Chapter 18 Reign #2
The man holding me let out a chuckle. He hauled me up to a standing position and pushed me forward to follow the fucker in front of me. I stumbled a little on my feet, and the fucker looked back. “Try to keep up, princess.”
We made it inside the warehouse and up the metal stairs leading to the upper level. The first sight that greeted me nearly had me coming undone.
Jamie stood in the middle, her arms held above her head and her wrists tied tightly together with a rope.
Her bare feet barely touched the ground.
She was on her tiptoes, and there was already a bruise forming on her face.
She was in her home clothes—a thin fucking shirt that I knew offered no protection against the cold chill in the warehouse and black leggings, and that was all.
The fucker really just took her straight from her apartment and tied her up here.
I was going to kill every one of the fuckers in here.
Her eyes widened when she saw me, and I shook my head.
The bastard behind me pushed me forward until I fell to my knees. The one in front pulled out his gun and pointed it at my head. “We found this one loitering outside,” he said.
For a moment, no one said anything. Then I heard footsteps coming from behind Jamie as the fucker stepped out of the shadows.
He shot me an ugly smile.
In my head, I was already planning on how I was going to kill Tito Costa, and I was going to fucking make it hurt. I would drag it out too. It didn’t matter what his purpose was in taking Jamie. He put his hands on her.
Tito came over and placed his hand under my chin, lifting my head so I would look at him.
His small brown eyes squinted beneath thick, dark brows.
Tito was an ugly fucker who was more brawn than brain.
He was nearly the same height as me and just as wide, and his hair was nearly shaved down to his scalp, showing off a long vertical scar that ran from his temple up to about an inch past his hairline.
I shook away his touch.
“Who the fuck are you?” he asked with a sneer, baring a row of crooked, yellow teeth.
He didn’t recognize me.
I wondered if all the Caparelli men were this sloppy?
While I hadn’t met all the high-ranking men from the Caparelli’s organization, I would have known all the bastards on sight alone.
And Tito, although he didn’t hold a high-ranking position, was Davide’s nephew. Not by blood, but by marriage, and that made him part of the list of people I had carefully studied throughout the years.
I grinned at him. “Wouldn’t you like to fucking know?”
He pulled his arm back and punched me on the side of my face… the same side the fucker before had hit.
Fuck.
My head rang from the second punch.
I tasted copper in my mouth, but I didn’t give Tito the satisfaction of seeing me react to the pain. Instead, I spat blood onto his shoes.
I was getting really tired of this shit. My eyes briefly moved over to Jamie, seeing the panic in her eyes, but thankfully, she stayed silent. The last thing I wanted was for her to draw attention to herself before backup could arrive.
“Fuck you,” I said, my voice steady despite the throbbing in my jaw. No doubt I was going to get a fucking bruise there.
Tito’s face contorted with rage. “You’ve got a death wish, don’t you?” He grabbed a fistful of my hair and yanked my head back. “Do you know who I am?”
What a funny question. The only reason he even had a position in the Caparelli Famiglia was because he was considered family.
I laughed, which only seemed to piss him off more. “I know exactly who you are. Question is—do you know who I am?”
His eyes narrowed, uncertainty flickering across his face for just a moment, before the arrogance returned.
“You’re nobody,” he sneered, releasing my hair with a shove. “Just some piece of shit who walked into the wrong place at the wrong time. And now, you’ll have to pay for it with your life.”
He gestured to the fucker who was holding his gun. Behind him, I could see Jamie struggling against her binds, as if she was trying to escape them to stop him.
“Are you sure about that?” I asked calmly, not paying attention to the gun. “Aren’t you at least curious about how I found this place?”
Tito held up his hand to halt the gun and walked back to me, grabbing a fistful of my hair again. He stared into my face for a long moment, as if he was trying to see if he could place me.
Looking at the big fucker behind me, he said, “Search him.”
I felt hands grab at me. I pushed them away, struggling to get up. Two more fuckers came out of nowhere, forcibly holding my hands down by my side.
I gritted my teeth when I felt the other fucker pat me down. “There’s no need to cop a feel,” I said. The fucker glared at me.
He found my gun and the blade I used to kill the men outside. Their blood was still on it. My weapons were thrown down on the ground in front of me.
“There’s no wallet,” he said to Tito.
“You just decided to come in here and kill my men?” Tito asked, as if he couldn’t make sense of it. He frowned, then I saw the moment of realization dawn in his eyes.
Fuck.
He turned to Jamie and grinned. “Do you know him?”
Jamie didn’t say anything.
Tito laughed. “Fuck, that’s it, isn’t it?
You came here to rescue your whore!” He slapped his thigh, as if he found the entire thing funny.
I stood up and headbutted Tito on his chin before turning around and taking on the fucker with the gun.
Surprise worked to my advantage, and I wrestled the gun away from him and smacked the butt of it against his nose.
Blood gushed out and sprayed onto my hand.
I didn’t hesitate. I turned to the big fucker who had patted me down and smacked him with the gun before kicking his knees until he fell.
I stomped on them a few times, enjoying the pained scream he let out.
