21
Renato
When I hear Maddie scream and the call cuts off, I pound the gas pedal so hard that Antony grabs the oh-shit bar by his head.
“Oscar is a dead man.” I know without a doubt he’s the one behind this.
“He won’t kill her. He’ll use her against you first.”
“I know.” I have a death grip on the steering wheel as I race toward the edge of the city where Carlo’s signal died.
Antony dials a number and exchanges some quick words with Payton to get our house on lockdown.
“I should’ve known. Fuck!” I yell at the top of my lungs. “Why would she leave the house?”
“Gingero was sick, apparently. Throwing up. She took him to a vet.” Antony keeps speaking with Payton as I blow through red lights and pass everyone on the freeway.
We reach the right exit, and I careen through another intersection. Ahead, there are sirens and police lights. I screech to a halt in front of a veterinarian’s office where my black SUV is on its side in the roadway.
My heart drops even further into a black pit, worry and fear eating it up like acid. I promised to keep Maddie safe, to be with her forever. But I’ve already failed her. She’s been taken, and I wasn’t here to do a damn thing about it. I’ll never forgive myself.
I jump out and run toward the wreck as a cop yells at me to get back. Maddie isn’t here. There’s no sign of her, but Carlo and James lie dead on the pavement, their bodies riddled with bullets. They died trying to protect her. I let them down, too.
“God-fucking-dammit.” Antony shoves the mouthy cop out of the way as he crosses himself and kneels down beside Carlo. “He’s been with us from the start. A good man.” He closes Carlo’s eyes.
I turn on my heel, my blood boiling as revenge percolates in every cell of my being. I’m going to kill Oscar. Today. I thought we were playing chess. I was wrong. Oscar is rash and far more foolish than I ever gave him credit for. It ends now.
“Get in.” I jerk my chin to the car.
The cop is still yelling at us, and he’s pulled his gun. I ignore him and walk away, Antony dropping into the passenger seat as I hit the gas and wrench the wheel, spinning the car until we can shoot down the street and away from the destruction.
“What’s the plan?” Antony cracks his knuckles.
“There is no plan. Gather all our men. We’re going to take the fight to Oscar. And if I have to take his fucking place apart brick by brick to get to Maddie, that’s what I’ll do.”
My phone rings. Antony grabs it from the console. “Claudio.”
“Answer it.” I speed onto the highway, heading home to gather my men.
Antony puts Claudio on speaker. “Renato?”
“Yes. What?”
“Someone came to the house only a few seconds ago. They left a package at the gate. It’s clothes. Torn and bloody.” He sounds like he might be sick. “I think they’re … I think they’re Maddie’s?”
“They are,” Payton says in the background. “I recognize them. Fuck!”
The roar that rips from me seems to make the car move even faster. “I’m coming there now. I want everyone ready to go. Armed to the fucking teeth. Got me?”
“The men are already moving. I’m coming, too,” Claudio says.
I should argue with him, tell him I need at least one of us to survive. But I don’t. Because I want all the help I can get to rescue my Maddie. I’m not going to let her come to harm.
“Breathe, boss.” Antony intones as we pull into the drive, several black SUVs already lining the lane, ready to go.
“I’m breathing, but soon Oscar won’t be.” I jump out and run inside, dash down to the basement, and access my private armory. Antony and Claudio are at my heels as we load up.
I grab a belt of grenades. “If Maddie doesn’t come back, then neither will I.”
“Boss.” Antony shakes his head. “Don’t say that.”
“I mean it.” If Maddie dies, so do I. I already know that in my heart. I can’t live without her. “But I’m not going to let that happen. I’m getting her back.”
“We’re getting her back.” Antony puts a hand on my shoulder.
Claudio does, too. “We’ve got your back. Maddie’s going to be okay.”
“She will be.” I load my pump shotgun. “But the Ferrars aren’t going to make it through this night.”
“Agreed.” Antony finishes his load out as I stride up the stairs and into the foyer.
Dozens of my men are lined up, their eyes on me.
“Oscar Ferrars has stolen my bride. My queen. Your queen. We are going to rescue her, and in the process, we are going to burn the Ferrars to the ground and salt the fucking earth. Are you with me?”