Chapter 27
Kane
“What the fuck do you mean, it’s my dad?”
When I arrived at Dominick’s office this morning to meet with him, Matteo, and Lorenzo to discuss the dead-body incident, the last thing I expected was to be told that the body they’d found was my father’s.
“They were able to run the DNA through their database, and it’s your dad. They also found this note.” Dominick hands me a folded piece of paper. “I’m assuming it’s to you since you’re the only one invested in the waterfront expansion with multiple brothers.”
Sides were chosen. Your brothers chose mine. Too bad you didn’t make the same choice. Now, you and your wife will pay.
“Quite the poet.” I drop the paper onto the desk and sit back in my seat.
“She’s fucking nuts,” Matteo says.
“And if we’ve learned anything, it’s that the crazy ones shouldn’t be taken lightly,” Lorenzo adds, no doubt referring to the woman he’s cohabitating with—and still hasn’t told his friends about.
Which reminds me …
I pull out my phone and dial Daniil’s number.
“You have eyes on Bri?” I ask him when he answers on the first ring.
“Yeah. She’s—” His words are cut off by the sound of chaos on the other line, and my heart drops.
“Daniil!” I yell. “What the fuck is happening?”
When he doesn’t answer, I look up at the guys, who are staring at me with a mixture of concern and confusion.
“Something just went down.” I pull up the tracking app I have on Brielle’s phone. “Make sure your wives are locked down. I need to get to Bri.”
I rush out of the office and down the stairs, not wanting to wait for the elevator, while I call Brielle repeatedly.
With each nonanswer, my heart rate picks up. I know something is wrong.
I jump into my car, and I’m about to take off when Matteo slides into the passenger seat.
“Dani and Alba are safe. I have the condo secured with four guards on them. Let’s go.”
The drive to the Pilates studio feels like it takes hours instead of minutes, and when we arrive, there are already cops and firefighters at the scene.
“Where is she?” I ask Nicole the moment I see her standing with the officer.
“There was a fire next door, and when we walked out, a water main burst,” she cries. “I was so focused on everything that was going on that I didn’t notice that she was being taken. I’m so sorry.”
“Fuck,” Matteo hisses.
I follow his line of sight and see Daniil’s lifeless body on the ground. A few feet away is Josh, the other guard assigned to Brielle—also dead.
“Did you see anything?” I ask her. “A certain color car? Was it a man or a woman who took her? Anything that could help?”
She shakes her head, trying to remember, when it hits me.
“I have another tracker on her.”
I pull out my phone and go to the tracking app I recently had installed. “They’re heading south on I-95. Let’s go.”
“How are you tracking my sister?” Matteo asks as we get back into my car.
“Her wedding band. I installed a tracker in it, just in case.” I click the screen so I can follow it on my dashboard. “With all this shit going on, I wanted to make sure I had another way to track her in case something like this happened.”
“That’s fucking smart,” Matteo says, putting his phone to his ear.
He calls Dominick first, letting him know about Daniil and Josh so he can handle it. Then he calls one of his men, relaying the direction we’re heading in so they can meet us there.
“They’ve stopped at the port,” he says. “Same fucking place they brought Dani last year.”
He calls his men working at the port and tells them to shoot first, but to make sure Brielle is safe.
“There has to be a reason they brought her there.” I increase my speed, flying around the cars that are going slower. If a cop wants to pull me over, he can do so once I’ve got Bri in my fucking arms.
“Yeah, whoever it is, is trying to send a message,” Matteo says slowly.
“Carlos Santiago trafficked women before my brother shut him down. They held Dani in a cargo crate. They fucked with several of our shipments. And now they’re taking Bri to the fucking port.
Fuck, why didn’t we put the pieces together before?
” He slams his fist against the dashboard and then calls Eddy, asking him to pull the footage from the cameras in front of the studio and at the port so we can try to see who’s responsible.
There’s an accident on I-95, and I almost consider getting out and running to the port, but we’re too far, and it will take too long.
“The guys are saying they don’t see anyone there.”
Finally, the traffic picks back up, and I weave in and out of the vehicles on the road.
As we’re pulling in, Matteo’s phone rings, and he puts it on speaker.
“Boss,” his guy yells, “the cargo ship just crashed into the dock. Containers are everywhere, but we don’t see Brielle anywhere.”
“Don’t worry about the containers,” Matteo yells, jumping out of the car and running toward the docks. “Watch for my fucking sister! She has to be here somewhere.”
We get to the docks, and I glance around, trying to figure out where the hell she is. The dot shows she’s around here somewhere … and then my gaze lands on the other cargo ship leaving.
“Motherfucker,” I hiss, realizing the crash was another goddamn distraction. “She’s on that ship!” I yell at Matteo as I take off running down the dock.
They can’t leave without the port pilot guiding them out, so my only hope is to get on the pilot ship. Matteo catches up to me and hands me a gun. Then we both jump onto the pilot ship, along with three other men.
“Remember,” Matteo says as the pilot ship heads toward the side of the cargo ship, “my sister is on board. Shoot to kill, but make sure she’s safe.”
Brielle
My walls were down.
Everything had been going well lately.
For the first time in years, I looked forward to going home and spending my evening curled up with a man.
He might not love me, but it’s clear he cares about me.
It’s in the way he hugs and kisses me and gives me affection.
He stocks my favorite protein shakes in the fridge.
He orders my coffee and breakfast ahead to ensure I get the pastry I want.
When we have sex, he makes sure I’m taken care of and always lets me take control.
