Feral Passion (17 page)

And he couldn’t do that with Chase and
Jared in the car, it would be to...damning to him. As a
pacchetto
leader, he was known to be
cold and heartless, just as he had been with his uncle when Mary
had barged in. And his words to her... He cringed, hands tightening
on the steering wheel.

Had he led her into the killers hands? He
prayed not, hoped that with whatever she was doing, that his
instincts were completely and totally wrong. Even the notion that
anything could happen to her hurt him deep, made him feel a killing
rage that he wouldn’t mind testing on something.

Grasping onto a desperate hope that she was
as safe as she could be and not doing anything that they would both
regret later on, he slowed to the speed limit, not noticing until
then that he had been speeding with his worry.

“God, calm down will you?” Jared spoke, the
glare in his voice clear.

Raffaele’s eyes narrowed, but he said
nothing.

“Yeah, man. You might need a
little--okay, no, a
lot
-- of
help in the relationship department, but I don’t think that
a
leader
would be careless
with her own life. Just chill out, alright?” his blonde companion
said, rolling his eyes.

Again, Raffaele stayed silent, feeling
foolish that he was panicking at the thought of anything happening
to Mary. Her smile, her eyes, her hair that he wanted to run his
hands through all night long... Without those things in his world,
he would be empty, worse than he was before.

In Mary, he realized that there was a
pureness in her that made him feel...normal, a protector, a man
that he hadn’t felt like in so long.

The things he had said to her... it
pained him. He had been cruel, he had been merciless, he had been
down right
dirty
at times, and
that he had been to Mary? It felt wrong, on so many levels that he
couldn’t even begin to identify--and he didn’t want to.

Why didn’t he just call her? He doubted she
would answer him...

His feelings for her were growing quickly--he
wasn’t so dumb that he didn’t notice that. Her laugh made his heart
feel light, her smile made his breath catch, the look in her
eyes...made him feel.

Forcing thoughts of her away from him, trying
to concentrate on driving without killing them all, he drove until
he was at the hotel and parked in the basement of the grand
place.

“Where do you stay at?” Raffaele asked Jared,
turning in his seat to look at him.

Jared shrugged, not meeting his nephew’s
gaze.

Chase opened the door to get out, cold air
washing into the car. “Well?” he asked, starting to frown.

“Just at the edge,” Jared mumbled, unbuckling
to step out also, his worn brown shoes thudding on the ground.
Raffaele noticed small things, things that he hadn’t seen earlier
when he had been worrying about Mary.

Jared’s clothing hung off his body, small
tears at the bottom of his shirt. Mud was clumped under his boots,
jeans stained awkward shades. “At the edge of what,” Raff growled,
eyeing the more huge hole that was at the back of his shirt.

“Town?” he replied gruffly, starting to walk
away.

“Uncle, come back,” he commanded, slamming
his door closed, locking it. “Does Mary know that you have no
home?”

Jared’s back stiffened, bare hands clenching
at his sides, freezing.

“That isn’t her business, neither is it
yours,” he replied, voice choppy.

“You’re family. It
is
my business, and Mary’s too, since she is
the
pacchetto
leader and you
chose to run to her domain,” he grated, angry.

“I didn’t
run
,” Jared corrected, hand slashing the air as
he turned to meet Raffaele’s furious eyes. “I came here when I knew
that all was lost! I wouldn’t have left my family--I
didn’t
.”

“Yes you did
!”
Raff shouted, the betrayal that he had been struggling to hide all
these years breaking through.

Jared pulled back, as if he had been
slapped, and collected himself. “I can’t leave what I never had.
This man here...” he gestured to Raffaele, disdain in his frosty
blue eyes. “You are
not
my
family--you are nothing to me.”

Raffaele froze, his uncle saying the last
words with sharp, painful clarity.

“And that is
all
you will ever be.”

