Page 130 of Poison and Wine
When I hung up, I turned back to Dare. “I’m sure I don’t even have to ask if you have the building plan pulled up.”
He flashed me a grin. “Of course, I do.”
“I just texted our men to converge on that area,” Kellan reported.
Pride filled me with how well he was rising to the occasion. While he might’ve shied away from some of the grittier side of our work, he was really coming through when it came to logistics. “Great. Now we just have to figure out how to get in there.”
Quinn grimaced. “The fact he isn’t getting the hell out of Boston doesn’t sit well with me.”
“It makes perfect sense if he’s trying to draw me out.” At my brothers’ silence, I said, “He’s wanted me dead for a long time. To ensure that it happens, he’ll shoot me himself. Then he’ll force Caterina into another marital alliance.
“And he’s just enough of a bastard to put Caterina in danger,” Quinn growled.
“He’s a fucking moron to think this wouldn’t end badly for him, especially since he’s pulled it on our turf,” Dare remarked with his head bent over his ipad.
I shook my head. “He wouldn’t be willing to stick his neck out this far unless he’d made a powerful alliance, which means we’re walking into a possible firestorm.”
As we careened into the North End like a bat out of hell, I leaned into the backseat and grabbed two guns out of the arsenal at Quinn’s feet. With a nod at my brothers, they did the same. Quinn reached into his suit pocket and produced a Glock.
“Our men have the warehouse surrounded,” Dare related.
“How’s the opposition looking?”
“Oran says there’s a large number along the front and back perimeter.” Dare glanced up from his iPad. “He says we're not completely outnumbered.”
I nodded. “Send in a contingency in the front to see if they have her in the offices. Minimal heavy range firepower just in case.”
“Got it.”
“Once we know she’s not in the offices, we’ll start at the back and work our way through to rendezvous with the front contingency to seal their escape off.”
When we wheeled into the warehouse driveway, I heard Kellan murmuring in the back. “A Thighearna, cuir dochas dlùth, 's olc fad air falbh. Cuairtich orm a Thighearna, cum solas am fagus, agus dorchadas fad air falbh.”
We all momentarily froze at the Irish Circle prayer. For as long as we lived with Mam, she recited it each and every time we went out with our father. Although I knew we needed more than reciting frenzied prayers, I was willing to say or do anything to get Caterina back safely.
After unlocking the safety on my gun, I said, “Áiméan.”
And then I went after my wife.
Chapter Thirty-Seven: Caterina
Agony. Anguish. Fear
All of those feelings swirled around in my mind as I slowly came into consciousness. A brass band pounded through my head and the oddest feeling of deja vu overcame me. I’d been unconscious before and woke up with a terrible headache after being kidnapped.
Trepidation sent icy prickles over my body when I realized I wasn’t going to open my eyes and see Callum or his brothers. Instead of being spirited away from the Sacred Heart, I’d been taken on the street by two unknown men. My chest constricted with fear at the thought that these men wouldn’t be treating me the way that the Kavanaugh men had.
After sucking in a few breaths, my eyelids fluttered open. My anxious gaze bounced around the room. Tall ceilings. Metal walls. Unmarked boxes.
I was in a warehouse of some kind. The uncomfortable wooden chair I’d been seated in was tucked away in the back behind a large forklift. My arms were pulled around the chair, and when I tried moving them, rope scratched against my wrists. My hands were tied together. In desperation, I tried to stand up, but I quickly found my legs were bound together.
“Hello, Caterina.”
Dread froze my movements. That voice had haunted my nightmares and dreams. Even after all this time had passed, I would know it anywhere.
The sound of shoes clicked across the floor behind me. As I tried regulating my breathing, the figure grew closer to me. The chair began to shake with my trembling.
When he stepped into my line of sight, nausea rolled through me. At the sight of Carmine’s face, bile rushed into my mouth. I didn’t bother turning my head. Instead, I vomited at his feet.