Chapter Twenty-Four
We’ve just laid eyes on Rocco after a full twenty-four hours of running down the leads from Miami to West Palm Beach and are about to nab him when Benz calls. “What is it?”
“Someone tried to set Body Count ablaze, but they failed.” Yes, the place is wired tight to stop people getting in unless you’re skilled.
“What?” I roar.
“The police and fire department are here, looking for you.” Fuck. I don’t have time for this bullshit. I want to get home to my wife and end everyone threatening her, including my empty threats.
“I’m on my way.” I end the call.
I look over at Adriano and Michael. “Someone keep tabs on him. Never let him out of your sight. Any movements that lead to Jones, alert me.” I explain about the club and drive off in a flash with Gabe.
Body Count. I should be thinking about the club, but my mind goes straight to my wife and what happened there. The look on her face had been one of pure hurt, and I put it there.
I arrive at Body Count and find that the scene is mostly cleared up, but there is caution tape around the building and front doorframe, and glass windows are boarded up. Quickly, I call the inspector. “Too busy to answer my calls?”
“Yes, it seems your places are very popular.”
“What the fuck does that mean?” I snarl, not in the mood for cryptic games from the unhelpful city worker.
“Your other facility on the Miami Beach Marina has just been torched.”
“Fucking son of a bitch.” Heads are going to roll. “What are you doing about this?”
“Putting them out, Mr. Valentino. Where were you this evening?”
“Looking for answers out of town. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to check on my wife to ensure her safety.” I end the call and fly fast down the road to my estate. I’ve called Benz and see if he’s in the house to check on Stella, but he doesn’t answer.
“Something’s not right. That asshole Benz isn’t answering. Did we get the information on him?”
“Not yet. In fact, I have less information on his past, like his name isn’t Anthony Benzino like he said. The real Anthony Benzino supposedly was killed in a gun battle three years ago.”
“What?”
“Although there could be another.”
“Check Benzino’s relatives and friends.” He continues to dig, and I wish I hadn’t let that bit slip in the past two days, but there were too many fucking problems to push and Gabe’s the only one I trust.
“Shit, it’s going to take a while longer,” Gabe grumbles. A sick, twisted feeling in my gut filled with dread takes over. All I can think about is that something is wrong where Stella’s concerned. I don’t know why I didn’t give her a cell phone. Hell, I know exactly why. Because it would mean I’d have a chance to call her for no damn reason, a way for her to find an escape to the outside world and me.
I call my staff at the estate and ask about my wife. “Sir, we believe she is at your parents’. She hasn’t been here since yesterday. Benz dropped her off yesterday.” I ended the call because they were useless to me now.
“We’re going to my parents’.” I speed off in their direction, switching off the last five minutes in the opposite road. Fuck, I’m so damn close. When I pull into the driveway, I barely put it into park before I’m out of the SUV and rounding the front of it. Taking the stairs two at a time, I push past my parents’ guards and into the house.
“Where is she?” I roar, tearing through my parents’ home.When her guards said she wasn’t home yet, I nearly lost my already insane mind. Our delicious fuck at the club had been one that pushed me over the edge. I want more and I need her to stay, even if it taints everything I have lived with inside my deranged head and heart.
“Calm down, Son. Who are you looking for?” my father asks, stepping in front of me as I run up the stairs where I know she’s likely to be.
“Who the fuck else? My wife.” I shrug his arm off me.
“She’s not here,” the hardened voice of my sister comes from behind me. I spin around, flying down the steps in a rush, and glare as she dares to look pleased.
“What the hell do you mean, she’s not here?”
“She’s on her way far away from you where she can be happy.”
“Tell me you didn’t betray me and help her leave.”
“I did.” My hands are around her throat before I can stop myself.
“Damiano, stop,” my mother says, grabbing onto my arm.
Gabe is at my side. “Let my woman go.”
I let go and say, “If anything happens to her, you’re dead to me.” I step back, hating myself, but not more than my sister at this moment. How could she have let the woman I love run away from me? I drop back to the chair with my head in my hands.
“We’ll find her, Son,” my father said.
“If you actually showed you cared, she wouldn’t have wanted to leave,” Grace says through her coughs.
