Page 9 of Meet Odin

“Do you remember when we went to the movies a few months ago? You met my father’s new soldier, Luca Carazzo?”

“Noooooo….him?”

“Yeah, him.”

“He was kind of a tool, but they all are. Cookie cutter assholes.”

“A few weeks after that, he caught me in the house by myself. I didn’t think anything of it. You know how the guards are. They’re never in the house unless requested. He cornered me, and told me that he’d destroy my family unless I helped him. I didn’t take him seriously, and when I laughed, it made things worse.” Serena was barely holding it together. I wanted to hold her, to comfort her. Give her the strength she desperately needed right now.

“Kat,” she continued on a quiet sob. “I tried to fight my way out, but he overpowered me, pinning me to the wall. My hands were handcuffed behind my back.”

Katalina’s demeanor changed instantly. “I’ll gut him. I’ll gut him like a fucking fish.”

I could tell she was planning revenge, but I could have told her she didn’t need to. I already had blood on my hands. A job was a job, and I never left a job undone. I didn’t care that the Italians had walked an undercover cop into their family. However, it infuriated me he had assaulted this girl. An innocent. Cop or no cop. I’d exact my revenge in Serena’s name. No one touched what was mine, and Serena was definitely mine.

I had to get a handle on my rage before they figured out they weren’t alone, and I did something stupid. At least the fucker wasn’t here. He wasn’t ranked high enough to warrant an invitation. If he was, he wouldn’t have left alive.

Katalina came to her senses and grabbed Serena in a tight hug.

“How does your family not know?” she asked.

“I hid in my room for a few days after it happened. They didn’t even ask questions. You know how they are. They’re oblivious. If I tell them, the problem will be taken care of immediately, but I am afraid they’ll be too emotional. They’ll have cloudy judgement, and then he wins if they get caught. I can’t have them sent to prison. They won’t survive, and I don’t want that on my hands.

"I didn’t get a chance to see a doctor. They would have questioned it, and I didn’t have the answers to tell them. We’re eighteen, Kat. They’re going to arrange my marriage, and what happens if my groom finds out? It’ll start a war no one is prepared to fight. Even if my husband doesn’t know, what if there’s damage? If I can’t have children…” She trailed off. Her eyes were watering again, and her bottom lip quivered.

“Is the cop pressuring you?” Katalina was still outraged, but if she didn’t tone it down, she’d draw unwanted attention. I had a feeling she was used to that.

“Luca wants me to find evidence to use against my family. I feed him bullshit documents that don’t mean a thing. When he figures it out, he threatens me about the attack. It doesn’t matter that this happened to me. It will be my fault, and I’ll be shunned on top of everything else.”

“Fucker! I am going to kill him, Rena. I swear, I will.”

“No, you won’t. I won’t lose you either, Kat.”

Katalina stopped mid-rant and took a good look at Serena. “Are you alright?”

“No. I shouldn’t have told you. This is a wedding.”

I was proud that she was able to reign in the spitfire.

“Toula’s wedding. You know this is formality. Are you alright?”

I wanted to know as well. I had already made a vow to protect her with everything I had, but I needed to know where to start.

“I will be. I am just going to continue as before. He’ll make a mistake, and that will be the end of it. I don’t care if they kill him for being an undercover. I just don’t want them to find out about the attack.”

“I understand. I do, but we have to get back.”

I hid behind a set of potted plants, as they walked past me, arm-in-arm.

I’d take care of the cop. I was better than any of the Italians, and I was pretty sure that Mr. De Angelis would approve the hit. I’d make Carazzo pay for what he did. She was mine, even if she didn’t know I existed right now.

His days were numbered. I made my way back to the storeroom to stock the bar. There were only a few hours left, and then I could make my escape. I had plans to concoct.

Chapter 5

Isentanemailto Mr. De Angelis asking to meet.

He responded:

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