ALESSIO
We had tracked down the Russians to this warehouse through a combination of hacking into the Russians’ cellphones and gaining illegal access to street camera footage. My youngest brother, Danio, was a computer genius and could get us access to all sorts of things.
If Ovidio Russo was indeed siphoning off some of our drugs and selling them to the Bratva, he deserved to be left to be tortured to death by them. However, we needed to find out the extent of his dealings with the Russians and what his daughter’s involvement was—then we could decide their fates.
Marco and I had come to the warehouse with our soldiers. The Bratva were a tough opponent; however, we had the element of surprise on them.
After getting past the Russian soldiers on the ground floor of the warehouse, there was no sign of Ovidio or his daughter.
I turned to our men. “Split into two. Half search the top floor and the other half search the basement level.”
Marco went with some soldiers to the top level while I headed with the remainder of our soldiers to the basement level.
I held my weapon close to my body as I made my way down the steps to the basement, checking my surroundings for any more of the enemy. My gaze immediately caught sight of the still figure lying at the foot of the stairs.
It was Ovidio’s daughter—the girl that was likely involved with him in his betrayal.
I heard noises coming from somewhere in the basement. I signaled to my soldiers to carry on toward where the noise had come from while I stayed to check the girl. She was lying on her back with her head turned to one side, her hair covering her face.
I knelt down beside her and smoothed her auburn hair back from her face. I could see the rise and fall of her chest—she was still alive.
The thin nightgown and robe on her body were torn, and her skin was cold to my touch. I checked her over for broken bones. There were no obvious breaks as I ran my hand over the soft contours of her body.
I heard a low moan and as her body stirred, her torn nightgown fell open, exposing her full breast and a rosy pink nipple that had hardened in the cold, dank atmosphere of the basement.
Her eyes fluttered open, revealing exquisite hazel eyes that were an alluring combination of green and amber. When she saw me, her eyes widened with panic. “D-don’t touch me,” she cried, trying to push my hands away. She forced the words out, even in her weak state.
“It’s okay, we’ve got you now.” I watched the frown on her forehead smooth out in relief.
She thought I was her savior. She didn’t realize that we knew what her father had been up to and her likely involvement.
I saw one of our soldiers heading back toward me. I didn’t want anyone looking at her in her semi-naked state. I took off my leather jacket and quickly laid it over the girl.
The soldier gave me an update. “Boss, Dmitri Petrov and a couple of his men have gotten away, but we have the remaining Russians rounded up. Ovidio is still alive although he’s been tortured and is in bad shape. Two of our men have also been injured and need medical attention.”
I nodded at him and then looked back at the girl, but she had drifted back into unconsciousness.
Marco came down the steps into the basement, and I updated him. “Ovidio and the girl are still alive, although he’s been tortured and the girl needs to see a doctor too.”
“Okay, take them back to the garage block on our estate and we’ll question them there,” responded Marco.
The garage block was not just a normal garage. It was where we took people to torture information out of them.
From the front, it looked like a normal garage and matched the modern white exterior of our mansion. Behind the cars parked in it, however, was another door leading to our interrogation rooms.
“I’ll take the girl with me,” I said, scooping her up into my arms. She felt so fragile.
I couldn’t forget, however, that she was a possible traitor. In fact, she had the perfect guise—no one would suspect a Mafia daughter of being involved in this sort of treachery.
As I wrapped my arms around her petite frame, I heard a whimper escape from her lips. I looked down at her face—she was obviously hurt and in pain.
But I knew that would make no difference to my treatment of her.
I carried her up the stairs and out of the warehouse to my SUV and laid her on the back seat before getting in beside her. I told one of my soldiers to drive the vehicle so I could stay in the back with her.
Marco would take Ovidio in his vehicle. Ovidio had been beaten badly but I felt no pity for him. It was unlikely he was innocent in this whole charade. Once we had gotten what we needed from him and his daughter, they would pay for their deception and betrayal.
As our SUV moved off, I decided to give the girl a more thorough check. I pulled out the medical kit that we kept in every vehicle, and as I felt her head for any cuts or bumps, I enjoyed the softness of her silky strands between my fingers. I noticed that she kept drifting in and out of consciousness, indicating that she might be suffering from concussion.