Page 42 of Merciless Queen
I saw the boats pulling in, and slowly a car rolled up and four men waited. It was not out of the ordinary. They kept the girls in a shipment container until they were ready for them at his club. If it wouldn’t put our lives in danger, I would’ve destroyed his club, but I didn’t know where he kept the girls. Harlow might have. She couldn’t handle that when she woke up, though.
With Harlow with me, I believed he would falter. He was angry. He was retaliating. He wanted her back, but she was mine now. I would try to be what she needed to heal and move on with her life the best she could. Harlow was strong, even if she didn't see it. Ten years was a long time, and she survived during that time. Now she just needed to survive the internal agony screaming in her head. Once that part was over or shimmered down, she could finally start living for herself.
I saw the boat making its way to the pier. There were only three men so far. I was sure Vincenzo thought he was safe. He’d thought I was fucking her into oblivion instead of plotting against him. Revenge never slept. The man was too much of a coward to be seen outside of his home or without sacrificing his men to stay alive. How these fuckers were so loyal to him, I’d never understand, but because of their undying loyalty, they would bleed for Vincenzo’s sins.
Sometimes, I allowed my men to handle everything, but when it came to Vincenzo or my people getting hurt, I took great joy in killing them. I adjusted my tits even though these men knew who I was. I was sure Vincenzo had a dart board with my face plastered on it for target practice in his club. Trying to seduce them would be pointless, and there was no telling if I’d gag or not, blowing my cover.
Malachi covered my back as Alexi and Cornelius headed in the other direction. The first guy, the leader, was at the dock. These two were his backup. Without them, he was weak. They were stupid for only having three people. I wrapped my hand around the first guy's mouth, holding him back as my knife buried into his neck. He fought for a moment until he went limp. I was glad my father started combat training when I was four, making this so much easier.
Alexi and Cornelius took care of the other one. The last man standing walked to the dock and greeted the man coming off the boat. I didn’t need to kill the dock worker. He was working for me and knew what was going on tonight. As for Vincenzo’s man, he didn’t know what was about to happen to him.
I walked up behind him with my men on my side. “Seems like Vincenzo needs to do a better job at manning the docks.”
He looked at me and reached for his gun, but he never got the chance. I shot him in the head, and he fell to the ground. Dead. Alexi and Cornelius dealt with the bodies while Malachi, Luca, and I went to the shipment containers. We had three cans ready to transport them to the hotel, but I needed to comfort them first.
When I opened the first storage container, there were two older women standing in front of the younger girls. I raised my hands as I stepped inside, looking back at Malachi. I didn’t want him to get too close since I didn’t know what was done to them yet.
“I am a friend. Do you speak English?O Italiano? ??? ????????”
“I speak some English, yes,” the blonde woman said with a thick accent, holding the redheaded woman’s arm. “Who are you?”
“My name is Caterina Moretti. I am getting you out of here. I have a place for you to stay where you will be safe until we can get you back home. I’m not like the men that took you.”
She looked at me curiously. “We heard gunshot.”
“Yes. I killed the bad guys. He wanted to hurt you, and I don’t like men hurting women, so I dealt with him.”
“My name is Anya. I trust you.”
She repeated the information in Russian to the other women. I could have told her myself, but they didn’t know me. When I knew I would be the leader of the Moretti crime family, I went ahead and learned multiple languages. I knew Italian already from my mother, but I taught myself French, German, Spanish, and Russian. My alliance with the Petrovs was the main reason for putting myself through that torture.
“I will make sure you are all safe. No one can hurt you again. Will you come with me?”
They nodded and walked with me out of the container. Anya came with me to the other one that was filled with only small children. They all spoke Russian, and they were crying. I was going to make sure their families got them back if the bastards didn’t sell them in the first place. I was going to make sure they got home, but I wasn't going to send them back to a place that broke them in the first place.
Gianna was still keeping everything organized at the hotel, but this time, she was making sure the women and girls found their families or if they needed placement. We would make sure they got back to their lives or we’d give them new ones. No oneshould have to live in fear, especially with the people who were supposed to make them feel safe.
CHAPTER 33
Harlow
My head was poundingand there was an annoying beep in the room. I cracked my eyes open and groaned as sunlight beamed into the bedroom, making my head scream even louder than it was already. The room didn’t look familiar, and my heartrate picked up thanks to this stupid machine. At least I was alive, if that was even a consolation prize.
Vanilla and honey invaded my senses as the bed dipped.Elizabeth.I looked at her and frowned. Her face was sad. Puffy, red eyes, and tears streamed down her pretty skin. She looked disheveled, and I knew it was because of me.
I ran my hands over the stark white bandages and winced at the throbbing pain. I remembered panicking and wanting everything to stop. After leaving therapy with Serena, I didn’t remember much of what happened. I remembered hearing glass shattering and crying, unsure if it was me or her. She was the only person who would bother shedding tears for me.
Even when I was away from Vincenzo, he was still in my head, controlling every aspect of my being. All I wanted was peace. And for a brief moment, I had it. It felt empowering to finally have control over something, anything, in my life.But when I looked at the sadness in Elizabeth’s eyes, a deep, undeniable guilt settled in my chest.
“I broke my promise,” I muttered, looking at the frayed material on the edge of the bandage. “I’m, I-I’m sorry.”
“I don’t care about promises, Harlow. Do you know how hard it was? Seeing you like that? When the shower was on and the doors were locked, I knew what you were doing.” Her eyes filled with unshed tears. “You don’t think I understand? When they found me and brought me here, I wanted to die. I tried, but killing myself meant that they won. Do you want Vincenzo to win? Do you want him to know you did this because of him? He’ll have that victory while you're dead.”
“I—”
“Don’t ever fucking do it again. I just got you back. You’re safe here. I get it. It's going to take a lot, but I don’t want you to give up and let him win. Let any of them win.”
“H-He killed Angel!” I cried out, my voice breaking. “How many others have to die because I’m here? I might be safe, but how many people aren’t? Who is going to die next because I’m here with Caterina?” No one should’ve died because I was here, because I chose an ounce of freedom. I suffered for years in his grasp. My death would be a sacrifice that would save others if she would let me go back to him.
