Page 36 of Dangerous Vengeance

“Shit, hold on,” I gasp as I swerve around a garbage truck. Its flashing lights alert me to its presence and nearly side swipe it as I dart around the back end. The driver’s side mirror on Matty’s car smashes into the bumper and I keep going, tearing the thing from the side of his car. Things are replaceable though, and lives aren’t, so I don’t even bother stopping.

We’re only a few blocks from Dominic’s house when Matty starts to cough and grunt. Blood splatters everywhere, soaking my sleeve, dousing the shifter and radio. He jerks and doubles over as I reel around a corner and pull into the community. Dominic’s gate is open, and I am so blinded by tears I scrape the side of the car along it as I pull into his driveway, squealing to a halt near the front door.

Before I can even put the car in park there are three large men running up to the car. Two of them go to the passenger side and yank the door open and the third opens the driver’s side door. He reaches across me and puts the car in park and then yanks me out by my bicep. I screech and wail, fighting him with my fists, but I am for all intents and purposes defenseless. This guy is three times my size.

“Let me go, you sick bastard.”

He grabs me by the hair and drags me around the front of the car and I see Matty being extracted from his seat. He coughs hard and more blood oozes from his mouth. “Matty, oh my God, please. Someone help him. Please.” I sob and reach for him but the behemoth holding me back is relentless.

“Get him on the gurney,” a stout, balding man orders. He wears a white lab coat and has a black medical bag. He seems confident and I am a mess. I drop to my knees and sob harder.

“Oh god, please… Please, God let him live.” I wipe my face and reach for Matty again and someone smacks my hands down. I yelp and hug my hands to my chest, but my heart is exploding with fear. I can’t lose him.

“Take her around back,” a man orders and I look up to see Dominic Gusev jogging down the stairs. He wears all black, and his eyes have the look of death in them. He’s ordered them to kill me more than once before and I fear my end is now.

“No…” Matty’s voice comes out in a hoarse squeak. “Do not touch… a hair… on her head…” He’s struggling to speak, and every word pushes more blood out of his mouth and nose.

“You heard me!” Dominic screams and the man holding me pulls me by the hair until I’m forced to stand.

“Fuck, ouch! Please, I need to be with him. Ow!” I push the man’s chest and he doesn’t budge.

“Dom, no.” Another man steps in. I recognize him as one of the brothers, but I don’t know which one. “If he doesn’t make it, that’s his last request, man. We have to honor that.” He places a firm hand on Dominic’s chest as Matty is wheeled away by the men who dragged him out of the car and the man in the white lab coat. Blood pools on the ground next to the car and drips from the gurney as it is hefted up the stairs into the front of Dominic’s home.

Dominic glares at me and I watch his nostrils flare. Something tells me if it was up to him alone, I’d be dead in his driveway now. But it’s not and I see that because of the man restraining him. They have a tense standoff without any words, then Dominic shakes his head and looks at me. “Lock her in the blue room,” he says, and then he turns and follows Matty into the house.

The man who defended me gives me a look of hatred and then turns and goes too. He probably would have killed me too if not for Matty’s request, which I hope is enough for them to never kill me. I weep as I am led into the home, following the blood trail, and then I’m shoved into a room down a narrow hallway. They push me so hard I stumble several feet before stumbling and falling to my knees.

“Ow,” I yelp, and I wince with pain as I sit there crying. Matty is dying, and it’s all my fault. I led him right to his death. My god, I’m as bad as this entire organization. It happened to my uncle, and now it’s happening to him. The only difference is that this time I saw the man responsible, and I know it was an Italian to blame.

I don’t even waste time getting into the bed to cry. I curl up on the light blue carpet and lean against the floral bedspread that drapes over the side of the bed. It’s really true what they say. You don’t know what you have until it’s gone, and Matty is that thing. I can’t lose him. He understands me and he, for whatever ridiculous reason, cares enough about me to stand up to his family and to take a bullet for me.

I cry, for Matty, for my heart, for Hal, and for the overwhelming need to be with the man I love, whom I am not afraid to admit to loving. I cry until my stomach cramps and my eyes run out of tears and then I feel drained. I lie on the carpet staring at the dark wainscotting, wishing I’d have just stayed with Matty, that I wouldn’t have run away to find Hal’s killer on my own. We’d both be safe in his home right now if I had.

The doorknob clicks and opens slowly. I have no concept of time. No way of knowing how long I’ve been lying on the carpet sobbing. I feel angry and hungry and tired. The sun streaming in the window tells me it’s still daytime, maybe late afternoon, but again, I can’t possibly determine that from where I lie.

“Natalie?” a woman’s voice calls, and I sit up. She steps into the room with a glass of water and a smile. She’s pretty, dressed in white flats, a pair of light-yellow slacks and a white silk shirt. She must have not gotten the memo that white after Labor Day is a fashion faux pas, but given who she’s involved with, I don’t think she’d care anyway. “There you are….”

I wipe my face, certain that I look hideous and curl my knees to my chest. Hugging my legs, I watch her walk in and set the glass of water on the bedside table. The woman isn’t shy, sitting right next to me on the floor. Her clothes are expensive, maybe even couture. She shouldn’t be sitting on the floor.

“Who are you?”

“My name is Nanette. You can call me Nan. I’m married to Dominic.” Her soft smile is kind, like her eyes. She is clearly not blood related to these animals.

“Where’s Matty? Is he okay?” I sniffle and use the back of my sleeve to rub my eyes.

“Matty is going to make it.” She reaches out and takes my hand. “I saw how upset you were. I asked Dominic if I could come in and see you. You seem to really care about him.” Her thumb brushes over the back of my hand gently and I feel like pulling away. I don’t want this kindness. I want Matty.

“Can I see him? I mean, how is he doing?” I pull my hand away, not rudely, but physical touch isn’t my thing. This whole thing isn’t my thing. I don’t want to be locked up in someone’s room and get served meals. I want Matty back, and I want to be with him. Even if he is some monster.

“Dominic has given me permission to let you come visit him for a few minutes. Matty woke up during the procedure to remove the bullet and asked for you. The vet had to put him out again and finish up, but he is doing okay now.” Nanette speaks slowly, as if I’m mentally challenged or something. Maybe she doesn't know who I am, so I give her the benefit of the doubt.

“Let’s go then…” I stand and she follows me, but she takes my hand again. “What’s wrong?”

“He lost a lot of blood, okay? So, he’s been sedated. He may or may not be conscious, but he did ask for you, so you’re being permitted to run.” Her lip quivers and she furrows her brow. “Natalie, I was just like you. Kept against my will and scared to death. I promise you; Dominic is a rational man and he will only do what has to be done to protect his family.” I see deep concern in her eyes.

I don’t want to die. I don’t want to turn his family in. I want to know the man I have fallen helplessly in love with is going to be okay. I nod and let her hold my hand. She offers me the water and I drink it all, thankfully. Then I give her the empty glass and she leads me out into the hallway.

The house is massive, much larger than Matty’s house. As we pass through the entry I look up and see two stories above us and a large rotunda painted in the fashion of an old cathedral. She takes me across the round foyer and into a dark hallway. The room smells like bleach and the floors look clean, as if they were just mopped to remove the traces of Matty’s blood.

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