CHAPTER NINE
STEFANO
Enzo pushed himself away from the beam, stepping over a pool of blood, moving toward the exit. But I wasn’t ready to leave, wasn’t ready to be done with this guy. There was more pain I could inflict on him before taking his life.
I turned back to the dying man, my hands balling into fists. I wanted to kill him slowly, wanted him to suffer for every second he’d spent watching my woman, for every degrading image he’d created, for every twisted fantasy he’d indulged in.
I wanted to tear him apart piece by piece until there was nothing left. Until the rage inside me burned itself out. But would it ever burn out? Or would it just keep consuming me until there was nothing left but ash?
“Kill him and be done with it,” Enzo called out from behind me. “And then, we’ll go pay my mother’s family a visit. Terzo’s coming with us. I told him to come here straight after his cooking class. He’s almost here.”
The Abelis had crossed a line, and there would be consequences. But I couldn’t focus on that yet, not when my thoughts kept circling back to one person. The bastard before me. Wait. Terzo was out of class? That meant Sienna was heading home.
Damn. What time was it?
“How are Sienna and Eve?” I asked Enzo, wanting to pay the Abelis a visit but also wanting to get home and shower so Sienna wouldn’t see me like this.
My gloves were caked with drying blood, the leather creaking as I flexed my fingers. My white button-down shirt was now more red than white. Pieces of flesh clung to my shoes. Yeah, I couldn’t let her see me like this.
“They’re fine. Terzo’s text said they were heading home with the security team following them.”
I exhaled slowly, some of the tension leaving my body. I wouldn’t feel truly at ease until this shit with the Abelis was handled and I was back home with Sienna, able to see for myself that she was unharmed.
I’d feel better once I was able to hold her and remind myself why I did the things I did. No matter how stressed I got or how bad my day went, holding her was the way I recharged.
Breathing in her scent, having her arms around me, that erased everything that was fucked up in my life. Even when we disagreed on things, her presence still made everything better. Yet, it was people like this bastard who stood in the way of me spending time with her.
“One of those fuckers said it was a Daniel Abeli who ordered them to keep watch on Sienna and Eve,” I stated, turning back to our final prey.
Though he couldn’t see me, the man could sense my movement as I approached, his entire body tensing at the sound of my footsteps.
“Please, just do it,” he begged, his words slurred through broken teeth and swollen lips. “Just kill me.”
I stepped closer, the smell of his blood mixing with the piss soaking his pants.
“You want to die?” I asked, voice low.
“Yes,” he whimpered, head hanging.
“First, tell me why Daniel Abeli has surveillance on our DeLuca women,” I demanded. “And is he the only Abeli who was part of this plan?”
I needed to know what we were walking into. Needed to understand why, after all these years of mutual avoidance, the Abelis had decided to target what was ours. Or was it just Daniel who was trying to make a name for himself by going up against us?
“I don’t know,” the man insisted, his voice cracking. “I really don’t know.”
“That sort of answer won’t get you death. It’ll only get you more pain,” I told him, letting the promise of continued suffering hang between us.
He started to speak again. My fist connected with his face before the words could form. Blood sprayed from his mouth, adding to the mess already coating his shirt. But I wasn’t satisfied. Not even close.
“Stefano,” Enzo called.
I ignored him. I needed to know why Daniel Abeli, Enzo’s fucking cousin, wanted eyes on my woman. Why was Sienna’s cooking class being watched? Was something worse being planned?
My fist slammed into the man’s face again. And again. My glove slid across his flesh that had become a bloody mess of torn skin and broken bone. Yet I kept punching, unable to stop, not wanting to stop.
I wanted him dead. I wanted answers. I wanted Sienna to be safe. Why was it so fucking hard to keep one little woman out of the crosshairs of our enemies? Out of the sights of her own enemies?
Did I have to hide her away completely? Because if that’s what it took, that’s what I would do. I slammed my fist into his face again. Another blow. Harder. More blood splattered, I could feel it soaking through my shirt.
I didn’t care. My thoughts were consumed with Sienna. I needed her safe. If I had to, I’d take her somewhere no one could find her. A place where there was only her and me. No threats, no enemies, no one watching.
