Page 53 of Taken By the Mafia King
“You’ve been one of us for a long time now,” I said, breaking from his gaze as the last of the young women were carried out of the warehouse. “It’s over. I’m not playing games with this man anymore. He’s dead. Go back to my house with the men.”
Alonzo said nothing further and followed Mikey out of the warehouse just as Francesco ran back inside.
“Doc will be at the safehouse in half an hour.”
“I’m going to kill him,” I rasped, tightening my grip on my pistol. “I’m going to kill him with my bare fucking hands.”
“This isn’t anything new for the de Lucas,” Francesco said, catching that hint of pure death in my voice. “He was likely going to ship them out. We should find out where. Get more information before we act. I know you’re pissed, but you’re always the one to tell me to keep a level head at a time like this.”
I missed whatever he said next. All I could think about was that room Sera had been locked in underneath Gabriele’s house. All I could see was his body on hers and the terror in her eyes.
Giuseppe was following in his father’s footsteps in more ways than one. I couldn’t let that continue. I had cut the head off the snake when I killed Gabriele, but the body was just as venomous. Perhaps his son had more cruelty in him than I realized. If left unchecked, he would continue his depravity.
Maybe I was a hypocrite for keeping Sera locked up in my house, I realized with sharp clarity.
“Boss?” Francesco called out to me as I began moving back to the cars. When I didn’t answer, he started barking orders in my stead, and my men snapped into action all around me. The world blurred in and out of focus.
I walked through an ocean of blood on my way back to my car while thinking only of her eyes, and her mouth, her taste and touch on my skin.
I couldn’t let something like this happen to her again. I couldn’t give her up. Iwouldn’t.I’d kept her this long. It was time to make her mine. The mark might drag her deeper into this life, but it would also protect her. Nobody dared touch what belonged to the Hand of Death.
Not unless death was what they wanted.
CHAPTER 40
SERA
How dare they?
My hot shower did nothing to ease the rage chewing me up on the inside. Killian and Tommaso were playing games. Everyone in this seedy, depraved, sinful world knew nothing of kindness or mercy. They only dealt in pain and blood. And lies.
I couldn’t organize my anger into a coherent line of thought as I shrugged into my nightgown and robe. I’d known I was part of some cruel game, but seeing Delaney’s grief and confusion cut me to the core.
I wished I could tell Killian exactly how I felt about it when given the chance, but he still intimidated the hell out of me. I slid into bed, the silky sheets whispering against my bare legs, and nuzzled my face into the pillow. Closing my eyes, I imagined all the things I would say to Killian if he didn’t hold my life in the palm of his hand.
I hate you.
I want you.
Stay away from me.
Take me.
“Get it together, girl,” I breathed, rolling onto my back and blinking up at the ceiling. Fire burned inside me, angry andtempted. How could he make me so furious and turned on at the same time? What was wrong with me?
Sighing, I rolled to the other side and fluffed my pillow aggressively, taking some anger out on the stuffing inside. I drew the blanket up to my chin, closed my eyes again, and forced myself to think of other things, like recalling my classroom from memory and exploring it until drowsiness inevitably took hold and I fell asleep.
I’d been asleep for less than an hour when the door to my room opened with a crash.
I flinched and shot up in bed, pressing the covers to my chest as a tall, shadowed figure stepped into the room and slammed the door shut behind him. He locked it in place, using the replacement lock someone had installed last week, while my sleep-addled mind caught up to reality.
“Killian?” I whispered into the pitch-black darkness. I reached over to the bedside table and flipped on the lamp.
Killian Ricci stood, tall and ominous, illuminated by the faint orange glow of the lamp. It cast most of his face into shadow and offered little light, but I could see the blood all over his clothes.
I swung my legs over the side of the bed. “What happened?”
Are you hurt?
