50. Anson
FIFTY
ANSON
I ’d gotten word there was a hit out for the De Luca clan. I kept my ear near the ground these days, and rumor had it Enzo hadn’t delivered by a certain time, and whoever had made the demand was pissed.
I’d called Fox and Enzo, but neither had answered. I’d called Rosalie. Nothing.
Fear washed over me as I drove like a bat out of hell to their house. When I got there, the place was dark. The guys at the gate told me Rosalie was at Mayfair. Enzo was working with the guys.
When I got to campus, her car was in the parking lot, so I wheeled in next to it and spotted her bag and keys on the ground. Everything within me went numb.
Not my LeeLee. Not. My. Fucking. Girl.
I swallowed hard and looked around. In the distance, I heard a scream.
Racing forward, I followed the sound, pure adrenaline pushing me faster than I’d ever gone before.
I wasn’t sure how I found her, but I went straight to the alley shortcut and spotted her on the ground, a massive man on top of her, kissing and sucking on her skin.
She didn’t look conscious. Her eyes were closed, and her face was a busted, bloody mess.
So much fury surged through me that I lost control. I dove at the man, knocking him off her. All my fists knew was to connect. To kill.
The man tried to fight, but he wasn’t shit compared to me. His fist managed a single hit that grazed my cheek. I tore off his ski mask, taking in the dark eyes and hair. I didn’t know him.
Each of my hits collided with his face. His bones cracked beneath my knuckles. His blood spurted out. He begged me to stop.
“Who fucking sent you?” I howled, smashing his face again. “Who sent you?”
“I-I don’t know his name. Y-young guy. R-Russian.”
I smashed my fist into his face again. Again. Again. Bone splintered beneath my hits. Blood spurted freely. Skin split.
I didn’t stop until his body stopped twitching and his breathing ceased. It had been a long fucking time since I’d beaten someone to death with my bare hands.
Breathless, I rolled off his dead body and crawled to Rosalie.
“Fuck,” I choked out, dragging her into my arms. “LeeLee. Hey. Hey, come on.” I gave her a gentle shake and put my head down. She was breathing.
Thank god. Thank fucking god.
I had no idea if he’d succeeded in raping her, but judging by the fact his dick was half-hanging out of his pants, I’d say he’d made a damn good effort. If that didn’t convince me, her torn panties hanging down her thighs did.
Gently, I raked my fingers through her hair before pulling out my phone. Quickly, I hit send on a number.
“Alessandro,” my father’s deep voice rumbled out.
“Dad. Dad,” I choked out. “Please.”
“What’s wrong?” Immediately, he was all business. “Where are you?”
“I-I’m just off the Mayfair campus. In the alley off Tenth St., It’s Rosalie. She’s been attacked. I-I killed the guy. I need a clean-up.”
“I’ll see you soon.” He disconnected the call, leaving me to hold her in my arms. I couldn’t carry her out like this.
There may be witnesses, so I waited, cradling her to my body and whispering to her.
Her breathing remained deep and even, but her face was so busted and bruised.
I cried softly as I held her, vowing I’d find the motherfucker who was behind this and make him hurt.
The headlights from a blacked-out SUV pulled up, and I stared at my father as he briskly walked toward me, Klaus and Alessio with him. A slew of his men were behind him in a van. I knew that van. It was a meat wagon. They were the clean-up.
“Come,” Matteo instructed, reaching out and opening his arms for Rosalie. I hesitated for a moment before handing her off to him. He held her in his arms, an unreadable expression on his face as Alessio helped me to my feet.
“Your hands,” Alessio murmured. “You must have broken bones.”
I grunted, not even realizing I was hurt.
Instead, I went to Matteo and took Rosalie from him before I followed him to the SUV and got in, him taking Rosalie once more.
Once in the third row, I held her in my arms. Alessio got into one of the captain’s seats next to Matteo, and Klaus entered the passenger side.
A guy named Frank drove. I recognized him from Matteo’s place. He was always the driver.
I didn’t care as long as we got her help.
“She needs a doctor,” I said. “Please. The hospital.”
“No hospital. Too many questions,” Matteo answered. “We will take her to my place. I have a doctor waiting.”
I didn’t argue. I wanted her to be safe, so I’d do this.
We rode in silence, me holding her tightly.
“Wake up,” I whispered to her. “Please, LeeLee. Wake up.”
Nothing. She was out.
When we got to Matteo’s, he helped me out again and led me into the house. He took me straight to a room off the main hallway where all sorts of medical equipment was set up, a doctor and a nurse already waiting.
Carefully, I laid Rosalie onto the bed and rattled off to the doctor what I knew while they set to work.
“Can you step out, please?” The nurse asked as she scurried about.
