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I watch in slow motion as Dr. Frank moves to stand behind me, covering me as my mother slides off the other side of the bed, motioning me to come to her. I fly over the top of the mattress and hear a commotion behind me as I join my mother. Before I can see what's going on, the bed is being lifted on its side, protecting us from what's happening in the room.
Loud popping noises echo through the area, and I realize bullets are whizzing every which way, making me cry out for my mother once again, "Mom!" I grab her and hold her to me instead of vice versa.
"It's okay, sweetheart, the bed is bulletproof; we are safe for now." I stare at her, wide-eyed, having a hard time believing that this is happening right now. "We sent the staff home and brought in professionals. They work for the government, Ryan." My mother smiles. "Unless they die here, the D'Angelos will be going away for a very long time."
I look at my mother, horrified, shaking my head. "No, they have too many people on the inside. They won't stay locked up, Mom. There is only one way to guarantee they won't come after us again…"
I peek around the bed and see Sergio taking on two men at once before more bullets fly and I duck back behind the bed. I'm panting heavily, scared of what the outcome will be. The D'Angelos are a force to be reckoned with, but at the same time, a small part of me is glad that Sergio is a mean motherfucker. I may want to be free of him, but I don't think I want to see him dead.
"Ryan, you don't know that—"
I cut her off, "Yes, I do! I've seen who they have on their payroll, and believe me, it's averylong list!"
The war on the other side of the bed stops, and all is quiet until we hear Bain curse, "Son of a bitch, that hurts!"
A familiar chuckle sounds just after my stepfather's cursing, sending chills down my spine.Luca.I stand on shaky legs and try to peek over the top of the bed, but I can't see anything. Slowly, I move around, coming out from our hiding place, and I stop instantly, gasping as I cover my mouth. The scene before me is almost exactly as I envisioned it; not quite a blood bath, but there is blood and lots of it.
Sergio and Luca kneel before Bain and a dozen men. Luca's face is twisted in an evil sneer, while Sergio kneels with his head bowed, and both their hands are restrained behind their backs. My eyes fall on Dante, who lies between them in a puddle of his own blood. His eyes fall on me as he tries to reach his arm as though asking me to help him. It falls to the floor, and I watch as life leaves his dark eyes, and his head lolls to the side.
I look at Sergio and see his shoulders shake with grief over his brother's death, and I don't want to admit it, but something in me dies a little at seeing this. Almost as though he feels my presence, Sergio's head comes up, and I'm met with his hazel stare. I no longer see what I used to see when he looked at me. The only thing in his eyes now is rage.
"Sergio…" I whisper.
His lip lifts into a sneer as his heated stare pins itself on me, and he snarls, "I will return for you,poppet. You are fuckingmine…"
Forty-Seven
I'm filled with an enormous amount of dread as Sergio's words ring through my head. I believe him when he says he will return. Part of me is relieved that he's still alive, but now I'm always going to be wondering if he's going to get out and come after me. I never take my eyes off him, though. I want him to see that this isn't how I wished it was between us, but the fact is, Sergio D'Angelo is a very bad man who leads a wicked life. Even if I didn't love Beau, I could never be with someone like Sergio.
He may be different with me, but who is to say that he wouldn't get tired of me and sell me as well. Drugs I could get past. Hell, I could probably get past some of the killing if it was justified but taking innocent people and selling them just to fill your pockets…no, I can't do it. That doesn't mean I don't feel anything for the man who kept me and eventually started falling for me.
Maybe I do have a bit of Stockholm Syndrome, but I know that when it comes down to it, I couldn't stay with him. I think a lot of it has to do with how he's treated me these past months. He's taken care of me and, at times, doted on me, so of course, as a young and impressionable woman who doesn't have anyone else around, I would develop some kind of feelings.
I watch as Sergio and Luca are escorted out, but then Luca looks back at me, and the smile he gives when he does is nothing short of a promise that when next he sees me, there will be insurmountable pain. I can only put my faith in the system and pray that the key is thrown away wherever they go.
As soon as they are gone, I look down and walk over to the still form lying in a puddle of blood. Dante's eyes are still open, and one would think he's looking at me if it weren't for their emptiness. I try to remember if there were any good times spent with him, aside from when he kissed me, but unlike with his brother, I can only think of thetolerable times. Sure, Dante was starting to fall for me, or so I believed, but when it came down to it, I genuinely believe that he would have always chosen the life of crime over me. Sergio, not so much.
"Sweetheart, you shouldn't have to look at him. Come with me," my mom says as she pulls me away from the corpse on the floor.
"No, wait!" I stop, pull off my shoe, and then my sock, "I have to get this to the right person." I hold up the small flash drive.
"What is it?" Bain asks, coming over to us.
I gasp when I spot the blood running down his arm, "Were you shot?" I try removing his hand from covering the wound, but he yanks it away.
"I'm fine, Ryan. It's just a scratch," he states as the blood drips to the floor.
As if on cue, the EMTs come in, and one starts to work on my stepfather's arm. When he holds his other hand out for the flash drive, I pull it away. "This has every single name of the people that the D'Angelos took and sold in their trafficking ring. I promised myself that I would personally see to it that they were all found and brought home. I need to do this."
"Honey, why do you think it needs to be you?" Mom asks, brushing some hair over my shoulder.
I stare at her. "Because I'm the one who trained them for the sickos who were buying them. Not only are the names of the victims on this drive, but everyone who attended the auctions and bought one of them is also on here. This only goes back a little over a year, but I'm sure the buyers have others who they had bought previously. These men and women are sick and depraved. I only hope that most, if not all, of these victims are still alive because I don't know if I can live with myself. This kept me going the whole time, knowing that I would be able to free them one day."
"I can take that, Miss." The guy who had walked us to the bedroom door says, "I'll make sure that we find every single person on that drive, and we will take down the trafficking ring. We have been waiting for this break for a long time, but the brothers were always one step ahead of us."
I look at Bain questioningly. "This is Agent Castor. He's been watching the D'Angelos ever since Chloe died, but it's like he said, they could never find any evidence to make anything stick," my stepfather explains.
Hearing this makes me nervous. "He's been on the case for that long, and you think that Sergio and Luca will stay in prison? What if this isn't enough either and they are freed? They will come for me…Sergio will come for me!"
