Chapter 22 | Michael
Michael
The next few weeks moved quickly as I worked to eliminate Victor’s loyalists and spend time with my new wife. I’d never had much interest in marriage—perhaps because I’d always been in love with someone unavailable—but living with Bianca was strangely...normal.
As we settled into our relationship, we began to truly know each other. She glowed each evening at dinner as she told me about her online classes, and I reveled in the fact that I could give her something she found purpose in.
She was an amazing mother, and called Alexis multiple times each day.
Although it wasn’t necessary for us to have a child since Nick would inherit the family business, I found myself longing to share that with her.
To see her hold our son to her breast as she gazed at me with her honey-brown eyes.
Of course, it might not happen, considering our ages, but if it did, I’d be thrilled.
Each day, I worked quickly to bring Victor’s loyalists under my fold, or eliminate them completely.
The small few who were willing to pledge their loyalty to me were put under watch by my best men to make sure they weren’t infiltrators still loyal to John and Simon.
Unfortunately, most of Victor’s men refused to see reason, and I understood that I would eventually have to eliminate John and Simon to fully accomplish my goal.
The thought of ending lives, even those of my enemies, weighed heavily on me, but I also understood I had to act now to ensure the future of all the men and families who worked for me and trusted me.
I remained in constant contact with Nick, and he assured me that he and Alexis were getting along, and that he felt she was beginning to trust him.
Having her encrypted information would make things easier for me, but I also had other methods for rooting out the Eastern European trafficking contacts.
Leo had been extremely helpful, and I continued to keep an eye out for any information that Marco Nunez was sniffing around my ports.
All in all, things were moving along with fairly uneventful regularity, which left an unsettled feeling in my gut. In my experience, taking on a rival family was rarely smooth, and I often worried that things might take a drastic turn that I couldn’t foresee.
And then, one cold early November morning as I sat in my SUV on the way to a meeting, I received a call that confirmed my worst fears.
“Yes,” I said, lifting the phone to my ear and scowling at the unknown number.
“Michael,” Leo’s voice said, full of worry. “I’m calling from a secure line and have to be quick, but I wanted to be the one to tell you.”
Dread filled my chest as I straightened. “What’s wrong?”
“Bianca’s been in a car accident. Victor’s men tried to kidnap her. She’s at Maimonides Hospital.”
I clutched my chest as I yelled to my driver, “Take me to Maimonides Hospital now!”
“Yes, sir.”
“Is she...”
“I don’t know, Michael,” Leo said. “I’m sorry I don’t have more information. I’ve got to go.”
The phone clicked off and I held my fist to my chin as I gazed out the window, terrified for Bianca. Why had she been in a car? What the hell had she been doing?
Closing my eyes, I prayed to a lord I’d forgotten long ago, begging him to make sure she was okay...pleading for him to save the woman I’d worked so hard to love and was desperate to never lose...