Life of a Fool (London Brothers Book 2) (25 page)

He leaned down, kissed my forehead, and said, “Good.  Now, I’m
off to do some work.  I will be in the office on the first floor if you need
anything.”

“Got it.”  I smiled.

When he left the room, I cleaned up, brushed my teeth, put
my hair in a ponytail, and dressed in the lovely outfit that now was becoming
my prison-wear.  Maybe that was part of his plan…that I wouldn’t want to escape
looking like a mess.  The thought made me laugh.  I’d run buck naked through
town if it got me away from him and back to Jason.  I shook my head, still
laughing, and walked to the kitchen for some food. 

The day passed rather quickly as I sat undisturbed, reading
by the pool.  I only saw Antonio once when he brought me some lunch.  I thanked
him, and he kissed me before walking back inside the house.  I could hear him
on the phone a few times or talking to his men, but other than that, I was
completely engrossed in my book. 

As the sun started to go down, I went inside to see what I
could find for dinner.  One of the men who’d taken me sat at the kitchen
island, working on his computer.  I’d had no interaction with them at all and
wondered where they had been.  I paused, looking at him before I came any
closer.  My mind suddenly clicked.  He must have been assigned to watch me all
day.  There was a clear view of my chair from where he sat, and it would
explain why I hadn’t seen Antonio lurking around.  He turned to look at me and
gave me a small, tight smile.  I just stared.

I walked to the refrigerator and pulled open the door.  It
was full of food.  What the hell?!?!

I took out several things to make a sandwich as the
kidnapper looked on.  I had no desire to have anything to do with him.  Had we
ended up in Italy, this man could have been doing God knows what to me. 

So, I continued to make my dinner, ignoring the asshole, and
then sat at the same island to eat my food.  I did it to be a ballsy bitch, and
it made me feel better until about halfway through my sandwich he said, “I was
only doing my job.”

My mouth dropped open, shocked.  Then, out of nowhere, I
said, “And that job could have killed an innocent woman.  Tell me, was it you
or your partner that hit my girlfriend with the butt of your gun?  She has
nothing to do with this.  At.  All.”  He had the nerve to look embarrassed.

“It was him.  I didn’t hit
her
.”  Ahh…

“So, it was you who hit me.  Well, thanks for that.  Glad
you were just doing your job.”  He stared at me, then said, “I didn’t know you
were pregnant.  I’m sorry.”

“Yeah, well, we both know that part didn’t really matter. 
Either way, you were just doing your job.”  I stood and left the room in search
of Antonio.  As much of a bastard as he was, I at least knew him and felt safer
knowing his men wouldn’t touch me as long as he was happy. 

I walked upstairs just to escape, but then heard Antonio on
the phone and could tell he was upstairs somewhere.  As I walked down the
hallway toward his voice, I could hear him speaking rapidly in Italian.  He was
angry.  I debated going to him.  I was sure he was still talking about
business, but when he spoke so fast, it was sometimes difficult for me to pick
up all the words. 

You know, people always say “hindsight is 20/20” meaning,
looking back, it was clearly seen…the situation, the outcome.  But we don’t
always want to listen to those instincts.  I hesitated walking up behind Antonio,
but did it anyway.  The kidnapper gave me an uneasy feeling that drove me to
seek out the devil I knew as opposed to the devil I didn’t.  Big mistake.

As I stepped into the room and walked close to the balcony
where he stood, Antonio turned and glared at me.  He was angry, fist balled,
teeth clinched.  I stopped and waited…watched.  He stomped toward me, causing
me to take a few steps backwards.  “Antonio.  What’s wrong?  Talk to me.  You’re
scaring me.”  I placed my hand on my stomach as a reminder to him.  His
eyebrows furrowed, and he stopped his pursuit.  “Please.”

“Mia moglie.” 
My wife.
  “Tell me about your friend,
Jason.” 

I gasped.  “What?  I don’t understand.”

“Do you love him?”

“Where is this coming from, Antonio.  You’re scaring me.”

“I heard some disturbing things today.”

“Tell me what you heard.”  I felt like I might faint.

“Did you turn to him, mia moglie?  Did my wife turn to
another man?” 
Oh shit.

“Antonio.  Please.  Things with us are so fragile, so
volatile, and have been for a long time.  I thought we were starting over?”  I
was grasping at straws.

“Yes.  I was trying.  But this?  Well, I cannot overlook
your weakness, your error in judgment.”  He started walking toward me again. 

