33. KILLIAN
The fleet of SUVs screech to a halt outside the auction house, and I watch as fifty of my men pour out onto the gravel road, every last one of them ready to storm this fucking hell hole and find my girl.
The uneasiness of the past few hours has destroyed me. Since the moment I discovered she’d been taken, to having to spend precious minutes organizing our attack, it all felt like time I didn’t have, but to go in unprepared means unnecessary loss of life, and I won’t risk my men because I wasn’t thoroughly prepared.
I just hope it’s not too late.
These auctions usually happen late in the night, but it truly depends on the patience of the crowd. The men who frequent these auctions aren’t exactly known for being respectable or capable of waiting. They’re demanding, and when they don’t get what they want, it often turns dangerous. There’s a good chance my girl might already be gone, but if she is, there’s not a damn thing stopping me from going in there and finding out everything I need to know.
But if she is still there, just like she was that first night, then I’ll bring this whole fucking ring down around her.
My men immediately disperse around the property to infiltrate from every exit, making sure not a soul inside is able to escape. I’ve reached my limit with Ezekiel, and if I’m bringing this fucker down, then I’m taking him down with the ship. There will be no escape for him tonight, no sneaking out through underground tunnels, or taking off through the roof emergency exit. I have them all covered, and tonight, Ezekiel Lopez is mine.
“We good?” Cristian—my new second-in-command—asks. He’s the only senior member left I can trust, and honestly, I’m not sad about it. He and his wife, Evie, are exactly what Chiara needs to transition into this world. I should have thought of it first. Evie can help her, teach her everything she needs to know, because I’ll be damned if I ever let her go again. As for Cristian, he’s the only senior member who’s never wanted the limelight, the only one I’ve never had to worry will stab me in the back. He is the perfect yes man, however, in the face of terror, he will always rise. If the worst happens and he’s forced to take my place, he will take the role just as seriously as I have.
He’s exactly what I need.
I go to nod when a broken cry sounds in the distance—a tone I would recognize anywhere—and I whip around, seeking it out, only to watch Chiara stumble around the corner of the building and step directly into the light from the SUVs.
My heart freezes for a moment before crippling me as it launches into a full attack, pounding faster than it ever has before. I start running, my eyes wide as she hurries toward me, but after one look, I know she’s been through hell. Her knees are shaky and there’s dried tears on her blood-soaked face, but all that matters is getting her into my arms.
The moment she realizes she’s safe, she crumbles, dropping to the hard ground, and the moment I reach her, I fall with her. My knees crash against the gravel, and I pull her into me. “You’re safe now, Angel,” I murmur as she buries her head against my chest, letting me hold her. “I’m so sorry. I’ll never let you go. You’ll never have to be afraid again.”
She begins to cry, but I sit there with her, giving her a moment to get it out, despite losing the element of surprise on our attack. Nothing matters more than having this moment with Chiara. She needs this more than I need to breathe her in.
“You’re safe now,” I repeat, brushing my hand gently over her hair and taking note of her injuries. Her knees are scraped, and there’s bruising across her ribs, but it’s nothing compared to the random slices in her skin. It’s as though someone took a blade and cut her, but there’s no pattern to it. It’s all random, as though she were cut out of her clothing. “You’re safe.”
Her tears quickly dry, and I doubt her need to process and cry has barely even begun, but she puts it aside, knowing we’re here for a reason. She’s putting her needs aside to be strong for me, and a woman like that is a woman I should have never let go.
“Why are you out here, Angel? Did you escape?”
Chiara nods. “I . . . I was sold,” she begins. “Maybe ten, fifteen minutes ago. He was dragging me out to his car, and I fell and . . .”
The tears return to her eyes, and seeing the pain within them, I don’t try to push for information. At the end of the day, all that matters is that she was able to get away. Instead, I simply hold up my hand and point in the direction she came, knowing my men will deal with whatever she left behind.
“No,” she says, reaching for my hand and pulling it back down. “You don’t need to do that.”
I catch her eye, my brows furrowed in confusion.
