Page 130 of King of Omen

‘Tell them not to approach,’ I warned. ‘He might hurt Mia if he thinks he’s cornered.’

‘Understood,’ Saint growled.

We spent the following fifteen minutes navigating the city’s bottlenecked roads, beeping horns, and frustrated drivers before we eased onto the highway and headed for the airport.

I hardly noticed, consumed with worry for Mia.

My feud with Abrazzio’s had got her caught up in my shit, and the guilt ate at me like an acid ulcer.

I glanced out the window, my gaze falling upon the endless sprawl of progress, monolithic structures shrinking into insignificance against the vast, sapphire expanse of the sky.

Despite everything, my fingers flexed around my weapon as my innate drive to defend my woman kicked into high gear.

Saint’s words broke my trance.

‘Not long now,’ he growled, calm and controlled like he’d often conducted this kind of op.

‘Bene,’ I murmured as we accelerated towards the motel.

Just then, a call came through on my phone, a number I didn’t recognise.

On instinct, I picked up. ‘Hello.’

Silence fell at first, and my heart jumped.

‘Who is this?’ I prompted.

‘Lorenzo? Baby?’

A reaction so visceral hit me that I jolted. ‘Mia? Fuck, where are you, bella?’

‘I’m not sure,’ she whispered.

A furious whisper came from somewhere on her end as relief flooded me. A new voice came over the line, which I’d put on speaker, so Saint listened in.

‘She’s safe, sir. We’re in an office block next to the motel where she says she ran free from her kidnapper.’

‘She escaped?’

Mia returned online. ‘Honey, I woke in the trunk of Mauri’s SUV, but it wasn’t closed tight, so when the car stopped, I kicked the rear door and ran to a nearby building for help.’

‘Are you OK?’ I snarled, heart pounding.

‘I will be, I think. I’m bleeding a little, but I asked the people here to wait for you before we called an ambulance.’

‘Smart woman,’ Saint commented. ‘Address, please?’

There was another flurry of whispers, and Mia’s saviours spoke up. ‘We’re at Number 3 Church Avenue, in Mascot.’

Saint jerked his chin, ‘Got it,’ jamming down on the lead. ‘We’re five minutes away.’

The SUV leapt forward.

‘Mia, bella,’ I murmured. ‘We’re close. Any sign of Tony or Linda?’

Her breath hitched. ‘No. I can’t believe they did this to me, fuckers,’ she cursed.

Saint and I exchanged an amused glance.

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