Chapter 4
The sun glinted off the hood of my black SUV, blinding me as I sped toward the spot where Veda said Luna had been dropped off.
It”d been more than twenty minutes since her call, and her panicked voice still rang in my ears. ”Tristan? A woman came out of your house as I was driving past. Um, Luna?”
”You saw Luna?”
”Yeah.”
My heart began to pound. ”Where is she now, Veda?”
She paused, but only briefly. ”Look. I don”t know what she was doing at your house, but since she seemed unharmed, I”ll go ahead and tell you.” Veda”s fear of me was something I was well aware of, and I forced myself to be patient as she paused again, even though I wanted to jump through the fucking phone and strangle the words out of her. ”She said her brother needed her, and she made sure to tell me she was told to come alone. I think something very bad is happening, and I was going to call Luca first, but since she was at your house...”
”Thank you for calling me,” I told her. ”What else did she say?”
After listening to everything Luna had said on their ride downtown, which wasn”t much, I”d jumped up off the floor, grabbed my duffle bag, and ran out of Gino”s house.
My hands gripped the steering wheel so hard my fingers were beginning to ache. I didn”t need to hear anything else to know who had Luna. I should have foreseen that Gino would go after her brother as a way to draw her out. I should”ve had someone protecting him, if only to keep her safe.
My stomach churned with unease as I merged into downtown traffic. Gino was ruthless and unpredictable on a good day. When he was desperate, there was no telling what he”d do. And he was desperate right now. Not only to have his daughter back, but because he was in hiding.
What seemed like hours later, I turned sharply onto 7th street. Veda hadn”t known exactly where Luna was going, but I could see a construction site ahead. That had to be it. Gino had some fucking balls, calling her out here in the middle of the fucking day. Or maybe he was a genius. With everyone rushing around to and from their downtown jobs, and homeless people rampant in the city now, one lone woman walking down the street would hardly be noticed.
I drove past the site, searching for Gino and the men he doubtless scraped up out of the gutter to work for him, but there were no vehicles or any signs of life. It appeared abandoned, and I started to second guess myself. Driving on, I scanned the area for anywhere else she would”ve gone, but there was nothing except some houses and a few small businesses. She could be in one of those, but something told me she wasn”t.
Circling around, I returned to the construction site and parked in a lot right next door. I picked my bag up off the floor and put it on the passenger seat. I couldn”t walk down the street here with an artillery of weapons, so I grabbed one extra Glock and checked the magazine. I checked for cameras and witnesses as I got out of the SUV, then took off my holster and pulled my shirt loose from my pants before hiding that weapon in the back of my waistband so as not to draw any unwanted attention. I slid the smaller weapon into an outside thigh pocket, along with a rag I had in the bag to disguise its shape.
Lastly, I grabbed my favorite knife and tucked it inside the sleeve of my shirt along my inner forearm. Then I stuck two grenades in my front pockets, along with a couple of smoke bombs.
I left the rest of the weapons and ammo in the duffle and put it in the back where the tinted windows would hide the bag from view. Then I hid the keys under the floor mat and left the doors unlocked. I didn”t have much of a plan, and the odds were good we”d need to make a quick escape.
The wind whipped around me as I circled the construction site on foot, but I barely felt it. All my focus was concentrated on the sights and sounds around me, and trying not getting killed before I could find Luna. Finding her and getting her to safety was my only priority.
Once I got close enough to the warehouse, I pulled the gun out of my waistband and held it close to the outside of my thigh so it wouldn”t be visible from the street. Keeping my eyes and ears open for an attack, I crept around the corner to the back of the building, hoping to find a less obvious way in.
I found a back window that was covered with a weather battered sheet of plastic. It hung in thick shreds and gave me an entry option. Slow and easy, I snuck up to it, angling my body to peer inside. The building was just one big empty room, with only a pile of steel beams to my left. Two guys in suits stood near an open doorway opposite me, and another stood to the right, watching something at the other end of the room. I didn”t recognize any of them. And they weren”t Italian. The bastardo was either getting way too cocky, or he was having trouble finding men who would go along with his ideas.
Taking a moment, I pressed my back against the wall and tried to calm my pulse. I didn”t see any signs of Luna, but she had to be in there. I could fucking feel her. Closing my eyes, I steadied my breathing and reached deep inside, finding the cold-blooded machine I was before she”d turned everything upside down. I needed to be calm and logical, or I wouldn”t live long enough to save her.
When my blood cooled and my heart slowed to a strong, steady rhythm, I wrapped the rag from my pocket around my head to cover my mouth and nose. Then I pulled the ring from a grenade and tossed it through the ripped plastic to the right, away from anywhere Gino could be hiding Luna and her brother. She would never forgive me if I took him from her, too. Crouching down, I covered my ears and waited for the explosion. Someone screamed. Then I hurled the other one in the same general direction. The screams were cut off and joined by another.
