My Masters' Nightmare, Season 1 / Episode 14 (2 page)

“
He let me leave the last time
we visited
.”

“
Only because I
agreed that the
Black Guards could come with us, otherwise you would still be
there.”

Jagger frowned. “I thought they
came to protect me from the
Padre
.”

“
I led the Black Freak to
believe that so he’d let you leave. I gave him the impression you’d
return with them. When he realized it wasn’t going to happen and
his guards were powerless here, he started offering all that money
for one night with you.”

“
Fuck, I had no idea.
Then how are we
going to get Andriena back?”

My mind went to Alessandro’s brother.
Brando was a hired gun, who could get in and out of the most secure
places without being detected, even high security prisons. He’d
killed a convict in a hit, then had broken a crime boss out, the
escape sheer brilliance.

“
I have
someone in mind who can help us,” I
said, “but before I talk to him I must find Rita. I can’t
concentrate on anything until I have her back.”

“
But
the Black Russian will be hurting my
sister,” Camila cut in.

“
My woman first, Andriena
second, so be patient. The rescue will take time to plan. When I
get back, I’ll call my contact straight away.”

“
Then find that FBI
troia
and get back
fast.”

“
Watch what you say about my
woman or I’ll throw you to the Landi.” I sneered at her. “And by
the way, our fake engagement is off.”

Her eyes shot to the soldiers, who were
now standing several feet away.

“
They fucking know I lied about
our relationship,” I said, thinking she was a stupid
troia.
“You two hugging
like lovebirds sealed the deal. Now, I’ll have to answer to Pedro
because you two fucking idiots couldn’t keep your hands off each
other.”

“
You racing off after Rita is
enough proof you’re not with me. Not to mention, you constantly
call her your woman in front of them.”

“
I’m a Don, I can have lots of
woman. I can have a fiancée, a mistress, and a harem full of
fucking
puttane
if I wanted and they wouldn’t bat an eyelash. But if you so
much as look at another cock, they would know you weren’t with me,
because no Don would allow their woman to make a fool of them and
get away with it.”

“
Well, I don’t care, because I
don’t want you anymore. All I want is Jagger.” Her eyes moved to
the Landi soldiers, who were clearly listening in. “I’m still
pregnant with a D’Angelo baby, it’s just Jagger’s instead of
Frano’s, so you can’t kill me.”

“
That’s not up to
us
,” the
head soldier with the pocked face said, “and I think my boss has
more important things to worry about than a Donatelli
puttana
.”

Jagger’s back straightened, his eyes
flashing angrily. “Apologize to her!”

“
I tell it as I see
it.”

Jagger let go of Camila and
went for the soldie
r. I stepped in front of him, shoving him back. “Don’t be
stupid! He can take you out in the blink of an eye.”

“
He insulted my woman! You
would’ve attacked him if he insulted Rita.”

“
So, she’s your woman
now?”

“
Sì
. And no one touches her but
me.”

I snor
ted. “No one wants to, she’s toxic.
Just put us out of our misery and take her inside. Go fuck her
brains out, because she’s obviously fucked yours out if you want
her. She’s a blood sucking leech, who will bleed you
dry.”

He gritted his teeth, his eyes flashing.
“At least she’s by my side—unlike your woman.” He turned Camila
towards the door. Two of the four soldiers followed them
inside.

I
shifted my gaze to the head soldier.
“We need to grab some water and food before we head out
again.”

“
Do you have any other
ideas where your
female could’ve gone?” he replied.

I frowned, trying to
think
... My
eyes widened. I shot inside the house, yelling,
“Camila!”

Jagger and Camila
came to a stop in
front of the staircase.

I headed for her.
“
Did you
talk to your uncle about Rita?”

“
I...”

“
Did you?!”

“
Sì
.”

Jagger shot in front of me as I
reared up.
“Back off, Frano!”

“
Not until she tells me what she
said to Christo about Rita!”

Jagger turned to
her
. “Tell
him.”

She went silent.

“
Tell him!”

She cleared her throat. “He has her
brother. I think he’s using him as bait.”

“
And you didn’t tell me
this!” I yelled.

“
I didn’t think to.”

“
More l
ike you didn’t want to.”

“
No, it wasn’t like that. I
didn’t think she would go after him without your help. Christo
phoned last night. I just told her what he said. I thought she’d
tell you.”

“
I asked you if you’d seen her
and you said you hadn’t, so don’t give me that bullshit. I’ve been
running around this fucking island like a madman looking for her,
yet you didn’t say a word when you knew all along where she
went.”

She shook her head vigorously. “No, I
don’t know where she went.”

“
You must’ve told her a meeting
place.”

“
Christo mentioned Marco’s Mall,
that’s all. But if she did go to him, that would’ve been during the
middle of the night. I honestly didn’t know she’d be stupid enough
to go there alone. And when she disappeared, there was no way I was
going to tell you what I knew; you would’ve blamed me.”

“
I do blame you! And you’re a
lying
troia
, so don’t fucking tell me you thought she would’ve taken
me with her. Your psychotic uncle would’ve made sure she came
alone.” I pointed at her. “And after I get back, I’m going
to—”

“—
stay away from her,” Jagger cut
in. “I told you, y
ou’re not to touch her.”

“
Then make sure she’s gone by
the time I return.”

