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I think Luca’s waiting for me to sway the vote one way or another. I don’t have an answer for him. I need my mind at peace with what went down seven years ago first.
I’m getting close to finding the truth about Keira. I can feel it. I finally had time this past week to dig further into the doctor I found. She doesn’t have any social media so photos have been nearly impossible to get. I’ve found a few but they’re either side profiles or blurry. It’s hard to tell if it’s my Keira. It’s been seven years. We both would have changed a lot. Our features matured. Hell I’m twice the size I was back then. A few inches in height and the rest in muscle. I’m nowhere near the size of Luca or Massimo, but considering how scrawny of a teen I was, I look huge in comparison.
Coincidentally, the woman started working in the hospital the Caruso Family owns about six months ago. I hacked into the system and found out her schedule. She’s working tonight. I plan on going to visit her. I need to know is it’s really her, or if I’m hunting a ghost that died seven years ago.
I go to church like a good Italian boy, but I’ve never done much praying. I am today. I’m praying that this doctor is my Keira. I’ve combed the Internet and the dark web. This is my only lead. If she’s not her. If my girl is really dead, I don’t know what I’ll do. Hell, even if she’s alive and this is her, I still don’t know what I’ll do.
Bam. Something hits my door with enough force to rock the car. “What the fuck was that?” I ask to no one in particular.
Before any of the guards accompanying me can respond, we are hit again. And again. Shit. Gunfire. We are under attack. I pull out my phone to call for back-up. It flies out of my hands before I can hit send as something explodes beneath our car. My head smacks against the roof that is collapsing in on me each time we flip.
Finally we come to a stop. Pain radiates through my ribs as I struggle to unlatch my seatbelt. I’m thankful I wore it. I can see Sammy, one of my guards wasn’t so lucky. He wasn’t wearing his belt, and he’s no longer seated beside me, or in the car at all. As the belt breaks free, I slam down onto the remains of the roof. More gunfire rings out and pings against the door. They are reinforced. The windows were bullet proof but several seem to have been taken out while we were rolling.
I take a quick stock of my injuries, weapons and surroundings. My ribs hurt but don’t seem broken, my phone is missing, I have my gun and another clip in my jacket. Emilio, my driver is dead. Sounds like Nick, another one of my guards is outside the car returning fire. The car’s distress beacon should be relaying our location so back-up should be arriving soon. I just need to hold on long enough for Luca or Massimo to get to me.
Unless they are under attack too.
Fuck!
Time to fight.
I crawl out of the car on the side not taking hits. Nick is there, crouched behind the tire thats still slightly spinning, firing at our attackers. He gives me a nod as I move to his side. “How many?” I ask.
“Eight.” He replies. “Maybe more.”
“Shit. What about our escorts?” We were traveling with two other cars. It’s our standard procedure.
The grim look in his eyes already lets me know it’s bad news. “They’ve got car one pinned down. They were run off the road. Car burst into flames. Not sure if anyone made it out. We rolled a hell of a ways away from three. They’re about two hundred yards to our west taking fire, but it looks like we’re their primary target. Or should I say you.”
There’s a break in their shooting. I turn at the same time as Nick to fire off a few rounds. Looking through the smoke that’s beginning to fill the street, I can see a few men on the move, inching closer to us. With each pull of the trigger, I feel my inner beast that thirsts for blood getting closer to the surface. I’d normally be working to calm myself down, bury the beast back into the far recesses of my mind. Not today. Today I need to set him free. These assholes have been fucking with our city for too long. It ends now.
Unleashing the beast, I take out two with my gun, before moving out from behind the our car. Nick tries to stop me but I shrug him off. These men don't seem to be aiming to kill me. My soldiers, yes. Me, no. They plan to take me alive.
Not happening. The red haze of rage in my vision isn’t hindering me like it should, it’s amplifying every one of my senses.
I make my way to the sidewalk and creep along behind the cars while Nick continues to lay down cover fire. I get myself behind two of the bastards. My gun is out of bullets, but I don’t care. It won’t stop me.
I pull my knife from the sheathe at my ankle, then slice through the first one's neck with ease. I keep hold of the body to use as a shield. The second turns and tries to shoot me. His ex-buddy takes the brunt of the bullets. One must go through his carcus, as there is a burning pain in my side.
No time for pain.
I drop the body and lunge at the second while he tries to replace his empty clip. I'm faster. And I'm pissed. I stab him repeatedly in the abdomen. I'm so focused on my task that I forget that their are still more enemies lingering nearby. They get the jump on me.
Two try to grab me but I fight back. A third tackles us all to the ground. I'm almost loose when someone tases me. The electricity sends my body to the ground in an angry fit. Zip ties are snapped into place around my ankles and my wrist. I can't give up. I can't let them take me. The more I struggle, the harder I'm kicked and punched. Everything hurts.
Fuck. I don’t have time for this. I’m supposed to find my girl today. I need to find my girl. I need to know what Santo did to her.
Because with every passing day I am more and more convinced that he did do something. I just hope it’s something we can come back from, and that she hasn’t moved on.
I haven’t.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Keira
I SHOULD NOThave sparred with Grady before my shift today. What should have been a twelve hour shift turned into sixteen. I am dead on my feet and all I want is some greasy food and a long soak in my tub. Pulling out my phone, I shoot Killian a text to let him know I’m on my way home, and see if he’ll order a pizza for me. His response comes back in seconds. “I got you babe.”
As my car comes into view in the parking lot, I stuff my phone in my bag and dig for my keys. Just as I get them out, a dark SUV screeches to a stop next to me. Two men in suits jump out. I wait for them to attack me. They’ll be sorry when they do.