“Stop.  Talk to me.  Tell me what you want.”  I was steadily
backing away from him.  He kept staring at my stomach, and I could see the
confusion, the conflict in his eyes.  He wanted to hurt me, but he didn’t want
to hurt the baby…and it was tearing him apart.  I knew, right then, without a
doubt he would never change.  And I was in trouble.  “Antonio.  Whatever has
you so angry, please don’t hurt me or
your
baby.”  I emphasized the word
“your.”

He stopped walking and watched me.  “Mia moglie, tell me the
truth, and I will forgive you.  I will let my anger go.”

“Yes, anything.” 

“Did you and your Jason fuck?”  His question took my breath
away.  I covered my mouth and felt tears well in my eyes.  I had to answer. 
No, we didn’t fuck, we made love.  But that would make things worse.

I bent my head down to my chest, knowing what was coming and
whispered, “Yes.”

The slap rattled my already bruised brain and I fell to the
floor, holding my cheek.  Antonio leaned down and said, “I want to hurt you so
badly for hurting me…for betraying me.  You let another man touch what is
mine.  I have every right to punish you.  But you told the truth, so a slap is
all you will get.  Now get up and go to bed.  I cannot be around you right
now.  We will discuss more of this tomorrow.” 

I started to move, to crawl away, but my head was swimming
and I was having trouble focusing.  “I said get up and go.”

“I’m trying.  So.  Dizzy.  I’m sorry.”  My words were coming
out weird.  He yanked me up by my hair, and I stood on wobbly feet. 

“Go.  Now.  I cannot restrain myself much more.  I’m trying,
Lori Ann.  You need to get away from me.” 

“Yes.  Trying.”  I stumbled back and fell again, but kept
crawling away from him as I could hear a lot of strange commotion.  I couldn’t
tell where it was coming from and didn’t care as long as I kept moving away
from Antonio. 

The next thing I knew, Antonio was grabbing me off the
floor, holding me too tightly in his arms and yelling at someone.  I tried to
look, but couldn’t as my eyes rolled into my head.  What was happening?  Shit! 
“What did you do, mia moglie? 
What the hell did you do?
  How does he
know we are here?  How did he find you?”  I didn’t understand any of it.  But
the anger coming off of Antonio was so frightening, so feral I thought he’d
snap my body in half.  In my confusion, I thought I heard Jason’s voice, but
that couldn’t be right.

“Put her down!”  That voice. 

“She’s not yours.  You will never have her.  Did she tell
you she is having my child?  She will never, ever leave me.  I will make
certain of that.”  Antonio’s grip tightened even more.  He was hurting me, and
I was having trouble breathing.

“You gave up that right when you broke her ribs, fractured
her arm, and didn’t give a fuck about her.  You should know, I’ll never let you
leave here with her.  We will all be dead before I let that happen.  Now, put
her down.” 
Jason?

“You have very poor timing, friend.  I was just discussing
Lori Ann’s infidelity and how we would handle her punishment.  This is a matter
between me and my wife.  You have no place here.  Your time with her is over.” 
I moved, trying to free myself, but it was futile.  “Do not move, mia moglie. 
You aren’t going anywhere.  I’m very disappointed.  How did you alert him? 
This changes our agreement, Lori Ann.  I can no longer guarantee his safety.”

Like an electric shock to my malfunctioning brain, I opened
my eyes to see Antonio glaring between me and…Jason!  I cried out without
thinking.  “No!  Run, Jace.  Please.  He’ll hurt you!”

“No, Legs!  Never!  I’m here, baby.  I’m here for you.”

In an instant, all civility, all humanity left Antonio’s
eyes, and he opened his arms wide and let go of me, causing me to free fall to
the floor with a hard thunk, knocking the breath out of me as he lunged for
Jason.  “NO!  She.  Is.  Not. Yours.  You will never take her from me!  I will
kill her first.”  I struggled to catch my breath, but couldn’t.  Everything
hurt. 

“LEGS!”  I heard Jason scream before he was tackled by
Antonio and they went rolling, beating the hell out of each other.  “Fuck you! 
You’ll never touch her again, asshole!” Punches were being thrown, and blood
was flying everywhere.  “How does it feel to have someone beating your ass? 
Huh?  No words?”  Jason screamed. 

