CHAPTER NINE
RAINA
I kissed my captor. Who the hell does that? Kage being hot shouldn’t matter. I should’ve bitten his lip harder.
With a grin on his face, like he’s won some kind of stupid game, he yanks me into the hospital room where the blonde woman lays sobbing, with a man beside her. He turns, and stares at me with a death glare, when his brother says my name. The recognition is instant, as he charges for me, grabs my throat with both hands, and squeezes. It’s different from when Kage had his hands on me.
His eyes stare into mine, and are dark as coal. His intention is clear, but his words are even more so.
“My baby is dead. Your family killed my child, and now I’ll kill theirs.”
“Reaper!” I hear Kage’s voice in the distance, but I can’t see him, or anything, as my vision gets blurry.
“She didn’t hurt Bella. Take your fucking hands off her, brother.”
It isn’t Kage that gets him to release me. It’s his woman, when she says what must be his real name.
“Nico! Don’t. Let her go.”
He removes his hands from my neck and I fall to my knees, coughing, when Kage lifts me into his arms, and places me on the couch in the fancy room.
This is not an average hospital room. It’s a large suite with two bathrooms. There’s one off to the side across from the bed, and another all the way across the room, that I assume is for guests of the patient. It has a large light blue sectional, and two sitting chairs. The Bonetti men stand as if they’re ready for a fight to break out at a moment’s notice. Large muscular men, wide stances, threatening scowls. Each of them only seems more intense than the last.
Kage runs his fingers over my throat, inspecting what are probably red handprints from his brother. I’ve always been warned that the Bonetti brothers are monsters, and now I’m beginning to believe the warning was genuine.
Two other men walk back into the room, and I instantly remember them from my house.
“Where the fuck were you?”
One holds up a cup of coffee.
“Are you going to introduce me to your pretty little pet?”
I roll my eyes as Kage says, “Psycho, this is Raina. Raina, Psycho.”
He nods and then looks back at his brother.
“Remember our pact? I’m not kidding, I will fucking stab you.”
“Will? Why wait? There’s no time like the present,” I say quietly, but Kage hears me and flashes me a glare.
“I don’t think I should be here,” I whisper, as I watch the angry one, who I now know is Reaper Bonetti, with his woman.
Tears run down his face as he apologizes to her repeatedly.
“I’m sorry. I did this.”
She wraps her arms around his neck.
“No, Nico. This is not your doing.”
If they weren’t Bonettis it would be beautiful, the way they comfort each other. As if the other’s pain means more than their own.
Kage points everybody out to me, but keeps his voice low.
“That’s Bones. He’s the head of the family. And that’s his wife, Athena. Reaper, you kind of met, and his girl, Bella.”
I have never met any of them, but the names I’ve heard before. One more than the others.
“Reaper. He killed my brothers.”
I know why he feels guilty because, honestly, he started this. It’s not that I think she deserved what was done to her. The men in my family are repulsive. There’s a lot of criminal activity in the mafia world, but my family takes it to an entirely different degree. Any other family would’ve gone after the man that did this to them. Mine went after a woman, and brutally raped her, before killing her unborn child. Of course, they’re all dead now, so it makes sense to me why he wanted to kill me, and probably my mother too.
“When can I see my mom?”
“As soon as you earn the right to a visit.”
I sit up on the couch and run a hand through my hair.
“Is she in a cage?”
He shakes his head and sits beside me.
“No. She is in a room with a private bathroom, small kitchen, and a television.”
My eyes snap to his angrily.
“And yet you intend to keep me in a cage?”
He grins at me with an evil smirk.
“Yes, Firecracker. You mesmerize me, and your mother does not.”
“Is there a way to un-mesmerize you, because I think I prefer that?”
He chuckles loudly and says, “That’s not a word, Firecracker. Looks like somebody is getting a dictionary for her birthday.”
I roll my eyes at him because at this point I doubt I’ll be alive for my birthday.
“Some sort of a blunt object is at the top of my wish list. Or a gun.”
His brother, Psycho, taps on his shoulder, and Kage turns away from me and talks to him quietly, so he thinks I can’t hear him, but I can.
“No, this is nothing like Bones or Reaper. I know our pact, and trust me, it’s not happening. I’m not falling for disgusting Abruzzo filth. I’m going to cage her and then kill her. I promise you, I’m not keeping her.”
Kage walks over to his other brother, Reaper, and they all talk amongst themselves, and this time I can’t hear a word, but I’m not really trying to. I’m still attempting to process his words to Psycho. I don’t like him any more than he likes me, but it still stings to have anyone call you disgusting. Even when you consider the source, it’s painful.
Every once in a while I see one of them look at me, and I know I’m the topic of conversation.
Kage walks over to me.
“Come on, Princess. Time to go home.”
I swallow down the bile in my throat from that one word, and dig my nails into my wrist, and Kage growls at me.
“Fucking stop that.”
He grabs my hand and pulls me off the couch, but I jerk back from him.
“Wait.”
I glance between Bella and Reaper, his face radiates pure anguish, and it makes me hate my family even more for what they’ve done.
“Can I talk to her?”
Reaper answers for everyone.
“No. Get out.”
Bella speaks up.
“Nico, stop. She can talk.”
I step closer to the bed, but keep a distance, so they don’t think I mean her any harm.
“I’m really sorry for what they did to you. I never could’ve prevented it. They would’ve killed me, and carried on with their plans. I never wanted this. I certainly didn’t want any harm to come to your baby. My father felt justified, because Reaper killed his three sons. I didn’t agree, but I’m only a woman. For the record, I did make it clear to them how wrong it was, but I couldn’t stop it. I know you all hate me and want me dead, and I don’t blame you. Soon enough, you’ll get your wish, and I don’t want to go to the grave without you knowing the truth. I’m so sorry.”
Reaper growls through a clenched jaw.
“Kage, get her out of here. Now.”
He moves quickly, scooping me into his arms, and races out of the room.