“Hey, stop moving around so much. You need to rest this body, and heal. We have to go over some things with you, too,” Cash told her as he gently caressed her hair. He leaned down and stared into her eyes again.
“Thank God that you’re safe,” he whispered then kissed her.
They then asked Chiara about everything that had happened from the time she went to her father’s house until the attempted abduction. Zane had his cell phone on speaker, so that his security team could
record her and start moving on finding this guy. When he ended the call, Chiara was twisting her fingers together and she felt about ready to cry.
“Baby, what is it?” Zane asked.
She looked up at him and then at Cash. “Did…did my father show up, or call or anything?”
Zane had his fists clenched and Cash covered her hands with his. She could tell that they were angry. They blamed her father for this, and for all she knew, he could have been behind this. After all, Marvin said that if she didn’t cooperate, bad things would happen. He had been awfully confident.
“No, honey, he didn’t come here or contact us. Your cell phone was damaged from when you were attacked. Zane has someone in our security team replacing it,” Cash told her.
She tilted her chin up and tried to act tough and unaffected by this. But it was difficult.
“Then I guess it’s true. I guess he doesn’t love me anymore. Maybe he never did love me.” She leaned back against the pillow. “When can I go home to my apartment? When will they release me?”
“You’re not going there. You’re coming home with us, and we’re going to protect you and care for you and figure all this out. We’ll get through this. We love you, and we’re in this thing together,” Cash told her then leaned down and kissed her softly on the lips. She reached up and cupped his cheek with her palm, then felt the tear roll down her cheek.
“I need you both. I’m scared, Cash. I’m scared.” She pulled him down closer to her face and neck so she could absorb the scent of his cologne and the feel of manliness against her bosom. She loved him and Zane, and prayed that they would all be safe from whoever was out to hurt her.
Chapter 9
Cane was standing by the building, near the hospital. He knew that she was in there. How could he have been so stupid? He should have locked the doors. But he hadn’t expected those two fuck heads to show up and screw up his plan. He was so angry. He wanted to kill them. And they would die. They wouldn’t stand between him and his prize.
He thought about Chiara. As he sat in her apartment, lay on her bed, and inhaled her perfume, he knew she was his destiny. There would be no more stupid fucking jobs. No more beating people up or knocking them off so that other people could get what they wanted. No. He was done with that. The moment he’d seen her face, and watched her hips sway, he knew she would belong to him. She had class and style. She was shy and didn’t date anyone. Not until those two men had shown up and corrupted her mind. They seduced Chiara. They charmed her with their money, their fancy cars, their penthouse and big business deals. Didn’t she know what they were doing? Didn’t she understand that they wanted her sexy body and to ruin her for other men for life?
It made him sick, and it changed his views of her. Cane knew what he had to do. She’d escaped from his grasp, fought him to get to them. She chose them over him? How could she do that when he had been watching over her, waiting for her to notice him? She never did. Not even at her father’s party when he’d bumped into her by accident. He’d gotten to touch her, to hold her shoulders with his hands to steady her. She felt so delicate and soft. A feminine beauty that he vowed would be his. But she’d stared at him and shivered. She actually fucking shivered.
Well, she’d made her choice. She gave in to those sick fucks that fucked women as frequently as they made money. They were done. Chiara was done. And now, he needed to send a message to her.
Let’s see if she likes losing someone she loves. Maybe as I take all the men out of her life, one at a time, she’ll get the message and she’ll come to me?
You’ll be mine, Chiara. Get ready for me. I will have you.
* * * *
Zane and Cash were in their home office going over the updated information they’d received. Between the police department detectives and their own staff, some information was surfacing.
“Why don’t we have Al and the guys go question this man B.F.? He’s a lawyer of that firm uptown. The one that represents a lot of longtime businesses in the area,” Cash suggested.
“Yeah, Benson Fortworth has been in the business for thirty years. He knows people. He’s also connected with a few known mafiosos in the area as well. Sounds like a guy that might help the leader of this little operation,” Zane added.
“I don’t like the way this is looking at all. However, if he is connected to the mafia, and they were behind the attempted abduction—”
“Chiara wouldn’t be here right now.” Zane completed Cash’s sentence.
“Exactly. I think we need Flynn and Jett on this. They have family involved with that. They could get us info.”
“Yeah, let’s call them.”
A few hours later, around dinnertime, Zane was on the phone with Flynn.
“Are you serious?” Zane asked.
“Dead serious. My contacts say that this psycho named Cane gets hired out for everything from bodyguard, roughing people up who owe money, to killing people. The word is, he’s been acting off the last couple of years. Most of the big shots running the ‘specialty businesses’ won’t use him anymore. They think he lost it. But a guy who knows a guy—and I’ll leave it at that—said the man is dangerous. Zane, I got a picture of him, and he matches your description. If this is the guy, then you’re going to need more than just your security detail and the detectives on this. Jett and I can help. Jett already has a few guys on standby.”