I tried to move against the wall, away from the brawl, but
my movements were too slow.  Their bodies were tripping and falling my way.  I
curled into a ball to protect myself just as I felt a kick land against my arms
and legs that were wrapped around themselves to protect my stomach. 

“NO!” 
Jason? 

Then, another kick.  This one to my back, causing me to arch
and let go of my legs. 
Fuck!
  I couldn’t breathe.  The pain was
everywhere.  Then, one last kick…to my stomach before I heard a loud pop and an
eerie calm settle around me. 

Please, God.  Help Jason.

I ran as fast as I could as I watched the slow motion movie
take place before my eyes.  I never looked down at the ground, only at the
second story of the house.  I watched as Lori Ann approached Antonio and saw
his fists balled.  I watched as she backed away from him, afraid. 

Then, everything stopped. 

I was sucker punched by someone who stepped out of the
shadows.  I shook it off and went after him, fury and fear driving me.  I
tackled him to the ground and kept punching his face until he was beyond
responding.  Then, I took off running into the house.  Another man was standing
at the bottom of the stairs looking up as if to see whether he needed to go up
and help either Antonio or Lori Ann. 

By the time he registered me in the room, I’d punch his
kidney and sent him to the ground.  I pulled my gun and put my finger to my
lips, telling him to be quiet.  Then, I struck him in the temple with the butt
of my gun and knocked his ass out.  He was one of the guys from the
surveillance tape…the one that hit my girl. 
Fucker!

I could hear Lori Ann pleading with The Italian, and I was
pissed. 

I bounded up the stairs and saw him…standing over her.  He
bent and picked her up, cradling my girl.  Oh.  Hell.  No. 

“NO!  Stay back.  Now,” he yelled at me.  Then, Antonio
looked down at Lori Ann and said, “What did you do, mia moglie? 
What the
hell did you do?
  How does he know we are here?  How did he find you?”

I knew no matter what, I couldn’t let him leave with
her…ever.

That’s when things went from
bad to worse.

*****

The shot rang out just past my head and hit Antonio.  He
fell to the ground.  Dead.  I looked over the railing to downstairs and saw
Craig, his gun drawn, his face sweaty and pale. 

I crawled over to Lori Ann, and she flinched when I touched
her, but I scooped her into my arms anyway and sat against the wall with her in
my lap. “Shh…baby.  It’s me.  Look at me.” 

She turned, but the pain she felt registered on her face.  “Jace?” 
She was having trouble breathing.  “Please tell me you’re real.”

“Yes, baby.  I’m here.  Just in time, it looks like.  Where
are you hurt?”

“I don’t know.  He…slapped…me.  But, now… Oh, God.  Is he?”

“Jace, you okay?  Our girl?”  Craig yelled.  “We are going
to search the house, make sure we’re alone.  The other two fuckers are cuffed, cops
and ambulance are on their way.”

“Okay, thanks, man. Go.  I’ve got her,” I yelled back.

“Oh, baby.”  I kissed her forehead.  “You are so smart. 
That phone trick was exactly what we needed.  Hell, I was about to board a
plane to Italy and go get you.”

“Craig?  Antonio?  Oh, God.”  She started sobbing, but her
ragged breathing had me worried.  She was still having trouble catching her
breath.

“Shh…it’s over.  Don’t cry, baby.  Just try to catch your
breath.  He’s dead, and I’m not sorry Craig shot him either.  He was going
after you…determined to hurt you worse than ever, maybe kill you.  I saw it on
his face.  Thank God we got here when we did.  We’re are taking you home.”

She kept crying, but managed to say, “He was taking me
there, to Italy.”  Her breathing slowly sounded better.  “But when I told him
about the…”  Her voice trailed off.  “Jace…”

“What’s wrong?”  Her face was pale, and I was scared. 
Please God, don’t take her away.  Not.  Now.

“I’m hurt.  He dropped me, kicked my stomach and back.”  Tears
streamed down her face.  “Is the baby…”

“I don’t know.  We will get you both checked out.  The
ambulance is coming.  Right now, let me check your other injuries without
moving you too much.  Tell me what hurts the most.”

“I don’t want to move.  Please.  Just in case.”  She stared
at my face and said, “He didn’t hurt me until tonight.  He said he found out
about me and you.  He was angry, but only slapped me, but it caused my head to
get really dizzy.  He said he was restraining himself, but only barely.”

“I saw him pick you up by your hair.  That isn’t restraint,
Lori Ann.”  I shook my head, trying not to show my anger. 
Really?