I aimed the gun at the two remaining men in the warehouse, pulling the trigger twice, shooting each of them in the head.
“Enough!” Tito roared, drawing my attention. “Fucking put the gun down and kneel, or I’ll slit the bitch’s throat.”
I felt everything inside me freeze. Slowly, I turned around to see Tito holding my blade against Jamie’s throat.
Tears were steadily flowing down her cheeks.
Slowly, I lowered the gun, keeping my eyes locked on Jamie’s terrified face.
“That’s right,” Tito said, pressing the blade harder against her skin. A thin line of crimson appeared on her throat. “Now put it down and kick it over here.”
I placed the gun on the floor and slid it toward him with my foot.
“Good boy,” he said.
My mind raced through different scenarios, calculating odds, looking for an opening.
He turned to Jamie. “My, where did you find this one, cuz? It seems he really cares about you. Too bad that’s going to get him killed.
Should I do it in front of you? Would that be enough of a reminder for you to mind your own goddamn business and not snitch like a fucking rat?
Because of you, Caine called in his men to have me killed.
It’s a damn good thing one of those men he asked happens to be working with me.
But now I can never return home. Are you happy about that? Huh?”
He pushed the blade closer to her neck, and she let out a small whimper that tore at my heart.
“Is that what this is about?” I asked, bringing his attention back to me. “You got caught and need someone to blame?”
“Fuck you,” he spat out, coming closer to me and away from Jamie. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“I don’t? I’m not the one with a hit on his head.”
His face twisted with anger. “You’re talkative, aren’t you? Let’s see how talkative you get when I plunge this blade into your throat.”
My silence only seemed to piss him off even more.
I took in a deep breath, assessing my surroundings.
I already killed two men and injured the other two.
But they were slowly picking themselves up.
And I knew better than to think they wouldn’t be a threat just because they were injured.
It was amazing what adrenaline in your body could do for you, injury or not.
But Tito was the biggest threat now.
I waited for the right opening, tracking Tito’s every movement. He was getting sloppy, which meant he’d make a mistake. He only needed to make one.
Just one.
My eyes moved back to Jamie.
“Don’t fucking look at her!” Tito screamed. “Look at me when I’m talking to you! You look at her, and I will fucking kill her first, you got me?”
He turned back to Jamie, as if to take in her reaction to his words.
That was all I needed.
I lunged forward, catching Tito off guard.
He slashed wildly with the knife, but I was ready.
I grabbed his wrist mid-swing, twisting until I heard a crack.
The blade clattered to the floor. Before he could scream, I slammed my fist into his throat, feeling a small sense of satisfaction from the guttural sound he made.
Heavy footsteps moved up the metal stairs, and I turned around to see more of the Caparelli’s men. Fuck, how many men did this fucker manage to turn?
I picked up the blade Tito dropped and rushed over to Jamie, cutting the ropes and pulling her down to me.
She wrapped her arms around my neck, clinging to me as more tears fell from her face. I pushed her behind me and took in all the men. Seven total.
We were outnumbered, and usually I didn’t let something as small as being outnumbered stop me, but I had Jamie with me. I couldn’t risk her getting hurt.
Movement from outside the window caught my attention. Either Tito had stationed more men outside on the upper level of this warehouse that I didn’t know about, or my reinforcements had arrived.
Thank fuck.
I tensed, getting ready. The next moment, glass shattered, and three figures swung in through the windows. Gunfire erupted immediately. Two of Tito’s men went down before they could even raise their weapons.
“Stay down!” I yelled, pushing Jamie to the ground.
The remaining men scattered, trying to find cover. One ran toward us, gun raised. I didn't hesitate. I threw my blade, catching him in the throat. He dropped, gurgling on his own blood.
The gunfight was over in seconds. One moment, there was pure chaos—the next, dead silence. When the shooting stopped, I heard a familiar voice call out.
“All clear!”
I looked up to see Makar standing there, his gun still drawn.
“Tito Costa,” I said, looking around for the fucker and not finding him anywhere. He shook his head.
Fucking hell. The coward ran and left his men behind.
I stood and was about to give chase when small hands clasped my wrist. I looked down to see Jamie’s terrified expression. I swallowed my anger, knowing I wouldn’t be able to go hunting tonight.
Taking a deep breath, I bent down and pulled Jamie up, carrying her in my arms. She instantly buried her face in my chest, her tears wetting my skin, making the heart that I thought was dead a long time ago flutter rapidly.
“I’m taking her home,” I said.
“And what about the remaining men?” Baran asked, coming up to me. He frowned at Jamie in my arms, but thankfully didn’t comment on that.
“Call Caine. Let him take care of his men. But let him know I want them alive long enough for me to have my fun. And Baran? Burn this fucking place down. I want nothing but ashes on this land.”
Baran nodded.
Jamie tensed even more at the sound of her brother’s name.
There was no more keeping this a secret from her.
She also couldn’t keep her secrets from me either.
It was time to come clean.
And then…
And then, I was going to make sure she stayed mine, and that was all there was to it.