“I’d shut your fucking mouth. I’ve had enough of this family’s betrayal to last a lifetime. Blood means shit to me anymore, Ms. Valentino.”
“Watch yourself, Son. You’re both my children, and I love the two of you. This is not the same thing as my bastard father.”
“No? Another betrayal. Another stab in the back by my own blood.”
“You were going to get rid of her anyway. I was trying to save her heart. You’re a man of your word, and you promised to let her go. Did you think she wanted to wait around until you finally tossed her out? You might not have a heart, but she does, and you don’t get to break it over and over because you saved her from killing herself. I’d rather have her as a sister than you as a brother any day.” She storms out of the room.
“She doesn’t mean that.”
“I don’t give a fuck what she means. I want my wife.”
“About damn time, but if you ever put your hands on my future wife, I’ll forget who you are,” Gabriele snarls.
“Good. You were looking like a weak-ass bitch.”
“As angry as you were, you weren’t hurting your sister, other than her feelings. Those I can work in my favor. Now back to your problem. I think I can help when it comes to finding your wife. I thought Gracie was being suspicious, and I had her followed when she went to Walmart, of all places.”
“Walmart?”
“Yeah. I thought it was odd, but I thought she was being strange. She had ice cream. I asked her about it, and she was watching a TikTok thing and had to have it. Something they only had there.”
“Let’s check their surveillance.”
****
She hasn’t turned on the fucking phone Gracie had gotten her. What the hell? How am I supposed to track her whereabouts? Two fucking whole days have passed, and I’m not any closer to finding my wife.
“Son, what about her ring?” my father asks. My face fell because it wasn’t something I’d had time to achieve or thought of because I foolishly believed I’d let her go in the end, ring included.
“I didn’t put a tracker in it.”
“You used my jeweler, Fierro, correct?” My eyebrows shoot upward because I can already tell where his mind is going, and I hope that he’s right. Although, since I’d been in a hurry, I doubt that’s the case.
“Yes,” I say. He calls him and puts it on speaker. “Fierro, my friend. I know you made a ring for my son quickly and as a special order, but I was wondering if you did what you always do for me?”
“A tracker?”
“Yes.”
“All of my pieces are so expensive, Sir. It’s a safety measure, but…” Fierro’s nervous, but my heart jumps in my chest with the possibility.
“So, it’s there?” I ask.
“Yes, but…” I cut him off before he started babbling.
“Is it possible to turn it on now, even with the ring not here? We’re trying to find it.”
“Yes, it’s activated, but I hadn’t wanted to pry.”
“Thank you. Please send it to me ASAP. It’s very important, and I will send you a bonus.”
“It’s not necessary, Sir. You are great to me and my family.”
“I assure you, it’s very appreciated and necessary.” A few moments later, I have a trace running on my wife. It takes about twenty minutes, but a location comes up, and my sweet beauty is hiding away in Tallahassee.
“I’m sorry, Son. I wish I would have thought of that sooner.”
“No. Not your fault. I have to find my wife.” I’m out the door and on the road before anyone can stop me. It doesn’t matter that we don’t have Jones yet because getting Stella to safety is my only priority.
****
Leaning over her sleeping form, I watch my wife’s tear-stained face. What the hell did she think she was doing? The risk she took to get away from me was foolish and dangerous. All for nothing, because there’s no way I’d let her go now. She messed up. I thought she was an angel, but it seems she’s a mischievous little thing, slinking away, planning to leave me with my unborn baby inside her. I hold the little stick in my hand, thinking of the baby devil growing inside of her, and suddenly the past, the betrayal, the pain, faded. All I want is my wife to say she’ll stay by my side because I can’t let her leave me.
She has no idea what the past three days and nights have been like. I almost choked the life out of my sister when I found out what she’d done. Never in my life have I been so pissed. Even my grandfather’s accusations and attempt on my life meant nothing compared to her sending my wife away.
“Damiano,” she whispers. My eyes widen and I think my little wife is awake, and that’s when I realize she’s still asleep. She whimpers a plea. “Why?” A sob comes from her, cracking something inside of me. The anger I had fades.
“Wake up, my little runaway. Angel, wake up.”
“Dame,” she gasps, swatting at me, but I’m too fast and I catch her hands, pinning her to the bed.
