Page 72 of One Savage Union

Leo scoffs, his eyes are wild as he presses the gun into my head. “Rocco doesn’t deserve her; she’s my birthright. The don is my dad, not his! I’m the heir. I’m the king, and the king gets the queen!” He screeches.

I think I’m going to pass out.I don’t want to die here.

“You’ve got nowhere to run, Leo.” Leo turns, and we are greeted by Enzo walking up behind him. As he turns, I feel Leo’s grip loosen. I jerk free from him with all my strength and manage to get free. All I hear is gunfire as I fall to the floor and black out.

I am brought back to consciousness by a blanket being thrown over my shoulders as Mario cradles me in his arms. A few feet away from me, Leo is lying out in a pool of blood with a gigantic bloody hole in his chest.

I thought Rocco would be the one to kill him.

I’m shocked at how overjoyed I am that he’s dead.

Good Riddance.

Mario gestures for me to sit down and stay quiet. I obey.

My eyes seek out my husband and I find him across the room, splattered with blood, standing over the headless corpse of the cartel leader who called me a whore.

Eight men are sitting in chairs facing the stage, and about fifty men surround them. Each seated man has a gun trained on him and an armed man with a knife to his throat.

It feels like nobody’s breathing except Rocco. My eyes dart around the room, and my father is nowhere to be seen. That worries me.

“So you all thought that you would disgrace my wife and get away with it?” His smile is deadly.

You’re all high-ranking men in your organizations; you should know better than that.”

“Did you think that you would come into this stronzo’s basement and take what’s mine!”

His voice is unhinged, and so am I. Hearing him claim me so decidedly is making my pussy weep, and this is not the time for that.

There’s something about seeing those same $2000 black Italian shoes that came that first night to take me from his dungeon, standing in the spilled blood of our enemy, that makes me want to jump his bones.

God, I need help.

Another man, this one with a Russian accent, dares to speak. “Fieri, we didn’t know she was yours. Her father brought us here under pretenses. We thought this was an honest sale.”

Rocco nods his head at the guard standing in front of the Russian, and immediately, the sound of a gunshot echoes through the room. It is followed by a cloud of red mist and the blood-curdling screams of the Bratva leader, as he clutches his knee.

“Fuuuucccck,” The man howls. Tears roll down his face. The scene would be comical if it weren’t so tragic, terrifying, and honest.

Rocco walks around and eyes each man. But he doesn’t look at me, and I feel cold.

“Now, does anybody else want to lie to me? You all have two kneecaps a piece, and I’d be happy to oblige.”

No one makes a sound.

Rocco gestures to the dead man on the floor as he strolls around the room. “As much as you all make me sick, I am inclined to let you live. The Don would prefer to avoid all-out war even as I avenge my wife. As you all can see, we may already have some nasty repercussions from the Cartel, but we’ll handle that with no problems.” Rocco shrugs and twirls his gun.

“You all know that the Romano’s don’t stand for the trafficking or selling of women, and you dare to do this here? With my wife?! You must have forgotten Chicago is Romano territory! Ricci is no more consequential than a squirrel trying to get a nut. When I find him, he’s dead!”

Where the fuck is my father?

“This is what's going to happen. You will each be escorted into waiting vehicles. Unfortunately, your bodyguards have been disposed of, so you’re under our protection, and as we all know, you must pay for protection. When you get home, you will notice we’ve removed a small tribute from your financial accounts. Just enough to repay me, my wife, and my family for your lack of good judgment. I hope you’ll remember our generosity tonight. If not, the Romano’s will slowly drain every asset you own until the Don is satisfied. Just remember, we have control of your financial accounts until we feel you have sufficiently learned your lesson. You can’t buy a pack of gum unless we allow it.”

He walks over and spits on the dead man who dared to call me a whore. “Burn this one and send his ashes to his witless son and widow. Let them know that I send my regards. Get the rest of them out of here before my patience runs out.”

When every man has left, Rocco drops his gun and dismisses Mario. “Go find Matteo.” Mario runs off, and then it's just Rocco and me.

He runs to me and throws the blanket off my body. Frantically, he touches every inch of me like he’s scared I’ll disappear in front of his eyes.”

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