In the chaos that ensued, I pulled the ring from a smoke bomb and threw it inside, waiting a few seconds for the black smoke to cover my entrance before I tore down the plastic and lifted myself up and through the window opening and into the warehouse.
Once inside, I immediately crouched and ran left toward the steel beams, trailing my hand along the wall to guide me. Something on the floor had caught fire from one of the grenades, and the strong stench of chemicals mixed with the smoke, making my eyes water. When I reached the edge of the cloud of smoke, I threw the remaining smoke bomb and swapped my gun to my right hand, pulling my knife with my left.
Gino shouted orders, and I heard the pounding footsteps of his men as they searched for me. A shot rang out. Then another. More shots fired, sounding from all directions. I didn”t so much as flinch as a bullet skimmed by my head, burning a trail right above my ear. Every cell in my body was focused on getting to Luna.
The air was thick with the acrid smell of smoke, even through my face covering, making it impossible to see a damn fucking thing. Halfway to the beams, I heard a cough directly behind me and spun around, arcing my knife through the air and smiling when it struck flesh and muscle. Bracing my boot on the body, I yanked the blade free and heard the thud of a body hit the cement floor.
I kept moving, leaving the wall now and continuing toward the pile of beams. The smoke was dissipating, allowing me to see some movement. A guard stumbled in front of me, half of his face and one of his arms missing. I raised my gun and fired. His head lifted in surprise when my bullet slammed into his gut, and his bloodshot eyes locked on mine. I still didn”t recognize him. Not that it would matter if I did. He didn”t deserve any sympathy from me as he fell to the floor.
Stepping over the body, I watched for the other guard through the thinning smoke and finally spotted him—or what was left of him—scattered on the cement floor.
”Stop right there, Tristan. Or I swear on my God, I”ll kill them both.”
Abruptly, I froze, gripping my weapons tighter as Gino stepped into view. He held Luna by her long, beautiful hair, and he had a gun to her head. One side of her face was scraped and swollen, and her wide blue eyes were filled with tears and horror as they found mine.
Rage I could no longer control coursed through my veins, bringing with it an icy calm that settled over me like an old friend.
Without hesitation, I raised my gun and fired, hitting Gino in the shoulder.
Luna screamed as the barrel of his gun jerked against her head, but didn”t go off. Still, he didn”t release her. Instead, he shoved her in front of him like the fucking coward he was.
”Luni? Luna!”
I cocked my head, my eyes never leaving Luna and Gino. The brother, I assumed. He didn”t sound good. His voice sounded wet, filled with fluid. Blood, if I had to guess.
”I”m okay,” she yelled. ”I”m okay.”
”You think a bullet will stop me, boy?” Gino suddenly laughed, a deep maniacal sound. ”I”ve survived much more than that, and I”ll be here long after you”re dead.”
”Because you hide behind women?” I taunted. I wanted nothing more than to shoot him in the head, but I couldn”t get a clear shot with him holding Luna in front of him. There was too much of a chance he”d move and I”d hit her instead.
Tired of the games, I strode forward to get a closer shot. Gino”s eyes widened as he watched me coming for him. He backed up, dragging Luna along until we were all behind the pile of beams.
A young man with the same dark hair as Luna sat on one knee behind Gino and Luna. His wrists were bound and blood dripped from a gash on his head. The eye that wasn”t swollen shut went from his sister to me and back again. ”Who the hell is that?”
Luna”s voice was abnormally high and tinged with fear as she stared at me with conflicted blue eyes. ”I think he”s my boyfriend...”
Her words hit me hard, stealing my breath, and I felt my entire world shift on its axis.
Boyfriend?
Hearing her claim me in the midst of all of this chaos and violence lit a flicker of warmth in my battered soul. But it was a mundane term. One that didn”t come close to describing this thing between us. Luna was a beacon in my dark world. She brought color into my grayscale existence.
No, boyfriend wasn”t the right word to describe what we were. It was something much deeper than that.
Gino growled at her response and tightened his grip in her hair, making her wince. ”He”s not your anything, girl. Do you hear me?” he yelled in her ear. ”That”—his voice dripped with disgust as he jerked his chin in my direction—”isn”t even a man. He could never love you, mia figlia.” My daughter. ”Not like I do.” He stared directly into my eyes, his features twisting in pain from the gunshot wound I”d given him. ”No. He doesn”t know what love is. He only knows strength and power. And right now, I”m the one with the power.”
He waited for a reaction from me, and I could see his patience waning when he didn”t get one. But his words had stopped affecting me a long time ago. There was no way I could”ve survived being around him all these years if he still held that power over me. And I wasn”t in chains now. He could say whatever the fuck he wanted to me, if it would take his attention from his daughter long enough for me to get her the hell out of here.
My eyes went to Luna, and I watched as what little hope she had faded from her face and her shoulders slumped in defeat.
I shook my head. ”Don”t do that,” I told her quietly. ”It”s not over. Not yet.”
Misinterpreting me, Gino scoffed. ”That”s where you”re wrong, boy.”
