Chapter Eleven
Sergio
The fucking phone calls were getting on my damn nerves.
Everyone called, but I didn’t pick up. I didn’t give two fucks what the retaliation would be from the Drakos Syndicate for what I had done.
Dorian Drakos would not get his slimy fucking hands on Seraphina ever again.
Which meant only one thing. He’d have to die.
If I had to wipe the entire Drakos line from existence, that was what I’d do.
I silenced another call from, Lorenzo, then another from Dante. The only person who hadn’t called was Gianni. Which was out of the ordinary since everyone believed I’d listen to him because he was the rational one out of all of us.
My older brother was only more rational if the situation didn’t deal with Phoenix. So, once he found out that Seraphina was with me, all that rationality would go out the window.
“Fuck,” I cursed when it rung again but this time Finley’s name flashed across the screen.
He was keeping an eye on the Drakos family, specifically Dorian.
“Yeah?”
“Vasilas is having a sit down with the Family.”
I pinched the bridge of my nose. I knew there was no way I could miss it especially being the Enforcer. However, I didn’t like leaving Seraphina here alone because she’d try to escape. I couldn’t let that happen. Not until was safe. And that would only be possible with Dorian dead.
“When?”
I stood in front of the enormous picture window of the living area of the home I rented. Nobody knew we were here.
The house wasn’t anything extravagant. I wanted to make sure we kept a low profile because everyone would expect me to be somewhere luxurious. This place wasn’t a dump, but it wasn’t five-star luxury either.
The town spilled down the hillside like a mosaic of homes with red-tiled roofs, not the blue ones in Greece and different from the homes in the States. A river shimmered in the distance, winding under a stone bridge that looked as old as this town.
Children’s laughter echoed from the streets below. Not too far away, a woman with a white scarf tied on her head hung laundry from a balcony. The aroma of roasted meat and herbs drifted from somewhere nearby. And mountains dusted with snow towered in the distance.
Here it felt like time had slowed. Like the world outside this window held its breath, waiting for the other shoe to drop. And it would. It was just a matter of time.
“Two days,” Finley said, confirming when the sit-down was supposed to happen. “Lorenzo called Kai, then he called me because you weren’t answering. He couldn’t track you down.”
Fuck, I knew it was coming but not this soon. It was throwing off my plans.
“Alright. You got anything to report?”
“Dorian’s dropping bodies left and right. He hasn’t done anything to the Family yet. He’s been told to hold off until after the meeting.”
“Your source reliable?”
“Of course it’s fucking reliable, Sergio,” Finley said. “I’m offended you even asked that shit. Anyway, you know how bitches like to talk, so I’m fucking someone inside the Drakos organization.”
“Fuck that was quick.”
“Well, we needed answers sooner rather than later. I figured it was the best way to get the information as soon as possible. She’s the mistress of someone close to Dorian.”
“Alright. I’ll be flying in once I get everything settled with Seraphina. Call Kai, get him on the next flight here so he can keep an eye on her. I need you with me. And Finley, nobody is to know where the fuck we are. If they find out, everyone is fucking dead. And I mean everybody.”
He understood if anyone found out that Seraphina was in Albania, he was dead along with Kai because they would be the only two who knew except for the doctor. And she was paid well enough to keep her mouth shut.
Even though they were like my brothers, they weren’t my blood, and I only fucked with those who were loyal to me. If you’re not, I didn’t need you in my circle and I had no problem cutting you out of my life permanently.
He sighed. “You sure you want to do this?” he asked. “The Drakos Syndicate aren’t ones to be fucked with, man.”
“And neither am I.”
I ended the call. I knew what I had to do, but it didn’t change the gut-wrenching feeling sitting in the pit of my stomach about leaving even though I knew Dorian couldn’t get to her.
I also hated to leave her while she was recovering.
The doctor said she’d be fine, but every time I thought about it, it was like I was having a panic attack thinking about all that could happen.
If I hadn’t listened to Seraphina that last time I walked away, she wouldn’t be going through this shit now.
All this shit was my fault.
As soon as I hung up with Finley, my phone rang once again. Gianni’s name flashed across the screen. He must have figured out I was the one who took her, even if I wasn’t going to admit to it.
“Goddamn it. I just want one moment of peace.”
I plopped down in the chair near the window and answered the phone as I continued to gaze at the picturesque scenery. Just like Greece, this place was beautiful. So peaceful. If it wasn’t for the circumstances, I could see Seraphina and I on vacation here.
“Big brother, what can I do for you?” I asked as calmly as I could.
