14. ALESSIO
14
ALESSIO
Sienna gives me an annoyed glare over her shoulder when I step up behind her as she finishes pulling clothes on, but I just watch her, uncaring. I’m not letting her fool me again, so she might as well get used to it. I’m not letting her out of my sight until we’re on the plane and on our way back to Sicily.
“Would you back off?” she snaps at me, pulling at the long sleeves of her crop top so they’re not all bunched up, before she reaches back and starts to quickly and efficiently braid her hair.
Instead of replying, I continue to watch her. I love and hate her outfit, and I have half a mind to tell her to find another one, but I can’t waste the time. The navy crop top shows off the generous swells of her breasts, and the smooth skin of her stomach since it stops just below her ribs. She’s paired it with black yoga pants that ride just high enough to cover her hip bones, but hug her like a second skin, not leaving much to the imagination. Fuck, the woman is going to be the death of me, because I’m fucking hard again. But we don’t have time for another round, especially since we’ve wasted far too much time already.
“Let’s go, coniglietto ,” I tell her, stepping back just enough that she can turn around and grab her bag from where she set it on the bed. “The plane is waiting for us.”
Her glare intensifies as she looks at me. “Just so we’re clear, I’m only going with you because I’m tired of running all over the place. Not because I plan to honor any kind of marriage contract.”
“We’ll discuss it on the plane,” I reply simply, taking her wrist and pulling her along behind me. She doesn’t put up a fight, but the look in her eyes lets me know she’s not happy about this at all. We walk out into the spacious living area, where Lazaro and a few of my men are guarding all exits. Lazaro looks up at us, and I see the amused look on his face as he stands from where he’s sitting at the kitchen island, doing something on his phone. I pull Sienna over to it and then turn to her. “If you try to run again, Sienna, I’ve already told my men to stop you at all costs. I’d think long and hard about that.”
She stares at me for a moment, then she says drily, “You’re telling them to stop me, but you also told me if another man touched me, you’d kill them. You’re giving me conflicting messages here, Caruso. You might want to work on that. You know, for whatever woman you decide to kidnap in the future.”
“Exactly,” I return with a dark smile. “Perhaps think about that before you pull some stunt that will have me killing one of my men.”
She narrows her eyes at me. “You’d really kill one of your men for touching me? Even if it was to keep me from falling over or something trivial as that?”
“Depends on my mood,” I shrug carelessly.
“You really are crazy, aren’t you?” she huffs.
“ Cara mia , you have no idea.” I give her a wicked smile. “But you’ll grow to love it. Now, let’s go.” I take her hand in mine before she can yank it away, tightening my grip when she tries to dislodge it. She hisses when I tighten it even further, but after another few seconds of struggle, she stops.
When we walk outside, she hisses, “Stop, Alessio. I need to lock the place up again and set the security alarm.”
“Lazaro will see to it,” I tell her as I lead her toward the rental car.
She digs in her heels. “He doesn’t know the code, so no, he will not.”
“He’s already gotten the code from that fucker’s phone.” My temper starts to brew again. Must she fight me on everything?
“What the fuck? How did he do that?”
“I’m just that good,” Lazaro announces, and to punctuate that, successfully locks the door and sets the alarm without another word. Sienna narrows her eyes at him, and then back at me, but she says nothing else. I tug her forward, and we continue to make our way to the car. The rest of my men head for their own vehicles parked on the main road, silently keeping their heads on a swivel.
BANG.
The sound registers, and I tackle Sienna to the ground just as the car window shatters. Sienna lets out a gasp, but doesn’t scream as glass rains down on us. “Fuck,” I hiss furiously as I roll us and push Sienna under the car. “Stay there,” I bark, as I pull my gun from my back and then return fire in the direction the shot came from.
“Shooter is up on the hill,” Lazaro yells. “Spread out and find the fucker, and anyone else they have with them.”
“We need to get Sienna out of here,” I yell at Lazaro.
Lazaro rushes over to the car in a crouch, cursing again when another bullet strikes the top of the car door. “I’m working on it,” Lazaro grumbles.