“
No,
she stays with me.”

I sneered. “Fuck, she’s really got you by
the balls.”

Jagger glar
ed at me. “It’s not like that.
Unlike everyone else, she treats me like a human being, not some
useless piece of
merda
. And she can’t go anywhere with the Landi imprisoning her.
So, go find your woman and let me deal with mine. End of
story.”

“
Is that so?”

Jagger straightened.
“
Sì
.
You owe me for what you did with Sophia. I was still with her when
you fucked her, so now this makes us even. You stay away from
Camila and the slate is wiped clean.”

“
I fucking killed my
brother for you.”

“
You did what needed to be done,
like I’m doing what needs to be done. I deserve happiness, and so
far Camila’s the only person who has made me smile in years. And if
you truly care for my well-being, you’ll leave her
alone.”

I
frowned, preferring to make
the
troia
pay, but … Jagger was right. After all the pain he’d been
through, he deserved happiness, it was just a pity it had to be
with a ravenous piranha.

“
Okay, I won’t touch her,” I
replied.
“Just keep her away from me.” My eyes went to the head
soldier, who’d gone to get some supplies. He was heading our way,
carrying a couple bottles of water and a bag of food.

“
We’ll leave you to it,” Jagger
said, turning Camila toward the staircase, the two heading up
it.

The soldier
stopped in front of me, passing
me a bottle.

I took
it. “We need to go to Marco’s Mall.
We’ll see if we can find a trail from there.” My eyes went to
Camila as she continued up the staircase. “Where in Marco’s Mall
was she meeting him?”

She glanced back at me.
“The parking
lot.”

I glared at her. “You’re lucky Jagger
likes you, otherwise you’d be dead.” I spun around and headed for
the door, my next destination Marco’s Mall.

***

The parking lot at
Marco’s Mall was
sectioned off with police tape, something obviously having gone
down there. I got back into my car and called the police
headquarters, phoning through to the dirty cop I paid in exchange
for information. The soldier sat next to me quietly as I started
talking to the officer. “What happened at Marco’s Mall?”

“
Please hold,” the officer
said.

I waited, knowing he was probably making
sure no one was listening in.

He resumed talking
a minute later.
“Three Donatelli guards were gunned down.”

“
Was there a woman
involved?”

“
Sì
. A person who lives in a neighboring
warehouse mentioned they heard American voices, one of them
female.”

I sat up straight.
“
Does she
have brown hair?”

“
He heard, not saw. He was too
far away and it was dark. Who is she?”

“
I’m paying to ask the
questions, not to answer them. Have you got any Intel on where she
could’ve gone?”

“
A call came in about a
suspicious-looking woman entering the Orsini district. She had
brown hair and disappeared into the old Salvi home.”

I smiled, relief flooding
me.
“
Molto bene
, and whatever you do, do not go near that house. I will
check it out.”

“
We have a car already heading
there.”

“
Call it off, use whatever
excuse you have to, just do it now. Ring me back as soon as you
have confirmation. This is mafia business. Do not go
there.”

“
Okay, I’ll call now.” He
hung up.

I pocketed the phone, my eyes going to the
soldier. “I know where she is.”

2

RITA

I leap
t onto the couch. Using one of the
dead people’s legs as a springboard, I threw myself at Christo,
aiming the knife at his smiling face. He shot to the side, kicking
me in the hip, sending me flying back. I spun around to break the
fall, keeping a firm grip on the knife as I rolled to my feet. He
removed a gun from his jacket and pointed it at me.

“
Coward,” I
spat.

He sneered at me. “No, I’m realistic. I’m
too sick to fight you, I’m dying.”

“
Then d
ie faster.”

He grimaced, his pale blue eyes looking
annoyed. And he did look sick, the man a shadow of his former self.
He’d been a powerhouse seven years ago. Now he was skinny and bald,
whatever he had ravaging his body.

“
That’
s no way to speak to your master,” he
finally said.

“
No one’s my
master.”

“
I beg to differ.”

“
I can prove you wrong if you
put that gun down.”

He snorted. “You really are nothing like
that girl I fucked seven years ago.”

“
I was a child back then, you
sick bastard. Now I’m a fully grown woman, who’s more than capable
of killing you.”

His lips pulled up into a crooked smile.
“Oh, you are delicious. Pity I didn’t find you earlier. We could’ve
had so much more fun when I was well.”

“
I still would’ve killed you in
hand to hand combat. So, again, put that gun down or are you too
chicken shit to fight a woman?”

“
You can goad my ego all you
like, but it won’t work.” He raised his gun. “So drop the
knife.”

I threw it at him.

He jerked to the side, the
knife barely missing him.
“
Troia!
” he snapped, his face furious. “You will regret
that.

“
The only thing I regret
is missing you.”

“
Just get outside! A
car is waiting for
us.”

What about my brother?”

“
He can stay
here.”

“
You said you’d take him
back to the psych hospital.”

“
One of my men can do that
later.”

My eyes moved to the front door, realizing
we weren’t alone. Two soldiers walked through the door, one a
skinny weed, the other all muscle.

“
Manuel
,” Christo said. “Stay with her
brother. You can return him to the asylum when I call through.” His
pale blue eyes moved back to me. “He’ll stay here until I have you
strung up in the barn, primed for some punishment.”