Chapter 52
CHAPTER 52
M y Family
Symphony
My family will come for me. I will not die here. Nonno and Uri will come to help me.
I am a fighter. My life doesn’t end this way. I look around me as I’m chained up, dangling above the ground.
There has to be a way for me to escape. There are many of them, but if I can get free, I can kill them all.
Twenty-three, twenty-four. I have counted twenty-four different men moving in and out since I’ve become conscious. A smirk comes to my lips.
They know they aren’t safe. That’s why they keep moving. One way or another, they are going to die. My family will not allow this to go unanswered.
Not counting on when or who will save me, I discretely work my hands free. The challenge will be holding up my weight once I have gotten my wrists from the restraints. There is already so much pressure on my upper limbs.
Once I get free, I can use the loose chains around me as weapons. I just need to get free. I will kiss Val for pushing me so hard in training. That is the only way I have the strength to do this. Not even dancing could prepare me for this.
“Good, you are awake.” The words are crooned in Italian. I lift my head toward the voice and glare. A younger version of my nonno appears on a platform above me.
“You are not what I was expecting. I never thought to look for an American dancer or musician. Morgan made it sound as if you were completely incompetent.
“That is my fault. I should never have trusted the bastard or his word. Especially not after he begged to keep you after he killed your mother for me. I should have known then he was a fucking liar,” the man continues.
His words set my blood on fire. My chest is heaving, and my nostrils are flaring. However, I remain silent.
“Imagine my luck to have my men find you now in the home of the man I planned to have killed,” he continues and chuckles.
“Looks like you pissed her off, boss,” says the man standing in front of me with one arm folded across his chest as he holds a gun in the other.
His face is all bruised and all the blood vessels in one eye are broken. I note that he’s holding his arm to cradle it. From the looks of him, he’s the one who grabbed me in the kitchen.
“I’d shut your mouth before she kicks your ass again,” the man who looks like Nonno snorts in Italian.
“She got lucky, I slipped on the fruit she dropped,” the jerkface says.
“Sure,” I scoff under my breath.
“So you do understand us, good. My English is so-so,” the guy on the platform says as he gestures with his hand. “I can speak, but I don’t like it.”
“Say whatever you like, however you like, I don’t care,” I reply in Italian.
“Once I found out you have been in America all this time, I wasn’t sure what language you would understand. It is not like you are Italian, you know. This is the main reason I don’t know why my brother thinks he can do what he has planned.
“I wasn’t even sure you could speak at all from what Morgan told me. A woman, a ritardare , and what do they call them in America? Ah, sì, a moulinyan. Alessio must be out of his mind to think you are more deserving of our family than I am.”
“I’m sorry you are so misinformed. Allow me to tell you who I really am. I’m a woman, a killer, and the Afro-Latina who’s going to take your life right before I take my place at the head of the Trovati family. Call me a retard again and I’m going to make your death painfully slower than I already plan to,” I bite out in Italian to make sure he understands me.
He roars with laughter as if I told some joke. I can assure him I meant every word. He is going to die.
“Do you know who I am?” he scoffs. “What do these words you speak mean to me?”
I shrug my aching shoulders. “I don’t care who you are. No one will mourn you. They won’t even recognize you to bury your body.
“Don’t worry. I will make sure you have a headstone. It will read Leonardo Trovati, the murderer who earned his death.”
“Ah, so you do know who I am. Good, I wanted you to know who killed you. I also want you to know why I’m going to take your life mercilessly,” he says with a smile.
“You talk too much.”
“Men who have things to say speak as they need to.”
“I don’t care for your voice, and I don’t need to hear your words. Keep talking and I will cut your tongue out and have it made into the platforms of my slippers for me to dance on your filthy words.”
“Oh, I think I like you. What a pity. Your impostor husband murdered two people who were important to me.
“Now I plan to return the favor and record it so he can watch it over and over again. You understand this, no? You are going to die because they couldn’t keep you safe. And because my brother tried to give you something that never should have been yours.” He seethes, spit flying from his mouth.
I laugh from deep in my belly. The only one here who’s going to die will be him and his men. I don’t make promises I don’t keep.
Just as I get my other wrist free, I drop my eyes to the ground as a thought fills my head. I was so angry with Michael, but I know one thing for sure. He will always protect me.
My family has protected me since the day they came to rescue me from that bad man. Michael has told me of his dark times and all the things he has done to keep me safe. He has killed for me numerous times and never with kindness or mercy—not like the kills we have done together.
A smirk takes over my lips as I look up through my lashes. While this jerk has been talking, I have been plotting an escape of my own. But my family will be here, my husband will come for me.
“You don’t believe your words. I can smell your fear from here. You are trying to decide what your options are from this moment forward. Let me help you.
“You can unchain me, and I will slaughter you with kindness. I will even hum as I do so. Or you can keep me here and allow my family to come for you.
“They will not be so kind. You will learn why no one has ever been able to differentiate between the two. Why you all believe there is only one savage with the name Hush.
“It has always been two. The one who slaughters and the one who gives a peaceful death. You have taken me and now there might as well be one.
