Page 22 of Reign of Commotion

“Go get Milana,” Alessio tells me.“Take her aboard.Nero and I will wait here, but as soon as Barry’s ready to spill, we want to be there to get it firsthand.”

Milana has her head out the window and is waiting for my signal, so as soon as I give it, she tears out of the car and races over to me.She pauses long enough to thank Nero for being so kind as to bring Barry down and then is up in the plane in a flash.

Barry is in his seat, Sebastian next to him.As soon as they hear us, Sebastian stops talking and says, “I think they’re here, bud.”

Tears openly stream down Barry’s cheeks when he sees Milana.“My Linny.”His voice is rough, and he’s emotional as Milana drops to her knees and rests her head in his lap, his bandaged hand rising to stroke her hair.“My Linny.My girl.”

Milana peers up at him.“I’m so sorry.This is all my fault.This never would have happened to you if I didn’t get you involved.”Her voice cracks, and soon, they’re both weeping.Sebastian slides out of his seat and comes to stand beside me.

“It fucking sucks, man,” Sebastian grits out.

Confused, I ask, “What sucks?”

“This guy cares more about this girl than her own fucking parents.”

“He lost his wife and daughter.She lost her family.Together, they made a family of their own,” I surmise.Milana is talking gently to Barry, stroking his hand and face.He looks like shit, but the doctors did a good job cleaning him up.He looks a lot younger without the beard, and his hair is cut.“What’s the damage?”I ask.

“Fifteen stitches in his head,” Sebastian informs me.“Ten on his cheek.Luckily, they didn’t break his jaw.Two broken ribs, sprained ankle, and broken arm.He had some internal bleeding.The doctor got to that right away.He wouldn’t eat anything, thinking we were trying to poison him.He has to eat.”

“Got any of that cup o’ soup on this lavish plane of yours?”I tease.

He grins and goes to get me some.I wait for Sebastian to hand me the soup before approaching the loving reunion between Milana and Barry.

“Hey, Barry, remember me?”I ask.

“Jules.You took care of Milana.You’re keeping her safe.You need to keep her away from them.”He’s anxious, and his voice rises.

“I’m taking care of that, but I’m going to need your help.”I take the vacant seat beside him.“But first, I hear you’re not eating.That’s not cool.My friends, they did a lot to get you to Linny, and we need to get you feeling tip-top again.”I put the soup in his hand.“Can you drink this for me?”

Barry looks suspiciously into the cup.I take it back and take a sip.Milana takes it from me and does the same.

“Mmm, it’s good.Try it,” she urges.She carefully puts it back in his hands, and he drinks it up.“Barry, I know this has been hard for you, but I really need you to tell me what happened in my apartment.Do you remember?”

He sucks back every last drop and nods.“Big guys.They were making a mess.I tried to stop them.”

I interrupt.“I’m going to get you more of this.Then I’m going to call back my friends and my boss.He wants to help you and Linny.If he knows, we can work harder to take care of her.”

Barry gets really agitated.“Those men wanted to hurt Linny.Don’t let them find her!”he shouts.I see the fear in Milana’s eyes.They know who she is, and they’re after her.

“Calm down.”I lower my tone, putting a hand on his shoulder.“We have a plan, and you can help.You can do that for Linny, right?”

Barry looks directly into my eyes when he responds.“I would do anything for my Linny.”

“She’s our Linny, bud.We both take care of her,” I tell him.He lets out a heavy breath and closes his eyes.“I’m getting you more food and calling my friends.We can get this done, and then we’re going to take you to my home.You can rest, and we can talk more later.”

Sebastian has been listening and is already warming up more soup while I give the sign for Alessio and Nero to come on board.

Barry looks apprehensive when he sees Alessio and Nero approach.“Barry, these men are my friends.Honest, bud, I wouldn’t lie to you.This is Alessio Cassini, and you’ve already met Nero Moretti.They’re good men who care about our Linny.We can’t stop these guys who are after her without you.”I plead with his sensitive side and his love for Milana.

“I told them to stop, but they wouldn’t,” Barry says.

“Start at the beginning,” Milana says.“One step at a time.Did you hear them in my apartment?”

“Okay.Okay, yeah.I heard them throwing stuff.Crashing and banging!And when I got there, I saw they were breaking stuff.I told them they had to stop and told them it wasn’t their house.Get out!That’s what I told them,” Barry says emphatically.“They were looking for Linny.They said Anton would pay me if I told them where you were.”Barry looks down at Milana, who still hasn’t moved by his feet.“I would never tell them.They could kill me.I would never tell them.”He touches her cheek when she begins to sob.

Alessio says, “He said Anton would pay?Did they say anything else?”

“They said Linny did a bad thing and had to pay.The bigger one said it was her fault his friends were dead.”Barry points his finger at me and says in a really bad Russian accent.“‘They all gotta pay.Italians got to pay.’That’s what he said.Then they started beating on me.It hurt so much, but I didn’t say a word.Nothing.When I didn’t move no more, they went back to breaking shit.The shorter one called Anton and said Linny was gone.”

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