No one would find us. Not even Eve. Not even Enzo, if he tried to track us down to please Eve. I would keep Sienna Keys safe even if I had to burn this entire fucking world down to do it.
“Stefano!” Enzo yelled, snapping me out of my rage-filled haze.
And that’s when I felt the arm around my throat, pulling on me. Another arm was around my waist, tugging me backward. But my feet remained planted firmly in place, my hands around my prey’s throat, choking the life from him.
I frowned, momentarily confused. When had I stopped punching and resorted to choking? I couldn’t remember. The only thoughts in my mind had been a relentless mantra: Kill our enemies. Protect my woman. Kill our enemies. Protect my woman.
“Let go, Stefano,” another voice filled the space.
Terzo. When had he arrived? How long had I been lost in my rage?
“He’s already dead,” Terzo continued. “You’ve made him suffer for what he’d done. It’s over.”
It wasn’t over. It wouldn’t be over until Sienna was safe. Until every threat was eliminated. Until I could sleep at night without worrying that someone was coming for her, planning to take her from me.
“Let go,” Enzo ordered. “You have to let go, Stefano.”
Slowly, I released my grip on the man’s throat. His head lolled to the side. I looked down at my handiwork, at what remained of the face I’d destroyed, and felt no satisfaction. Only a hollow emptiness that demanded to be filled with more violence, more vengeance.
“Pull yourself together,” Enzo told me. “There’s more work to be done.”
He was right. This was only the beginning. I nodded, barely believing I’d zoned out the way I had. I felt like I was losing my fucking mind. In the past, I never lost my cool this way. I’d been called a Silent Beast before I fell in love.
What did that make me now? What was worse than a beast? Whatever it was, that was what I felt like. And I had no regrets. I’d gladly become the thing monsters feared in order to keep the woman I loved safe.
“Let’s get cleaned up and head out,” Enzo ordered.
A member of the cleanup crew approached, holding open a biohazard bag for us to discard our gloves. Another handed out wet towelettes to clean the blood from our faces and arms. I pulled off my ruined gloves, dropping them into the bag, and then wiped my face clean.
“If Sienna could see you now, she’d curse you out,” Terzo remarked.
Ignoring him, I stepped over a severed leg as I headed for the door. But his words followed me, needling at the back of my mind. The things I was doing were the reason my little demon was still alive.
And I would keep killing until I’d eliminated everyone who posed a threat to her. I just wish I could get my hands on the O’Callaghans. They were the original threat, the ones who had forced Sienna to flee to Italy, to live under an assumed name.
The ones who had a bounty out for her. For now, though, I’d focus on the threat at hand. The Abelis had made themselves our enemies. And enemies of the DeLucas didn’t live long. I stepped outside and stared up at the sky.
It was a pretty day, and the sun was shining brightly. However, inside me, darkness was threatening to consume me. I was filled with a rage that couldn’t be quelled. An anger that wouldn’t abate, no matter how many people I killed.
And I would continue killing. Every day, new chatter came across the line. The software Rome created for us picked up chatter from the dark web using keywords that locked onto conversations and messages we needed to hear.
Keywords like: Sienna, Eve, Gina Washington, Eden, Irish Mafia, O’Callaghans, Enzo DeLuca, Stefano DeLuca. And a few others.
Now, we needed to add the Abelis to that list. We’d been following that chatter for a while, Rome’s tracking software allowing us to triangulate the location to find where the person was chatting from.
That’s how we found this abandoned warehouse. The tracking software had led us straight to the men who’d been watching our women. One of them had slipped up and said that new Gina and Eve videos were available at HQ.
Apparently, this warehouse was their HQ. And they’d been putting out a call for their team to come watch their new footage. That thought made my blood burn hotter.
“So, Daniel Abeli was behind this,” Terzo mused, stepping outside and squinting against the sunlight.
He ran a hand through his hair. “I hadn’t expected that family to get involved with DeLuca business.
Usually, they avoid us at all costs. The hatred is there, but never acted on by either family.
What changed to make them want to get involved with us? ”
“I don’t know, but I’m going to find out,” Enzo stated, heading toward our car.
Terzo followed, his voice taking on a cautionary tone.
“If you’re really going to the Abelis to find out what’s going on, I’m coming with you.
I’ll follow on my bike.” He paused, placing a hand on Enzo’s shoulder.
