I can’t see clearly right now since I’m deathly afraid of heights, a fact I keep buried down deep.
Mob bosses shouldn’t be afraid of anything, right?
Fear equates to weakness, and that’s just not a good look for a guy in my position.
My feet skid a little bit, and I can feel the ground sloping down toward the rocky cliff below. I’ve driven this road enough to know what lies very close by. With a thumping heart, I shorten my steps until a glimmer catches my eye. I shove the phone at the ground and my throat tightens as the light illuminates a bright red gash, long, matted blonde hair covering the worst of it. I crouch down on the ground, stepping closer until I’m right next to her. I bring my fingers to her throat, then dip my head over hers to see if there’s a pulse.
Any sign of life.
But so far, nothing.
Deep crimson streaks cover the side of her face and neck, the sickly color seeping into her clothes. I point the phone at her feet to find one boot that matches the one I found and one pink sock.
I graze her hand. It’s cold and limp, and I feel an unfamiliar pang in my chest. I press my head against her neck again, saying a silent prayer that I hear something…anything.
I let out a breath I didn’t realize I’d even been holding when the faintest thumping greets my ear.
Thank fuck.
But she needs a doctor. Christ only knows how long she’s been lying here, and if it takes too long for her to get to one…
A shudder runs through me, an unexplainable tremor that makes absolutely zero sense. I don’t know her. I’ve never seen her before in my life. I have no ties to her, no association to this girl whatsoever.
So why is my gut twisting into knots, yanking tighter and tighter with each passing second?
Why is my pulse thumping like a jackrabbit?
And why the hell can’t I bear the thought of her dying and leaving this world alone on a cold and deserted road?
I rake a hand through my hair, struggling to keep my feet planted on stable ground.
An ambulance will take too long to get here. The nearest hospital is fifty kilometers away from here. I stare at the gash on the side of the girl’s face, and then my eyes fall to the deep red stain spreading along her right side.
Christ, I missed that the first time.
She’s lost so much blood already.
She needs help now.
Meow!
“Ahh!” I yelp, twisting around, my foot catching on a thick tree branch. My body slams down on one knee, a shooting pain exploding throughout my thigh as I lose my balance and roll over to one side. With our combined weight, gravity can’t do much to prevent what comes next.
I clutch the girl in my arms, holding her tight as both of my feet struggle to find flat ground. My legs flail as we skid closer to the drop. I ignore the searing pain in my leg and shift her body, snaking one arm tight around her waist. A couple of more inches and we’re both fucked.
Don’t panic. Don’t panic!
But at this second, there isn’t a hell of a lot more for me to do, other than pray for a miracle.
Our bodies sail toward the drop as my hand grasps at anything in our path, anything that can prevent us from plunging off of the edge of the cliff.
I did say I didn’t want her to die alone on the side of the road.
Well, she definitely won’t be alone.
And we’ll both be splattered like runny eggs on top of the jagged rocks below.
I dig my heels into the dirt, trying like hell to stop us from plunging to a very painful death, but it’s no use.
“Motherfucker!” I grunt, a sharp pain shooting down my left arm. Great, what a perfect time to have a heart attack. In a couple of more seconds, death is coming one way or another.
Rocks stab at my back and my side, but none are big enough to stop us from plunging off the edge. My stomach clenches as lights shining down below make my head woozy.
So fucking high up.
I…can’t…stand…heights!
My vision blurs slightly, and I let out a loud moan. My free arm flails, reaching for something, anything, and by the mercy of God, it finds a vine of some kind. It’s a thick vine I quickly wrap around my wrist and just in time, too.
Our bodies bounce slightly, hovering damn close to the edge.
“Jesus Christ,” I mutter, my left arm numbing with each passing second.
How long am I going to be able to hold both of us up before that vine snaps?
I’ve never felt so out of control in my life, and there’s not much I can do to save us.
Except pray.
“Mnphmbmoo.”
“What the—?” I recoil, my head snapping toward the girl in my arms. “What did you just say?”
Her eyes open a crack as she studies me. “Who the hell are you?”
“I’m the guy who’s keeping you from plunging to a very painful death.”
She looks around, wincing as she turns her head. When her eyes drop to the shoreline below, she gasps. “How did we end up here?”
I cling tight to the vine. “I was driving and found your moped in a bunch of pieces on the side of the road. Then I found you in some bushes. I was about to take you to the hospital—”
“No hospital!” she screeches.
“Well,” I rasp, pulling the vine tighter around my arm. “That won’t be a problem if this vine gives out.” And on cue, we drop a few inches, almost as if the vine has something to prove.
I grit my teeth, holding on to the vine with all my might. “Listen, I know you’re pretty banged up, but if I give you a shove, do you think you can climb up to the flat part of the dirt?”
She blinks fast and takes a deep breath. “I think so,” she murmurs, bringing a hand to the side of her face. “Ow!” she yelps and pulls her bloody hand away. She lets o
ut a breath. “Okay, do it now.”
“You sure?” I ask.
“Yeah.” She squeezes her eyes shut for a quick second. “Yeah, I’m ready. I can do this,” she says, more to herself than to me.
I take a quick look a few feet above us. “There’s a bush not too far above us. I’m gonna shove you up in that direction. You grab onto it and pull yourself up.”
“What about you?” she whispers.
“Just focus on grabbing hold of that bush, okay? Don’t worry about me.” I force a smile. “Death isn’t part of my plan for tonight.”
She manages a quivery smile. “Do you have a plan for everything?”
We dip again and she lets out an ear-piercing shriek.
“No time to wait,” I gasp, pressing my feet against the dirt to give myself leverage. I shift her so that my arm is positioned to launch her upward. This shit is gonna take pure adrenaline and every ounce of strength I have. “On three. Ready…one, two, three!” I roar as I fling her up toward the bush just as the vine snaps in half.
Like a fucking bungee cord that won’t bounce me back.
Her scream pierces the still air, but I can’t think about anything other than what it’s gonna feel like when my head explodes against those rocks. The vine is still wrapped around my arm and my body flails to the right, crashing into a short rock wall buried into the side of the steep hill. Pain explodes down my side, but it’s the only chance at survival I have left since that vine busted out of the ground. I grab the edge of the wall, my pulse throbbing so hard against my neck, I almost choke.
Maybe I can climb it to the top.
Maybe I can claw my way back to the road.
Maybe I—
I squint in the darkness, the moonlight picking that second to shine on the steep, narrow staircase carved into the side of the cliff.
Stairs.
Stairs?
You’ve got to be kidding me!
“Are you okay?” A high-pitched voice cries from above.
“Yeah,” I grunt, hoisting myself over the wall. My feet land on the stone steps and I swear to God, I’ve never felt anything better in my life.
I run up the steps and throw myself onto my knees where the blonde is still pulling herself up to the top. I grasp her hands and yank her toward me. With one final pull, I have her in my arms again and this time we’re not hanging by a bunch of leaves to survive. She collapses against me, knocking me off balance and onto my back.
Fallen: A Dark Italian Mafia Romance (Men of Mayhem Book 4) Page 2