”What are you going to do?” I asked him, genuinely curious. ”Shoot her? Her brother? Kill your own children?”
”Yes.”
”Why?”
His eyes were wild. ”Because I want to see if it will make you feel something.”
Luna sucked in a breath, her eyes locking onto mine. I could see her trembling from where I stood. See how afraid she was. And I knew it wasn”t just for herself, but for her younger brother who was using the wall against his back for balance as he struggled to get to his feet.
But none of that was what caught and held my attention. There was something in Gino”s voice that might give someone else a twinge of hope…regret, maybe? Sadness? But I knew him better than that. I heard the conviction that far overpowered anything else.
I knew Gino”s dark side. Maybe better than he knew himself. And I realized then that although she reminded him of his dead wife, Luna was too easy. She”d never given him the sense of conquest he craved, that feeling of power he”d just mentioned. He craved her love…no. That wasn”t right. He craved the love of her mother, and a part of him knew Luna was only a sad substitute. There was only guilt where she was concerned. Whereas he felt no guilt over raping me. As a matter of fact, in some sick, demented way, it did make him feel...powerful.
Lowering the gun to my side, I said, ”Take me.” Dropping both of my weapons to the floor, I kicked them both toward Gino. Then I pulled the other one from my pocket and tossed that toward him too. ”Let them go and take me.”
”Tristan, NO!” Luna started to struggle against her father.
”Let her go!” her brother shouted. I had to admit, he had guts. The kid could barely stand.
Luna continued to struggle. Releasing her with a curse, Gino turned and pointed his gun at Logan. ”I will kill him!” he shouted.
Luna froze halfway to me, her head whipping around to her brother, then back to me. Her eyes pleaded with me for a second before she took a step back toward him. ”Please,” she told her father. ”Please, Gino. Don”t do it.”
”Let them go,” I told him again. ”Let them go and I”ll come with you without a fight.”
”How do I know I can believe you?” he asked me.
”You can”t,” I replied. ”But that”s part of the appeal, isn”t it?”
He studied me for a long time. I waited for the terror to overwhelm me, but I felt nothing at all as I waited for him to make up his mind. No fear. No disgust for what I offered. Instead, I wondered if there was any chance at all that Luna would forgive me if Gino turned down my offer. Because if that happened, I was fully prepared to rush him and wrestle that fucking gun out of his hand while she ran. And if her brother got shot in the process, well, it would be one less person for me to worry about.
”Deal,” he sneered. A second later, four more of his men rushed into the warehouse. Under Gino”s orders, three of them aimed their weapons at me while the fourth one zip tied my wrists behind my back so tight it cut off my circulation. I hissed at the touch of his fingers on my skin, but I allowed him to do it.
Luna shook her head as tears ran unnoticed down her cheeks. ”Tristan, no. Don”t do this.”
I turned my attention to her brother. ”My SUV is parked in the next lot.” His one good eye left Gino and landed on me when he realized I was talking to him. ”The keys are under the mat. Take your sister and get her the fuck out of here.”
He turned back to Gino, who lowered his gun now that I was under control. ”Go on,” Gino told him. ”A deal is a deal. And unlike your sister, I live up to my promises.”
Without a word, Logan hobbled forward and tried to grab Luna with his good hand. She wrapped her arm around his waist, but she wouldn”t leave. ”We can”t,” she told him, her voice thick with tears. ”Logan, we can”t just leave him here.”
”Yes,” he told her. ”We can.” He tried to make her move, but he was too weak from his injuries.
”Luna.”
Her dark blue eyes were luminous from her tears as they darted to mine. Her nose was running and her cheeks were blotchy.
And she was fucking stunning.
”I”ll come for you,” I told her. ”I promise.”
”Take them out of here,” Gino told one of his men.
But Luna just dug in her heels. ”No.” She shook her head. ”No. I”m not leaving you here with him.”
I stepped closer to her, ignoring her brother and the shouts of Gino”s men. They wouldn”t shoot me. It would ruin all of Gino”s fun. Catching her eyes with mine, I forced her to look at me. ”You have to go,” I said quietly. ”Or he”ll kill you. And I can”t live with that.”
”What about you?” she threw back at me. ”What am I supposed to do knowing what”s happening to you? What if he kills you?”
”Well, then you”ll be free, bambolina.”
Startled, she stared at me.
”Luni…”
Tearing her eyes away from me, she looked up at her brother, who was swiftly losing his fight to stay on his feet.
I stepped back. ”Go,” I ordered. ”Get your brother out of here.” I didn”t know where Gino was going to take me, or if Luca and Enzo would find me in time, but I exhaled a deep breath of relief as she released a sob, accusing me with her eyes before she dropped them to the floor and they started making their way out of the warehouse.
She didn”t look back.
I watched them until they were out of the building, and then I turned to face the only man who, deep down, I still feared.
He smiled, and a cold sweat broke out on my skin.