Page 3 of Taken By the Underboss

“You should wait near the front row parking,” Angelo suggested, and I looked at him curiously.

“Why’s that? Wouldn’t it be less noticeable if I waited near the back and grabbed someone as they went to one of the cars further out from the hospital?”

“Yeah. But you're more likely to just grab an orderly or nurse. Surgeons get front row spots.”

“Good thinking.” I nodded my approval. He was one of my newer guys, but I was impressed by his wit.

I slipped my pistol into the back of my waistband and climbed out of the stolen SUV. Keep an eye out for me and be ready to go as soon as I get back. Shift change should be happening soon so I'm hoping that I can grab someone before too many people show up.”

“Let me come with you,” Angelo said with determination. “In case there's a struggle.”

“Okay, grab your gun. Let's go.” The two of us crept quietly along the edges of the parking lot where some neatly trimmed shrubbery lined the borders.

It only took a few minutes before the hospital doors slid open and the first small cluster of employees spilled out into the parking lot. There were only three in the first group, but I waited to see how they dispersed. The first was a large man in a white physician's coat. A woman in nursing scrubs walked with another slender woman in green surgical scrubs and a white coat. She would make a much easier target. I waited until the man went off on his own and waited for the right moment, hoping that they split up before the woman dressed as a surgeon got to her car. It would be a lot easier if I could snatch her without any witnesses before she got into her car.

“Please? I know your shift’s over, but you can't leave him like that,” the woman in nursing scrubs started.

The surgeon sighed, looking bored. “I can and I am.”

“But if you go now we're going to lose him.” The nurse sounded desperate to save whoeverhimwas. “You are the only chance we have. We can't lose him.”

The surgeon stopped and turned toward the nurse in frustration. “You need to get this through your head. He's already as good as gone. I'm not going to waste my time trying to stop the inevitable, besides, what will we really be losing? He's an arrogant jerk. I say good riddance.”

“Sienna, please? Just give me fifteen more minutes to try..”

“I'm not going to waste any more time on him. You shouldn't either.”

“If you're not going to do anything, then I am.”

“Waste your time if you want. Good luck.” The surgeon's voice was cold, and I wondered how someone dedicated to healing and saving patients could possibly be so callous.

Anger bubbled up inside me as I thought back to my teenage years. My mother, lying in a hospital bed as the doctors told my father that there was nothing more they could do for her. Unshed tears burned my eyes at the memory. I blinked quickly and reminded myself that they didn't do anyone any good. Not anymore. My mother had been gone for years and my father closed off afterward.

That woman was a surgeon. She had the skills to save Luca’s life and with an attitude like hers, I wouldn't have to feel so bad about forcing her to save his life.

Maybe you can teach her a lesson about giving your all to try to save someone else and what a surgeon should really be like.

She would be grateful to be back at her normal hospital when I was through with her. If she was so quick to give up on the man in the hospital she might be just as quick to give up on Luca but, unlike the nurse, I wouldn’t let her say no.

Chapter 2

Sienna

I was relieved when the argument with Alice was over. I looked back, watching as she disappeared through the sliding doors that led into the hospital. I shook my head and turned to continue toward my car when a strong hand clasped tight over my mouth. I tried to scream but only a quiet muffled cry escaped as someone pulled me off of the sidewalk and into the shadows. I tried to kick but my feet were lifted off of the ground, another pair of arms wrapping around my legs.

A dark SUV pulled up just like someone would expect from the movies, and I was shoved inside with the two large forms. I screamed, kicked, punched and clawed as the car started out of the parking lot.

It was no use. Both men were ridiculously strong. The smaller of the two pinned my shoulders down while the other restrained my legs. My heart raced and pounded against my chest as if it were trying to escape. But there was no escaping them. I was outnumbered three to one if I counted the driver.

I was keenly aware of the man's hands on my thighs, the heat of them seeping through my surgical scrubs. I hadn't bothered to change into my normal street clothes since I was going straight home from work anyway and all I really could think about was getting away from Alice and her pleas for my help.

I squirmed again, resisting their hold on me no matter how futile it was. There was something inside that urged me to continue fighting.

"Keep still," the man holding my legs growled as his fingers dug into my thighs.

While in the car, there wasn't much use in fighting because even if I managed to break free from their grasp they would stop me before I could ever get the door opened. I took a deep breath and willed myself to stop fighting until I had a better opportunity to escape.

"That's it,micetta.Relax. Put those claws away. There's no need for all that." His voice, in contrast to the way he'd manhandled me, was smooth and warm like velvet.

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