Chapter Fifty Six

Background color
Font
Font size
Line height

Luca

Silvano's warehouse was forty-nine minutes from the villa and we had spent the last fourteen minutes surveying from a nearby roof. Every minute that went by was another minute that Charlotte was hurting and I had about all I could take of that.

"It looks like the north door is the main point of entry." Marco splayed out another one of his maps, this one detailing the inside of the warehouse we were watching. I didn't know where he got this shit, but it was why he was so good at what he did. He was a tech genius and had pretty much single-handedly led us here. "These two are blocked off with machinery, and the west door is only accessible through a series of hallways. If we set up here, we should be able to block the only exit and force their hand.

"Slow down just a second." Angelo held his hand up. "We can't just go charging in there. I think we need to scout this out a little more. Or wait for Gabe's guys to get here."

"And I think we need to get in there as fast as we can and get Charlotte out." I hissed. "I'm done waiting. All I've done is wait since she was taken."

"You want to go in there guns blazing without any kind of plan? Be my guest. But don't be upset when Charlotte winds up hurt, or worse, because we went in there without any strategy and got our asses handed to us." My first instinct was fury that Angelo was questioning me and hindering things, but this was what he was good at. As much as I hated to admit it, he kept me grounded and stopped me from making some really rash decisions. He was right. It would be a bloodbath if we weren't careful.

"What's your plan, then?" I growled.

Angelo pointed to the west door. "Someone goes in through here. Scout out what we're dealing with, see if we can locate Charlotte. If we know where she is, it'll be easier to navigate once we're all inside."

"I'll go." I said immediately, strapping a gun to my leg and shoving another in the waistband of my jeans. If things went south and they caught me, they'd find the one on my waist first, giving me time to pull the other.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Carlo asked, treading carefully as I glared at him. "I'm just saying Marco knows the place backwards and forwards. He'll be more efficient inside."

"How hard is it to follow a bunch of goddamn hallways, Carlo? Do you think I'm an idiot?" I continued to prepare myself. I threw my jacket off and onto the floor of the truck, wanting to be able to move as stealthy as possible once I got inside.

Carlo shook his head. They were all worried about me doing this, but they didn't need to be. I had my head on straight and the only thing I was focused on was a successful job. I would run it the same way I would any of our other missions where one of ours was inside. It may have taken some time, but I could separate this from Charlotte now if it meant getting her to safety. I was much more valuable to her in my normal state as fearless Don than I would be if I pranced around this worried to make a wrong move.

"You'll need to be careful here." Angelo pointed out, resolving himself to the fact that I was going in with or without their permission. "This hallway leads to a bunch of rooms where she may be, but if you take the wrong turn, you'll end right in the middle of the great room and you'll definitely attract some attention then."

"We'll create a diversion on this side of the building." Marco said. "They know we're coming, so Silvano will probably send most, if not all, of his men towards the disturbance. Once he does, that will give you a small amount of time to find her. Ideally, you can get to her and get her out before they even know you're inside. We'll set up out here to snipe any of his men that come out."

Angelo handed me a wristband. "Once you find her, if you need us, push this button and it will immediately send us your location and we should be able to get there in a minute or two."

"Will that be enough time?" I asked, arching my eyebrow. If they made us, a lot of shit could go down in a minute or two..

"It'll have to be. It depends on the fight we've got on our hands at the other entrance." Angelo said solemnly. "Look, we have no idea what to expect with him, so just be careful, okay? Keep your head."

I nodded.

"Think of her as just another hostage you're saving. You can't be in there and get emotional or shit will hit the fan, Luca.. and we won't be able to..."

"I get it, alright?" I shoved my fingers through my hair. "Get in, get out. Keep my head down. Who is in charge around here, anyway?"

Angelo smirked. "You better not get yourself shot in there or it will be me."

I couldn't help but smile. This was the usual banter we had before missions like this, trying to keep things loose. We all knew how dangerous this was, but the adrenaline was electrifying. We lived for this shit. Despite everything we'd been through the last few days, it was nice to be able to think of this as just another day at the office, even though we all knew it wasn't.

"Bull shit. I'd naturally take over for Luca." Marco chuckled, eyeing both Carlo and Angelo. "The Don has to be good looking and you two are uglier than a monkey's armpit."