“Well work faster,” I snap, worry filling me. The longer we’re pinned here, the greater chance Sienna will get hurt, and I can’t allow that to happen.
Suddenly, a scream fills the air and the gunfire stops. My heart and gut clench as I realize who made that sound. I glance under the car and see that Sienna is no longer there, but not far away are dark leather shoes, and they’re dragging along her kicking ones. Lazaro and I are instantly on our feet and my rage intensifies when I see just who has a hold of her.
“Dario,” I say coldly as I round the car, my gun raised. “Let her go or you die today. Though maybe that’s not such a bad thing, considering how fucking useless the De Lucas are in general.”
“Caruso,” Dario sneers as he stops, putting his gun to Sienna’s temple and wrapping his other arm around her neck. Sienna’s eyes are wild, but I don’t see much fear there. More anger, determination, and surprise. “The only one dying today will be you, if you try to stop me. My sister and I need to get acquainted.”
Before I can kill the stupid fuck, Sienna turns her head so she can look up at him. “Wait, you’re my brother?”
“Indeed,” Dario smirks, glancing down at her. “And I’m taking you back where you belong. We’re going to start your education. You’ll learn your place soon enough.”
“You know, you mafia boys and your places are becoming cliche,” she gripes, turning her head away from him. Her gaze lands on mine, and the determination in her eyes has my entire body tensing. She’s about to do something stupid, and as much as I want to scream at her not to, I know she’s not going to listen. “I don’t want to learn anything from you. You don’t seem all that bright anyway.”
Dario’s face alights with fury. “Shut the fuck up, cunt,” he snarls, and that’s when I realize what she’s doing, because a man like Dario will never let something like that slide. He immediately loosens the arm around her neck and pulls the gun back from her temple. The moment she has the right amount of room, she drops all her body weight and Dario staggers, releasing her completely as Lazaro and I bring up our guns, firing simultaneously. Of course the slippery fucker manages to avoid the bullets, cursing and scrabbling back until he gets himself behind one of the trees lining the driveway.
Sienna scrambles forward, and I pull her behind me, Lazaro blocking her from the other angle. “We need to get out of here and get to the plane,” I tell Lazaro in a low voice, never glancing away from where Dario is hiding. The shooting from up on the hill has stopped, which I’m going to take as a sign that our men have captured or eliminated whoever was up there.
“Get in the car and we’ll get out of here,” Lazaro answers. “We just need to hold this bastard off until we can get down the drive. I don’t know who else he has with him, but it’s the only way out of here unless we want to hike.”
“Too long and too many chances for surprises. Tell our men to get us the hell out of here.” My voice is grim, but I’m not taking any chances with Sienna.
“I’m not the only one coming for her, Caruso,” Dario yells from behind the tree. “She’s our blood and you have no right to her. You’re declaring war.”
“A war you stand no chance of winning. Anyone else that tries to get in my way will die right along with you.” I turn my head and whisper to Sienna, “Open the door quietly and get inside without shutting it. I want you to get down on the floor. Do you understand?”
Sienna doesn’t answer immediately, her expression hard, but she finally nods and follows my order. Once I know she’s inside the car and out of harm’s way, I focus my attention back on Dario. “I have a message for your brother, father, and uncle, so pay attention. Your family double-crossed us, and we will never let that go unpunished. Your days are numbered, so I suggest you think good and hard about how you want to spend them.”
“I don’t fear you, Caruso,” Dario sneers. “You’re not even the fucking Don, so you don’t get to make threats. I’m going to give you one more chance to hand her the fuck over and I won’t kill you.”
“I’m not going anywhere with you,” Sienna calls out loudly from behind me. I bite back a curse. “I don’t know who the fuck you are, but from this interaction, I don’t want to get to know you. Who the hell puts a gun to their own sister’s head, and tells her to fall in line like some kind of dog? That’s fucked up.”
“Women are nothing but bitches anyway,” Dario tosses back. “The only thing you’re good for is marrying off to the highest bidder. After that, you’re not our problem.”
