Page 86 of Heritage of Blood
She is crying and all I want to do is hold her. These damn ties prevent me from going to her and I want to kill Antonio for that alone. I should’ve held my tongue. She is summarizing all Mafia organizations, as the same, hurt and afraid, but she is trying to understand me. What she doesn’t know is that I’d burn down my whole city for her. Only for her.
My timing sucks, of course, because we are both strapped to chairs. I can only imagine that she is telling herself I’m saying these things because of our circumstances. Antonio, while deranged, has backed me into a corner I shouldn’t even be in. I don’t believe in fate, I make things happen, but I can’t shake the idea that Kate was made for me.
“Kate, please don’t cry,” I say. I hate when I see tears marring her perfect skin, her nose going red and her lashes wet. I shift in my seat trying to relieve some shoulder pain. Steady rhythmic pings persist along the back wall, as water droplets hit the floor. It’s the only sound on top of Kate’s small convulsive breaths.
“I’m sorry.” Her whimpers slow and she clears her throat. “Why did you insist on me staying with you these past four months, if you knew I’d be used for this? That is the farthest thing from what I want for you Luka, to be torn.”
“That’s where you are mistaken, Kate. I’m not torn.” Silence is heightened in this small room, but we both don’t miss the boom that sounds in the far-off distance. The yellow lights in the room flicker in rapid succession. Anticipation hums through my veins and a sense of calm peels away the restlessness. Nikolai. Please be Nikolai.
“What was that?” Kate asks, the trembling in her voice rattles me.
“I don’t know. I am hoping Nik.” I force a small smile, hoping to convey that everything will, one way or the other, be okay. Her eyes widen at me, sniffing away the congestion from crying. How can she be this beautiful while crying? Heavy mascara lines her under eyes and her once-perfect makeup is smudged. Her usually plump lips are dry and cracked, a tiny cut running from her cheek to the corner of her mouth. Despite the crash, her hair flows full and voluminously down around her shoulders hiding those sapphire long earrings.
It’s in these thoughts I admit I’d do anything to keep her. She is mine. She always has been.
Muted shouts come from somewhere and the clanging sound of the door being unlocked has both of us waiting. It all happens fast—two guards rush to the room, but my stomach drops when I see they are not my men. Antonio strides in after them with a gun in his hand. My adrenaline spikes and I wrestle my restraints until one of the guards delivers a punch to my face. The pungent taste of metallic floods my mouth and the trickle of blood tickles my cheek. The guard sends another hit to the side of my head. Ringing invades my ears and the sound in the room dulls, the lights pulsing each time I’m tempted to close my eyes.
“Stop!” Kate yells. “Stop. You’re hurting him!”
I spit blood on the floor. “Takes a lot more than a few hits to hurt me,” I say, glaring at Antonio.
“I’m counting on it.” Antonio’s face rounds the doorway, his steps are hurried and manic. There are still voices and shouts down the hallway, but it’s dark, an empty void. Brandishing the gun, he walks to Kate and puts the barrel to her head.
No.
Kate’s eyes bulge and she flinches as Antonio cocks the gun.
“We’ve run out of time. I want him beat to a pulp, leave him for his men to find him. Quickly!” He barks the order, and another guard backhands me.
“No!” Kate’s scream draws my face to hers.
“You, pretty little thing, are coming with me until Luka decides to give me what I want.” Antonio pulls a knife to cut her foot ties.
“Like hell,” she says and tries to kick at him, but he slashes her foot with the knife. She lets out a small shriek.
“Stupid girl!” He pulls her up by the elbow and jerks her to his side, gun pointed back at her. She struggles, hair flying around her face. Another hit sends me flying back onto the concrete, pinning my arms behind me. A sharp hit against my skull makes the room go black for seconds. I hear Kate scream.
“Please, No! Stop! Luka!” Her screams move further away. I will my eyes open, blinding light seers them and I rock to the side to relieve the pain in my shoulders and arms. Kate’s screams are inaudible now, but the pitch of her voice torments me.
A kick to my gut crushes my thoughts and instinctively I pull my knees up. More shouts sound from the hallway—Are they closer? I can’t make out Kate’s voice anymore and I seethe with anger. Another kick to my backside snaps a portion of the chair I was restrained to. I roll again, using all my strength to manipulate my legs through my tied arms to bring them in front and get myself up. My eyes flutter taking in my surroundings from another perspective. A guard rushes me, while the other pulls his gun.
So much for beating me.
My bound arms come up jabbing him in the gut, knocking the wind out of him. At the same moment, I wrap my arms around his neck, turning him backward. The guard panics, clawing at my arms that are constricting around his neck. The smell of piss wafts up and my punishing grip tightens even more. The other guard has his gun trained on me, but I outmaneuver him, using his fellow guard as a shield. The man in my grip goes limp and I have a second to push him at the other man. That one-second distraction is monumental. I sidestep, knocking the gun out of his hand, as the guard fumbles the need to catch his buddy. I dive for the weapon, grappling to shove it between my tied hands. Sweat stings my eyes and I shove onto my back, clenching my abs to keep my head level. Raising the gun at the man attempting to pull his partner’s gun I fire two shots. Heart and head.
Both guards collapse into a pile on the floor and I pull my body over to theirs, the smell of sweat mingling with the blood. I pat the guards trying to get my hands on a knife. Gunshots ring out closer now and I scramble with the knife to cut my bindings. Time slows as I work the bindings, fighting the urge to go after Kate without even trying to undo them, but I’m detrimental to Kate if I’m hindered. They snap instantly and I groan in frustration pulling myself up.
Sharp, prickly heat spreads throughout my body. Pain blooms outward from my ribs and I can only guess that they are broken. My injured shoulder is worse, and I move the gun to my nondominant hand. I move to the door, but voices right outside have me creeping, gun trained straight ahead. The hallway splits off about twenty feet down and the room’s concrete walls turn into drywall as I move. The lights flicker, allowing me to only move in shortened pulses.
“This way!”
I can make out the random voice clearly. Where is Kate? Footsteps approaching cause me to slide against one side of the wall, pressing myself there to give the biggest element of surprise. A large AK pokes around the corner and I palm the barrel to the ceiling, getting ready to fire—
“Luka!” Nik’s voice cuts through my exhilaration. More men file in behind Nik and I recognize Igor, Ivan, and Dmitry. A cough rattles in my chest and I wipe my mouth on my sleeve seeing the blood. “We need to get you to the hospital.” Nik ducks under my arm to guide me.
“No. Kate.” The wheeze heaves out of my chest. “He has Kate.” I’m unable to take a full breath, but I will not leave before I get her. She is coming home with me.
Nik hears the command in my voice and relents with a nod, gesturing behind him. “We’ve taken out most of their guards back there.” He gestures behind him. “We would’ve seen her if they came this way.”