Page 29 of Dust to Dust

“Like a complete and total badass, she’s making a full recovery.” That’s all I could think of to describe how physically and emotionally strong Caterina was. After surviving a kidnapping by her bastard father and psycho ex-fiance, she had endured a traumatic beating that thankfully didn’t result in the loss of her early pregnancy.

Thanks to help from her brothers we had located her quickly and stormed in to rescue her. When Callum found her unconscious, he had scooped her up and rushed her to a waiting ambulance. The rest of us were left to take care of Caterina’s father’s men.

Once that threat had been neutralized, the only two men left standing were Alessio, Caterina’s father, and Carmine Lucero–the man she had once been promised to in an arranged marriage.

Callum had given us strict instructions that Alessio would be dealt with by Caterina’s brothers. Besides kidnapping their sister and allowing a man to beat her to try to force a miscarriage, Raphael, Leandro, and Gianni Neretti had a lifetime of trauma related to their father much like my brothers and I did.

Instead, we’d turned our attention to Carmine. All the worry and fear for Caterina bled out through our fists. At that time, we didn’t know if she and the baby would live. So, we had inflicted as much pain and suffering as we could.

It had been quite cathartic.

Of course, we refrained from finishing him off. That honor belonged to Callum. As for Alessio, we had tied him up and forced him to watch Carmine’s beating. Just as we were finishing up with Carmine, Caterina’s brothers arrived from New York.

Two years ago, I stood to the side as I watched Callum raise a gun to the head of our father. Because of the unexpected coup that had unfolded between us and our father, we didn’t have the time to inflict the torture he deserved.

Instead, it had fallen to Callum as the first son and future leader to pull the trigger.

For the Neretti brothers, they didn’t have a time limit, so they were able to pay back the sins of the father before they snuffed out his life. Dare, Kellan, and I were gone by then. Although we’d gotten word that Caterina would recover and that their daughter was as strong as her mother, we still wanted to go to the hospital to be there for Callum.

“Is she still in the hospital?”

With a shake of my head, I replied, “As soon as she woke up, Callum insisted on bringing her home. He has round-the-clock nurses taking care of her, which is completely pissing Caterina off.”

Conleth laughed. “I’d say the ol’ boyo has met his match.”

“Aye. He has and then some,” I mused before throwing back my whiskey.

As Conleth reached to refill my glass, I asked, “How have things been around here?”

“The new dancer is making quite a name for herself.”

At the mention of Isla, my cock twitched in my pants. In the past five days, each and every moment I wasn’t focused on eradicating the impending Bratva threat, my mind had been on the petite blonde.

The taste of her eager mouth.

The smell of her arousal in my nose.

The feel of her breasts in my hands.

The wild abandon on her face when she came.

Despite all the sexual reminders, there were also the ones of her kindness. Her acceptance of my scars. Her nervous rambling coupled with the conviction of her character.

I couldn’t remember any woman having as much affect on me. In the short amount of time we were together, Isla made me desire something I hadn’t in years.

A relationship.

But I’m sure I’d managed to fuck that up considering the way I’d left things between us. I’d acted like an utter and complete bastard to her. There had been so many things I wanted to say to her at that moment, but instead, I’d only shut down.

It was like my mind had short-circuited the moment Kellan appeared to demand I come with him. I couldn’t process anything in that moment except the fear of whatever had led Callum to seek our help. I went straight into enforcer mode, and there was no place for any feelings for Isla.

As Conleth refilled my whiskey, he brought me out of my thoughts. Trying not to sound like Isla was anything more than a dancer, I replied, “She’s a new piece of ass. Of course, she’s popular,” I said.

“I’d wager she stays popular for quite awhile.”

The whiskey burned harsher down my throat. “What makes you say that?”

When a lascivious grin stretched across his face, I fought the urge to knock it off his face. “With her innocence coupled with those tits and that ass, she’s going to be raking in the dough for the club.”

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