“Calm down, Wife, or you’ll hurt yourself and our baby.”
She freezes, parting her plump lips that I’ve missed so damn much. My mouth comes down on hers, kissing her with the passion of the past few days. She gives in without hesitation.
Suddenly, she halts and shoves me off her. “No. No. You can’t do this to me. Please, just go. Please.” Sobs wrack her chest, and I don’t fucking like it.
“Don’t cry. Shit.” I stand and run my hands through my hair.
“I don’t know how to stop.” Every last bit of that wall between my heart and head has crumbled.
“Stella Valentino, will you stop and let me hold you for as long as I live?”
“Why, Damiano?” she sniffles out. I pull out my monogrammed handkerchief and wipe her tears.
“Because I love you. It took me a long time to realize it, but I do.”
“Why should I believe you?”
“I should have known how I felt from the start. Yours is the first woman’s touch I welcomed who wasn’t blood.” I was about to say family, but I had to bite that back.
“What? I don’t understand.”
“I may be the devil, but I have my own demons chasing me.”
“The first woman to put her hands on me nearly sent me to my grave. I didn’t tell her to touch me. Damn it, I even told her to get the fuck away from me, but the damage was done.” Standing up again, I grab a bottle of water from her mini fridge and drink it before I sit down and tell the tale of young Damiano. By the time I’m finished, my sweet angel is crying.
“Sweet Stella, I didn’t tell you that shit to have you crying again.”
“I’m so sorry.”
“You had to kill your grandfather.”
“I thought for a long time that love made a man weak and foolish. My grandfather didn’t even listen to his only grandson; he hadn’t even given it a second thought. Then, my father gave his empire so easily to me to care for my mother and sister. All I saw was weakness. Until I met you…I wanted to have you and not at the same time. Use you for my pleasure, the longing, but I couldn’t let you go. I didn’t have anyone else, even if you thought so. You were too good to be like that bitch who nearly got me killed, but you were also the kind of woman who could make me give up everything at a word.”
“I’d never.”
“That’s the thing. My father didn’t do it because my mother asked; he did it because he couldn’t get enough of her.”
“Well, isn’t twenty-something odd years long enough to pass on the reins or slow down to enjoy the finer things. Most people enjoy retiring.”
“I didn’t think so.”
“And now?”
“Now, all I want to do is come home to you before the club even opens.”
“Well, I could always pay you visits and keep you company. The lounge is quite comfortable, Mr. Valentino.”
“Wife.” A deep growl falls from my lips when a giggle falls from hers. I lean down and stare into her blue eyes and whisper, “I missed you so much.”
She cups my jaw that could use a serious shave. “I missed you too. I like this, though.”
“Do you?”
“Yes, it’s sexy.”
“Well, then, maybe I’ll keep it a little longer, if you promise not to try some stupid shit like leaving me again.”
“I never wanted to leave. I wanted to protect…”
“The baby from me?”
“I didn’t know I was pregnant until now. My stomach being in knots could have been from my fear of leaving, but when I was here, I woke up sick, unable to stop. We weren’t careful.”
“Subconsciously, I wanted my child in you so I’d be forced to change my word. I’m the biggest fool.”
“No, but why didn’t fucking Gracie tell me about your past?” she snaps, trying to push me off again, but I’m not having that.
“She doesn’t know,” I sigh. As I say it, I feel like a bigger prick. Gracie has no idea how much of a betrayal her actions were. To her, Stella needed to be freed, and I needed to see the error of my ways.
“My relationship with my sister is in a bad place. I may have reacted poorly to her actions.”
“Oh, no. Please tell me you didn’t hurt her.” I slam my eyes shut, unable to look at my wife. Her rejection is more than I can handle.
“Dame, tell me, is she alive?”
“Of course, but I might have been a little out of control. My father and Gabe stopped me from choking her.”
“I need a moment.”
“Please don’t go.”
“I’m not going anywhere.” I give her the space she needs, but she doesn’t move far. She only sits on the edge of the bed. “I feel so bad for going to her for help.”
“Don’t. This is between Grace and me. She knew what she was doing even if she didn’t know about my grandfather. It was like she was doing it to spite me. To try and prove that she wasn’t this sweet little na?ve girl I thought she was.”
“She did want to prove she isn’t a child anymore.”