“He hasn’t learned the art of being charming to get what he wants, has he?” Sienna remarks sarcastically.
I ignore her, focusing only on getting us the hell out of here. Thankfully, Lazaro has been silently moving around the car to the driver’s side, and the moment he slides inside, I’m in the back of the car and we’re on our way. I don’t announce our exit, and instead I hear Sienna slam the door shut just as I shut mine, and we’re peeling down the driveway toward the main road.
It’s seconds before shots fill the air, hitting the car body, and shattering the back windshield. Lazaro and I duck, even as more shots are aimed our way once we hit the end of the drive. It appears Dario brought a few more men for back-up, but it’s no worry of ours. Our men will ensure they’re taken care of. We just need to get to the plane. “Stay down, Sienna!” I yell.
“No problem, considering I don’t want to see my brains splattered all over the backseat,” she tosses back tightly. I don’t look back at her, but my lips quirk up.
The private airstrip is a half hour drive from the city, but Lazaro wastes no time. I keep an eye on the mirrors the entire way to ensure we’re not ambushed, but the coast seems to be clear. Which means Dario and his men are small in number, and the others probably haven’t caught up. We have time to get back to the villa and make a plan.
As soon as the car stops, Lazaro and I are both out, and I’m wrenching open the back door to pull Sienna and her bag out, using my body to shield her as we run up the plane’s steps. “Get us in the air. Now,” I bark as I lead Sienna to the rear seats of the plane.
“We’ll be up in less than five minutes,” Lazaro promises as he starts barking orders of his own. The stewardess scrambles to get things squared away, while I hear the pilot in the cockpit giving his own directions.
I stow Sienna’s bag away before I sit next to her and make brisk work on buckling us both in, ignoring her when she tries to push my hands away so she can do it herself. She doesn’t say a word, but the glare she gives me speaks volumes. I smirk at her, and then nod when Lazaro comes to inform us that we’re taking off immediately as he takes the seat across from us.
Sienna looks out the plane’s window, and I don’t relax until we’re climbing into the air. When we finally level out, I unbuckle my seatbelt and order Lazaro, “Get everyone on the phone. We need to let them know we’re coming.” Lazaro pulls out his phone and then a laptop from the upper compartment. I turn and look at Sienna, who arches a brow at me, and I ask, “Are you alright, coniglietto ?” I quickly look her over to make sure there is no blood, but I don’t see anything. Not that I wouldn’t put it past her to hide it.
“I’m fine,” she replies, undoing her seatbelt. “How long until we get there?”
“A little over 2 hours at this speed,” Lazaro answers. “I told the pilot to push us a bit.”
Sienna nods. “Alright. So now what?”
Before I can answer, Lazaro’s phone rings. He answers it quickly and then starts to tap away on the laptop. “On our way back,” he says briskly. “ETA is two hours and fifteen minutes as long as the pilot keeps our current pace without any issues.”
“Good,” Aurelio replies. “I take it there were some problems?”
“Dario De Luca showed up with some men,” I reply. “I want to know where the other De Luca men are right now, because they can’t be far behind.”
“They’re making their way to Greece on a connecting flight, so they haven’t even made it that far yet,” Aurelio replies immediately. “You’ll be home by the time they land.”
“Good. I want constant updates on where they are, especially Dario,” I order. “I doubt that fucker is going to turn tail and run back home to his father.”
“Leonardo probably won’t let him go home,” Nico’s deep voice says tightly. “The question is, how much do Marco and Giovanni know?”
I can’t stop the smirk that pulls at my lips. “Boo Bear!” I exclaim. “I’ve missed your voice. Don’t worry, I’m on my way back to you.”
Lazaro snorts out a laugh, but the phone line is silent. “I’m going to enjoy killing you,” Nico replies darkly. “And I’m going to do it in a way that has you screaming like a baby and begging for mercy.”
“Oh, now, you’re just trying to get me all hot and bothered, Boo Bear. Is this how you talk to your wife? Or do you save all these sweet nothings for me?”
