Chapter 33 – Markos
The organ in my chest pattered with a wild force. This was almost the nightmare I feared. I was crazy for my wife, falling more for her every damn day, and then...and then death nearly stole her away.
But I was in this now. My heart had come back to life. And while it beat, I would fight for her.
“Give me the gun, Serena,” I murmured, speaking low and gently. It was the exact opposite of what I wanted to do. This demonic sonofabitch was in a room with my wife and his pants were down. Horror swirled with anger. The heady concoction threatened to cause an explosion.
“Serena?” I took a tentative step forward.
She let out a shaky exhale, pushed a hand over her hair, and faced me. “I’m fine. Nothing happened.”
The relief was like the sudden and explosive birth of a star, radiating through my body and mind with overwhelming intensity. But even that bright feeling couldn’t chase away the black, toxic poison of anger.
Serena closed the distance and slapped the gun in the palm of my hand. I didn’t reach for her, not wanting her to feel the presence of my touch if she didn’t wish it.
“Can we leave?” She watched me with a steady gaze that seemed unnatural.
She’s probably in shock.
“Sure.” I motioned for her to step through the door.
Through the hole in the living room wall, the brush guard on the jeep could be seen, still decorated with the remnants from the building.
Serena was about to hop through the gap when she stopped and looked around the living room. “Where’s Iris?”
I didn’t want to hear that woman’s name again. I would kill her slowly, feed pieces of her to ravenous sharks for days on end! “She must have run when she realized I found you.”
Serena shook her head, scrubbing at her eyes in confusion. “Why would she flee?”
My heart ached for her. “Because she knew if she was discovered with the men she sold you too—”
“Wait, she sold me to these men?” Serena snapped. “I don’t think that’s what happened.”
“She’s gone.”
Serena jumped through the hole in the wall, went around the black pickup truck, and then hurried back. I opened the front door so she didn’t have to crawl back through the cinder blocks.
“Her car is still here and—” Serena moved across the room. “There’s only one body. Where’s the third guy?”
A third man? I palmed my weapon and crept back down the long hall. Serena hurried and tried to move past me, but I stuck out an arm to keep her back. The first two rooms were clear, but the third was locked. One good kick and it swung open.
Iris sprawled unmoving across the floor. Meanwhile, the man who’d drug her there was busy trying to escape. Jeans and boots flailed in the air as the man worked to squeeze himself through the high set window. He squealed, peeing himself when I gave his leg a tug.
Metal clanked against the glass. He attempted to aim his gun back at us. With a shout, realizing he could hit Serena, I jumped in front of the bullet’s path instead of lifting my own weapon.
A quick bang from outside, and the body went limp.
The cavalry had arrived.
I knew Anatole would summon the rest of my brothers and sisters in arms. Hell, he’d probably done it while we were on the phone, tracing Iris’s cell.
After the neighbor lady tipped me off that Serena left with a dark haired, shorter woman in a lime green convertible, I managed to remain calm enough to call the computer geek for digital assistance.
I didn’t trust Iris. What started as a squabble was now a full-fledged fight—and today proved that. She thought she was protecting our people. What she failed to understand was that Serena was our people.
Iris lay on the floor, ghostly pale. For a second, I thought I was robbed of my vengeance. It was impossible to tell if she was breathing.
Serena bent to check Iris’s pulse. “She’s alive. Thank heavens.”
Good. This way, I could kill her myself.
“You mind telling me what happened?” A dark voice filled the room. Atlas ignored my scowl, stepping forward.
“She doesn’t have to talk,” I snapped and stepped into his path. “I’m taking her home.”
Atlas flicked a brow at me before leaning to look back at Serena. “Awful suspicious that the death threats and assassinations started right around the same time she accidentally came to town,” he mused in Greek.
“What are you saying?” I shot back.
“I don’t trust your wife.”
The roar of fury was the only warning Atlas got. I launched forward, but something soft and small nudged into my side, knocking my path askew, however slightly.
“I don’t know what the hell is going on, but please, don’t,” Serena said. She sounded exhausted.
“This isn’t over,” I snapped in Greek, pointing a finger at the mountain of dead man.
Atlas only snorted. “Think about it. The theory holds merit.”
I stopped in the doorway, slamming my palm into the frame. “She was almost raped, Atlas!”
He didn’t bat an eye. “Semantics. It could have been her lover.”
“I don’t know what you’re saying, but drop it,” Serena insisted, tugging my sleeve. “I’ll tell you whatever you want, but I’m done here.”
I let her draw me away. It was a good thing, too, because I was about to murder one of our own.
And Iris? She might just come out fishing with me some night.
At least I was willing to listen to reason.
If Serena said this didn’t feel like a setup between the thugs and Iris, I would hear her out.
But it didn’t excuse the fact that Iris brought my wife to one of our work houses in the first place.
The car ride back was covered in complete silence.
I kept throwing glances at Serena as I drove, desperately wanting to ask her questions, to make sure she was really okay.
But her face was turned toward the window, her expression hidden from me.
The only sign of her distress was her hand, clutching a fistful of her dress in a white-knuckled grip.