I could talk to him about the Pilates studio for hours, and he’d listen attentively the entire time. And he brought Molly home.
So, I let my guard down.
And when the fire alarm went off next door, causing the one in the Pilates studio to go off as well, I walked outside without thinking.
There was smoke coming out of the store, and the water main had burst. My only thought was that I was going to lose the studio I’d just closed on.
Because I’d let my guard down.
And then I was snatched up.
I watched Daniil and Josh lose their lives when they tried to save me.
And before I could call for help, my phone was snatched out of my hand and thrown into the street.
The only good thing was that Nicole wasn’t taken.
I was shoved into the trunk of a vehicle and brought to the port, where my wrists were bound and I was forced into a cargo ship.
They didn’t bother to cover my eyes, which told me I was going to die.
And my only hope at this point is that they make it quick.
But when two huge men corner me with malice in their eyes, it hits me that they’re going to torture me before I die.
“We were told to send a message,” one of the guys says, his accent thick, slicing the ropes on my wrists because he obviously doesn’t see me as a threat.
I’m not sure where they’re from, but when he speaks to the other man, it’s clear they’re Hispanic. Because I was raised to be a good trophy wife, Andrey made me learn Spanish, Italian, and Russian, so I understand every word they’re saying in Spanish.
“I get her first. Then you can have her next.”
“Fine. Then we’ll kill her.”
“He didn’t say to kill her. Only to send a message.”
“Killing her will send a message.”
They both laugh, and I close my eyes, mentally preparing for what’s about to come.
The first guy advances on me, and I scream even though it’s futile. I claw at his arms and neck and face, refusing to go down without a fight.
He yells at the other guy to hold me down.
I kick and scream and attack him until my wrists are twisted behind my back, and my shoes, yoga pants, and underwear are ripped from my body.
I try to turn off my brain, to think happy thoughts to help me mentally escape.
My precious cat, Molly.
Working out at the Pilates studio.
Coffee with Nicole.
Spending time with my niece and nephews.
Cooking Sunday meals with my mom.
Kane and I cuddling on the couch and watching TV.
But still, visions of Anthony forcing himself on me hit me hard, and it’s like I’m in my apartment all over again with no control.
Tears prick my eyes as the monster in front of me forces my legs open, but I refuse to give him anything more than he’s going to take without my permission.
“You little cunt,” he spits, unbuckling his belt. “I’m gonna tear you—”
He doesn’t finish his thought, falling to the ground as blood pours out of his head. Before the other guy can run, a bullet hits him in the forehead, taking him out as well.
“Fuck!” my brother shouts, lowering his gun and averting his eyes from my naked body, while Kane scoops up my clothes and helps me get dressed.
“You saved me,” I mutter, nuzzling my face into Kane’s neck as he scoops me into his arms and carries me out of the container.
My entire body is shaking, and I’m struggling to catch my breath. But I’m okay. Kane saved me before that nasty asshole could rape me.
“Matteo killed the men,” Kane corrects, snapping me out of my thoughts. “He’s got damn good aim.”
Matteo’s glassy eyes meet mine, and I’m momentarily taken aback by the raw emotion shining in them.
But then I remember how much guilt he felt when he found out I had been raped before.
Matteo’s always been the brother hell-bent on protecting me, and it nearly killed him to know he hadn’t protected me when I was younger.
For years, I thought my brothers knew what Anthony and Andrey had done to me, but I should’ve known that they never would’ve gone along with that. They might be driven by their business, but they’ve proven repeatedly how much they love me and would do anything to protect me.
“Thank you for saving me,” I choke out.
Matteo nods once and then closes his eyes, and when he reopens them, he’s back to the normal Matteo—the one who hides his emotions.
“I might’ve killed them, but Kane had the tracker on you and knew where to find you,” Matteo notes. “Another minute, and we wouldn’t have been able to get onto the pilot ship to get to you.”
“Wow, am I dreaming, or are my husband and brother getting along?” I half joke to lighten the mood.
Kane chuckles and kisses my forehead. “I’m glad you’re okay, Princess. Do we need to take you to the hospital?”
“No.” I burrow closer into his chest. “You got to me before they could do anything.”
It takes a little while for the ship to dock back at the port, but the entire time, Kane never lets go of me. When we get off the ship, Matteo insists Kane take me home while he stays to deal with the bodies.
“They said they were supposed to be sending a message,” I tell Matteo before we leave.
He nods. “I know you want to be independent, but …”
“I know. I’ll lie low for a while. And I’d like to cover the funeral costs for Daniil and Josh,” I choke out.
It hits me that Daniil is gone. Paying for their funerals won’t make up for the fact that they died, trying to save me, but it’s the least I can do.
I didn’t know Josh well, but Daniil had become like a big brother to me, and it guts me that his life is over, all because of some bullshit fight over territory.
“C’mon, wife,” Kane says, setting me into the passenger seat of the car. “Let’s get you home.”
I go to reach for my phone to check on Nicole when I remember I don’t have it. “Hey, Kane … how did you track me when they threw my phone?”
“Your ring,” he says, tapping on the wedding band.
“I had a tracker put in it when it was custom-designed. After everything I’d seen, growing up, like walking in on my mom almost bleeding out on the floor, I wasn’t going to risk not having a way to find you.
” He takes my hand in his and squeezes it. “I’ll always find you, Princess.”
My heart swells in my chest.
His words shouldn’t affect me the way they do.
But I can’t help it.
I’m falling in love with my husband.
And I think I’m actually okay with that.