“I’ve already dealt with it,” Chiara explains. “After I fell, I saw the headlights coming, and I knew it was you, so I refused to get up. I didn’t want to risk him getting me in the trunk of his car, and he said that if I was on my knees, that I—”
My jaw clenches as she cuts herself off, and I can only imagine what kind of bullshit this asshole has put her through.
“I killed him,” she says, trembling. “He forced his . . . into my mouth, but I wasn’t about to let him walk away from it unscathed, so I bit down and didn’t let go, even when it felt like all the blood was going to choke me. I just . . . I had no choice.”
I nod and hold her to my chest, hating every moment of the torture she’s had to endure, all because I pushed her away. If I had never let her go, none of this would have happened. “It’s okay, Angel. You did what you had to do.”
“I put my heel through his eye socket and punctured his brain.”
I simply stare at her. I was expecting a lot of things to come out of her mouth, but that wasn’t one of them. As she stares back at me, her lips quirk into a wicked grin, and for a moment, I don’t recognize the woman within. She’s harder. Colder. She’s changed.
“When a man touches something that belongs to my husband, he must be punished.”
I groan low. Those words out of her mouth are my undoing, and I pull her tighter against my chest, my lips pressing against her temple. “That’s my girl,” I soothe before taking her shoulders and gently pushing her back to meet her eyes. “Listen, my sweet angel. Let me take you to my car. You can sit in there with two of my men while I handle this. I need to put an end to this bullshit, and the moment I’m done, I’ll take you home, and you won’t ever have to leave.”
She shakes her head, anger flashing in her eyes. “No. I’m going with you.”
“Chiara—”
“Don’t,” she says, grabbing my shoulders as she shakily gets to her feet. “If you knew what those vile monsters did to me. What they . . . I’m going with you, Killian. They put their hands on me, so when you slaughter them like animals, I’m going to be right there to watch it happen.”
I rise with her, holding on to her arms, terrified she’ll crumble again. “What are you talking about, Chiara? What did they do to you?”
She glances away, refusing to meet my eyes as though she can’t possibly divulge this information to my face. “They raped me, Killian,” she whispers. “Three of them. The guy who runs it and two of the guards. They came into my cell, held me down, and took turns—” she pauses, closing her eyes as though the images running through her head are too much for her to handle. “They cut me. One of them had a knife, and they cut these deep gashes on my skin while they were trying to get my clothes off. But they’ll scar. I’ll forever have these reminders of what they did to me.”
“Yes, every time you look in the mirror, you will remember. Some days you will fall apart and other days you will feel rage, shame, fear, and maybe even disgust. But those scars are also a reminder that you survived. Each one of them, while just as painful as the last, tells the story of what you have endured and overcome. You are stronger than them, and no scar is going to keep you from getting the justice you deserve. I know it may be impossible for you to see now, but one day, you will wear those scars as a trophy.”
When she stares at me blankly, I know she doubts every word I say. She’s not there yet. She has been through the kind of hell no woman should have to endure, and while the scars I bear are different, I’m a testament that strength can come from the worst of times.
Pressing my hand to her lower back, I begin leading her back toward my men when Cristian breaks off from the crowd and meets me in the middle. “Do you have the headshots of Ezekiel’s men?”
Cristian nods and pulls out his phone. He brings up the files we need and hands me the phone. I scroll through the images as Chiara looks on. “Tell me when you see them,” I instruct.
She nods, and as I continue flipping, she watches like a hawk. “Stop,” she finally says. “Go back one.”
I do as asked and a hollowness appears in her eyes as she simply stares at him. “That’s one of them,” she murmurs before reaching out and flipping through the images herself. Another moment passes before she pauses again. “That’s the other.”
I nod and pull the phone away, not wanting her to have to look at them a second longer than necessary. Handing the phone back to Cristian, I give him my instructions. “Everyone apart from Ezekiel and these two men will be slaughtered. Those three will be returning with me.”
“Yes, boss. Anything else?” he asks as I slip my suit jacket off and help Chiara into it to offer her just a little bit of dignity.
“No, we’re good to get started.”