“That’s because she thought I didn’t see her as more than a piece of meat for men and too weak to take care of herself, but I was only doing what big brothers do. A big brother with more power than any other.”
“Sometimes it’s hard to see what’s in front of them.” Stella releases a soft yawn.
“Oh, I’m sorry, little angel. It’s been a trying day. Let’s sleep.”
“Will you stay?” she asks, sliding down under the covers.
“I’m not going anywhere without you.”
A soft smile spreads over her face. “Can we go home tomorrow?” she asks, staring up at me as I undo my cuffs.
I consider returning, and despite the lack of traction on Jones’s whereabouts, I’m not ready to head back. “No,” I answer, undoing my shirt.
“No?” Sadness fills her eyes.
“Don’t look so devastated, my angel. I owe you a proper honeymoon.” I strip down to my boxers and slide under the covers, dragging my sweet wife into my arms. “Now close your eyes and get some sleep.”
Holding her soothes some of the tension that has been there since the moment I knew she was gone. My phone rings as my queen falls asleep. “What is it?” I snarl at Benz. I’ve already learned from my people that Benz is a traitor. Anything he says should be taken with a grain of salt. His sister is that slut my father killed all those years ago. He may have changed his appearance completely, but a recent slip up gave it all away.
“There’s movement outside the motel room. We’re getting ready to move on it, and it’s Rocco.” I know damn well it isn’t Rocco because we have eyes on him back in Miami, but my priority is getting Stella back.
“Shit. Hurry. I left Stella alone to get some dinner for her.” I untangle myself from Stella, snatch my clothes off the floor, and dress. “Baby, wake up.” I need you to put your clothes on fast. She starts to dress while I look for my bag, which is in the bathroom. My gun is in there. I’d been in such a rush that I’d forgotten I dropped it there when I saw the pregnancy test. My Sig is inside, ready to be clipped. I load the magazine as the door busts open. Fuck. I hide in the shower stall with the lights off.
“Ah, you little bitch.” Fuck, Jones is inside. “I knew he would leave you unprotected. You were just a way to get back at Baker.”
“What are you doing? I don’t have anything you want.”
“Oh, but you do. I’ve been waiting all these years for you. Young, ripe pussy that I’ve wanted to tap. After I take your pussy, I’ll dump your dead body for your husband to find.”
“Come near me, and you’ll regret it.”
“Hey, you’ll let me get a turn too. I’ve waited so damn long for my revenge. Once we’re done with her, his bitch little sister is next,” Benz says.
“Find that prick before you get any pussy. He might not be armed, but he’s going to come out swinging when he returns.”
“Don’t worry. I got my gun ready for that asshole.” I’ll drop both of them before they get their hands on her.
“Please, you don’t have to do this.”
“Yes, I do. God, you’re a hotter version of your mother, and I’m sure that cunt is much tighter.” I’m about to burst through the door when I hear the bed move.
“Come and get me, then, you pussy paying motherfucker.” He snarls as I dip open the shower curtain. I’m about to shoot Jones in the back of the head when my wife stabs him in the eye with a fucking blade. One of my own blades. She shoves him off the bed, and I pounce out of the shower. He falls to the ground, howling, and the door opens.
“You stupid cunt. Bet you don’t have any weapons left,” Benz says.
“Wrong,” she answers with a smile.
“You won’t get anywhere near my sister,” I growled, standing right behind him, and put a bullet right in his head. “That’s for my little dark angels.” His body slumps to the floor, and I stare at my gorgeous wife covered in blood looking so damn hot and not even remotely afraid.
With my phone to my ear, I make the call. “Gabe, I need a clean-up at the motel. Jones isn’t a problem, and Benz has been disposed of. Have you dealt with our other problem?”
“Didn’t have to do it.”
“What do you mean?”
“She turned up at a hotel down the road. Body bloody ruined and drugged. It looks like she’s been here for a day.” I ended the call and set the phone down while keeping my eyes trained on my sexy wife. With a wag of my finger and my brows raised, I command, “You come here.”
“We need to get this all cleaned up before the cops come,” she insists, biting down on her bottom lip, looking nervous and yet so damn scandalous. There’s something in her eyes that gives me pause, and I have questions.