“No,” I said fiercely.
“We need to check to see if she was raped,” she said gently. “Please. Step out.”
I ground my teeth, my throat tight.
“Alessandro. Come,” Matteo urged softly. “Let them work.”
Swallowing hard, I obliged, leaving the room with the door closing behind me. The moment I was out, I slammed my fist into the wall, putting a hole in the sheetrock.
“Easy. Easy, son,” Matteo said.
“I should have been there. I wanted to be there,” I managed to say. “Fuck. FUCK!” I pounded on the wall again, so much emotion and pain pouring through me that I thought I was going to drown in it.
“Alessandro. Please.” Matteo reached for me and pulled me into his arms. “It’s OK. She is safe now. The man is dead. He got what he deserved. Please. Repeat after me. It’s OK. She’s safe. Say it.”
“She’s O-OK. S-she’s safe.”
“Again,” he urged.
“She’s O-OK. S-she’s safe.”
“Believe that. She will be fine. I promise.”
“I want them dead. He said it was a young Russian man. He didn’t know his name. I want them all dead.”
Matteo hugged me to him for a long moment before he called out to Klaus.
“Find out who is behind this. I want them brought directly to me. I don’t care if they just breathe too heavily. Bring them.”
Klaus gave Matteo a curt nod and left as I pulled away and wiped at my eyes.
“I’m not a pussy, Father. I’m sorry?—”
“You are a man in love. I respect that level of fury,” he answered back. “When I find out who is behind this, I will allow you the honor of killing him. Il mio regalo per te, figlio mio. ”
I nodded. “Thank you.”
He cradled my face for a moment before the doctor poked his head out.
“Is she OK?” I demanded.
“I’ve given her pain medicine. She will be out for the rest of the night. I did a few X-rays. Nothing is broken in her face, but she is badly bruised. She’s going to hurt.”
“Did-did he rape her?” I asked, my voice wobbling. I’d bring that motherfucker back and kill him again.
“We will have to wait for the test results, but there doesn’t appear to be any evidence of penetration.
I’ll get them started as soon as I leave here.
She was beaten and will surely be traumatized.
She is quite bruised between her legs. I can tentatively say he was most likely not successful in the manner of completing what he set out to do. ”
“Thank you, god,” I whispered, really hoping the doctor knew what he was talking about. “Fuck. Can I see her?”
“Of course. Renee is finishing setting up her IV. I cannot properly assess head trauma here, but from what I see so far, she isn’t suffering from anything more than a nasty headache.
I highly recommend she rest; if she gets worse, call me.
We can take her in. She responded, so I’m confident she just needs rest.”
I nodded and pushed past him.
“I’ve sent the money to your account already,” I heard Matteo say as I closed the door and went to Rosalie’s side.
Renee gave me a kind smile. “She’s a strong one.”
“She shouldn’t have to be,” I murmured, taking her delicate hand in mine.
Her nails were broken and jagged from her fighting.
I swallowed hard, knowing she had to be so terrified.
I didn’t want this shit for her. God help me, I didn’t.
She’d already been through this horror before.
This wasn’t going to sit well with the guys.
The guys.
Renee left the room, and I pulled my phone out to see I had seventeen missed calls. Rosalie didn’t have her jewelry on, so I knew they didn’t know jack shit on where she was.
I hit send on Fox’s name. It rang once before he came on the line.
“Rosalie is gone,” he choked out, his voice shaking.
“She’s with me,” I answered, my voice giving me away.
“What happened? Is she OK?” He put me on speakerphone.
“No.” My voice wobbled.
“What?” Enzo demanded. “What happened?”
“Where were you?” I whispered. “Why weren’t you there? Why was no one there?”
“We were in a gunfight. I got shot,” Enzo said thickly. “Clean hit to my arm. Our guys were called off her. Cloned phone pretending to be me.”
I nodded, knowing it had to be something like that.
“Did you find out who it was?”
“No,” Enzo said tightly.
“Where the fuck is Rosalie,” Cole’s voice sounded out. “I swear to fucking god, Ass Hat, I’ll kill you?—”
“She was attacked,” I said, cutting him off. “ Because you weren’t there. You were supposed to be there.”
Silence.
“Where are you?” Fox asked, his voice trembling. “Is she OK?”
“Sh-she’s not. He beat the shit out of her. I found her in the alley. I heard rumors that you’d missed a deadline, and they were out for blood. I went to your place, and it was dark. Your guards told me Rosalie was at Mayfair. I went there and found her bag and keys on the ground.”
“We know,” Enzo snapped. “We were there. Where the fuck is she?”
“She’s safe with me,” I answered softly. “Did you see the black van?”
“Yes,” Ethan spoke up. He’d been silent the entire time.