“And we’re not at war against the Abelis.
Remember that. We’re going there for answers.
War comes only if they refuse to give us those answers or refuse to turn over Daniel Abeli. ”
“I don’t need you to tell me that,” Enzo snapped, shrugging off Terzo’s hand and opening the passenger side door of my car.
“You know I’m willing to kill when you say so,” Terzo told Enzo.
“But I also know there’s a lot of chatter on the dark web about Sienna and Eve.
The Irish mafia has raised its bounty. If the Abelis are just fucking with us, then we’ll handle it accordingly.
But we can’t let them be a distraction from the true threat.
We don’t need to be at war on multiple fronts. ”
I heard what Terzo was saying and hated that he had to be the voice of reason. Usually, that was me. But fuck reason. I headed to the driver’s side, my intentions entirely different from Terzo’s cautious approach.
I fully intended to go to war today. I knew who was responsible, and I wanted his life. I didn’t give a damn about the right way of handling it. I wanted Daniel Abeli dead, and I wanted to be the one to end his miserable existence.
“You two still got blood on you,” Terzo pointed out, gesturing to our clothes. “You need to go home first, change clothes, and switch vehicles before going to the Abelis.”
I took a deep breath and released it slowly. That would be just one more thing to delay us. Fuck that.
“We’re going as we are,” I told him as I reached for my door.
Before I could open it, my phone rang. I was reaching into my pocket when Enzo’s phone started ringing too. A cold sliver of dread worked its way down my spine. Simultaneous calls never meant good news.
Terzo pulled out his phone, staring at it with confusion. “Why isn’t mine ringing? Guess I’m not a boss.”
I glared at him, not in the mood for his humor. I quickly answered my phone.
“Hello.”
“Boss, we’ve got a problem.”
I recognized the voice as Dante, one of the guards assigned to shadow Sienna. My blood ran cold, every muscle in my body tensing at once.
“Talk,” I commanded, tone frigid.
“We lost the misses,” Dante informed me.
The words struck me like a physical blow, damn near knocking the air from my lungs.
“You what?” I growled, vaguely aware that Enzo was saying the same thing into his phone.
Our eyes met, and I saw my own fear reflected in his gaze. Sienna and Eve were missing.
“They ditched us,” Dante explained, sounding frustrated. “We couldn’t keep up, sir. I’m sorry. We’re looking for them now.”
“Find her. Now!” I yelled into the phone, hearing Enzo echo the same command.
“What’s going on?” Terzo asked, staring from me to Enzo.
It was Enzo who answered, his face a mask of controlled rage. “Eve and Sienna ditched their security detail, and now they’re missing.”
“Fuck,” Terzo muttered, running a hand down his face. “I just left them. How did they manage to get into trouble that fast?”
“I’ve got a tracker on Eve’s car,” Enzo confessed, already swiping through his phone. His tone was calm, but I could see the tension in his shoulders, the tight set of his jaw. “Change of plans. We’ll go find our missing chefs-to-be and then pay a visit to the Abelis.”
“Lead the way,” Terzo said, sliding on his helmet and straddling his motorcycle.
Enzo climbed into the passenger seat of my car. Though he seemed composed, I knew him well enough to know he was seething inside. Just as I was. My hands gripped the steering wheel so tightly my fingers were turning red.
I was out here, covered in blood, doing the dirty work needed to keep her safe.
And what was she doing? Running from that safety.
Running from me. After everything we’d talked about this morning, the compromise we’d reached, the promise she’d made to be more careful, she’d still chosen to put herself at risk.
I couldn’t get angry at her. Not yet. Not until I knew she was safe. But once I found her, once I had her back where she belonged, things were going to change. She couldn’t get mad at me for what I would do next.
She was the one who’d broken her compromise, broken her word. I was done doing things her way. It was time for me to do things my way. As I started the car, a cold clarity washed over me.
No more half measures. No more compromises that put her at risk. If I had to lock her little ass away to keep her safe, I would do it. If I had to make her hate me to keep her alive, I would accept that burden.
I could live with her being mad at me. I could even live with her hating me. But a world without Sienna Keys wasn’t a world I could bear to live in. Her hating me meant she was alive.
And at this point, that was all I was focused on.