Chapter 22
S torming into my house, I take off the suit jacket and run my hands through my hair. I look around the room as my mind whirls with these new pieces of information. I’ll be damned if I sit here and do nothing, that bastard deserves to die. With my gun tucked behind me in my waistband and my phone to my ear, I make my way back to the estate with Luci on the line.
He picks up immediately. “Ky?”
“I don’t have time to explain and I know you said you weren’t coming tonight, but I need you to have my back in case anything goes wrong. How soon can you be at the estate?”
A short, muffled conversation is had on the other line before he responds, “No need to explain. We’re on the way.”
We? Who the hell is he with? The line goes dead before I have the chance to ask. The task at hand is too important for me to dwell on it.
Once I’m sure the last of tonight's guests have left for good, I roll my shoulders back, crack my neck, and stroll into the estate. Like an animal hunting for his prey, I stick to the shadows, prowling towards the smell of a freshly lit cigar.
The house is void of anyone else aside from Renato in his smaller living room and myself, at least the first floor is. When I slip out from the shadows, Renato tenses momentarily sensing my presence, until he turns to face me and relaxes a fraction.
With a smug smirk on his face, he asks, “Kylo, to what do I owe this pleasure?”
My body is cool and controlled on the outside, the tsunami of emotions inside hidden behind my usual stoic mask as I swiftly pull out my gun and train it straight at his head. Aside from his jaw tightening, he doesn’t flinch.
“I should have taken you out a long time ago. That’s a mistake I plan to remedy. You can forget all about your stupid auction and any money you thought you could make off of Amaris. First thing in the morning I’m taking her far away from here,” I spit through gritted teeth.
His eyes sparkle with satisfaction and a malicious grin takes over his face. “You don’t even know, do you?” My lack of response throws him into a fit of laughter and I cock my gun, not faltering when he stands and takes a small step toward me.
“If you think after raising you for all these years I don’t know a thing or two about you, that’s where you’re mistaken, son. Hell, anyone with working eyes at that party saw the way you looked at her all night. I’m no idiot and I know how to play my cards. Tell me,” he walks closer, “do you know where your precious Amaris is now?”
His entire confident demeanor alone has a pit forming in my stomach, but I betray nothing.
“She’s in her room,” I reply confidently, despite wondering if there’s a chance I could be wrong. For all I know, she took her things and left right after our fight.
“She’s gone,” he tsks.
Two words. Fear that I haven’t felt since the night Mama died rushes through me, heart sinking to my stomach.
“That’s impossible. You’re fucking lying, that’s all you know how to do.”
“Is it?”
Renato is a liar. But does he bullshit when it comes to his schemes? No.
No. No, no. This can’t be happening.
This is all wrong, all so fucking wrong. I was supposed to protect her.
Taking advantage of my stunned state and unfirm grip on the gun, Renato shoves me backward with all his force, causing my gun to slip out of my grasp. Once he has me pinned to the ground, he gets a few punches in. This old man can hold his own, but he isn’t as determined and wrathful as I am right now.
My knee connects hard with his groin twice, and when he’s disorientated, I push him back and hover over his chest, pinning his arms down with my legs and delivering blow after blow to his face. Gripping his dark hair tightly, I bang his head against the floor once. Twice. Using the hand that he finally freed, he grabs a decorative vase from the short center table next to him and smashes it to pieces on the side of my head.
Momentarily growing dizzy and fighting, it takes two seconds, but two seconds was enough for Renato to crawl toward my forgotten gun. He’s just barely at an arm's length away from it when I notice his intentions. As I debate my options for the last second it’ll take him to reach the gun and fire, a bullet flies right past my head and straight through the hand reaching for my gun. He jerks back in pain and groans loudly while I whip my head in the direction it came in.
Marco stands beside Luciano who is tucking his gun back in his waistband and moving into the room now. Only Luci can hit such a tight shot perfectly. Anyone else might have hit me, or at the very least grazed me. Marco hurries for my gun and hands it to me, clapping me on my shoulder as he walks away.
The three of us have our guns pointed at Renato. He has no more moves. Game over.
The moment he realizes he’s truly outnumbered, defeat is reflected in his eyes, mixed in with the usual anger and hatred that bleeds from them. Maintaining eye contact with Renato, I waste no time giving the guys orders.
“Marco, go check Amaris’ house and make sure she’s there and she’s safe. Run. Luci, grab the cable ties he keeps in his office.”
They both agree. Then it’s just a sickly looking Renato and I once again.
“He won’t find her and neither will you. You won’t ever see her again.” Renato still sounds confident, but tired.
