Chapter 8
Damiano
“Is she going to be okay?” I ask the doctor.
He fumbles with his bag, his hands shaking slightly under my gaze. He inspects the angry, red lacerations encircling her wrists. Then he moves to her right shoulder, which sits at a sickening angle.
“She’s in shock,” he says. “But this shoulder… It’s dislocated. Possibly even fractured.”
He looks up at me, bewilderment in his eyes. “These marks on her wrists… it seems she was bound tight. With a dislocated shoulder like this… she must have pushed her legs over to free herself.”
I look at the rings on her wrists and picture the way she held the gun at the club.
She stepped through. She tortured herself to survive. She forced her bound hands below her legs, popping her own shoulder out of the socket to free her hands. Then she drove herself to my club.
“She’s fucking strong,” I say, a new kind of respect warring with the rage in my gut.
“I need to reset it now,” the doctor says, pulling out a syringe. “I’ll give her a heavy sedative. It will knock her out for the flight, but this needs to go back in place before the swelling gets worse.”
“Do it,” I order.
I hold Katarina’s uninjured hand while the doctor maneuvers the joint. Even unconscious, she whimpers, her body jerking as the bone snaps back into the socket.
I flinch, feeling the snap as if it were mine.
“Wrap it,” I command and turn away, not wanting to see her in pain.
“We need to move. We’re sitting ducks here.” Julian says, staring out the window.
“Get the jet ready and give her one of the fake passports we have. We leave tonight.” I tell Gio, and he nods.
“Jet?!” Julian asks in confusion.
“I’m taking her to Sicily. If I’m right, and this is the mafia’s work. That’s the only safe place for her right now.” I say.
“Mafia? What on earth are you talking about?”
“We overheard that politician. He was in my club this afternoon talking about delivering a certain model to the Mafia. I wasn’t sure then that they were talking about Katarina. I only had my suspicion when I saw him call her, trying to ask her out.” I say.
Gio adds, “I managed to get the politician’s phone.
From what I can tell, he’s just handling logistics and supplying goods for someone in the Mafia.
We still don’t know exactly who he’s working with, but the Italian Mafia came up a few times in his conversations.
We’re also digging deeper into the number he was contacting. ”
“But why would the Italian Mafia want Katarina?” Julian asks, his voice tinged with anger.
“I’ll find out the answer when she is safe in Italy,” I say.
“How is that safe when you’re delivering her straight to Sicily?” I can hear the panic in his voice; his tone is starting to irritate me. So I pull out my phone and play Mateo’s voicemail. His face contorts into a frown, but he finally shuts up.
“Mateo asked me to protect her. Me. Because he knows I’m the only one who can.” I say.
He rubs his temples before placing his one hand on his nape, turning his back on us. After a beat, he says, “I’m coming with you then.”
“And why would you do that?” I ask.
“Because it’s my job to protect her, too.” He argues, looking at me with such disdain.
I chuckle, and for the first time, I realize it. This asshole has feelings for her.
Well, too bad he ain’t acting on that. Not until I’m dead.
“The boss and Kat are my only family. I would like to see this through since I couldn’t protect him,” he adds after a beat.
“The Mafia is no joke,” Gio warns.
“Then they messed with the wrong people,” Julian answers, staring at Katarina, and it makes me want to punch him in the face after he refers to her as family—the audacity.
But for now, she needs all the protection she can get. I guess he’s coming with us then.
“Make sure to leave men here to watch the clubs and my place. Mateo’s place, too.” I instruct, and he leaves the room.
When he is gone, Gio asks, “Do you plan on coming back here?”
“It doesn’t matter. But we have to make sure she is safe,” I say, my gaze lingering on the sleeping woman the rest of the world is dying to possess.
∞∞∞
The ride to the airport is a blur. Gio zipped through traffic, and before I knew it, we were pulling up at the tarmac.
Julian is in the passenger seat, an assault rifle resting across his lap. I am in the back, Katarina’s head resting on my lap. She is still unconscious from the sedatives the doctor gave her, and her right arm is strapped tight to her chest in a sling.
As we pull up to the private hangar’s entrance, the gates are already open. My Gulfstream is waiting, engines whining.
As soon as Gio stops the car, Julian jumps out to open the door to my right. I slide my arms under Katarina and lift her slowly, avoiding her injured shoulder.
Zip—Crack.
A bullet sparks off the pavement inches from my foot.
“Ambush!” Julian shouts.
“Trasi dintra!” Gio roars, ducking back behind the car’s armored door.
Two black SUVs come screeching around the corner with men hanging out the windows, pointing automatic rifles in our direction.
Julian and Gio open fire immediately, the sound turning deafening as bullets ping off the SUV.
I shove Katarina back onto the leather seat, covering her body with mine. She moans as the movement jostles her shoulder.
“Keep them back!” I yell as I draw my dual Glocks from my body holster and wait for a lull in the spray.
Now.
I step out, using the heavy door as a shield. I take a breath and watch the world slow down.
Target. Squeeze.
Target. Squeeze.
I fire four times, and four men drop.
I don’t panic. I don’t spray. I aim, just like how I was trained.
As Gio and Julian suppress the second car, I take the opening. I grab Katarina from the seat, shielding her, and sprint for the jet stairs.
“Go! Go! Go!” Gio shouts as he runs to cover me.
I hit the airstairs, taking them two at a time. When I make it to the door, a male flight attendant grabs Katarina from my arms and brings her to safety. I turn back, firing three more rounds to cover Gio and Julian as they run for the plane.
When the door finally seals shut with a pneumatic hiss, Gio shouts at the cockpit, “Let’s go!”
The engines roar as the plane starts to move before anyone is even buckled in.
