Conquered by the Mafia Boss

His head explodes into fragments of skull and brain matter, which vomits out the back of his head. His body lands with a loud thump to the floor.

The bikers hardly blink an eye.

“Thank you guys,” I say through my swollen jaw. “How the fuck did you know I was here?”

“Thank your wife.”

My wife?

I grasp his tattooed arm and he gives me a once over. “Jesus, we should get you to a hospital.”

“I need to see my wife first.”

“She’s fine. I got one of my guys watching her.”

“I’m going home to check on my wife. You can either help me or not.”

My heart thuds, blood sluggishly pulsing from my wounds. Fuck, I feel as if I’m going to pass out. Only sheer willpower puts one step in front of the other. I burst out of the dank room and almost trip over the couple bodies strewn on the floor. Julien gives one of them a fierce kick.

“Good thing we found this place. Looks like their stronghold. Pathetic fucks.”

I don’t know where the hell I am and it’s pitch black outside. Jesus, how long was I out?

I pile in the van waiting for us, and the vice president steps outside. “Hurry the fuck up before the cops get here.”

Everyone shoves themselves inside the van and I close my hand over the wound in my side, which throbs with increasing intensity. It’s like a stabbing pain that’s impossible to ignore or distract from. Pain, pain, pain. My mind flashes with words like: searing flesh.

“He doesn’t look too good.”

“I’m fucking fine,” I roar, my voice punctuated with pain. “I need to see her first.”

“You’re lucky she hired us.”

Hired? What the fuck is going on?

The pieces fall together when we stop in front of my house. Johnny’s car is there and a needle of pain goes right through my heart. She must have asked him for help, but he wouldn’t give it to her.

One of the bikers hurries out of the van to help me climb the steps, but I shove him out of the way.

“I can do it myself!”

“Tony, you have two gunshot wounds.”

I’m fine-I just fucking need to see her. I need to make sure nothing happened to her. I palm the door, and a bloody handprint smears as I push it open.

“Elena!” I yell into the apartment.Content protected by Nôv/el(D)rama.Org.

Footsteps run toward me, and then I see Elena’s widened, red face and my heart clenches.

“Tony! Oh my God, you’re-you’re hurt!”

She rushes toward me and I wrap my arms around her waist, an incredible wave of relief crashing over me. My eyes burn suddenly and I dig my fingers into her clothes, willing myself not to cry out.

Anything could have happened to her.

Her chest shakes against mine as she succumbs to tears, clutching me so fiercely that I grunt in pain. She pulls back, tears burning red paths down her face as she touches my jaw tenderly.

“Jesus, what did they do to you?”

“I love you, Elena.”

Her lips tremble with a spark of happiness, and I feel it grow inside my chest.

“I never got to say it before they took me, and it was all I could think about.”

My vision swims and I stumble backward. Elena looks horrified.

“Okay, he needs a hospital.” I recognize Johnny’s sharp tone and feel a sudden surge of anger toward him.

His strong arm slides across my shoulders, his hand anchoring under my good one as he lifts me upright and we make our way outside, into his car.

“You’re driving me, boss? I’ll get blood all over your seats.”

Elena opens the passenger door for us, her face white. “Get in, Tony.”

I slide inside and she takes the backseat. God, I’m tired. I just want to fall asleep, even though the leather is fucking freezing against my back.

Johnny gets inside and starts the car. It screams as we peel out of there.

“Want to tell me why my wife was forced to go to Les Diables for help?”

A guilty look crosses Johnny’s face. “I’m sorry, Tony. I didn’t think anything happened to you. I didn’t-”

“You didn’t believe my wife.” My voice cuts across his and resentment bleeds into my chest. The bullet wounds throb with my rage.

“She didn’t exactly come to me with much proof.”

“Seemed to be enough for the bikers.”

“She paid them-”

“Of course she fucking did, because my own family didn’t think I was good enough to protect. You would have just left me for dead-”

“That’s not true. If I had known, I would have put guys out on the street.”

“You did know. Elena told you.”

He lifts a hand, shrugging as he turns the wheel and takes a left turn. “Nothing she showed me caused me any concern.”