“They never should’ve trafficked boys. That’s a step too far.”
“If they’d stuck with drugs, we’d go easier on them. Now we have no choice but to make them suffer.”
“Sweet girl.” Lifting my rescue puppy Pickles off my lap, I move her toward the boy. “Help me protect this boy. He needs us.”
Pickles wags her tail and licks the boy’s shin. She turns to me and kisses my cheek.
Such a good puppy. I saved her from a cocaine plantation in South Florida. She had a nose unlike any other dog, and due to her time licking fallen cocoa leaves, she can sniff out drugs from a mile away. Because of her petite size, my enemies don’t suspect she works for me.
I set her on my lap and scratch her belly. I’m reaching for her treats when the rustling sound enters my ears.
The boy's arm shifts on his gurney. He attempts to open his eyes, but the stress is too much for him. I select a bottle of cold water from the van's refrigerator. After pouring it into a glass, I bring it to his lips.
"Drink this." I keep my voice low. This young man has gone through unimaginable trauma. I don't want to think about what the Diavolos forced him to do. "You need water."
He tries to open his mouth. But he can't tilt his head back far enough. A tear slips out of his left eye and he shakes as the water spills down his chin and neck.
I select a plastic spoon from the van's bar and ladle the water into his mouth. His lips quiver, but he downs the liquid this time and it doesn't trickle all over his chest.
"Hey." I wet a sanitized rag. "My brother and I are taking you to a special hospital. We'll help you recover."
This hospital is Gianluca's private operating room he uses to clean up our soldiers after turf wars. He’s a mob doctor. We've never brought a stranger who isn't a friend of our family into this room and I pray we're not making a mistake.
The boy extends his hand and tries to speak. He can't push the words out, but I recognize his gesture at once.
I take his hand, then clasp it in mine. Fuck, he's so skinny and frail. He looks like he hasn't eaten in months and needs a feeding tube.
Glancing down, I spot his rib cage poking out of his skin, his delicate body barely holding it in. A metal chain wraps around his neck, the end snapped. His lips are parted and his dark eyelashes fan out over his sunken eyes, so hollow they make me think he hasn't slept in years.
All at once, the urge to wrap this boy in my arms, cover us both in a fluffy blanket, and burrow down in my mansion in the Hamptons washes over me. I want to take him far away from here, where the men he ran from can never find him again.
No matter who tracks him down, no matter what monsters follow him, I'll keep him safe. Come hell or high water, I'll never let anyone touch him.
I'll go out fucking fighting for this boy.
The boy's lips finally part. "T-Thank you."
His voice is so feeble, so strained, that I can't believe he even gets the words out. I lean over to pat his forehead with the rag once again, because he could be dehydrated, but he passes out and sinks into the gurney like before.
One thing's certain. I will hunt down the motherfuckers who hurt him.
And I will make them pay.
2
UNNAMED BOY
Beep beep.
My eyes flutter open as I prop myself up on the soft surface. I stretch my arm out, but I grip something hard and plastic. A wave of sickness washes over me, and I tear my hand away and try not to cry.
After I manage to open my eyes, I look around the room. I realize I'm in a bed. Oh…no.
"Please tell me this isn't happening." Gulping in a deep breath, I urge myself to stay calm. "Let me be back in my cage. Not the hospital."
At the warehouse, the guards brought boys to a hospital room after clients fucked them too hard. It was a punishment of sorts and also a way to keep them in shape. If their morning appointment destroyed their ass, they needed medical intervention to be ready to go later that night.
There was never any rest for the boys at the warehouse. If men weren't using us as human sex toys, our captors prepped us for other types of pleasure. We gave head to men if our asses were too torn—this disgusted me more than anything. Our captors never let us use protection and they wouldn't even let us stay in the hospital for long.