“You can start by telling me what the hell you were thinking.”
I sighed. “I have no idea what you’re talking about, Gianni. You need to be more specific than that.”
“You can’t be serious, Sergio?”
“I’m very serious.”
“Imagine my surprise when I get a call from your ex-girlfriend who tells me you broke things off with her.”
“And that has you pissed off?” I asked even though I knew that wasn’t why he called. “Why do you care if I ended my relationship?”
“Then I find out that my sister-in-law is missing from her very pissed off husband who thinks you had something to do with it,” he continued like I hadn’t said a word. “Then no one can get in touch with you. I know it had to be you.”
“Aren’t I always the blame for shit happening in this family? I’m sorry to break it to you, big brother, I’ve done nothing wrong this time.”
“You kidnapped her, Sergio!” he shouted. “You didn’t just make a move against Dorian. You’ve started a damn war with one of the most powerful syndicates in Europe! No sit-down will smooth this over with Vasilas. She’s not just some girl. She’s his brother’s wife!”
Now he was just pissing me off. I didn’t give a shit about Dorian, Vasilas, or any of the Drakos Syndicate. I’d go to war with them if it meant keeping her safe.
“I don’t give a damn about smoothing shit over, Gianni! Fuck all them motherfuckers!”
“Here talk to him. Maybe you can talk some sense into him,” he said, and I knew he was talking to Phoenix.
I heard the frustration in his voice, but she wouldn’t change my mind either. Seraphina wasn’t going back to Greece, not until Dorian was dead.
“Sergio?”
“Yeah, Phoenix.”
“Was it bad?” Phoenix asked, her voice full of worry.
I pinched the bridge of my nose and sighed.
“He did a number on her.” I didn’t want to get too graphic because it wasn’t my story to tell.
“But the doctor said it’ll take a while for her to heal.
She’s on heavy pain medication that keeps her sleep most of the time.
But she’s fine Phoenix. I promise. But there’s no way in hell I’m letting her go back to him.
They can fucking kill me before I let that happen. ”
“Keep her wherever you have her,” she said without hesitation. “Don’t let her come back here and don’t tell anyone where you are until it’s safe.”
Gianni cursed in the background. I guess he was past the stage of playing the priest now, but I knew he wouldn’t go against what his wife wanted.
“Ask him if it was you, what would he do?”
I didn’t wait for an answer and just ended the call.
I knew what he would do and so did he. He killed our father for Phoenix and their son.
He hung her first husband from the rafters so she could kill him.
He didn’t give not one fuck if one of the most powerful Camorra clans came after the Family for protecting her.
He was the last person who had the fucking right to judge me for my actions.
I walked back to her room, down the quiet, dimly lit hallway. The door creaked as I slipped inside. I hoped she was asleep, but she wasn’t. Even though her eyes were closed, her body was still but not relaxed.
“I know you’re not asleep.”
I sank into the chair beside her bed. The same chair I’d claimed since the night I brought her here.
I sat in it for hours, praying to a God who hadn’t answered me in fucking years.
I didn’t blame him for his silence. I wasn’t the best person.
Did a bunch of shit that will send me to Hell, but I prayed anyway.
For her. I prayed for the one person who made me believe there was something in this fucked up life that was worth living for.
She was everything to me. And I couldn’t lose her. Not again.
“You don’t know what you’ve done.” Her eyes stayed shut. And her voice was low and full of fear. “He won’t stop until he finds me. And when he does… he’ll kill you.”
I reached for her hand, half-expecting her to flinch or snatch away from me. But she didn’t. Her fingers were cold, but she didn’t pull away. She held on like maybe some part of her still remembered who I used to be to her. Who we used to be together.
“Do you have so little faith in me, baby?”
Her eyes opened. She turned her head, and when she looked at me, I saw it all. Every fracture I carved into her heart. The betrayal. The fear. The love that hadn’t died that she just buried beneath the wreckage that I caused.
She didn’t speak because she didn’t have to. I’d broken her too many times for words to mean anything now. However, this time, she had no choice but to trust me. It all came down to one truth. Either Dorian died, or I did. And I always played to win.
“One day,” I said, voice barely above a whisper, “you’ll trust me again, Seraphina. And when that day comes, I swear to you, I’ll never let you go. Not even if the whole damn world tries to take you from me.”
Her tears didn’t fall. They shimmered in her beautiful eyes waiting to break. All I could do was sit there, holding her hand, knowing that this time love wasn’t enough to keep her in my life. I had to prove I deserved to be there.