When we arrived at the condo, she stepped out of the car without a word. I followed her inside, watching as she headed straight for the bathroom. The sound of the shower turning on followed moments later.
I paced the living room, rage and guilt warring inside me. This was my fault. I should never have left her alone. I should have seen this coming. Iris had always been volatile, but I never imagined she would cross this line.
The shower ran for nearly an hour. When Serena finally emerged, her skin was pink from the hot water, her hair braided back.
“Here.” I handed her a bottle of water.
“Thanks, but do you have something stronger?” She took a sip and jerked her chin to the cupboard.
A moment later, I handed her my vodka. She downed it and set the empty glass on the counter.
“Can we, um, go walk the beach?” she asked, plucking the bottle from the cupboard as she moved toward the door.
I nodded, unable to deny her anything after what she’d been through. “Of course.”
We walked in silence down to the shoreline, the evening sun casting long shadows across the sand. Serena took a long pull from the bottle before passing it back to me. The vodka burned a path down my throat, but I welcomed the sensation.
“I think Iris was trying to drug me,” she finally said, her voice hollow. “She had a syringe. When those men showed up, she dropped it. I picked it up and...well, I used it on the bearded man.”
My blood ran cold. “You’re sure it was meant for you?”
“Pretty sure.” She kicked at the sand, sending a spray of grains into the surf. “She was acting strange from the moment she showed up, claiming she’d cleared it with you to take me out.”
Holding out my hand, I took the bottle from her and took a long swig. Fuck. This was bad.
We walked and drank in silence. The crashing waves drowned out my thoughts as the alcohol began to numb my senses. Serena paused, staring out at the horizon where the sun was beginning to dip low.
“What did Atlas say back there?” she asked suddenly. “I know you were arguing about me.”
I hesitated, weighing whether to tell her the truth or cushion it. But after everything she’d been through, she deserved honesty.
“He thinks you might be involved with whoever’s been threatening my family.”
She laughed, a harsh, bitter sound that carried no humor. “Of course he does. Because I’m an expert on mobs, what with all the exposure I’ve had growing up.”
The sarcasm in her voice was thick, but it couldn’t disguise the slur from the booze.
“I don’t believe it,” I said firmly. “Not for a second.”
“Good.” She took the bottle back, her fingers brushing mine. After taking a long pull, she dropped to the sand, sitting with her legs crossed.
I joined her after a moment, keeping my distance, and hating that I had to. “You’re very calm after what happened.”
“Believe it or not, it’s not the first time I’ve been held captive by bad men—and I’m not talking about you.” She passed the bottle back. “It happened when I was fifteen.”
“What?” I rasped, unable to believe what I was hearing.
“Yep.” Serena held out her hand for the bottle again. Realizing I hadn’t taken my turn, I took a long pull first.
A curious little wave raced up the sand to see what the fun was all about. Serena leaned forward, brushing her fingers against it in greeting. Startled, the wave immediately retreated into the sea.
Fuck...I was drunk.
“I was allowed to spend the summers in Italy, so long as I stayed on the family estate. I slipped into town one night when the nanny was in bed with cold medicine. A rough crew passing through took me, and well, nearly stole my innocence,” Serena explained in a voice that was far away.
A murderous rage, the likes of which I’d never felt, consumed me. I shot to my feet, ready for action—only to feel the earth sway under me. “Give me their names.”
Serena waved her hands dismissively. “That was a decade ago. And I don’t know who the men were.
But that’s why it didn’t bother me to kill that man today—vengeance on my past. I never told my family, either.
They would have locked me up for my safety, and they already kept too close an eye on me.
I needed to keep what freedom I had, so I bottled up the incident. You’re the only one I’ve told.”
The waves crashed into shore, echoing the terrible beat of my heart. She’d been through so much in her short life. But she was here now, and she was safe. I would forever make sure of that.
“Thank you for your confidence.”
She nodded. “It turned out all right. They never touched me, and they let me go the moment they realized who my family was,” Serena added, and then took a sip.
“Who’s your family?” I jumped on the opening in the conversation.
If I could discover that detail, if I could put to rest the rumor that she was a threat, it would forever protect her from the rest of the Twelve.
But I was fast losing control of my thoughts and ability to interrogate. Emotion was the only thing remaining.
“I can’t tell you, pirate. You’ll hurt them.”
“I swear, I won’t.” I would never.
“Why?” she whispered.
Why? That was a good question. But the answer presented itself without my control. “Because. It will hurt you.”
Serena sighed and crawled over to me. Laying her head on my lap, she looked out to sea. “That’s why it’s so funny that you think Baldwin is my lover.”
I bristled. That was a name I was supposed to hate. But for the life of me, I couldn’t remember who he was.
“Who is he?” I murmured.
Serena shook her head, her hair so long, rubbing against my jeans. “It’s a secret. And I can’t tell you.”
“I won’t tell anyone.”
“But you said you would hurt him; then you said you wouldn’t hurt my family. Which is it, Markos?”
I drew her into my arms. “They’re safe, princess. They’re all safe.”
“English,” she murmured.
But my eyes were heavy, and she was warm. Lulled by the song of the sea, I fell asleep.