Page 43 of Knocked up by the Mafia

He turns and stands beside the door, and I shut it. I wait patiently. I know Russo. I studied his family for months to intercept that damn deal. I know precisely the type of places they would use to hide Daniel. I studied the families aligned with them. I know I can save Daniel if I’m given the chance.

There’s a cache of weapons at Ana’s house next door. I just need to get there, and I’m good as gold. If I lose my guard, I can cross into Ana’s house without suspicion. Hopefully, her guards won’t know I’m not supposed to go anywhere.

I step into the shower and close the curtain. I kneel down and call out, “Help! Help, I’ve slipped.”

The guard opens the door and hurries in. “Ma’am, are you okay?”

“Please just help me up. I’m covered with a towel.”

He opens the curtain, and I grab his shirt and pull him forward, knocking his head against the wall behind me and letting his body slump to the floor.

I climb out and hurry out, shutting the door behind me. I exit through the kitchen door; that way, I don’t pass Ivan’s office, and he can’t see me. I walk calmly toward Ana’s house, and one guard crosses toward me.

“Ma’am, where are you going?” he asks, holding up a hand.

“I’m going to discuss my pregnancy problems with my niece, you imbecile.” I cock my head to the side. “Obviously, I’m heading to her house.”

He steps aside. “Sorry.”

“You better be,” I say as I walk past.

I remain calm as I cross into her yard and then go toward the back shed where I hide weapons. Ana knows I keep them there, so seeing me get them wouldn’t be surprising.

Once I’ve packed a duffel bag with everything I need, I grab a burner phone and sneak into her garage. I take a set of keys off the hooks near the door and get into Luigi’s BMW.

Sorry kid, I need to travel fast.

Chapter 25 - Daniel

My body is aching, and not only from hanging off the meat hook—let's not discuss the fact that I’ve lost feeling in my hands. No, they’ve beaten and burnt me, and I’m almost sure they’ve bruised my ribs, and it doesn’t look like they are done.

In between tortures, Russo inspected the wounds inflicted on me. He’s already put two cigars out against my skin, with a smile, of course.

But he’s mostly been quiet.

His phone rings, and he walks away to answer it. I hear him talking in Italian quickly, but I can’t catch what he’s saying because his guard punches me in the abdomen, they seem to favor hitting there.

They step back as Russo rejoins us. He smiles brightly and steps in front of me.

“Shame, Mr. Quinn. Your older brother was badly injured in an unexpected bomb blast this afternoon. They’ve had to rush him to surgery, and my sources say that when he arrived, it wasn’t looking good. They said some rubble from that little bar of his fell on top of him. I wonder if he’s going to make it. What do you think? I mean your family won’t last long without him, or you. That Robbie kid, he’s crazy. Is it true he collects ears?”

I look at him. “I’m going to cut off one of yours.” I spit blood onto the floor at his feet. I hope I hit his shoes. “And I’m going to give it to him as a gift.”

Russo stands straight and laughs. “I’m afraid you’re at a bit of a disadvantage, my friend. You see, you’ll be tortured until I finally get a cry from you. Then I’m going to kill you. I might make it swift.” He looks at his men. “If Ronan does make it, I want him to hear how I defeated his brother. Maybe we should make a recording of this and send it to him in the post like the good old days. After all, you so desperately wanted to send me a message with Valentino’s cut-up body.”

“You better hope Ronan survives, and I don’t.” I look at him through my right eye; it hasn’t swollen shut like my left. “Because he’s the reasonable one. If I survive and he doesn’t, I’m going to hunt down every single person related to you, no matter how far apart, and I’m going to kill them, cut them up and force you to eat them. You won’t be able to hide from me. I am everywhere.”

I see a hint of fear in his eyes, but he quickly recovers, trying to pretend he doesn’t care.

“I’ll keep that in mind,” he says. He’s inches from my face, and I’m tempted to head but him, but I’m in too much pain to lift my head back and forward fast enough. I watch as he pats my cheek.

We both look up at the door when we hear shouting outside. I wonder if it’s Robbie and Jarryd, hopefully with backup. My brothers are crazy enough to do a rescue, but are they smart enough to track me down? I’m hesitant.

Russo barks orders in Italian to his guards, and they hurry off. He looks at me. “Are you hopeful it’s someone coming to save you, Mr. Quinn? Because I assure you they will meet the same inevitable fate as you.”

As the guards are about to reach the door, another guard comes running in.

This one speaks English and talks quickly. I catch there’s a woman outside demanding Russo come out. I try to lift myself, but I can’t. It has to be Natalia, and I need to protect her.

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