“Wait,” Chiara rushes out in a panic. “What about the other girls in there? There’s a few of them. They don’t deserve this. They’re just innocent girls like me who were snatched off the street. We need to save them. Please, Killian. Let me save them. We can offer them a new life where they won’t have to fear for their safety and face men like this ever again.”
“Okay,” I tell her, nodding at Cristian who immediately starts giving orders. “We’ll make the girls a priority.”
Chiara nods and sucks in a deep breath, giving herself a moment to mentally prepare to go back in there. “Alright, then let’s do it.”
“You sure, Angel? You don’t need to witness this. It won’t be pretty,” I warn her. “The things you see will pale in comparison to what you’ve already been through, and I guarantee, I will bring these motherfuckers home for you. You will get your justice at your own leisure.”
“I’m going in,” she tells me with defiance in her tone. “I need to see this.”
She holds my stare for a moment longer, and as I see the true hunger in her exhausted gaze, I finally nod. “Okay, Chiara. You stand at my side the whole time. When I tell you to move, you move. If I tell you to run, you run. Do you understand me?”
“Yes.”
“Okay,” I finally agree. “Then let’s do it.”
Moving over to the trunk of my SUV, I find a small handgun, and after checking it’s properly loaded, I press it into Chiara’s hand. “Do you know how to use this?”
“Point and shoot?” she asks.
Jesus Christ. I consider taking it off her, but as she looks over it, the confidence builds in her stare, and I won’t dare take that from her, especially not tonight, even if it means I risk catching one of her bullets. It’ll be worth it.
“Good enough, just keep your finger off the trigger until someone needs to die.”
Cristian gives out the order for my men to prepare to infiltrate the warehouse, and though I’m sure we’ve lost our advantage of surprise, I don’t hear any commotion coming from inside. Nobody is trying to escape, and there’s sure as fuck no one going on the defense.
Perhaps we still hold on to that element of surprise.
Cristian nods, getting a message through his earpiece before he turns to me. “We’re ready,” he tells me.
“Good. Then call the order.”
With that, Cristian gives the order for my men to go, and in a show of pure beauty, every door surrounding the building is blown to pieces. Multiple explosions boom through the night, and as the smoke billows high into the sky, my team races forward, guns at the ready.
Chiara stays right on my ass as we fly through the narrow opening, her hands wrapped around the gun as though she’s trying to choke it. I pause by the door, taking a moment to survey the chaos below.
My men are pouring in like perfect soldiers, taking out every obstacle in their way, and I watch as men begin dropping like flies.
Girls scream, but the sound doesn’t come from the few girls visible on the floor, and it leaves me wondering just how many girls Ezekiel was attempting to auction tonight.
“There,” Chiara says, pointing out something in the chaos.
I follow her eyeline, and as if on cue, Ezekiel turns and meets my stare.
I’ve never seen a man look so terrified in my life, and that says a lot coming from me. Taking in his fear is like a drug to me, and within seconds I’m intoxicated by the simple need to make him suffer. This man put his hands on my wife, violated her body, and sold her to be someone’s whore. He won’t escape my wrath, no matter how hard he tries, and I will enjoy every second of it.
“Let’s go,” I tell Chiara.
She doesn’t skip a beat as I storm through the chaos, my men having my back and taking out every threat before it even becomes a problem, all while I watch as Ezekiel desperately tries to get through the crowd.
He knows what’s coming for him.
Purchasers are slaughtered left, right, and center, and I watch as women who were being carted away are suddenly freed and falling into the arms of my men. They run, desperate to get out of here, and I can’t help but notice the way Chiara’s spirits seem to rise.
It’s as though she doesn’t even see the blood pooling on the ground, doesn’t feel the weight of the death within the room. She’s here with a purpose, and despite the exhaustion that claims her, nothing else matters. It’s fucking beautiful.
Ezekiel breaks out through a side exit that leads deeper into the maze of tunnels, and without hesitation, we follow him in. His feet pound against the concrete floor, leaving an audible trail for us to follow, and I shake my head at his pathetic attempt at escape.
“Is he for real?” Chiara asks, still clutching the gun.