Carlo, Angelo, and I all burst into laughter. "A monkey's armpit? That's the best insult you got, rookie?"

"I've been working with you shit heads for five years. I think the term rookie has run its course." Marco rolled his eyes.

"I'm heading inside. Suddenly, being in my enemy's den sounds more appealing than standing out here with you three." I slipped the strap from my AK-47 over my shoulder.

"Hey." Angelo grabbed my arm. "Give em hell."

I nodded. "If I'm not out in fifteen minutes with Charlotte, you go in."

"See you on the other side." He slapped my hand and pulled me into a hug.

I sucked in a sharp breath and headed toward the warehouse, psyching myself up for what I was about to do. Silvano would pay for what he had done, even if I had to make it happen with my last breath.

Charlotte

My head bobbed with exhaustion as I sat in front of Silvano. He was engrossed in something he was reading in the paper, not paying any attention to me. It had been forty-five minutes since he put the tape back over my mouth, and it was getting hard to breathe, and my throat was so dry that I could taste blood.

I wasn't sure how much more of this I could take. I didn't even know if Luca was on his way. Had he tracked Silvano's phone like he thought he would? If he was as distraught as Silvano said, he might not be thinking as clearly as he normally would.

All of a sudden, there was a commotion coming outside of the room I was being kept in. One of the guards poked his head in.

"Boss, there was an explosion at one of the south doors." His face was blank. An explosion?

A sickening grin tugged at the corners of Silvano's mouth. He stood up abruptly and moved toward me. "Hang tight, Charlotte," he patted my shoulder. "It's show time."

He followed the guy out of the room, and suddenly I was left all to myself. It was the best chance I would have at escaping. If I could just break my hands free...

I heard shuffling feet outside the room and froze. Of course, he would send someone back to watch me.

A man passed by and at first I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me. I'd know him anywhere, though.

I let out a muffled yelp through the tape, frantic to get his attention, and he whirled around. It was really him. Luca was here.

He rushed towards me and I burst into tears, the emotion of the last few days finally boiling over. Both relief and anguish washed over Luca as he dropped to his knees in front of me.

"It's okay, baby. I'm going to get you out of here." He peeled the tape off of my mouth, careful not to rip too hard. "Where are you hurt?"

"I'm okay." I sobbed. "I'm just so happy to see you. It's Silvano. He's doing this to get back at Antonio."

"Shhh." Luca wrapped his arms around me, kissing my tears away. "I know, Char. But everything is going to be okay. We just have to get you out of here." He ran his fingers over my bloody restraints, grimacing as he did. They were so deeply embedded in my wrists, I wasn't sure how we'd get them out. "I have to take these off, but it might hurt. You can't make a sound, okay?"

"Okay." I nodded.

"Here," He leaned forward. "I want you to bite onto my shoulder if you need to. It will help take your mind off the pain, okay? I'll try to be quick."

I nodded, burying my head against his broad shoulders.

"One, two, three..."

I sucked in a sharp breath, and Luca tore at the wiring on my wrists. It sliced even farther into my skin as I bit into the fabric of his shirt.

"Mmmm." I moaned, mustering every ounce of strength I had not to cry out. Tears streamed down my cheeks and I could hardly breath, the pain shooting up my arms.

"It's okay, baby." Luca soothed, finally releasing one. "You're doing great. One more."

Without warning, he ripped at the other one, straining to pull it apart. This one was worse, and as he pulled it off of my skin, I almost fainted from the excruciating pain. "Luca... I can't." I cried, bracing myself as best I could.

He ignored my protests, finally freeing both of my wrists. They'd been restrained so long and I'd lost so much blood that they were numb.

"You're okay." He kissed my cheek. "We'll get the bandaged when we get back to the car. Do you think you can walk?"

"I can walk." I said. Luca was all business right now, and as badly as I wanted him to just hold me in his arms and kiss all my worries away, I knew that was how it had to be.

There was another noise from down the hall and I could tell by the look on Luca's face that whoever it was, wasn't with him.

"Fuck." He growled, running his fingers through his hair." His hand found its way to the back of my neck, holding my head against his. "I need you to trust me, okay? I am going to go right around the corner and I need you to act like I wasn't here. Can you do that?"

