Page 39 of Pregnant By the Mafia Boss

My brothers give me an odd look when I load the teddy into the trunk, but none of them say anything.

* * *

I can tell something’s wrong before I’ve even parked. The gate is open, the front door too. I fling myself out of the car and into the house.

“Keira!” I shout.

I see a spot of blood on the carpet, and panic grips me. Then there’s a sound. A baby crying.

“I checked the cameras,” Luca says, running into the house. “Half a dozen men. They just left.”

Antonio’s already on the way up the stairs, the rest of us behind him. Phoebe is in her cot. She’s just woken up.

“Where’s Keira and Zoey?” Antonio asks, grabbing Phoebe and holding her tight to his chest, rocking her slowly back and forth. “Search the place.”

All we find are the bodies of the guards, each of them shot in the back of the head. Then I hear a thumping noise from upstairs. I sprint up there and kick open a door. Zoey is there, tied up under the bed, wriggling her way out.

“Where’s Phoebe?” she asks as I pull the gag from her mouth. “Is she all right?”

“She’s fine. Antonio’s got her. Where’s Keira? She was fighting them when they knocked me out.”

“They took her.”

Luca appears in the doorway behind me. “They looped the cameras, locked up the alarms. Fuck.”

We get the ropes off Zoey, and she runs straight to her husband and daughter.

Antonio’s cell rings as she grabs hold of him. He passes it to me, still rocking Phoebe gently.

I press it to my ear, hearing Kathy’s voice at the other end. “The high council told me they’ve taken your woman. Ex-communication is no longer happening.”

“Fuck, Kathy. Why didn’t you stop them? You’re head of the commission.”

“And I answer to the high council. There’s nothing I could do. I certainly couldn’t tell you they took a private flight to Rome and plan on holding her at her father’s house.

“It would also be wrong of me to voice the rumor that the alarm code for the entire property is Keira’s birthday backward, same as your choice of code. It seems the mob only has one code.

“Now you’re not to get involved with the dealings of the high council. As you know, they are the lawmakers for us all.”

“Christian took my wife,” I reply, snarling out the words. “If he hurts her, I’ll rip him to fucking pieces.”

“I didn’t hear that. Andyoudidn’t hear that if Christiandoespass away, the position of head of the high council comes up for grabs. You understand what I’m definitelynotsaying?”

The line goes dead, and Antonio looks at me. “Well?”

“Kathy is about as cryptic as my left ball. If we kill Christian, Kathy becomes head of the high council and makes all this go away.”

Zoey turns to face me. “I’m sorry. I tried to stop them, but they knocked me out. Shoved me out of the way while they took Keira. I’m so sorry, Salvatore. she fought them hard. Did some damage but there were too many.”

“It’s not your fault,” I say. “How did he find out about this place?”

Dante answers. “Probably had someone watching us the whole time. Come on, let’s move. I’m in a skull-crushing kind of mood.”

Antonio shakes his head. “Nowhere is safe, and I’m not leaving my wife and child. You three go. Kill that son of a bitch for me.”

I give my brother a nod. “You can count on it, I say.”

I run out of the house with Luca and Dante close behind me.

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