“My husband can be gentle, but once you touch me, he becomes as savage as his brother. Only the dead know of this secret. You will join them.
“You want to know why my husband and I are the only option to run such a powerful family? We don’t talk about who we are; we show you.
“Für Elise” fills the air right as I finish my words. It’s not the classical version, it’s the one I danced to my senior year with Ximena. The first time Michael hid in the audience to watch me.
While still holding myself in the air, I coil the loose chain beside me around my ankle as this jerk continues to run his mouth. I shift my leg into a rond de jambe , moving it away from my other leg. Then, bringing that same leg back across my body in a battement , I swing the chain across my body with all the force I can muster.
The chain smacks the jerk I beat up earlier across the face. He spins with the impact and falls to the floor. I believe a few teeth fly out of his mouth, along with blood.
I whimper as pain shoots through my inner thigh. I knew there was a chance I would injure my groin from the weight of the chain, but I took the risk. As I release my hold on the chains above me, I drop into a crouch.
At the same time, four figures drop from above. I know right away the largest one is Michael. The tails of his dark coat float up through the air as he comes down like an avenging angel.
The dark look on his face says all I need to know. They will all pay for this. For every ache I feel, he will make them pay.
“I’ve got you,” Annabella says as she catches me in her arms as Val covers us.
I pull one of Annabella’s guns to help as she lifts me to my feet and helps me move forward. I fight through the tears and pain and hold my arm up the best I can to aim and shoot.
“We can’t leave Michael,” I whimper as they try to lead me out and away from where Michael and Uri are in the middle of a gunfight.
“There isn’t a single Donati not leaving this building. Let Annabella take you to safety. I’ve got this,” Val orders. “I promise, sis.”
I close my mouth and swallow my words as she says her last three words. I trust Val. I know she means it.
Annabella shoots our way out. My arms are so tired I barely manage to help. I’m more than relieved when we get to the SUV.
Logan stands by the vehicle with a red-haired man. They both have smoking pistols in their hands as they seem to be standing guard.
“Aye, so this is the wee lass the lad has lost his noodle over,” the redhead says while opening the back door of the SUV and narrowing his eyes at me. “Where do I know ya from, lass?”
“You killed a man for me once,” I say as I remember his face from when I worked for the O’Sheas.
“Aye, the accountant.”
“I am not an accountant. I told you this back then.”
He chuckles. “Aye, love. I know. That’s not why I gave you the name.”
Logan lifts me from my feet then helps to place me into the vehicle as the redhead laughs. Annabella jumps in after me and gets to work checking me for injuries. I’m sore, but I don’t think I have any life-threatening wounds.
“Thank God, no open wounds. She’s okay,” Annabella breathes.
Michael
As my sister’s words come through the comm, an ounce of my sanity returns. Not much, but enough for me to see the faces of the men I slaughter as they fall to the ground.
I roll my shoulder and toss my coat away. Then, just as swiftly, I drop the two guns I have emptied and reach for two more. I put a bullet into the head of the bastard running toward me as I make my way for Leonardo.
That motherfucker is mine. This ends now. LaSalle sent Logan O’Brien and Ronan McGowan after Uri to let him know we have his full support in finally ending this bastard’s life.
“You can’t kill me,” Leonardo screams in Italian as Uri shoots his gun from his shaking hand. “They will come for you all now.”
He looks between the two of us as if he’s going to shit his pants. It seems he’s trying to figure out who’s who. Sweat begins to pour down his face.
“Which one of you is Uri? I can give you power. Between the fear you bring and my connections, we can take over everything,” he says.
I release a sinister laugh. As if my brother would betray me. Our family isn’t built from such cowardice.
“You mistake me for a bloody sod like you. I would never betray my brother,” Uri snarls.
As Uri replies, Leonardo pulls another gun and aims it at me. Uri goes to take his life, but I hold my hand up as I continue to move forward. I knock the gun away from Leonardo’s unsteady hand and grab him by his throat, lifting him from his feet.
“You want to know which one of us is Michael Donati, yes?”
I squeeze his throat so tightly I think I might pop his head from his shoulders. “I am him. I am the new don of the Trovati family.
“I am the husband of the woman you have been trying to find and murder for over sixteen years. Not what you were expecting?” I snarl and tilt my head to the side.
“ Tu sei il diavolo ,” he chokes out as he looks me in the eyes.
“No, not the devil. I am something far worse.”
“The Trovati family will fall under you,” he tries to say as I continue to squeeze while I move closer to the edge of the platform, holding him over the edge.
“Then the Donati family will rise in its place. I’m okay with that, as are your brother and mine. I hope you kept that suit and shoes I left for you.”
With that, I place my gun under his chin and pull the trigger before dropping him to the ground below. Uri comes to pat me on the back. I turn from looking down over the platform to look at him.
“I’m proud of you. I thought you would make it much worse,” he says.
“I’m not done. He didn’t do any of this on his own. Andiamo. Abbiamo alcuni vecchi Don da visitare.”
I walk away as Uri’s laughter fills the air. He already knows this isn’t over for me. I will not rest until every one of them has met silence.