I nodded, terrified to be left alone again.

"Good." He smiled. "You can do this, baby. I'm getting us out of here. Just hang tight, okay?"

I nodded again, nearly crying out in pain when he broke contact with me. Just touching him was making me feel a thousand times better.

I watched as he slipped behind a wall, putting his finger to his mouth to silence me.

"Well, he's got to be here somewhere. I want eyes on him immediately. Am I clear?" Silvano hissed, entering the room again. 

I froze, not able to tear my eyes away from him. His eyes met mine, and he grinned evilly.

"I distinctly remembering leaving you with tape over your mouth..." He surveyed the ground, spotting it a few feet away where Luca had discarded it. "He was here, wasn't he?"

I clamped my mouth shut, frozen with fear.

"Now you go silent on me? You had so much to say earlier." He chuckled. "Where is your husband, Charlotte? It will be easier on you all if he just gives up. I might kill you quickly and spare you anymore pain."

From my spot, I could see Silvano standing in front of me and Luca off to the side, still undetected. He held a gun in his hand, and I could tell from the outline of his shirt that he had another one in his waistband.

"Come out, come out where ever you are!" Silvano sang in a high-pitched voice. "Your wife has been through a lot, Luca. Spare her any further pain." He taunted.

He rolled his eyes in frustration, getting impatient Luca wasn't coming out.

"I know what will make your husband come out and play." He stalked towards me with determination. In one fluid motion, he raised his hand and brought the back of it down sharply on my cheek.

The force sent me reeling to the floor in pain. I bit my lip, trying desperately not to cry out so Luca wouldn't come out of hiding. He hadn't seen the guard and had no idea he was still in here. If he came out, Luca wouldn't stand a chance.

Luca

The sound of Silvano striking Charlotte was deafening, and it took every single ounce of restraint in my body not to bust out of here and beat him into a bloody pulp. How dare he? The bastard was insane. Seeing Charlotte crumpled on the floor was heart wrenching, but I couldn't react on my emotions. She was so fucking brave, in so much pain, as she tried to bite back her scream. I hated myself even more for putting her in such a vulnerable position.

I pressed the button on the receiver that Angelo gave me. There was a chance it wouldn't work with signal blockers in place, but I had to try.

"No? Not good enough?" Silvano cackled, looking in every direction of the room. He still couldn't see me, ducked behind the divider. "How about this, Luca?"

He reared his leg back, slamming it into her ribs as hard as humanly possible. The sound of crunching bone filled the air, and this time, Charlotte cried out, not being able to contain it anymore. Despite my better judgement, I couldn't contain it anymore either.

"Get the fuck away from her." I growled, flying out from behind the divider, my gun pointed directly at his head.

Charlotte's eyes darkened as I did and she reached out for me. "No, Luca! Don't!"

Was she begging me to have mercy on him? What the fuck was going on?

I didn't know there was a guard in the room until I felt the cool metal muzzle of a gun pressed into my temple. Fuck.

Silvano grinned like a Cheshire Cat. "Well, well, the gang is all here."

The guy with the gun to my head cocked the hammer, making a clicking sound.

"Please, don't!" Charlotte wailed from below, begging for my life.

I held my hands up, knowing my guys would be here soon. I could only hope we'd last that long. "Okay," I nodded. "You're in charge."

"Set your gun on the ground. Now." Silvano spat, nodding towards the floor.

I didn't have another choice. This guy was seconds from blowing my brains out, and I couldn't take that chance now. I had to buy us some time.

I did as he said, setting the gun on the ground, and his goon kicked it out of reach.

The man behind me was wrenching my arms behind my back and securing them with handcuffs. I'd be able to break the cuffs, but if I did it now, they'd put a bullet in Charlotte's head. I couldn't take a chance like that, so for now, I was forced to comply.

Come on, Angelo.

Silvano grabbed Charlotte roughly and pulled her to her feet and I could see the full scope of her injuries. She was bruised and bloody and so weak she could hardly stand. And that was just what I could see on the outside. She wouldn't heal from this for a long time—that is, if I could get her out of there.

I needed a new plan, and I needed it now.


You are reading the story above: TeenFic.Net