“Lazaro, I think you lied to me,” Sienna remarks drily, drawing my attention. She’s staring at my friend incredulously. “You said he hadn’t hit his head, and your giant ass didn’t drop something on it, but the man clearly has a brain injury. Who the hell calls someone Boo Bear?”
“Maybe you fucked the brains right out of his head,” Lazaro tosses back with a wicked grin. Sienna flips him off, not the least bit embarrassed, before she turns to me with an expectant look.
“Clearly not, because that term of endearment seems to have a history. So again I ask, did you drop something on his head?”
Before I can reply, my father’s voice says in amusement, “I see why you are so enchanted with her, son. She will keep you on your toes.”
“Indeed. Sienna, allow me to introduce you to your new brother-in-law, Nico Armani, and my father, Pietro Caruso. Everyone loves me, so ignore their lies. We all know my Boo Bear won’t shoot me, especially not when his lovely wife would be so upset about it, and so would Sofia. She’d kill him on principle.”
“Stay the hell away from my wife,” Nico orders. “Sienna, Gia is anxious to meet you.”
Sienna’s lips pull into a slight smile. “I’m excited to meet her. And you as well, Don Armani and Don Caruso.”
There’s something in her voice has me looking at her sharply and narrowing my eyes. She arches a brow at me, and then turns her attention back to the call when my father says, “We will have much to discuss when you arrive, Ms. Harris, but call me Pietro. We are not big on formality here. In the meantime, Alessio, let us know of any updates you might hear, but Aurelio will stay on top of things. And Nico, you are not shooting my son.”
“Fine,” Nico replies curtly, and then I hear him disconnect.
“Just a regular ray of sunshine, as always,” I hear Zeno snicker.
The call disconnects, and I turn to Sienna, who has sunk back into her seat and pulled her legs up under her, staring out the window. “What was that?” I demand, watching her.
She turns towards me. “What was what?”
“You know what. That change in your tone when you were talking to Nico and my father about being excited to meet them.”
“You really aren’t helping your case. Did you want me to be rude and scream at them? Because I doubt that would help anything, and they aren’t the ones taking me against my will. That would be you. If you hear anything other than good manners, that’s your problem.”
I say nothing, and watch her for another moment. Finally, in a low voice, I say, “Do not test me again, Sienna, with whatever you have cooking up in your pretty little head. Nico is not going to help you, and my father wouldn’t dare. If you think you’re going to somehow convince them to take you away from me, you’re going to be sorely disappointed. Do I need to remind you again that you’re mine?”
“Do I need to remind you that despite all of that earlier, I never agreed to belong to you? Sex is not an agreement.”
The desire to grab her and drag her into the bedroom is strong, and I clench my hands in my lap to keep myself under some semblance of control. “Don’t play word games with me, coniglietto . You’re mine, end of discussion. If I have to prove it to you over and over again, I will. Though if I have to, prepare to not be able to sit down for a week each time.”
Her eyes narrow at me. “I’m tired and I’m not arguing with you right now. You want to fight about this, we can do it when we land. Until then, I’m taking a nap.” Then she abruptly curls away from me, closes her eyes, and leaves me fuming.
I stare at her for another long moment, thinking how much I want to grab her and haul her ass into the back and prove my point, but instead, I turn to Lazaro, who is grinning like an idiot and glare at him. Not that the bastard gives a fuck, because all he says is, “Well, since we have some time, how about catching up on all the work you’ve had to neglect?”
I give a curt nod, and the two of us get up and make our way to the front of the plane. I glance over my shoulder and see Sienna’s eyes are still closed, but I know she’s not sleeping. No doubt the woman is plotting my demise, but the fact she’s finally here fills me with satisfaction that curbs some of the anger inside me.
She’s going to accept she’s mine soon enough, and once I have her around my family, they’ll help to sway her. Though something tells me I’ll need to keep my eye on Nico. I wouldn’t put it past the son of a bitch to stick his nose in my business.