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After we pass the room Val is in, Joseph pushes me into a room across the hall. There is a mattress on the floor, and a lopsided dresser leaning against one wall. There is also a door to my right. It’s open. Looks like it leads to a bathroom.
While Joseph turns his back to me to lock the door. He stuffs his gun into the back of his pants. Stupid move Joe.
I grab the gun and hall ass for the bathroom. I don’t shoot him. The gunshot would be heard by the men downstairs. The cavalry isn’t here yet. I don’t know if they are seconds away or minutes. They are coming, that’s all I am certain of. Which means my only job left is to stay alive.
Joseph is quicker than I thought he would be. And the door is flimsier than I had hoped. As the door comes crashing off its hinges and slams into the counter. It snaps further and the top half shatters the mirror, sending pieces of the glass scattering around the floor and sink.
I toss the gun into a bin of dirty towels. It vanishes from sight. Good. Hopefully Joseph won’t find it. I can handle him hand to hand, but weapons make things more difficult.
He either doesn’t see the gun, or doesn’t care. He rushes to me with an audible roar. Our bodies collide and send us to the floor. I quickly roll and get behind him. I grab the shower curtain and yank it off its bar. I pull the fabric around his neck. I then wrap it several times around both my hands so I have a good grip. Then I pull back. Hard. I keep pulling, all while he struggles. Slowly his arms lose strength. His breathing slows. Then his movements stop.
I’m not sure if he is passed out or dead. I don’t take the time to find out, I scramble to my feet and make to run. I don’t get far before a hand wraps around my ankle. My forward momentum is stopped, which send my body crashing to the floor.
Joseph climbs on top of me. His body pinning me to the floor. My hands are free so I punch and scratch every piece of his face I can. He howls in pain. Then he punches me in the face. My head snaps to the side.
Shit. That hurt. My vision blurs for a moment. When it clears. I feel his hands around my neck. Choking me like I just choked him.
A shimmer of something shiny catches my attention. Glass. The mirror. I reach out as far as I can to reach it. My fingertips graze it but I can’t yet get a grip. I try again. The edges of it slice painfully into my fingers. I can’t worry about that. I’m slowly losing the ability to breath. My lungs burn from the lack of oxygen. Finally I feel my fingers catch it and drag it closer to me. I pick it up, the edge cutting into my palm. Don’t care.
This is all I needed. This will buy me the time I need until Massimo gets here.
I hope.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Massimo
I’M GOING OUTof my fucking mind waiting like this. What the fuck is Joseph waiting for? He’s just sitting there talking to his buddies. It’s been thirty minutes. Come on fucker. Look at the bar. Look at Liv. She’s right there. My golden goddess is offering herself up on a silver fucking platter. Take it.
Take it so I can fucking end you.
A few more minutes pass, then finally, finally, Joseph makes his way to the bar. He makes a beeline straight for Livianna.
I hate that I’m not there. I hate that I’m two blocks away watching on Elena’s tablet where she has hacked into the security cameras in the bar so that we can have eyes inside.
Suddenly a fight breaks out in the bar. Starts with four men. Quickly escalated to ten. They are knocking over tables and chairs. I lose sight of Liv in the commotion. Then the camera’s cut out.
“What the fuck?” I growl.
Elena reaches for the tablet. I had been holding it. Refusing to let it go while we watched. Everyone else was looking over my shoulder at the screen from inside our van. “Give me.” Says Elena as it’s ripped out of my hands. Luca is immediately dialing on his phone. Calling Ivan no doubt. His men are in the bar. We aren’t completely blind. They will watch over Liv for us.
“What do you mean she’s gone?” Shouts Luca.
I rip the phone from his ear and put it on speaker. “So help me god Ivan, if anything happens to my woman…” I let the threat linger in the air. I don’t give a fuck what Mafia he belongs to or what alliance they have agreed on. If my woman is hurt I will fucking burn the world to the ground.
“Relax Massimo. This is what you wanted. You wanted him to take her and lead you to Val. This is how he is going to do it. Get your heart out of your ass, pull up your tracker app and tell me where the fuck my men are going.”
A snarky retort is on my lips, but I bite it back. He’s right. We have the trackers.
Nope. The app pulls up. Had the trackers. Four still show in the bar, and the fifth, the fucking armpit one, is still in her. It’s moving fast. Looks like she’s in a car.
I start barking directions to both Al, our driver, and Ivan on the phone. He’s closer by a few minutes. “Promise me Ivan. Promise me you will get to her as quickly as you can.”
“I promise. You can thank me later by helping me take down Mishkin.”
A smile spreads on my face. I can’t wait to make that fucker pay. He may never have gone to war with us, but he fucked with a lot of innocent women and children in Chicago. His reign will come to a bloody end soon. “Abso-fucking-lutely.” I reply.
“I’m pulling up on the building. We’re going in.” Then he’s gone. The fucker hung up on me. I throw the phone at the wall of the van. It shatters the screen and clatters to the floor.
