Page 85 of Stolen Mafia Vows
Even in my fear-induced stupor, I know enough about guard dogs to know that I can’t outrun them. So, I do the next best thing. I sprint to the nearest tree and climb.
I haven’t climbed a tree since I was ten years old, but apparently, it’s a skill that you never forget. Stepping onto the lowest branches that will support my weight, I haul myself upwards, the barking growing closer. Too close.
Peering up to the treetop, I reach for the branches above my head, planning my footholds, as the leader of the pack hurls himself against the bottom of the tree. My stomach twists with the feral snarling and barking from the rest of the pack. My limbs are shaking uncontrollably.
I pull myself upward, but I’m a beat too slow. Pain rips through my ankle and I feel my sneaker being dragged from my foot, but I don’t stop. I can’t stop.
I’ve no idea how high I climb, or what’s going on down below me. All I can think about is the wetness dripping down my ankle, and the dogs launching their bodies against the tree as they try to reach me.
Then I hear a whistle, and I hug the trunk, the bark scratching my tear-soaked face, my lips forming silent words: “It’s alright. I’m safe. They can’t hurt me now.”
18
EOGHAN
I keep myself busy.It was my idea to set the stage for the ‘war’ between the Murrays and the Byrnes, to demonstrate to the bratva that their plan worked. They have Emily, and a satisfied bratva will make kinder captors than a frustrated pakhan looking for another way to get results.
But I feel like I’m living inside an underwater tank, the rest of the world muffled by the water separating me from them. And Emily is out there too.
To earn the Murray family’s trust, I must first place my trust in them. So, I’m staying at a safehouse somewhere inside the city, arranged by Terry before we touched down in New York. I was brought here blindfolded and instructed to wait.
Wait for the war to begin.
Wait for the bratva to issue their demands for Emily’s release.
Wait for the Murrays to decide the time is right to rescue my wife.
My life in their hands. My father would never forgive me if he knew that I was at the mercy of our rivals, by choice, and not plotting my revenge as he believes. But I have no regrets. I would do it all again for Emily.
And besides, I’m not so trusting that I don’t have a plan of my own.
While I was enjoying Terry Keegan’s hospitality on his private jet, my Uncle Donal was flying to the States with a fake passport and his son Liam. It’s obvious that the safehouse is being watched by the Murrays, but we’ve been in communication since he arrived, and he has been drip-feeding me information regarding the Murray set-up.
I know that Caleb owns the Wraith hotel resort and casino, that he is married to Victoria, and they have a baby daughter named Holly. Caleb is the protector. While Terry and his twin brothers, Cash and Bash, are officially the enforcers, Caleb was a father figure to his younger brothers until his mom Moira met and married Terry, and the role appears to have stuck.
Cassius Murray, known as Cash, owns the Titan, a colossal casino resort on the outskirts of the city. He was indicted once for murder, but the charges were dropped due to insufficient evidence. The Titan is a façade for the money laundering and drug dealing side of the family business. Bastien Murray, or Bash to his friends, owns another hotel aptly called the Rinse.
So, I know what I’m dealing with here. The problem is that I don’t knowwhoI’m dealing with other than the snippets of information I managed to glean from Emily. Which is why I’m trusting Terry to keep his word.
Meanwhile, I take full advantage of the gym set up in the safehouse. I hit the punching bag until my knuckles are throbbing, aiming each blow at the mental image of IlyaKuzmin, the man who abducted my woman. I imagine his teeth crunching with each blow, his jaw cracking, his head whipping back and forth with the force of my anger.
“No one … touches Emily … and gets away with it,” I manage between blows.
My shoulders are tight. Every fiber of my being has been wound like a coiled spring since Emily drove away from me, and although this affords me some release, I won’t fully unwind until she is back in my arms. I had one job: keep her safe. And I fell at the first hurdle.
It’s no wonder that her family has zero faith in me.
When I’ve finished mentally battering Emily’s abductor, I let off steam on her brothers and Terry Keegan. If they hadn’t lied to her, if they’d equipped her with the knowledge that she needed to protect herself, this would never have happened. She’d have come to me with her eyes wide open and recognized me and my family for what we are.
Finally, I steady the punchbag and place myself in the firing line.
Breathing heavily, sweat dripping from my face and down my back, I whack the bag with my fist. “That’s for not telling her who I am when we first met.”
A second blow. “That’s for not telling her that our families were rivals.”
Once I begin, the secrets and the mistakes keep right on coming.
For not speaking to her family myself.
