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She lied. I can’t have liars in my life. I have to protect Leo. Nothing else can happen to him. I continue to tell myself the same things over and over, trying to drill into my brain that she is not the person I thought she was, when really, all I want to do is grab her and hold her tight.
“You like torturing yourself, don’t you?” Sebastian says next to me as he types into his phone, messages to Goldie, no doubt, who like Maria and Leo are ignoring me because I have let Little Red go. The silence that is directed at me in our compound is near stifling and has been going on ever since I left her at the hospital. With no signs of it letting up, I question myself every day, something I have never done before in my life. Especially over a fucking woman.
“I need to make sure she is okay,” I grit out, angry at her, angry at myself, angry at the whole fucking world.
“Well, let’s fucking find and kill Dominic so you can ship her back to Oklahoma and get on with your life, then,” Sebastian says, and I look at him and snarl.
“Yep, thought as much.” He rolls his eyes at me, an annoying trait that he picked up from his wife. “Okay, they are moving. Let's go.” I look back at the car she just got in, and I start the engine to follow them.
“Why did you move her to the fucking safe house? Of all the places...” Carter chimes in from the backseat, and my eyes flick to him in the mirror.
“Where else should she go?” I grumble back to him, not in the mood for his questions.
“Well, she could have stayed at my place?” Carter says seriously, and I pull on the steering wheel and slam on the brakes before turning in my seat to see him grinning like the cat that got the canary.
“Fucking asshole,” I snarl at him, before facing forward and driving again. He goads me on purpose, and if he is not careful, I will punch him in the fucking throat.
“Calm the fuck down, you two,” Sebastian growls from the front seat like a parent disciplining his two children. “But I agree with Carter on this one. The fucking safe house is shit. Couldn’t you just put her in a spare room at your place and ignore her?”
I huff out at his question. There is no way I could have Little Red in my house and ignore her. That was my original plan and look how it ended up. “It is the safest place for her. No one knows about it, and it is off the books.”
Moving her to the safe house is something I should have done the moment I met her. It would have saved me all this fucking heartache and complication that has seeped into my life. The guilt and remorse I feel for having her and Leo attacked in my own fucking home runs deep, as I know it does for both Sebastian and Carter too. The compound is our home. It is the one place our families have always been safe. The fact that it came under attack has made us all feel uneasy and each of us blames ourselves for it happening.
Carter was the contact on site, but due to him being down in the computer room, locked away, reviewing footage and data, he was hard to reach and farther away than usual. Sebastian and I took the whole main team with us to Allure, leaving just the new soldiers behind. A rookie error on our behalf, because they were no match for Angelina who walked right in, claiming to be my wife there to pick up Leo. They just let her walk straight in; no one questioned her, no one wanted to upset the wife of their boss, so assumed she was not dangerous as her and her two men walked into the compound and straight to my place like they had every right to be there. The confidence that rolled off them was astounding, and every night when I watch the security footage over and over again, I still cannot believe that Angelina did it. What is not surprising is that Dominic didn’t show his face. Of course, he wouldn’t, preferring to leave all the dirty work to others, laying low to extend his life, because he knows I am gunning for him now. There is no coming back from this.
Angelina died of multiple gunshot wounds, something that the team and I are extremely remorseful for. Harming women and children is not what we do, and even in self-defense for one of our own, it is still something that doesn’t sit well with us. Her body, along with those of her men, were cremated, and we put her ashes into a lot at the cemetery for Leo. Because I know one day, he will grow up and need a place to reflect and remember.
Our whole team was replaced, shipped back to Sicily for further training, and new soldiers arrived for us to use in the meantime, with strict new protocols in place so nothing like this can ever happen again.
My house is no longer our home. The whole place has been gutted and it is currently nothing but a shell, ready to be remodeled. Leo, Maria, and I are living in another part of the compound, on the other side of Sebastian, with Goldie now taking care of them both while Sebastian and I continue to scour the streets all day and all night, looking for Dominic.
I haven’t slept. I can’t sleep without Little Red in the house, without Little Red in my bed. Every night, I continue to sit in my armchair, looking at the empty bed, hating myself more and more with each passing moment.
“Where the fuck can he be?”
“We have looked everywhere, my friend. Now we just have to wait,” Sebastian says calmly, eerily so, his anger buried deep. Like me, he doesn’t take kindly to anyone threatening our family, and we know Dominic has not finished yet. There is no doubt that he put Angelina up to the task of killing Little Red and taking Leo.
The target on Dominic’s head grows, because although Sebastian is still being asked questions, the entire fold knows what happened in my home. They now know who was responsible, and tides have turned. Everyone is searching for Dominic, because to have such little respect for the head family means that everyone is in danger of his crazy ways.
I stop the car outside on the street as we watch Nico and Little Red pull into the driveway of our safe house. Positioned on the other side of town, it is small, but secure, and I grind my teeth as I see Nico grab her hand and help her out of the car, her frail body needing his support. I am white-knuckling because I want to run over and pick her up and bring her home with me. My eyes zone in on them both as she takes his arm to steady herself, and they walk down the path and inside the house. Nico turns and gives us a small nod before he closes the door, knowing full well that we were watching.
“We need to get rid of this fucking house,” I spit out to Sebastian, and he nods.
“When this is over, we will demolish it and find somewhere new,” he says, in agreement with me.
I don’t like this house, not one bit. It is where I locked Angelina up to get her to dry out a few years ago. Her screams and her tears are still etched into my brain. The nondescript brown brick home is something that fills my nightmares. It is not good enough for Little Red, but at least she will be safe.
“Let’s go. You can’t sit here like a fucking stalker all day. You either want her or you don’t. You can’t have it both ways,” Sebastian says to me, startling me from my thoughts, and I don’t answer him. Instead, I start the car, and without looking back, I drive down the street, making our way to Allure.
Now that everyone in the fold knows exactly what a piece of shit Dominic is, we have more flexibility in what we can do to flush him out and we are starting with Allure. Our team is already there, positioned inside and out, because we are going to annihilate the place. It is a shithole anyway, but we will take everything from their office, smash every glass and mirrored surface, destroy it before we turn it to ash. And I can’t wait.
I have so much anger inside my body that I am at breaking point. Leo is so upset at me for letting Little Red go that he doesn’t come out of his room. Maria tries to get him to eat, but he picks at his food like a bird. He has regressed to the point that Legos don’t seem to entertain him anymore, and he hasn’t spoken again. His sweet voice is only reserved for her.
Likewise, Maria is huffing around the house like a scorned woman. The entire family hates me; even Sebastian thinks I am an asshole.
And maybe I am. But one thing I know for certain is that Dominic needs to pay for everything he has done, and I am going to collect, even if it is the last thing I do.
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