Page 102 of Precious Hazard

The man we found wounded in the bathroom ended up being another security guard. He survived the trip to our private hospital and is expected to pull through following his three-hour surgery. Ilaria seemed optimistic about his chances when I talked to her after she finished up in the OR. He hasn’t yet regained consciousness, though, so I left Nino to wait around and question him as soon as he wakes up.

I need answers, and fast. And although I have my suspicions about who is behind the attack, I need to be completely sure before I take action. Going after another criminal syndicate without proof would be foolish. But if I’m right, it means we’re already at war and our retaliatory measures will be well justified.

Before jumping into the shower, I try calling Tara again. Still no answer. At this point, I’m getting annoyed. I’m sure she’s not picking up on purpose. I should have included phone etiquette in the list of rules in our prenup. Live and learn, I guess.

As I’m putting on a fresh shirt after washing off the day’s grime, my phone starts ringing. With my mind entirely on my wife and her irritating habit of needling me, I hit the green button then the speaker icon without checking the caller ID. “Ignoring my calls,gattina?”

Someone clears their throat. “The guard just woke up.”

Disappointment hits like a punch to the gut. I wasn’t expecting Nino. Closing my eyes, I try to get my head back in the game.

“Did you get anything out of him?”

“Not yet. He’s still groggy. Might be another hour before he’s coherent enough.”

“Okay. I’ll head back to the hospital in a few. If he tells you something before I get there, call me.”

I grab my holster and jacket off the bed, then dial Tara once more on my way downstairs. The damn line rings and rings until her voicemail picks up. I call Sienna instead.

“Does my wife intend to answer my calls anytime in the near future?”

“I wouldn’t know, Arturo. But if you take this tone with her, she should block you.”

“Yeah, yeah. Put her on.”

“Can’t do that, sorry.”

“Damn it, Sienna. I need to speak with her.”

“What you need is to stop acting like an idiot and—” Her muted shriek cuts off whatever she was going to say next, and then she giggles in the background. “Stop it, Drago! I’m on the phone with Arturo.”

“Hang up.” That’s Popov’s gruff voice. “Unless you want your brother to hear your moans as I feast on your pretty pussy. For the record,” he hollers, entirely for my benefit, “I’m totally okay with that, jackass.”

Jesus!“Sienna! Is Tara there?” I yell, heading to my Land Rover.

“No, Arturo,” she answers, returning to the line. “I’m afraid you’ll need to look for your wife elsewhere. And I wouldn’t be at all surprised if she decided to ditch your cranky ass. Bye.”

Fuck.I get behind the wheel of my SUV and call Tara again while backing out. No answer. Where is that woman?

“Tony!” I shout when I reach the guardhouse at the gate. “Have you seen my wife?”

“She stormed out of here about an hour ago and got into a waiting Uber. I have no idea where she went. She mentioned that you pulled her security detail—”

“The fuck? I did no such thing! You note the plate on the car?”

“Umm… no. It parked a ways down and on the other side of the street.”

Something she arranged on purpose, I’m certain. “I’m gonna head out and see if I can find her. Call me immediately if she gets back.”

What if she went to meet with the silver-spooned oil brat? Curtis or Conan or whatever. Maybe the little shit decided to ignore my warning and reached out to my wife despite my threat? Or maybe Tara has just had enough, and as Sienna suggested, chose to leave me? Ditching her guards could certainly point to that.

The ringing of my phone interrupts my turbulent thoughts as I’m flying down the road. For a split second, I hope it’s my wife, but it’s only Nino.

“What?”

“The guy started talking. It was the Greeks.” That confirms what I already suspected.

“A raid on a mostly unmanned site because Katrakis is still pissed over losing the land? That’s kinda pathetic, to be honest. If this property is so important to him, I would have expected the old fart to do something more drastic than fucking up our construction equipment.”

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