Page 38 of Wild Card

“I’m here with another message.” D. E. “For my father.” L. U. “If he doesn’t pay my ransom by Friday.” C. A. “My captor is going to kill me. I just wanted to say thank you for…”

Lorenzo moves in frame. What is he doing?

“Don’t think I won’t do it, Carney. Send me the fucking money or she’s dead!”

I gape, wide-eyed. Gio seems just as shocked. Lorenzo turns to me with an expression of pure hatred. As if to drive the point home, he smashes his fist hard into my stomach, and I double over, gasping for breath. He pulls me up by my hair before Gio stops him, grabbing his wrist and snapping it back until the man cries out in pain, releasing me. I curl into a ball as the two men fight. Gio had dropped my phone when Lorenzo hit me, and I track it to where it skidded across the dirty floor.

My insides are on fire. Yesterday I’d finally felt stronger, and now I’m laid out again as sharp stabs of agony shred through my gut.

“You son of a bitch!” Gio snarls, his elbow against his uncle’s throat. “I told you not to fucking touch her.”

I force myself to breathe slowly, choking on a bit of blood that’s come up. I inch toward my phone. Lorenzo has been posting these videos through VPN but I don’t need to go that route. If I get this out now, it’ll give Callan all the information he needs, including Lorenzo’s face and name, in a neat if horrifying package. Wheezing, I pick up the phone and upload the video as quickly as possible while Gio and Lorenzo are distracted.

It just finishes processing when Lorenzo manages to free himself from Gio’s grasp, careening over to where I am. Gio overtakes him in seconds.

“Give me the phone,” Lorenzo growls, prying it out of my hand. “Don’t make me kick you.”

Gio grabs his uncle by the throat again and slams his fist into his face, throwing him to the ground. The impact knocks the phone out of Lorenzo’s hand and the screen shatters into a million pieces.

“You don’t threaten her!” He screams, driving his shin into his uncle’s ribs with a sickening crack. The older man shrieks in pain, but Gio doesn’t let up, grabbing him by the hair and yanking him to his feet. He turns him to face me, his forearm shoved against his throat.

“Apologize to her,” Gio snarls. “Or I’ll fucking kill you right now, Lorenzo. I’m done with you.”

“I got your mother into heaven!” He wheezes.

I’m curious about what that means, but I’m in too much pain to pursue that thought.

“And I’ll see you in hell if you don’t apologize to her.”

Gio’s rage is terrifying, but even now I realize he has it at least partially under control, trying in some twisted way to do right by me. But I don’t care about an apology. If Gio won’t get me out of this attic, I’d rather they both just leave me the hell alone so I can process this new pain.

“Mama’s going to hear,” Lorenzo manages.

“I’m the one trying to save her life,” Gio snarls, tightening his grip. “She’s the only reason you’re still alive, but I’ve got my limits, Lorenzo. Apologize. Now.”

“Sorry,” he says, finally.

“You can do better.” Gio’s voice drips with vitriol.

Lorenzo’s face turns red as his oxygen supply gets cut off. I’m sure he isn’t thinking at all about how it felt for me when he kept me from breathing.

“I’m sorry I hurt you, Miss Carney. It was wrong. I shouldn’t have lost my temper. I apologize.”

Gio releases him, and he drops to the ground by my phone. He picks the pieces up. It’s not exactly usable, but someone with the right tools could still download information from it. Maybe he thinks he can access the video still. Doesn’t know I already beat him to the punch, so to speak.

“I’d better hold onto this,” he says. His face is a bloody mess, and I bet he’s missing a few teeth now, but I don’t miss the disgusted look he shoots at Gio before he scuttles away like the spineless shit he is.

Gio’s handsome face peers into mine as he scans me for injuries, but I feel nothing but anger in this moment. Anger and pain. It’s hard to remember a time before the pain.

He kneels next to me, one hand stroking my back.

“I’m so sorry, Catriona. Can you breathe okay?”

I ignore him and concentrate on doing just that.

Fuck him. I hope my brother finds him and his loser uncle.

“Catriona, can you answer me?”

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