Jared stalked off, leaving Raffaele
horrified, angry, unable to move after him. Clearing his face of
all emotion, he turned around slowly, feeling as if his whole world
had been stripped from around him, his very being decimating by the
last words that his uncle--the last of his family--had said.

Numb, dazed, feeling his very being turn to
ice, Raffaele walked to the elevator, where Chase was waiting,
subdued.

When he entered his room, he fell
against the couch and fought down the harsh shout that wanted to
break through his chest with frustration. Nothing was right, he
thought, pounding his fist on the pillow. Nothing was, would,
or
will
be right.

Mary was in danger, his uncle had disowned
him, and Raffaele wasn’t sure of his being. He didn’t know what to
feel, what to do, or how to go on. Jared had betrayed him--for the
second time.

His eyes closed tightly against the pain,
wishing that that was all it took.

The television in the other room made a soft
buzzing sound, one that made an aching headache appeared. Raff
wished that Mary and he had gotten close enough that he could pour
his heart out to her, and her him.

It was a closeness that he had never
been granted with anyone before, nor had he granted
them
that privilege. When he thought
of the beautiful brunette, he couldn’t imagine talking to anyone
else so deeply--not even his mother, who had been his greatest
confident.

A sharp ring from his pocket made him jump,
become alert. Fishing his phone out of his jacket, he put it to his
ear, taking a calming breath. “Y’ello.”

Hannah’s relived woop rang through the phone.
“Finally! I haven’t been able to get a hold of you all day! Do you
know how annoying that is?” she hissed, sounding affronted and
venomous.

“I’m sorry, Han. Been busy with some business
here,” he replied, grimacing.

“Yeah, well, so has Calvin!” she exclaimed,
voice exasperated.

Raffaele groaned, trying not to break the
phone as his grip tightened. “Great. What now?”

“I want to file a report for harassment,
Raff. I’m not even joking right now--this is crap,” she raged, the
sound of papers fluttering coming from the background.

“What. Happened.”

“Calvin came in here, demanding the
papers and even saying that he printed more off. He also said that
he needed your stamper thingy--you know, for when you send out
letters? Yeah, he came in here asking for that and
then
he threatened me!” she gasped,
outraged. Hannah paused to catch her breath. “Then he tried telling
me to clean the meeting room for him because he had some
‘associates’.”

Calvin was taking too many rights in his
absence, and while the demand for the papers concerned him, even
angered him, his employees safety was also important.

“What did he say to you, that made you feel
threatened?” he asked, reaching out for his notepad, as he should
have done as soon as he got the call.

“Just general creeper terms,” she said, the
snort in her voice clear. “How pathetic? I mean really! The guy has
some problems and I cannot believe you haven’t demoted him yet.
Excuse me for saying this, Mr. Boss-sir, but why are you so stupid
when it comes to employees?”

Forgetting about his earlier depression
momentarily, Raffaele choked out a laugh, and a cautious voice
said, “I meant no harm, and I didn’t mean me when I said that!”

“Don’t worry, Hannah. I can’t afford to
lose someone as good as you are. Although, if he continues to ask
for property papers and my stamp, I
will
be signing the demotion papers. Violation of
the trust and company won’t be tolerated,” he growled.

“Yes! And I also sent you those papers
the other night, so if you just print them out and sign them, you
can fax them to me and I can turn them in!” Hannah sounded a
little...
too
delighted, not
that Raffaele minded.

“Alright, Han. Listen, I still have things to
do so I’ll get back to you later. Call me or text me if anything
comes up and I’ll see what I can do without having to leave
here.”

There was a smile in her voice as she said,
“Okay! Chase and I were talking a little bit ago, something
about...a woman?” she asked, the interest plain in her voice.

Raff growled. “That’s great. Just great. How
many people in the office know?” he asked, rubbing his forehead as
his cheeks heated.

“Just... Well, I can’t really...”

“Spit it out, Hannah.”

“Okay!” she said, sullen. “If you come back
here and everyone is throwing flowers and asking about engagement
rings, don’t blame me, alright? I promise, it wasn’t me!”