“Unfortunately, for people like Ezekiel, stupidity comes naturally. It’s why their businesses are so easy to obtain and corrupt.”
Ezekiel runs into an office, and as we step into the open doorway, we watch him scramble through his desk drawer. “Ezekiel, how nice to see you again.”
He holds up a gun, his hands shaking in fear. “Don’t fucking touch me,” he spits. “I’ll kill the bitch before you even take a step.”
I laugh. “Oh, I believe you’ve met my wife,” I say, indicating to the blood-soaked warrior beside me. “Isn’t she gorgeous?”
His putrid gaze flicks toward Chiara for barely a second, but it’s a second too long. He looks back at me but doesn’t respond. It’s the first smart move he’s made all day.
“Ezekiel, do you know what happens to men who put their hands on my wife?” I ask, so calmly anybody would assume I’m here for a lunch date.
His eyes fill with panic, clearly not knowing how to play this, but there’s no hand he could possibly play to win. Every move he makes, he’ll lose. And as if knowing that, he raises his gun just a little higher, aimed right between my eyes.
BANG!
Chiara shoots, and her bullet goes wide, penetrating the wall behind his head, but it’s enough to startle him. He drops his gun in his panic, and all I can do is let out a heavy sigh as I stride deeper into the small office. “I asked a question,” I say impatiently. “What do you believe happens to men who touch my wife?”
Ezekiel flashes his gaze between me and the door and seeing no way out, he backs up against the wall. “Just kill me now, you piece of shit,” he spits over the horrendous noise coming from the main floor, dropping to his knees in surrender. “DO IT! FUCKING DO IT.”
I laugh. “You think I will do you the honor of putting you out of your misery? Of giving you a simple bullet between your eyes and calling it even?” I ask, leaning toward him and holding his stare as he wets his pants. “You put your hands on my wife, you had your men hold her down while you took turns fucking what is mine. You scarred her body, left her broken and bruised, and then sold her for profit. You dared to touch the woman I love. So no, a simple bullet will not suffice. You are about to experience the full wrath of the DeLorenzo Mafia.”
I inch away from him, and on cue, three of my men pour into the small office to collect Ezekiel, cuffing his hands behind his back and pulling a black bag over his head. “Sir,” one of my men says, pausing beside me. “We have the other two guards in custody.”
“Good. Take the three of them back to my private cells. I’ll be there shortly.”
He nods and with that, he leaves with the others.
Alone with Chiara, I move back into her, taking her waist and forcing her stare to mine. “You good? We have what we came for. We can leave out the back door or return to the main floor and finish what we started.”
“The girls?” she questions, fear in her eyes. “Have they got them all?”
“No. I don’t believe so.”
A profound determination comes over her and I realize in an instant that she is about to dedicate her life to helping girls just like her, girls who have suffered at the hands of unlawful men, girls who have been tossed aside and disregarded as nothing more than a toy for someone to use and abuse. And however she decides to do that, I’ll be right there, helping her along.
“Then we stay,” she says.
Without skipping a beat, Chiara pulls out of my hold and turns on her heel, heading back to the main floor, and the moment we pass through the tunnel and back into the chaos, she takes off at a sprint.
“CHIARA,” I call after her, but she’s already gone.
Most of the purchasers have been taken out by my men, but there are still a few left. Both sides exchange gunfire, but my girl races straight through the center like a fucking angel dancing across landmines.
She’s fearsome and wild, and I’ve never been so fucking proud of her.
Reaching one of the cages, she drops to her knees in front of a girl on the ground of the dirty cage, her hands protectively covering her head as she sobs with fear. “I’m going to get you out,” Chiara calls over the noise as a bullet whizzes straight past her face.
For fuck’s sake. She’s going to get herself killed.
Moving in behind Chiara, I shield her body with mine before taking the gun from her hand and shooting out the lock. The cage door swings open, and without wasting a single moment, Chiara dives into the cage and pulls the terrified girl out.
The two of them stumble through the dead bodies and indicate for one of my men to come collect the girls, only as the woman is taken from Chiara, she doubles back, refusing to call it quits just yet. “There’s still more,” she says, not fearing the world around her for even a second.
