Page 191 of Syndicate of Sin Bundle

“Please, stop!” a woman cried from down the hall. “Stop! Please, don’t hurt her!”

Feet moving faster than my mind, I sprinted down the hallway toward the plea for help. It had taken us two hours to track down the SUV that had been hanging out near The Syndicate, using street cameras around the city with the aid of a dirty cop.

Two hours where my girls had had to endure torture.

A single guard stood at the door to what looked like a basement. Adrenaline kicked in when Laila screamed at the top of her lungs for them to stop torturing Sage. I shot three bullets into the man’s skull, then sprinted down the stairs.

One man grabbed Laila, the other Sage, who had a wet cloth covering her face. She coughed, her neck red, which looked to be from a lack of oxygen. With Pietro behind me, I lunged forward, shooting the man who held Laila straight in the head.

Then, I tossed my gun because I didn’t have any bullets left and finished the other guy off with my fists until he was knocked out cold on the floor. My hands were covered in blood. My girls were still restrained.

“They’re not cops,” I growled. “Men from another family.” I snagged him by the hair and hurled him across the room to my brother’s feet. “Take him to the house and interrogate him. I want to know everything the girls told him and everything he has spoken to the FBI about.”

Pietro yanked him up by the throat and dragged him out of the room and through the back to our cars. Other guards walked into the room, picking up the mess that we had been forced to make by killing those fucking bastards.

“What about her, boss?” Riccardo asked, looking over at Sage’s friend.

“Pay her to keep her mouth shut,” I said through gritted teeth. “And get her out of here.”

“Come on,” Riccardo said, picking her up off the concrete. “You’re coming with me.”

Once they disappeared, I walked over to Laila, who was a snotting and bleeding mess. After I pulled her restraints off her, she grabbed her stomach and sat up, wincing from the pain that I could only imagine she was in right now.

“We’re bringing you to Dr. Lin.”

“No.” She pushed me away. “Make sure Sage is okay first.”

“Laila, you have multiple open wounds.”

“Constantino,” she snapped, “take care of Sage. I’ll be fine.”

While I didn’t want my wife to be in any more pain than she already was in, I hurried over to Sage and helped her out of her restraints. She cried hysterically, grasping on to me tightly and sobbing into my shoulder.

I took her in my arms and brought her out into the car. Then, I walked back into the basement to find Laila stumbling to the door. I whisked her off her feet.

“No walking for you,” I murmured against her lips. “You’re mine to take care of now.”

71

laila

“I want them both tested for drugs in their system,” Constantino ordered Dr. Lin.

I walked with Sage into the doctor’s office that I had been to about a million times while Constantino and I were attempting to get pregnant. Dr. Lin had been paid off many times over to keep her mouth shut about all the business we did.

She was in the business of money, and we had more than enough of it.

Holding my stomach, I sat in one of the rooms and lay back in the bed. Bruises and wounds covered my body. Constantino helped me out of my shirt so a couple of her assistants could stitch up my wounds.

It hurt. Badly.

But I wanted to be strong for Sage. I wanted to prove myself to her. These past few days had been a complete mess for her, and I didn’t want her to leave because of it. We would get through this, like Constantino had told me.

Once my wounds were closed, the assistant gave me a small plastic bottle with a label that had my name written across it in black Sharpie.

“We need a sample of your urine. Do you need help getting to the restroom?”

I slid off the bed and stumbled toward the restroom. “No.”

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