I go to see Katarina, who has been taken to the private bedroom at the back, and find that a nurse is already tending to her.
“Keep her under,” I tell the nurse. “I don’t want her to wake up in pain.”
When I step back to the cabin where the rest are, my hands are still numb from adrenaline.
I take off my jacket and take the seat across from Gio.
To his right, I see Julian is sitting in a chair, panting.
Beside him, he places a duffel bag on the floor.
After a few minutes, something moves in the duffel, making me frown.
Then a puppy’s head pops out.
“What the hell is that?” I ask, and Gio and Julian’s heads snap in my direction.
“The guys found him at their apartment,” Julian says, wiping sweat from his forehead. “Figured Katarina will want to see it.”
I stare at the puppy chewing on the zipper, struggling to get out and shake my head.
“Unbelievable.”
I pull out the magazines from my gun to reload. The rhythmic click-snap of bullets becomes the only sound in the cabin apart from the little barks of the puppy.
“Who were they?” Julian asks.
“Looks like the politician’s men still, they’re wearing the same uniforms I saw this afternoon. Don’t worry, all of them are dead.” Gio answers, settling back in his seat.
Julian looks at me, a silent, expectant question in his eyes.
“You got something to say?” I ask, pulling the empty magazine from the other gun and thumbing fresh brass-cased rounds into a new one.
“How do you know how to shoot like that?” He asks finally, his voice tight.
I don’t look up.
“Didn’t Mateo discuss my background with you?” I ask as I finish slapping the full magazine into place. “I’m pretty sure you know I come from the Sicilian Mafia.”
“I know about the Mafia. Just didn’t realize Mafia princes can shoot like that.” The motherfucker actually calls me a prince. He’s got some balls, I tell you that.
“Most people can’t do it well, not really. But I was trained for one thing: to kill.” I state casually, pulling out my phone to email my brother, Lorenzo.
He needs a heads-up about our arrival.
“To kill?” Julian repeats as if not believing what he’s hearing.
“I’m my family’s Enforcer. Assassino. So don’t get it twisted, I’m no prince.” I say, meeting his stare with a look that brooks no argument.
Gio clears his throat, offering no words, as he’s aware my patience has worn thin. I start to rise, intending to leave, just as the stewardess arrives with drinks.
“I would like to be briefed about the situation in Italy,” Julian says.
That’s smart. But I doubt he’ll be ready even after days of briefing. Nothing prepares you for the violence in the Mafia.
“How much do you know about me?” I ask, tilting my head.
“I know your family is important. I know you have a lot of enemies, which will make it dangerous for Katarina to be there.”
Despite his disagreeable tone, I respond with composure.
“I overheard that politician friend of Katarina talking about selling her to an Italian man. If my suspicions are correct, that Italian man is none other than Nicolo Guidicelli. Mateo informed me about his arrival in Argentina this afternoon.”
Julian winces when he hears that Mateo had this intel.
“Why would he want her?”
“Beats the shit out of me,” I say. “But you need to decide if you want a part of that world. Because the moment we land and those men see you, you’ll be marked as one of ours. From that point on, you’ll be permanently in the game.”
“Where Katarina goes, I follow,” Julian says, and it makes me chuckle.
“Good. You will get paid five times what Mateo used to give you. Your only duty from now on is to protect her with your life.”
I stress the last part, making sure he knows that if anything happens to her, he will suffer.
“You don’t need to pay me. I’d do it for free if it’s the last thing I do.”
I pull my gun out and point it at his forehead.
Gio raises his arm between us to ease the tension, and the fucker glares at me.
“Whatever delusion you have about her will cease to exist today,” I warn. “You are nothing but her bodyguard on my payroll from now on. Not her friend. Not her brother’s friend. You will take the salary, or I’ll have you shipped back to Argentina in a box.”
Julian meets my stare. His eyes ice-cold, devoid of any fear.
“He understands,” Gio answers on his behalf.
“He better.”
I give him another warning look before leaving.
∞∞∞
Two Hours Later
I sit at the edge of the bed, watching Katarina’s sleeping figure, when my phone dings with a notification.
The screen illuminates with Lorenzo’s name.
“What have you done this time?”
“Nothing. I need a few guards to pick me up from the airport.” I reply.
“You better not have made new enemies that will give me a headache.”
“Of course not.”
“See you soon. Baci, L”
I am not looking forward to going back home, but for now, I know my home in Sicily is the only place Guidicelli won’t dare touch.
If he really was behind all this, surely he knows I took her by now.
I remove my jacket and body holster before lying beside Katarina.
The low hum of the plane and the soft, steady rush of air from the vent are the only sounds in the room.
For a moment, I watch the woman who has had me wrapped in her fingers since the day I met her.
She sleeps soundly, completely oblivious to everything that is happening around her.
I can’t stop staring at her beautiful face.
Her nose’s slight upturn that I’ve always found adorable. She looks so fucking precious.
I trace my fingers down her cheek and jaw, the gentle act bringing my attention back to the reality of the situation. Dark blue bruises are already forming on her eyebrows, jaw, and neck.
The thirst to torture each one of the vermin who did this to her gnaws on me. I imagine all sorts of ways I can make them pay.
Being this beautiful should be illegal. It made her a target for greedy men, envious women, and now even the fucking Mafia wants a piece of her. If she were truly mine, I’d lock her up in a tower where no one could reach her. It’s no wonder Mateo always protected her so much.
Mateo.
I have to avenge his death too. We were by no means best friends, but I trusted him. And in some ways, I believe he treated me like a friend, too.
And no one fucks with my friends.
I lay there for a while, memorizing Kat’s face like it’s a task I’m determined not to fail.
Finally, the sheer exhaustion of the night drags me under.