Page 58 of Cassio (Belles & Mobsters 3)

“Bianca told Grace, Grace told Luciano and guess what… the bastard told me and almost pissed himself laughing. He had a bet going among everyone whether Bianca would kill you first or Luca.”

“Fucker,” Nico muttered. “Well, he lost.”

“There is still time,” Luca chimed in. “I might give her a tempting offer and we’ll do it together.”

Nico flipped his middle finger. Luca loved to taunt the man.

“Our sister took the news about birth control pills well, huh?” I returned to the topic.

Nico poured himself another drink. “Not exactly,” he said. “She threw a bit of glassware my way. And threatened to cut my balls off. Oh, and let’s not forget she locked me out of our bedroom too. It took me seven days of groveling for her to say two words to me.” I chuckled. I could see Bianca do it all. She had a temper. “And want to guess what they were?” he asked in a dry tone.

“Fuck off?” Luca guessed.

“You are enjoying this too much, fucker,” Nico snickered. “I’ll enjoy the show when it’s your turn.”

I glanced at Luca. My gut feeling was telling me it might be sooner rather than later.

ChapterNineteen

ÁINE

Iwoke up with the jolt, my heart thundering hard in my chest. My eyes frantically drifted through the dark space, over unfamiliar furniture. The heavy silence stretched, making the darkness feel ominous. I swallowed hard, staring ahead with the stillness that carried on for a heartbeat or hundreds of those, I didn’t know. My rapid breathing and pulse beating in my ears were the only sounds I could make out.

My skin felt clammy, the beat of my heart painful in my chest. The darkness slowly receded and realization set.

Hotel.

I was in a hotel in Russia. We completed a mission but the plane couldn’t get us out until tomorrow. We rescued a group of young boys and got them out of a hellhole. Before we could get them on the plane that would take them to safety, the winds picked up and the flights were grounded. So we’d booked twenty hotel rooms in the middle of nowhere. We paid the receptionist a hefty amount to disappear for twenty minutes and got them all in. God, those boys! Most of them were skinny as a rail, ranging in ages from eight to seventeen. They were all in bad shape, beaten black and blue. It would seem innocents came in all shapes, sizes, and genders.

My heart slowed down to a reasonable pace by now, and I laid back down against the soft mattress. Usually when we rescued the victims, it was either me or Margaret staying with them. But then they were, more often than not, women we were saving. This time, the boys felt more comfortable with the men, so John and another one of our guys remained watching them. Tomorrow, we would get them out of here and place them in a safe house in the U.K.

It was April but the weather in this country was colder. Or maybe it wasn’t in the normal parts of Russia. All I knew was that Siberia was fucking too cold for April. And those boys barely had any clothes on, their skin cracked, almost raw looking. William, one of our other men from The Rose Rescue, and I went to buy clothes, while John and Pilot, who also had medical training, remained to guard the kids and help them get cleaned up.

I pulled the covers over my body tighter, trying to preserve the heat, while I stared at the ceiling. There was a single spot on it darker than the rest of the ceiling, but it was too dark to distinguish what it was. And I was too exhausted to get up and turn the lights on.

Get some rest, my mind whispered.

I tried to shut my mind off, force myself to clear it of any thoughts and images. I’ve had too many nightmares lately and exhaustion has settled deep in my bones. If things kept going like this, I’d be no good to the team. And in a disturbing way, I needed this. This revenge against every man that scarred innocent women and men for life. The nightmares had me in the center of it all and though I didn’t understand them, they pushed me forward. To make things right.

I wished Margaret was here. It usually took her a solid week to adjust to a time zone change. She’d be awake right now and I could ramble to her. She’d listen to my disjointed nonsense. She might even scoff and call me a martyr or crazy. That’d be okay - as long as I could talk. But she wasn’t feeling well so she stayed behind. Wanting to check the time, I shifted my head to the right, the crinkly noise of the pillow fabric loud in the dark room. Too loud. Too dark. Too lonely.

It was 3:57 A.M.

My lungs tightened. It would be another long night. Another long day. God, I wished the dreams would just stop. Let me rest. Just one night.

Screams were so damn loud in the dreams, they’d wake up the dead.I wonder if I’ll hear them when I die, I thought darkly, because at this rate it wouldn't be long. Each time I dreamt, the pain swelled in my chest and my heart froze in cold fear. Maybe the latter piece would be gone when I finally go to that final resting place.

“Say one word.”The words were always the same. “You can save them. Just say a word.”

I never uttered a single word. I screamed in my head, begged in my head. But I never said it.Why does it hurt to breathe?I pressed my palm against my chest, rubbing the dull pain away. Those were some fucked up dreams. I should be dreaming about rainbows, ponies, designing the most magnificent building. Not this fucked up shit.

I turned to my side, the shuffling duvet making a rustling noise. My eyes glanced at the clock again.

Damn it. It was only 4:30 A.M.

I could work on my building drawings, but I’d be straining my eyes too much and I’d end up with a headache. I didn’t have a proper table nor lighting and my eyes already burned from exhaustion.

I reached out for my phone, sitting on the nightstand. It was afternoon back in New York, maybe Hunter messaged. We’ve texted a lot over the last few weeks. Each time I got a message from him, my stomach would do somersaults and my heart would flutter with excitement. Yes, it was stupid I got all giddy at the notion of a man’s message. Sliding it open, an unread message waited for me. It was from Hunter and my heart skipped a beat.

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