Page 49 of Cassio (Belles & Mobsters 3)

“Anyhow, tell me what is going on?” I questioned her. “And where do we need to be in forty minutes?”

“At the airport,” she muttered, an incredulous expression still on her face. “John and the crew are picking us up on the way to the Mexican border. There is a shipment coming through Arizona and we are right here.”

Tension crept up my spine and into my shoulders. Would the shipments of women ever cease? It would be nice if it could all end, and the world was rid of men that thought they could profit off the pain of others. The dark part of me made me want to collect all those men and dish out pain they bestowed on others. Days, weeks, months of torture until they succumbed to feeling nothing but void and a dark hole where only pain existed. See how the motherfuckers liked that.

Forty minutes later, both Margaret and I climbed up the stairs to the private jet, showered and geared up. Most importantly, caffeinated.

“Why won’t you tell me?” she whined as we entered the cabin. The private jet was owned by The Rose Rescue and had no markings. It was the way I preferred it. Blending in. When my father ran the organization, he had his logo blasted all over the place. I wouldn’t repeat the same mistake. As far as anyone was concerned, we were some thrill seeking idiots traveling incognito. “I tell you everything,” she grumbled.

“Where did you disappear to last night?” I asked her.

An attractive blush crept up her neck and into her cheeks. When I blushed, I looked like a blotched tomato. Margaret looked just cute.

“I asked first,” she objected, avoiding my eyes.

Gotcha ya!I thought smugly.

“I’ll tell you when you tell me,” I told her as I sat down in my seat.

A small protest came through her lips and her eye roll followed. “Any other time I would,” she grunted.

I shrugged. I never usually asked with whom she hooked up. She spilled it before I could even think to ask the question. But today, she was tight lipped. Whoever it was, she did not want him known.

“Okay you two,” John grumbled. “Are we going to talk about wild nights and boyfriend bullshit or will we talk business?”

Margaret and I shared a glance, rolling our eyes. “Business,” we answered in unison.

ChapterSeventeen

CASSIO

“Do you ever sleep, brother?” Luca grumbled as I woke him up. I charged into his bedroom a minute ago and gave him five minutes to get ready. I sat on the couch, giving him time to get his training gear on.

“We slept plenty,” I told him, slightly agitated. Okay, maybe more than just slightly. The frustration burned beneath my skin. Nico would have a field day if he saw me. Or even worse Luciano. They’d laugh their asses off. Until I beat them senseless.

Áine had snuck out of my room after our night together and disappeared. Fucking disappeared! Nobody had seen her all day yesterday. And last night was agonizing without her. One night! It was all it took for me to get hooked. I couldn’t get enough of her. The empty space in my chest would forever be filled with her.

The memories from eleven years ago flashed in my mind. The girl had grown into a woman. She was mine; she just didn’t know it yet. I sensed the invisible scars she carried around. I wasn’t even sure whether she knew herself how deep they ran.

Fuck!

I was a light sleeper. Years of attempts on my life forced me to sleep with one eye open. How in the hell did she leave my room without me ever stirring? I worried about her, whether she was okay after everything we did. I sensed her tense at certain moments and I ensured to give her a chance to stop me. What if I missed a sign?

Be a man worth loving, my mother’s words echoed in my brain.

Not like Benito! I fucking hated any resemblance to my father. I took a deep breath in, reining in my emotions. Instinctively, I knew Áine trusted me. She melted into my embrace, and as we kissed, my entire world faded out. All the blood on my hands, past sins of my father… all gone, leaving me alone with the woman I was born to be with.

“What is up your ass?” Luca muttered.

I shook my head, pausing my train of thoughts. “Let’s put in our miles before we catch the plane,” I grunted as I scanned through all the reports from our European businesses and routes, waiting for him.

I’d much rather dedicate myself to a different kind of exercise but this would have to do since my woman vanished on me.

It was important we stayed in shape. Yes, we had men to fight for us, but it didn’t mean I’d let myself get weak. Or that they would fight all our battles. When it came down to it, Luca and I could defend ourselves and not depend on someone else. We were nothing like Marco who hid behind his guards, 24/7. They even kept watch while he slept or tortured innocent women. It made me sick to my stomach.

Ten minutes later, I pressed the button waiting for the elevator. Each time I stepped into the lift now, it reminded me of Áine from two nights ago and her panic attacks. According to the receptionist, they would be leaving today. So would we. With the warehouse leveled and kidnapped women nowhere to be found, we had to get back to New York and to our businesses. I had a team of men looking for any trace of those women, yet they came up empty. Like they vanished without a trace, and I worried they were inside that building when it exploded.

More death on my hands, I thought wryly.

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