AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Do you wanna warm up?” I ask.
Tag laughs and climbs through the ropes. “I want to feel the burn in my muscles as I kick your arse, Martinez. Stop stalling and get in the ring.”
Tag wasn’t kidding. He wastes no time, landing hits the second I get in the ring. He’s relentless, but I don’t go down easy. He might be a cage fighter, but we spar most days, so I know his moves.
Forty minutes pass and my lungs feel like they’re trying to escape my chest. I bend, resting my hands on my knees, and Tag slaps me hard on the back. “Are we done yet?” I ask, coughing violently.
“For now,” he mutters.
“Are we okay?”
“I don’t know if we’re okay, but I feel slightly better.” Tag wipes his face on his hand towel.
I step out of the ring and head for the office with Tag right behind me. Ella glances up, smiling when she spots him. They exchange a heated look, and I glare between the two. Ella’s had a soft spot for Tag for years, and at one point, they wanted to marry, but then he met Lucy.
“How was Lucy this morning?” I ask, and Ella turns back to her work.
Tag scoffs. “Still mad at you. What I don’t understand is why Piper hasn’t told Lucy you’re married? Shouldn’t she be shouting it from the rooftops?”
Ella looks up again, this time her eyes burning into me. “He doesn’t know?”
“Ella,” I snap, my tone warning.
“Know what?”
“He tricked her into the marriage,” she says, nodding to confirm her story.
Tag glares at me. “You did what?”
I shrug. “It sounds way worse than it is. Alberto practiced his words on us. Turns out, if you sign the register afterward, you’re officially married.”
“That’s not what happened, and you know it,” snaps Ella. “You orchestrated the entire thing to make her think it was a practise run, but you knew the truth.”
“Are you fucking kidding me?” yells Tag. “That can’t be legal.”
“It’s legal,” Ella chips in, “maybe just not moral.”
I stand abruptly. “I don’t have to explain myself. Tag, your job is to get Piper back to me now. I’ve been patient enough with her tantrum.” I head for the door. “That’s an order from your capo dei capi.” I glance back. “And Tag, if I catch you looking at my sister again like that, I’ll slit your throat and deliver it fresh to your wife.”
Almost an hour later, I stand at the front door of my home, watching Tag’s car drive through my gates. He steps out and places his shades over his eyes. I watch as he walks to the boot and pops it open. Reaching inside, he pulls Piper out. I stare open-mouthed, taking in the rope tying her arms behind her back and the thick silver tape covering her mouth.
She’s making lots of noise, and when Tag takes her arm, she kicks him hard on the shin. He doesn’t flinch but instead bends, taking her by the waist and throwing her over his shoulder.
“What the fuck are you doing?” I snap.
“Just following your orders, capo,” he says coldly. He never refers to me with the respect he’s supposed to. In all the time I’ve been the boss, he’s never called me capo. “She didn’t want to come quietly, boss, so I had to do it by force.” He marches past me with her dangling upside down. I catch her eye as he passes and she’s angry as hell.
He lowers her to her feet in the hallway as I step inside and close the door. “For Christ’s sake, untie her,” I order.
“She’s a little wild, boss. Are you sure?”
“Tag,” I hiss in warning.
He pulls out a pocketknife, and Piper glares at me. “Stay still. I wouldn’t want to slip and hurt you,” he tells her, smirking.
I shake my head in annoyance. “Relax. If he slips, I’ll put a bullet in his head.”
Tag cuts the rope and it falls away. Piper rubs her wrists and shoves Tag hard. He stumbles back a few steps, laughing at her attempt to hurt him. I catch her arm before she can attack him again and tug her to me. Her angry grunts through the gag tell me I’m the last person she wants to be near, but I turn her to face me regardless.