“Shut the fuck up.” If only to wipe the sneer off his face, closing the distance between us I use the gun to pistol whip him on the head and kick him hard in the gut. My voice is low and threatening when I crouch down, coming face to face with him red and fuming. He looks like the devil himself. “I’m gonna enjoy killing you, piece by piece.”
Luci walks back in a few seconds later with sack in hand. Pulling out duct tape and multiple long, black zip ties, he wordlessly binds Renato’s hands and feet together. When he’s done, his eyes flick up to Renato’s, darkening his gaze.
“By the time we’re done with you, not even the pigs will want anything to do with you,” he hisses, punctuating his statement by slapping a slab of tape over his mouth. Pinching his nose he continues, watching Renato struggle without airflow. “Consider this a lesson. Do better in your next life.”
Reaching into the sack once more, he pulls out a wet cloth and replaces the hand pinching Renato’s nose with the cloth until he loses consciousness. Turning to me impassively, he adds, “We can throw the sack over his head when we carry him out so no one sees his face, but we gotta get moving. Go find Marco.”
He doesn’t have to tell me twice.
The devil knows I’ll do anything to be with her, let alone find her. I’ll burn the world to ashes looking for her if she isn’t safe at home.
Marco is making his way back to the estate when I rush out the front doors. My gut is sinking, but I wait until we meet in the middle for him to tell me personally.
After a beat, he shakes his head from side to side. “I’m sorry, Kylo. We were too late.”
She’s gone.
We were too late.
You won't ever see her again.
My vision blurs around the edges as Marco’s voice fades away. Mindlessly, I put my hand up, give him a terse nod, then I turn and walk around the side of the estate, sliding down the wall slowly until I'm sitting on the ground.
It’s been eleven years since I last shed a tear. I know I need to pull myself together, but I just need a moment to myself before I explode into a million pieces and become no help to either of us.
“Fuck!” comes from the depths of my lungs. My head hurts from how hard I’m pulling at it, but the pain is grounding me.
What the hell am I going to do?
The pounding heart in my chest thumps through my whole body and I realize I don’t need to push these feelings away. Fuck hiding away or suppressing my anxiety. Adrenaline courses through me like wildfire with my newfound resolve. I close my eyes and take three deep breaths. When they open back up, I’m ready for war.
I’m going to get my girl back.
Rounding the house again, I’m met with a waiting car right out front. There’s no more time to waste. I’m in the passenger seat in an instant, devising some sort of plan with the guys.
“Okay, what is it you know?” I direct the question at Luciano, then turn to Marco. “And how do you fit into this equation?”
Luci looks at Marco through the rearview mirror and they share a brief look. Marco is the one who answers. “Renato ordered me to go back to Luciano’s until tomorrow morning for some bullshit reason. It was weird, but I didn’t question it until I overheard a few of the soldiers talking. Amaris’ name is what caught my attention, because if they’re talking about her, it can’t be good. They wouldn’t tell me shit, but I heard them mentioning an auction for women happening tomorrow. That’s all I know and it was the first thing I told Luc when I showed up.”
Luci chimes in, saying, “Luckily, I have a contact who dabbles in the human trade industry. His affairs don’t have shit to do with me, as long as he stays on his side I’ll stay on mine. I tried reaching out to him, all I’m waiting on is a response now.”
“Once we have a location, we need a plan. And we’ll need to have this planned before dawn. Time is not on our side this time,” Marco adds with a pointed look.
“I’m not resting until she’s found, you can count on that,” I mutter, trying to wrap my head around the fact that she slipped through my fingers so easily. I don’t even want to begin to think about the horrors they’ll subject her to. Anyone who touches a hair on my little fox is a dead man, or woman, walking.
A sudden thought occurs to me and my head snaps to Marco. “Where the hell was Ace when you went to look for her?”
His eyes close shut at my question, almost involuntarily, as he releases a harsh sigh. They open with a hint of sadness and if he doesn’t give me an answer in the next two seconds, I’m going to pounce on him.
“I found him lying in the woods, immobile. He was still breathing, but not responding. When I picked him up I didn’t find any bleeding on him, so I laid him inside Amaris’ place and left water for him. I didn’t know what else to do.”
My dog? My fucking dog?
What did those bastards do?
This is all his fault. Eyes finding Renato’s body, I’m grateful for the sack covering his monstrous face.
He’s trying to take everything from me. Everything I love.
“They’re gonna wish they never touched anything of mine. Starting with this piece of shit, right here.” My voice is colder, darker than I’ve ever spoken. It’s foreign to my ears.
It fits the way I feel.
He wants a madman? I’ll show him a madman.
When we arrive at the abandoned warehouse, my worries give way to the lava of emotions snaking through my veins. First things first, tonight I become the harbinger of Renato’s annihilation.
I’m coming for you, foxy. I’ll find you. Always.