Raff choked, horrified, then hung up the
phone on his awful secretary.

Of course, though, his phone chose the exact
moment that he was putting it away to go off again, and he put it
to his ear with a sigh, straightening on the couch.

“Y’ello,” he said broodily into the phone,
deciding to get a drink from the bar.

“Hey, it’s Romero. Ulrich was asking about
Mary, they were supposed to go out for something. He tried calling
her but she hasn’t answered so I was wondering if you saw her at
all,” he said as a greeting, causing Raffaele’s blood to chill.

“No... I haven’t,” he said.

“She said that she had to head over to the
hospital a bit ago, did you talk to her around ten-ish?” he asked,
sounding more like a cop than a concerned friend.

Raff thought back to what had happened at the
hospital, the hurt in her eyes, the way she had driven and left so
quickly.

“I...did,” he said numbly, face paling.

“Do you know where she might have gone?”
Romero asked, tongue in check. The man could tell that something
had happened, and although they were looking for Mary, he would
wait till Raffaele said something about it.

“I don’t...”

“That doesn’t--”

Silence, then muffled voices from the other
line. Raffaele was just about to ask what was happening when Romero
said hurriedly, voice hard and dangerous, “Someone called in.”

“And?”

“Mary was found out in the back country
roads, passed out by a small pond.

Chapter 28

The sound of voices, sharp and hard, were the
only thing that Mary could actually comprehend. Her body was numb,
mind weak, and eyes...darkened. Hands snapping out, she tried
grasping onto something when dry...stuff, clumped between her
hands. Trying to sit up, to understand what was happening and where
she was, she started getting frustrated when she couldn’t get the
strength.

Something grabbed onto her shoulders, the
voices quieting. Nothing except her mind worked, her thoughts
barely processing at the right speed.

She whimpered at the unfamiliar touch, the
hard hands grasping her tightly. Was she going to die? she thought,
slowly starting to realize the danger she had placed herself in by
being so careless.

“We have her,” someone said, static being a
reply.

“Got’cha. Is there any physical harm?” a
deeper, more recognizable voice asked. The sound of crunched steps
came close by her ear, then she felt herself being moved. Her eyes
blinked open slowly--although it seemed like they were being forced
open.

It took a second for her to recognize
Ulrich, green eyes blazing with anger and fear, his hold on her
tender, reverent. He dropped his hand from holding her eye open,
then swiftly started carrying her. “God, Mary. What were you
thinking?
”

She struggled to talk, grabbing her throat
with frustration when she found that her teeth were chattering too
much to do so. Her feet were soaking wet, the cold water slipping
off of them, leaving them numb and vulnerable to the freezing
air.

“Is she alright?” someone asked, coming up
beside them.

Mary watched Ulrich nod, arms tightening
under her body as he supported her fully. “I’m not really...sure. I
want her checked out, and tell Raffaele that we found her. Poor
jackass was worrying the whole time, I swear the guy is worse than
a mama bear.”

Her heart had already been running like a
racehorse, but when she heard Jacques’ name, it somehow managed to
get double the speed, her head going light. She felt hurt, pain,
distance and maybe even off-put by the sound of his name.

What her brother had said registered, causing
her heart problem to worsen. She could have bitten him for making
this happen, but it was useless now.

Jacques had worried about her? Like...he
cared? Her eyes closed on a shudder, the coldness seeping
throughout her body more quickly now, making her feel more
different than she had before.

“Got it... Mary, you’re such a dumbass
sometimes,” Romero chided, eyes worried as they ran over her damp
legs and shivering form. As a shudder wracked her body, Ulrich
quickened his pace, lips pressing.

She glared at him through her roiled
emotions, knowing that through everything that was happening, he
didn’t have to be calling her names. But obviously, her brother
agreed since he didn’t speak up to correct him. Digging her nails
into his arms, she looked up in time to see a flash of anger in his
eyes as he stared down at her.