“We will, but first I need to know you’re okay.”
“That felt so damn good.” Her eyes light up. “And you look sexy, Damiano.”
“Stella, baby. Are you horny?” I question, staring at my tiny wife with blood covering her, her staring up at me with nervous anticipation.
“Is that terrible?” Her round eyes ask for approval.
“No. Get that pretty little cunt over here and come in the bathroom so the devil can sully you up some more.” I lift her off the bed and take her to the bathroom, closing the door and flipping the lock. Starting the shower, I slowly take off her clothes. “I need you right now, Stella.” My hand fists around her throat and her pulse races.
“Dame, I need you.”
I lift her into the small shower stall, slamming her tiny body against the cheap tile, breath leaving both of us as our mouths brush lightly across each other’s. A feather kiss belies the hunger burning through my veins. “You’ll always have me, my little hellfire. There’s no way I’ll ever let you go.” Fuck, I tear off her panties and free myself from my boxers. Her entrance is sopping wet with need, desire clinging to my fingers, and I can’t wait a moment longer before plundering my wife. It’s been too many days. One full push, and I’ve claimed her again.
“Stella, you feel so perfect. Tell me what you need.”
“Fuck me hard, Damiano. Use me.” She pants as I pump harder into her tight slit, driving my aching cock deep into her heated depths. Sweat and water wash the blood off our bodies as we take our passion to a different level. Stella had been made for me, and I almost lost her.
“You would have found me.” I didn’t realize my slip up, but it doesn’t matter because she’s my better half, everything I’ll never be and more.
“I love you,” I grunt as I piston in and out of her slick cunt. “Come for me,” I command, but it’s more of a plea because I don’t know how much longer I can hold out.
“Yes, my lord,” she cries out, fingers spearing my soaked hair. My mouth clamps on her throat as I bellow out my orgasm, flooding her already seeded womb.
“Someone’s in the room.”
“I know.” I slide out of my wife with a painful pop. Damn, maybe I was a little too rough with her.
“We’ll be done soon, Boss.” Adriano calls out. “Cops haven’t been called. Do you need clothes in there?”
“Yes.”
“When you’re ready, knock and we’ll turn around,” my father says, and Stella turns beet red. “Clothes are on the table by the bathroom door.”
“Thanks.” I step out of the shower with a towel. Once I’m covered, I hand a towel to my wife but close the curtain. I don’t want them to even get a single reflection of her. Rapping my knuckles on the cheap wood, I hear them stop working and a simple, “Ready?” come from my father.
I open the door and see a set of clothes for me. “We didn’t want to touch her things, but there’s her suitcase.”
“I appreciate it.” It’s wise of them because they know how I feel about her. They shouldn’t have been in here while I was drilling her, but the clean-up couldn’t wait. If the cops or housekeeping showed up, there would be an issue. I own so many people in this state, but you never know who may want to start some shit.
“Get dressed, my love. I’ll be out there dealing with the fallout.” I kiss her hard and then step outside through a small opening. Jealousy and possessiveness will never end where she’s concerned, even if I trust her implicitly.
The second my father sees me, he throws his arms around me. “It’s so good to see you.”
“I’m sorry,” I say. It’s not something I’ve said in many years, but it’s days overdue.
“No, it’s not me you owe an apology to, but I know it’s not easy for you.”
“You’re right.”
“How is she?”
“I underestimated my bride. She killed her stepfather.” Everyone stopped working and looked up at me.
“Holy shit. That was her handiwork?”
“Yes, my little angel has a dark side.”
“Remind me not to piss her off,” Adriano says, tossing his hands up.
“So I’m going to be a grandfather?”
“I hope a really great one.”
“Me too. Your mother’s going to be excited. I have to call her before she freaks out, though. She’s been messaging me, waiting for an update since I followed you.”
“Why did you?”
“You’re my son, and you needed me, even if you don’t think so. I know what it’s like to be in love, and I’d do anything to keep your mother safe. Even if your sister did what she did with the best intentions, the second Stella Valentino left the house unprotected, she became a huge target.”
“Thank you.” The bathroom door opens, and my angelic bride walks out, looking perfectly sweet even though everyone in the room knows something darker lies underneath, and I couldn’t be prouder and now my dick is back at it. We need to be alone again.