Page 41 of Merciless Queen
The room was silent, the weight of her anguish almost palpable as the others lingered, waiting for something to happen, but I refused to move her or allow anyone else to see her in this state. It was bad enough that she was naked with her blood dripping down her wet skin. No one deserved to see her when she was like this. Even the woman who'd been there with her through everything, but Elizabeth’s mental state was clinging on by a thread right now. Luca was doing his best, but she was falling apart in the bedroom.
Even with firm pressure on her wrists, she passed out, which I knew would happen. The cuts were deep and concerning, and the amount of blood was sickening. I brushed her hair out of her face, caressing her cheek as her chest slowly rose. Harlow was too fucking innocent to be dealing with everything Vincenzo put her through.
A few minutes later, Lena rushed into the bathroom, removing her scarf as she took in the scene. Harlow was limp in my arms and her breathing shallow, which scared me. I needed Lena to do something before I lost my shit on her.
“Everyone out now except Cat.” Everyone left the room. Luca had to drag Elizabeth out since she was fighting to stay.
“Take her to the bed.”
Lena moved with careful precision, assessing the severity of Harlow’s injuries. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to see how critical she was. She assured me that Harlow had a pulse, it was just faint. Lena’s focus was unwavering as she shifted to her kit,pulling out everything she needed. I let her work, the scent of blood and antiseptic mingling heavily in the air. This wasn’t her first, nor would it be the last time she performed any kind of emergency surgery in my home. I was a crime boss; having men and myself show up to an ER was asking for cops in my family’s business. Even though my father was close personal friends with the commissioner, I liked to keep politics out of the family business, and having a personal doctor who had several years in surgery was the best option, but she dealt with bullets, not suicide.
I stood nearby, my clothes similarly stained as she stitched her up. Lena was a force. It was why my father chose her to be our family doctor, but once upon a time, we went to her and she left when I was nine for a surgery spot. A few months before my mother died, she came back to work for us.
As Lena finished bandaging Harlow’s wrists, her eyes met mine with a weary, but resolute glance. “She’s going to be okay.”
She looked fragile, her skin sickeningly pale and her lips chapped. Blood was seeping into the bedding and caking onto her skin. When she woke up, she was going to be angry with the weight of everything that happened.
“Lena. I don’t know what to do.”
“She doesn’t need judgment or anger. The only people who maybe even slightly understand what she’s going through are Serena and Elizabeth, so just be there. I know you have this thing with opening up and letting people in, but she needs vulnerability.”
I nodded, pushing back my argument. It wasn’t needed. Moira should’ve been proud of me for keeping my mouth shut when I wanted to argue.
“When will she wake up?”
“She will be weak. Let her sleep. Make sure she takes iron pills. She needs to renew her red blood cells. I’m going to runher blood and see what her blood type is. I may start a blood transfusion.”
I nodded, looking at her. “What do we need to do when she is finally awake?”
“We need to be gentle with her and not blame her. Serena will have her hands full, but if anyone can help her, it is Serena.”
“Is it really working?”
“Yes. The therapy didn’t cause this. Angel’s murder did. This girl has gone through so much trauma, I’m not surprised she tried to kill herself. Your job is to make her feel safe and loved.”
There was that word again.
My father was gutted when my mother was murdered by Vincenzo. He would’ve burned the world for her if she asked him, but the moment she died, he was lost. He almost lost his companies, and if it wasn’t for Malachi’s father, the Moretti crime family wouldn’t exist anymore. I watched love shape my parents, but love in the end destroyed my family. I loved my mother, but she was a weakness for my father. She was a strength for me. After hearing her screams and that man raping her, I swore I would never be distracted. I would kill him and make him suffer for the pain and agony he caused my mother in her final moments and the misery he put our family through.
If it was what she needed, I would help her however I could.
CHAPTER 32
Caterina
Vincenzo didn’t realizeI was paying off the guards at the dock just like he was, only my money was worth more to them. It wasn’t dirty. I got a phone call from the sergeant on the docks about two boats coming in with two dozen women and barely legal teens. It would be the perfect opportunity to sabotage him. One mark for hurting Harlow.He wouldn’t get his filthy hands on these girls. Not this time. They would be safe with me.
With the hotel being closed to guests, it was the perfect place to house these women until we could get them back home. I had an inside man with the police who would help us keep it under the radar so Vincenzo’s men wouldn’t know where the women went. You would think someone who was crafty and keen to escape death would do better to disguise his shipments and protect his men. Of course, Vincenzo was a cruel son of a bitch who cared about no one but himself.
The last shipment I sabotaged was filled with minors. The youngest being five and the oldest being seventeen. He enjoyed kidnapping people from Europe and Russia. I wondered if the Petrov family knew what Vincenzo was doing. Did they realizethat someone was stealing women, girls? Roman Petrov was like me. We dealt with weapons, drug trade, and consensual sex work. If we found out any of our men hurt women, we dealt with the problem.
Roman’s wife was not born into this life. She was a normal person with a normal job at the public library, and caught the eye of some dangerous men. He saved her, but saving her involved him trapping her in his home, and then they slowly fell in love. It was a twistedBeauty and the Beastlove story. He was my greatest ally, and I wished he would help me kill Vincenzo, but he had his own borders to worry about. Personally, I didn’t think he wanted to be involved in my mess unless it was absolutely necessary.
It was eleven on the dot and the boats should’ve been arriving in the bay here any minute. I had a dozen men and our own trucks to transport these people to our hotel. Part of me wished I'd brought more women. Men could get distracted by a pretty face and a pair of tits, but Spencer and Elizabeth were the only two I could trust with combat. I needed to train more of my girls, but joining the mafia wasn’t on the top of their bucket list. Spencer wasn’t the comforting type. Hell, I wasn’t the comforting type, but Spencer would stab someone before giving them a hug. Bringing Elizabeth here would be a bad idea. She was not in the proper headspace to help these girls after seeing Harlow’s mental state and her bloody wrists.
It might’ve been five years later since her own escape and near-death experiences, but trauma could sneak up. Seeing Harlow in that state didn’t help, either. Hell, it riled up everyone in the house. Even Moira, who didn’t crack under pressure. She pulled out her rosaries and prayed over her. I was sure Harlow didn’t believe in God after what she endured, but it made Moira feel better.
She’d been asleep for six days now. She needed the rest, so Lena gave her a mild sedative. When she woke up, she was going to be groggy and thirsty. I was going to kill him, and it would be brutal. I was going to make sure Harlow got the closure and revenge she needed while also avenging my mother. No one would miss a waste of oxygen like Vincenzo Mancini. I just wished people weren’t terrified of him or his power. When he was gone, his reign of terror would also be gone. People could sleep soundly without the fear of the boogeyman coming to get them.
