Not edited or proofread.
Griffin
My shoulder was throbbing, and my arm was sticky with blood. My brain pounded against my skull, and sticky, dried blood plastered my hair against my forehead. I'd been awake for a while now, waiting patiently for my captors to make their presence known. Escape wasn't possible, not with the zipties binding my wrists and ankles to the chair. I'd already tried slipping free, but the fucking things were so tight, all I managed to do was break open my skin and make myself bleed.
Max was going to absolutely lose his shit when he saw me, and I hated I couldn't protect him from it. He had to be panicking. He was already wondering where I was when I'd been on my way to Axel's. Did he know I was missing? Was he panicking? Fuck, this was probably going to give him a terrible migraine. Was Axel taking proper care of him? What about his medications?
Growling, I tugged at the restraints again, even if I knew it was useless. I wantedâno, neededâto get to my fucking boy. He needed me with him.
Instead, I'd gone and gotten myself captured. Shot. In a terrible fucking accident. I'd lost control of the car when I'd been shot; I knew that much. It was probably a fucking miracle I was alive right now.
If I got out of this shit, if I made it out of here alive by some fucking miracle, I was going to destroy the lives of everyone who'd kept me from my boy.
The door in front of me finally opened, and two men in suits walked in. Immediately, I recognized them as Luca Moretti, the head of the Italian mafia, and his second, Gianni Rizzo. I clenched my jaw before forcing it to relax, already accepting my fate.
I wasn't making it out of here alive.
"Do you know why you're here?" Luca asked as he slid his hands into the pockets of his fitted slacks.
I hummed. "Not really, no," I lied. But I did know. I was here because they wanted Max. And they'd never get my boy. Even if I died here today, Max had the protection of the Legend family. They'd never let anyone touch him.
Ever.
"Don't play stupid with us," Gianni growled.
I rolled my eyes. "Please enlighten me as to why I'm here," I said just to piss them off a little more. I wasn't afraid of death. I never had been. The only thing I was afraid of was leaving my boy behind, but I at least knew he was safe. I could die peacefully knowing he'd still be taken care of.
"The Quintons owed us quite a bit of money, Warlow," Luca snapped, his patience wearing thin. My lips quirked in amusement at the use of my last name. "We don't let go of debts just because the people who owed us passed away."
"Didn't take you long to find out I robbed them of their souls," I mused. "How'd you figure it out?"
"I assume Kyle Eastyn was ordered to leave us a little... message," Gianni responded, sounding annoyed.
I snorted. "I can assure you Axel would not have given that order. He's not sloppy like that." And while Kyle was not sloppy either, he was cockyâthe silent kind of cocky one never really sensed. But leaving them a message was definitely a cocky move. Kyle was taunting them, the fucker.
He was probably going to cost me my life. If I somehow survived this, he'd be lucky if I didn't fucking slit his throat.
"So, you want money?" I asked. "Call Axel. He'll pay to get me out of here." And that wasn't a lie. Axel wouldn't bow down to many, but for his family, he would. And we were nothing if not brothers. Blood may not tie us together, but loyalty did. And we'd all proven time and time again that loyalty was always stronger than the blood that ran through our veins.
"We don't want money. We've decided your little... toy will bring us more money in the long run," Luca said.
I sneered, my calm mask falling away. "I'd say over my dead body," I snarled, "but even then, you still won't get your fucking hands on him."
"Touched a nerve, did I?" Luca taunted, a smirk tilting his lips.
"You sure have touched mine," Axel suddenly said as he stepped through the open door, a gun held to the back of Luca's wife's head. Luca snarled, reaching for his weapon, but Axel made a tsking sound. "Don't move, Moretti, or I'll blow her fucking brains all over the fucking floor."
"Women don't get brought into this," Luca snarled at him.
Axel quirked a brow at him. "I never swore to the fucking code, Moretti. You forget that. My family has never and will never bow down to your family." He looked at Luca's wife. "On your knees, sweetheart."
She sobbed, tears streaking down her cheeks as she dropped to her knees in her pristine, white pants. She looked up at her husband with wide, pleading eyes, but he didn't look at her. His gaze refused to leave Axel. Gianni, clearly realizing they'd lost the upper hand, remained silent and immobile.
"Untie my man," Axel ordered, flicking his gaze to Gianni. "And if you try something stupid, I already have a sniper ready to blow a hole through your fucking skull. I wouldn't test me tonight."
Gianni silently walked over to me and began cutting the zipties binding me to the chair. Once I was freed, I rolled my wrists and shoulders. When Gianni was standing in front of me, I swung my fist, punching him in the face and knocking two of his teeth loose. He spit them out on the ground, snarling at me. A gun cocked behind him, and I met Harlan's smirking gaze.
"Good hit," he said.
I snorted and glared at Gianni. "You and your family ever think you can threaten my boy again, and I'll burn your entire fucking empire to the ground, you got me? Max is mine, and I'll destroy the whole fucking world for him."
With that, I walked over to Axel. Harlan moved to stand next to us and kicked a duffel bag I hadn't noticed over to Luca. "There's three million in that bag. Consider the debt paid, and forget Max Quinton even fucking exists. You even think his name, and I will destroy your lives with a simple flick of my finger."
And I knew he wasn't lying. Harlan was the best hacker I'd ever heard of. He could slip in and out of the white house database without even being spotted if he wanted.
Wouldn't surprise me if he already had, to be honest.
"Let my wife go, and we'll pretend none of this ever happened," Luca said.
"Not yet," Axel said. "She's our ticket out of here. You can pick her up from the Greyhound station outside of town. I assume you know where that is, yes?"
Luca rolled his jaw, his teeth grinding as he did so. Finally, he drew in a deep breath and nodded. "Yes."
Axel gripped the back of the woman's shirt and yanked her to her feet. "Good. And don't forget I have a man ready to pop a bullet through your skulls if you try something stupid." He looked at me and jerked his chin toward the door. "Let's get the fuck out of here. Your boy needs you."
"How is he?" I asked as we walked out of the room, the three of us ignoring Mrs. Moretti's terrified whimpers. Axel wouldn't ever hurt her, but Luca didn't know that. None of them did. Despite his claims, Axel did have a moral code... even if it wasn't much of one.
"He has a migraine that's been making him sick, and he's gone mute once he stopped panicking about you being missing."
I gritted my teeth. "I need to get to the fucking house," I growled, my fists bunching at my sides.
"I'm heading there now," Axel promised. He passed Luca's wife off to Harlan. "See she's delivered to the Greyhound station safely. Understand?"
"Understood," Harlan said.
When we hit the highway, Axel looked at me. "You need a doctor."
"And I'll let you put one to work on me just as soon as I've checked on my boy," I promised.
Axel sighed, but he didn't argue. Because he knew if he was in my shoes, he'd refuse any help until he could console Novella.
I'm coming home, baby boy.