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CHAPTER 8
SERGIO
I’ve been struggling the last few days since I brought Marigold into my home and into my life. I could say it’s just for protection, but it’s so much more than that. I don’t think I could take a full breath again if she were to vanish from my life. I need her and it’s more emotion than I’m used to dealing with. It makes me feel paralyzed at times, both with joy and fear.
She was pissed yesterday when I told her it wasn’t safe for her to go to Turning Pages. I know how much the shop means to her. What she doesn’t understand is how muchshemeans tome. The men who are after the store won’t just stop. I know it and it’s what Elio called me to his house to discuss this morning.
Even though my little beauty was mad, she didn’t stop me from reminding her just how much she means to me with my body. I don’t think I’ll ever get enough of her. The sounds she makes. The way she smells. The feeling of her hot, tight pussy squeezing my shaft.
Even now, hours later and with the fear of what Elio told me riding me hard, I can almost feel her body pressing against my own.
Elio warned me that he had Lang looked into and to not let my guard down. The neighborhoods he had bought and sold land inpreviously had obstacles for his business, but he bulldozed right over them. There were mysterious fires or disappearing owners. Lang is ruthless while hiding behind a cultured exterior.
I can’t wait to smash it to pieces.
The moment I step back inside my house, I call out, “Marigold. I’m home.”
The silence which greets me is like a sodden wool blanket. Everything in me heightens and even though I don’t have to look, I rip through the house like a beast who smells one drop of blood and is intent on finding it.
“Fuck,” I roar into my empty home.
It was never full before Marigold, but the emptiness of it now echoes around me in a new way. It scares me down to my core. I recognize the feeling and it’s one I’ve felt only one other time. When I knew Zinnia was taken and it was my job to protect her.
Here I am now, knowing my woman is in trouble and it was my fault. I shouldn’t have left her on her own, not after yesterday and the way she was begging me with her eyes about needing to go to the store. I should have anticipated this.
I know my trust should be shattered, but it isn’t. I still trust her. What I should have done is ensured she trusted me by listening to her. I didn’t and she felt she had to go it on her own.
I race out of my house and head to Turning Pages, trying to tell myself I’ll find her there with her grandfather and everything will be okay. My gut is rioting, but I ignore it for my own fucking sanity. The thought of those thugs in suits getting their hands on my girl has murder rushing through my veins.
The moment I step inside the shop, the stillness strikes me again. Marigold isn’t here and my heart sinks. It doesn’t take melong to find an unconscious Marcus. I kneel down next to him, pulling out my phone to call for help as I do.
When his eyes flutter open, the dried blood on his forehead telling a tale of what happened to him, his fear assaults me as our gazes lock. “It was the guys who work for Lang,” he pushes past his lips.
I nod, trying to control the anger filling me. I hate it, but I force myself to ask, “Did you see Marigold?”
From the confusion on his face, I have my answer. “I don’t know how long I’ve been out,” he admits as if he’s failed our girl.
He hasn’t. It’s not his fault. I should have protected them better. Guilt and shame slam into me, but I push those emotions aside because right now is not the time. I’ll feel all of it later when I get my girl home safely. I might have to spank her ass until it glows red because she left without telling me. I don’t think it’ll be the absolution I need but I hope it is.
When the paramedics come, I explain how I found him and that he was unconscious. It’s a whirlwind of activity and I make sure to lock the door to the store behind me. As Marcus is being hauled into the ambulance, his eyes meet mine and I see the command he’s issuing there.
Find our girl. Bring her home. Make them pay.
I give a nod in return and watch him relax against the gurney as I’m pulling out my phone to call my brother. “Lorenzo,” he barks even though he knows it’s me calling. I just saw him a few hours ago at Elio’s house.
Jesus, was that only a few hours ago? It feels like so much longer. It feels like a fucking lifetime.
“I went home to find that Marigold was gone,” I keep my voice even by the sheer force of my will. Lorenzo sucks in a sharp breath and I’m sure he’s thinking about how he would feel if it were Daisy—he would lose his shit. “I went to Turning Pages to see if I could find her, but, instead, I found Marcus knocked out on the floor. I called an ambulance, and they are taking him to the hospital. He told me it was Lang’s men who got to him. If Marigold came here, then they have her.”
“I’ll grab Tazio and I’ll meet you at the office building.” I don’t think he’s going to say anything else, and I start to pull my phone away from my ear. “Don’t go inside without us,” he commands me.
Fury fills me at the thought of having to wait even one more minute, but I know he’s right. He knows I’ll follow his orders as well. Not only because he overrules me when it comes to the Agosti family, but because he’s my big brother and I respect the hell out of him.
It doesn’t take me long to make it to Lang’s office building. It’s big and flashy. I hate it the moment I see it. I can’t explain it, but I know my woman is inside. I can practically hear her calling out to me.
Was Marigold scared as they drove her here? Did they hurt her to get her here? The beast inside of me is barely contained by the time Lorenzo and Tazio walk up to me. I feel feral and trapped inside of a cage. It wouldn’t take much for that part of me to escape.
Lorenzo narrows his eyes at me and I still. “You will let me do the talking to get us inside.” The smile on his face isn’t a nice one.
