Page 288 of Untamed

I let go of the man’s face and stand. “Strip the skin from his back,” I tell Vincenzo who is standing beside me. “Make it clean. We’ll hang him if he’s still lying. Get me something, or your throat will be the next one I rip out.” Vincenzo nods, and gestures to one of the other guards to help carry him. The man sobs as they drag him away.

I light a cigarette with shaking fingers and stare through the smoke.

I’m coming for you, bambina.Both of you.Even if I have to rip this world apart, I’m going to find you.

And I swear to everything holy, Nicolai won’t live long enough to regret taking you.

“Ti ho preso, figghiu di buttana.”Got you, son of a bitch.I hear Dante utter out loud. “Ares.” I look over at him and he tips his head, beckoning me to him.

“Here. The last ping came from Buseto Palizzolo, rural hills east of Trapani. Mostly farmland, abandoned estates, a few empty villas.” Dante glances at me. “My guess? Wherever they’re keeping her isn’t far from there.”

“Trapani.”

He nods. “They’ll want the coast. Private docks near Marausa or Pizzolungo, quiet, fast access. They’re moving her by boat. Sardinia’s their endgame.”

My hands fists at my sides, nails biting into my palm. “Then we start there,” I answer. “And we don’t stop until every fucker between me and her is in the ground.”

Dante nods, already moving. “I’ll gather up the boys.”

As Dante disappears into the shadows to rally the crew, I let the cigarette burn between my fingers until it sears the skin, the pain grounding me in the chaos. My mind races with possibilities, each darker than the last. The thought of her, alone with him, afraid, sharpens my resolve into something unrecognisable, somethinguntamed.

The silence stretches like a taut wire in the dim room, broken only by the faint hum of a distant generator.

An hour later Dante returns, his face a mask of determination, flanked by the crew, each man armed and ready for what lies ahead. He throws me a bag, heavy with weapons, and I catch it without a word.

“We’re loaded.” he says brusquely. “Enough for a war if that’s what it comes to.”

I nod, slinging the strap over my shoulder. “It will.”

The tension in the room thickens as the crew disperses to prepare. I glance at Dante. “The coastline. You’re sure?”

His gaze hardens. “I’m as sure as I can be. Moretti won’t be expecting us… not yet. They’re too comfortable, hiding in the dark.”

He pauses.

“Unless…”

My eyes narrow to slits. “Unless what?”

Dante sighs, glancing at the iPad he’s holding. “Unless it’s bait. A trail they left for us to follow. Could be a trap.”

I shake my head. “Let them try. I’m not walking into this; I’m tearing through it.”

My voice drops lower to a growl. “They wanted war. They’ve got it. And I’m bringing hell in both hands.”

Dante nods in understanding, I can feel the tension rolling off him like a second skin. He knows that tone. He’s heard it before, just before I painted the streets of Messina in Romano’s blood.

“We’ll hit the road in ten,” he mutters already moving, phone pressed to his ear as he barks orders to prep the convoy. “Load the weapons, clear the routes. No one moves unless I say.”

I watch him go, heart pounding a slow, murderous rhythm inside my chest.

Ten minutes. That’s all they have left.

I stare unblinking at the screen long after Dante disappears, the blue glow casting sharp lines across my face. Buseto Palizzolo. A place I’ve never had reason to think about until now. A quiet stretch of Sicilian land, forgotten by most, ignored by time. The perfect place to hide something precious. Orsomeone.

Or to bury a body.

The thought guts me, splits me right down the middle, but I force it back. Nicolai won’t kill her. Not yet. She’s too valuable, too tied to whatever twisted game he’s playing. Bianca… maybe. But Jordyn?

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