My stomach churned even as my blood raged in hate. They hurt him. The sweetest man on earth and they bloodied him. I started tracing the call, even as Peter and Bentley came rushing back in. With my free hand and part of my brain, I followed the familiar path to initiate communication with my collective. Five new pictures popped up on the main screen. "Who the fuck is this?" Turo demanded. I'd never heard his voice so cold. I wanted to cuddle him. Offer some kind of comfort. You will. Find this fuck and kill him. I nodded. Yes, I would. For Papa. For Turo. For me. These assholes were messing with my people now. My family. They shouldn't have even tried. I've got a video call live in my location. I need it tracked and traced with highest accuracy as quickly as possible, I typed out over the collective's secure channel. On it, four of them typed. I'll get the backend, Hamster responded. Do not engage. They have two hostages. At least one is beaten. The other is
I gritted my back teeth as Beverly mocked and giggled like a school girl on Speed. I was going to have a discussion with our soldiers back home. They should have been on top of this. Should have alerted Nico that somehow this crazy bitch was free. Speaking of Nico, I pulled my phone from my pocket. Dialed his number. When the call went live, I handed the phone to Edi. My second in command went out of the ops room, filled in my little brother. As I focused back in on the conversation, I saw Bentley and Amato slide over into Nik's space. They pushed their heads together as they carried on a whispered conversation. I saw Nik rip the duct tape off her mouth, but keep it stuck to her finger. She answered back to whatever they were saying. Soon, they were zinging back to their own stations, fingers dancing over the keyboards once again. Play into her narcissism, she thinks she's won. Let her believe she has, Mercy's words floated through my mind again. "Tell me how, Beverly. P
My entire body went cold as I coordinated not only with the collective but with Ryker on the infiltration of the warehouse where Beverly was holding Momma and Papa. With one little bullet, Turo could save everyone he loved. Hell, he could save everyone I loved. I turned to look at him. Saw the horror in his eyes. He'd shot Callie for a lot less than his family. I wasn't worth that much. Not when it was his family. Unwilling to force him to stare at me while he made the decision to end my life, I put my plan into action. Shut them down, I typed out to the collective. 10. It came back in quadruplet.Hamster, the guy who had taken the backend of the whole thing, messaged me privately. Host ISP in bouncing off at least thirty relays. But the bot packet you designed is showing me New York City. Right where you said it would be. Thx, H. Deploy the exe. Bomb's away. It would take roughly thirty seconds for the virus to upload to the incoming signal. Another ninety seconds
The echo of the gunshot shattered my ears. As her body fell to the ground, my soul broke into pieces. Beverly crowed like a hawk as she danced around my father's slumped body. Over the video feed, I saw Nico and his soldiers break in and stop Beverly from slicing Papa's throat. He was a second too late to save her. To save me. "Turo?" Nico called. I shook my head. Unable to open my eyes. I couldn't bring myself to look at her. See the woman I'd loved dead at my feet. When I'd shot Callie, all I'd felt was an odd sense of loss. With Nik, I wanted the world to open and swallow me whole. I couldn't live with this. "Tell Momma I'm sorry. I can't live without her." I put the gun to my head. Pulled the trigger. Nothing happened but the hollow click. "ARTURO ANGELO AMATUCCI!" Nik yelled. "Did you just try to fucking kill yourself?" My eyes flew open just in time to see her launch herself at me. I was down and under her body in one smooth motion. I laid there and tried
One month laterI pulled the door shut to the loft. Made sure it locked behind me. Tali came out of her home across the hall. "Hey, last checkup. You ready?" she asked.I nodded. "I was ready two weeks ago, but Jessa told me I'd had too much excitement and that I'd stressed my lungs. She better let me get back to my life."Tali chuckled. "Just be glad Momma forgave you. Jessa's stubbornness has got nothing on Momma. How did you manage that, by the way?"I smiled as we walked down to the basement together. I hit the button on my key fob to get my new car started so I wouldn't be freezing my ass off against the leather seats. "I might or might not have given her a complete family tree for both her and Papa."Tali's mouth dropped open. "How the hell did you manage that?""Well, with all the forced down time, what else was I supposed to do?" I shrugged. It really hadn't been difficult. "She came over one day, made me lunch. We were talking about family and what it meant to h
I fidgeted in my chair. Talked myself out of calling her. Seeing if she'd been released from all restrictions yet. I was going to demand a second opinion if Jessa told her she had to restrain from sex for another month. Hell, I might duct tape Jessa's mouth and deliver her to Nico's door. Let him keep her occupied. A soft knock on my door had me jolting. "Come." I slid my hand down my tie. Edi's knocks were usually a lot stronger than that. A smaller woman came into my office. Dark hair, dark eyes, she looked vaguely familiar. She pushed back her hair, tucked it behind her ears. "Mr. Amatucci?"I stood up, waved her over to a seat. "Yes. And you are?""I'm Eden Forester. I need some help."I waited for her to sit before I took my seat again. "What can I do to help you?"Her cheeks flushed. "I know who you are. I also know who your family is."I stayed silent. Most people who came to us for protection knew exactly who we were. It was one of the reasons they sought us out
I opened the door, smiled as I let Willow in. "Welcome to your old home." I swept a hand wide. She chuckled as she brought her bags in. "Oh, man. I've missed this place." She looked around. Her brow furrowed. "You haven't changed anything."I shook my head. "No. I told everyone I'm just squatting here until I can find a new house." Why no one believed me, I had no idea. Willow, her long light brown hair pulled up into a messy knot on top of her head, bustled to the kitchen island. She bobbed her head up and down a couple times. "Oh, please. Just make Turo propose already and move in with him. He's got more than enough room."Heat flared through my cheeks. Was the whole family trying to get us married? What if he didn't want that? I mean, I was trying to convince him to do it. But until today, I couldn't even offer sex. I was hoping to change that tonight. There was another knock on the door. I went back and opened it. Tali and Jessa stood there. I waved them in. Just as
Bzzt. Bzzt. Bzzt. I groaned, shoved my head under my pillow. I'd literally just gotten in bed. Another cold shower jerk off session as I waited for Nik to put me out of my misery. Jessa had already left the office by the time I called her. And I figured bothering her on her weekend was a douche move that I didn't want to have to figure out how to apologize for. Bzzt. Bzzt. Bzzt.I groaned again, but slapped a hand to my nightstand. With a glare, I unlocked the screen. Two new messages showed up.Both from Nik. I sat up, opened my messages app. Tapping her name, I almost fell out of bed when I saw the first message. Jessa gave me the all clear -CricketThe next was a short video. I hit the play button. Her face showed up. A lazy, sexy smile pulled at her mouth. "Too bad you aren't here." The next thing I know, she's laying down in bed. The camera pans down her naked body until I can see her pretty pussy. I'd been dreaming of that. Hell, it had featured in my mind