“Okay,” I tell her. “Lead the way.”
Twenty minutes later, every purchaser within the room is dead, along with every guard or person who had any hand in making these auctions happen. All while Chiara stands out by the convoy of SUVs, offering water and blankets she found in the warehouse to every last woman rescued.
“What’s going to happen to them?” she asks, joining me a moment later.
“Whatever they want,” I tell her. “I can offer them a new life far away from here, but I would assume that many of them already have lives they won’t wish to leave behind. Friends, family, a support network. I can only help as much as they’re willing to accept, but they’re safe now, Chiara. Just as you are. Ezekiel and his men can’t hurt them anymore.”
She nods and steps right into my arms. “Thank you,” she murmurs. “I know it’s not common practice for you to run rescue missions for women you don’t know, but I appreciate that you did.”
“Anything for you, my sweet angel.”
She nods and buries her face against my chest, simply breathing me in. “I think I’d like to help them. I don’t know how, but I just feel . . . I have to.”
“I know,” I tell her. “We’ll figure something out. A foundation perhaps, somewhere women who’ve been hurt in the way you have can find safety and start to rebuild their lives.”
She nods and meets my stare. “You’d help me do that?”
“Of course, Angel. I’m sure both Krista and Evie would also commit to the cause.”
“You know, I’m still annoyed that you interrogated Evie. She didn’t deserve that.”
My face scrunches, and though this isn’t the time to get into it, I can’t help but come clean. “About that. There was no interrogation. A pure heart like Evie, she wouldn’t be able to handle it. She told me everything I needed to know on the car ride over and once in my office, we made funeral arrangements while she sipped on tea.”
Her jaw drops and she stares at me in shock. “You’re a real asshole, you know that, right?”
I nod. “I do.”
Shaking it off, she lets out a heavy breath. “Okay. So, this foundation. We’re going to do it. We’ll make it happen.”
I nod and a moment of heavy silence falls between us, and it’s clear she’s deep in thought. “Chiara,” I say, drawing her attention. “I was wrong to send you away. I thought you were safer on the outside, that once you were separated from me, Monica would no longer see you as a threat. I am sorry. I was wrong. I should never have hurt you like that.”
“I provoked her,” she admits. “The night she came into the bar, I provoked her and led her to believe that I’d told you everything she’d done. I thought it would scare her into leaving me alone, but all of this happened because of her. They were there when I was taken, both Monica and Sergiu. They were the ones pulling the strings. They made this happen.”
I nod as my gut tightens with unease. “I know,” I tell her. “But they won’t hurt you anymore. I’ll make sure of it. Now, please, my sweet angel, let me take you home.”
Chiara nods and lifts her gaze to mine. “I want them to pay, Killian. For everything they’ve done to me. I want them punished.”
Clenching my jaw, my mind immediately takes me back to the surveillance footage I saw from Chiara’s room, of Sergiu making himself welcome and violating her. While I know that pales in comparison to what happened to her here, he was the root of this. Monica doesn’t have the brains or connections to pull this off, but she will still die for her part in it. Sergiu, however, he’s going to wish he never crossed me, never put his hands on my girl or orchestrated her abduction.
He’s going to wish he were already dead.
“I promise you, Chiara. Sergiu and Monica will pay for what they’ve put you through,” I tell her. “I already have a team working on their location.”
“Good,” she finally says, allowing the exhaustion to claim her. “Then take me home. I need a bath, and after that, I intend to spend the rest of my life in your arms,” she tells me. “I belong with you, Killian. Right here at your side, and I don’t care how many times you try to push me away for my own wellbeing, I’m not going anywhere. You can’t make me. I love you, and though I know we didn’t make vows or have some elaborate wedding, it changes nothing. I’m your wife, and I fully intend to keep being your wife.”
“I’m not pushing you away, Chiara. I’m taking you home to my bed, and that’s where you’re going to stay.”
“About time,” she says, and with that, she slips into the back of my SUV and curls up on the seat, more than ready to live the rest of her life as the only woman I’ve ever seen.