Page 12 of Taken By the Underboss

I shrugged. "Oh, you know the usual. Got abducted outside of the hospital after my shift, thrown into an SUV, dragged to a veterinarian's office, and forced to treat some injured man bleeding on the table."

He gave a chuckle. "I like you. And not just because you saved my life," he teased. "I hope he decides to keep you around.”

"I don't," I blurted out, suddenly unable to control my words. "I want to go home."

I didn't want Alessandro to keep me. I wanted him to let me go. Luca hadn't meant it as a bad thing but for me it was.

"I don't think you understand the gravity of your situation, bella.” All joking left his voice, and his expression darkened. “Alessandro said something about you knowing too much. That means there's only two choices. He's either going to keep you or kill you." His words were like a chasm opening up at my feet and pulling me under. The floor suddenly felt like quicksand, and I was slowly sinking.

My knees gave out and I started to fall, barely catching myself on the counter and knocking over a surgical tray in the process.

"Whoa. Maybe you should sit down." Luca moved to get up as if he was going to help me.

“No, don’t,” I called out to stop him before he tore open his wound. He reluctantly listened and stayed lying down.

"What's going on here?" Alessandro practically growled and looked from me to Luca.

"Girl got a little woozy is all," Luca answered. "She looks exhausted. Probably just needs a good rest."

"Yeah. Well, Teo said that the jet should be here in an hour so we should get going if we want to pick up our stuff from the motel before it's time to head to the airstrip."

"Sounds like a plan," Luca said.

"I'm going to call the guys and let them know to be ready."

Alessandro tossed me an empty duffle bag and I jumped, barely catching it before it fell on the floor. "Load this up with any supplies that you might need to continue Luca's treatment. We leave in ten."

Chapter 5

Alessandro

Shit.How could I have been so careless as to talk about sensitive information with Sienna around? I practically signed her death warrant myself. Teo’s policies on that were clear. She knew too much but I couldn't bear to think about killing her, even though I knew it was the only option. It was the only way to know that she wouldn't talk to the authorities or worse, take the information she heard to our enemies.

If she went to the Romanos and gave them a heads up about our plan to take them out, they could act first. Letting her live, letting her go after everything she heard, or might have heard, would cause everyone I cared about to be in danger. I couldn't let that happen even when she looked at me with those innocent, brown eyes. Even though she had worked tirelessly to save Luca.

Taking her with me would only be putting off the inevitable, but I couldn't bring myself to kill her. Not yet. Not if there was even a chance of sparing her. I just needed a little more time.

I'd already told Matteo what was going on with the girl. I knew my options even before he reminded me. Find a way to turn her, bribe her, blackmail her, or kill her. I prayed for her sake and mine that I wouldn't have to do the latter. There was something about her that intrigued me, and it was my hope that I'd be able to somehow turn her to our side. We could use a good surgeon. Ours was old and ready to retire and while we had the assistance of the Monticelli doctor, two families were just too much for him to be responsible for.

"Boss?" Angelo's voice dragged me from my thoughts as I stared out the window of the waiting room.

“What is it?”

“Sorry to interrupt. I was just asking if I should go get the car?”

“Yeah. We should get going soon. I don't want any delays in getting back.”

Once he was gone, I pulled out my phone, setting my mind to what I had to do. I dialed the number of Marco, one of our tech guys and waited for his answer.

"Ciao, Alessandro. My man. How are you?"

"Marco, I'm glad to hear your voice. I need a favor."

"You got it. What do you need?"

"I'm going to text you the information on someone. I need everything you can find on her. Family members, debts, anything and everything that could be a weakness."

"The blackmail special," Marco said casually with a hint of amusement in his voice.

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