Page 12 of Wicked Knight 2

“Fucking Ivan. I told him to stick to the plan. If this shit goes sideways, he’ll have to answer to Papa. Does he have a death wish?” I winced.

“No offense, Boss. But this shit already went sideways.” Tore grabbed a bunch of bandages from the back and placed them under my hand. “Maybe the pretty doctor can help you.”

He wasn’t wrong. The Italians were on to us now. Trying to take Donata a second time would be almost impossible. I made to open my door, but then thought better of it. I was fucking useless right now. As I tried to focus on Tore’s words, shadows crept into my line of vision.

Blood seeping through my T-shirt pooled by my boots, right before the lights went out. The last thing I heard before I passed out again was a woman’s voice asking Ivan a bunch of questions about the dead guy in the back.

Donata Salvatore. It’s your turn to know pain.

CHAPTER5

You Die with Him

Donata

“I thought you wanted my help?” I banged on the cell door.

Omigod, I was in a real-life prison. For all I knew, I wasn’t even in the state of New York anymore. How the hell did I end up being kidnapped by the Brotherhood. I’d gotten a text to let me know the ambulance was arriving with someone who was in critical condition. When I reached the ambulance, which was parked far away from the back door of the ambulance bay, two guys jumped out and grabbed me. From what I understood, from the few words they said to me in English, they needed a doctor.

Then as soon as the ambulance pulled up to this massive place, they threw me in a cell without another word. I was starting to think there was never an actual emergency, that it was all a ruse to get me alone in the parking lot. Fuck. For the most part, I wasn’t this naive. How was I supposed to know not to trust the paramedics?

Did my family know I was missing yet? I’d been gone for at least two hours. Did Luca know?

“Luca, where are you?”

I pictured Luca’s beautiful face and held onto that thought for dear life. If I hadn’t gone insane in the past two years, it was because I could still feel his mouth on me. I could see him up on stage at Columbia, teaching. The hope that one day I would see him again kept me going all this time.

“Is anyone out there?” I kicked the door and screamed into the ether again.

This time, though, someone did hear me. “Shut it.”

“Hello, I’m Dr. Salvatore. I was told someone needed my help.” I spoke into the small opening.

If I was going to get out of this hellhole, the doctor card was my only way out. The guys on the other side of the door bickered with each other in Russian. I got the sense they were supposed to keep a low profile. Either kidnapping a doctor was frowned upon in their organization or no one was supposed to know their crew boss had been gravely injured. Didn’t that guy from the ambulance call him Papa’s favorite son?

“Hi, hello? I can help.”

In the dark, the two figures shifted their weight to look at me. “You’re coming with us.”

“To see your boss?”

“No.” The one guy unlocked the door, then grabbed me by the elbow. “Listen carefully because your life depends on it. If you try to run away, I will personally hunt you down and kill you. Understood?”

“And if I stay? Will I live?”

“That depends. Walk.” He pulled me down the corridor with long strides.

“This isn’t necessary. I’m willing to help.” I did my best to keep up. I had a decent stride but being dragged like this made it awkward to walk. “Where are you taking me?”

“You can ask all the questions you want after you tend to Maxim’s injury.”

“Maxim? Is that your boss?”

“He’s my brother.” He stopped to look at me. “If he dies, there won’t be a place where you can hide from the Brotherhood.”

I blinked to keep my terror in check. What did I do to these people? How was Maxim’s predicament my fault? They couldn’t kill me over something I had nothing to do with. God, Aunt Vittoria was right. The Brotherhood were cruel beasts. And now I was trapped here for God only knew how long?

“If he’s as bad as you say, I will need an OR. A place with proper tools to assess the damage and fix it.” I scanned the area where we were.

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