Page 31 of Apple Martinis

I had wanted to go immediately and see him but our Uncle forbade us to. Said that we needed to let him come to us so we didn’t scare him.

Whatever that’s supposed to mean. If he gets scared that easily, then he couldn’t possibly be a Marcus.

“What about him?” I ask when Baratta doesn’t continue.

“He reached out to Uncle Tony a few hours ago. Seems he has some trouble and needs our help.”

“What kind of trouble could he possibly be in? He’s a bartender, right? What did he do? Hit some drunk too hard?” I pick up my bag and walk to the door of the hotel room, opening it to step out into the hall.

“No. His girlfriend was kidnapped. The cops are saying it looks like she may have been taken by traffickers.”

I squint my eyes as I think quickly. There’s only one crew still working along the coast, taking girls. We’ve been in a constant battle to take down the entire operation.

As soon as we take what we believe to be the head out of the game, another takes over, popping up somewhere else close to the coast.

“Fuck.” I say through clenched teeth.

“Yeah, exactly what I said. Uncle Tony and Aunt Morgania have already headed in his direction. They should already be there. I’m leaving Fiona here with all these crazy ass kids and going too. Will I see you there? Where are you by the way?”

“Half of those crazy ass kids are yours. And I’m not nearly as far away as you.” I admit as I walk out of the tiny hotel to my car.

“I’ll see you when I get there, Brother.” He says, hanging up.

Throwing my bag into my car, I get in and start it up. Thinking about the best route out to Perdido Key, I turn onto the road and take the ramp for the interstate.

I’m finally going to get to meet my little brother. I should be there in under an hour.

Checking the time on my dash, I pick up my phone and dial a familiar number. It begins to ring through the car speakers, connecting through bluetooth.

“What?” A gruff voice demands.

“Skeeter. I need a favor.”

Several minutes later I hang up with a clear plan in place to track down who took the girl. With the help of the New Orleans chapter of the Nighthowler’s motorcycle club, hopefully we can find her before she’s taken to a further location.

Rome

By ten in the morning I’m exhausted but refuse to close my eyes until I know for certain that Piper is safe. I’ve thought of her all night and have come to the conclusion that she’s going to be the one that I marry.

Am I crazy for thinking such a thing? Probably. Most people will think so considering how short a time we’ve known each other.

I don’t care though. If she needs more time to figure out her feelings, I’m willing to give her that time but I already know my own feelings.

“You look just like us.” One of my brothers says as he types away on a laptop. I still can’t exactly tell them apart, they look so much alike.

“I’m sorry for staring but the two of you look exactly alike. It’s hard to remember which each of you are.” I admit and they both laugh.

“If you’ll pay attention, you’ll see the uptight one.” He points to our other brother sitting next to him. “He’s Alessandro. Everyone calls him Baratta though because no one can pronounce his name. It’s why my sons call him Uncle Alex.”

Baratta jabs him in the side with his elbow right when Aunt Morgania walks back into the kitchen.

While these two men could make even a grown ass man quake just from looking at them, Aunt Morgania seems to be who they are afraid of.

When she sees the jab, she walks right behind them both and slaps the back of their heads.

“I told you two to be on your best behavior!” She grits out with an accent.

My brothers both rub the backs of their heads at the same time but neither of them say anything other than yes ma’am. I snort when they say it and their eyes cut over to me.

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