Chapter 25

Normally when I end a life I’m not really pissed, it’s simply what needs to be done, but now I’m more than pissed, I’m furious and the rage is intense. They kidnapped our girl and treated her like absolute shit. Made her fucking hate herself so much that she cuts her own beautiful skin. As usual, Drake saves me from losing my mind and acting without thinking things through.

“Dante, let”s go. We need to talk to her. She’ll never believe this if she doesn’t hear it from these assholes herself.”

Natalia. This is about her, not my selfish need to bleed all three of them out. I nod, put my knife away, and follow him out. He stops and tells our security team to separate the three future murder victims.

“I don’t want them to have the opportunity to talk. Each of them is to be held in separate rooms. Make sure they have food and water. I can’t have anything happening until we are ready.”

Once we step out into the fresh air, I take a deep, cleansing breath. “Fuck. This is going to kill her.”

He snorts as he opens the truck door. “No fucking kidding. I’m going to be on razor blade watch 24/7.”

We both get in the truck and, thinking out loud, I say, “That still doesn’t explain why Nicole hates her so much.”

Drake chuckles as he puts the truck into drive and peels out of the parking lot. “We will take care of everything, little brother, but we need to talk to Domenic.”

I glance at him like he’s truly lost his mind, because I’m pretty sure he has. If we tell him how we got here, how we came to find out this information, he’s going to go ballistic. I’m not worried about my brother hitting me or killing me. He might kick the shit out of me, but I can handle that. Not being his family again. That’s not something I can stomach.

Drake drives toward Domenic’s house and sighs, “It’ll be fine. We did nothing worse than what he did with his wife.”

He’s not entirely wrong. However, the way Domenic will see it is that he kidnapped Giada because she was a threat to our family. Natalia isn’t a fucking threat to anyone. She’s good. And doesn’t come from a rival family. Instead, she comes from a family of psychotic kidnappers. Jesus Christ.

Drake calls Domenic on speaker phone as we approach the neighborhood he lives in. He answers quickly, and Drake says, “We need a family meeting. It’s urgent.”

We never speak about business over the phone, so he doesn’t even question it. He only responds with, “Damian is here. I assume Dante is with you?”

I answer for him, “I am. We’re about ten minutes out.”

After I hit the button on the stereo controls to end the call, we drive the rest of the way in silence. I’m less worried about my other brother’s reactions to what Drake and I have been up to. My primary concern is Natalia. Her mental health always feels like she’s on the edge of completely crumbling. This information may be too much for her to take. We know she attempted suicide more than once in her teenage years. That’s what concerns me, her deciding She has nothing to live for. Right now, things are bad with her so-called family, but she lives for some magical sister relationship she craves. If we take that from her, what then? Her world is about to be turned upside down. We will be the two men that pulled the rug from underneath her and in complete and utter devastation. Sure, we aren’t the assholes that did this to her, but will she hold us responsible, considering without her she may have never known the truth?

As if he can read my mind, he says, “She’ll be alright. We’ll be sure of it.”

I’m not sure I share my brother’s positivity, but I know she has the fucking right to know her entire life is a lie. This is how she gets these abusive monsters out of her life. We pull up to our normal parking spot outside of Domenic’s place and silently step outside of the vehicle. As we walk up the steps to the door, Drake says, “Everything is going to change, but she’s still ours. No matter what anyone says. Including Natalia.”

I don’t respond, but I don’t have to. Drake knows well that I have no intention of ever setting her free. Even if it’s the right thing to do, I could never bring myself to do it. We walk through the house and, of course, stop out to the pool area where we know we’ll find our girl and her best friend. Natalia looks stunning in a dark blue two piece that shows off every fucking inch of those delicious curves I’ve gotten to know so well. She flashes us a shy smile as she looks at Giada with an unsure glance. Drake saves us from being too suspicious. “I wanted to see how my nephew is.”

Giada laughs as she rubs her large belly. “Stubborn. Still in here. Did you hear we got an induction date?”

“We did. I’m sure you’ll be glad to not be pregnant anymore.”

Domenic has said that she’s been fairly pleasant during her pregnancy, but she’s been uncomfortable for the last few weeks and he’ll be glad it’s over with. He hates seeing her miserable. Apparently, she can’t get any rest at night because the baby keeps her up with relentless kicking. I can’t help but wonder what Natalia would look like with that swollen baby bump. I don’t even know if she wants children. For that matter, I don’t really know if my brother or I do either. And how would that work? Would we both be dad? Or would we find out the paternity and one would be dad while the other is uncle? Drake pulls me out of my thoughts. “It was good seeing you, ladies. We have a meeting with Domenic and Damian.”

As we walk back inside, we can hear the two women giggling. Drake chuckles as he shakes his head. “That woman.”

We make it up to Domenic’s office and find Damian sitting in the chair across from his desk. Drake and I grab a seat on the black leather sofa sitting to the side of the room. Our brother doesn’t take much time. He gets right to business. “What’s the urgent matter?”

I pinch the bridge of my nose. “It’s a long story, but try to hear us out before reacting. Natalia’s sister stole from us. That’s how it started.”

Drake and I take turns filling them both in on everything that has transpired, including the fact that we’re holding the three of them in the warehouse and everything Natalia doesn’t even know about herself.

Domenic slams his fist down on the desk. “You kidnapped my wife’s best friend!”

Drake shrugs like it’s not a big deal. “No. You kidnapped your wife. We coerced her best friend.”

While they argue about who committed the bigger crime, Damian laughs like a maniac. I raise an eyebrow in question. “Something funny?”

Once he regains composure, he grins, “My brothers are all psychopaths. Can you not get dates without taking fucking hostages?”

Drake leans forward with his elbows on his knees and glares at Damian with a heated expression. “We did not kidnap her.”

Domenic drags his hand down his face in exasperation, “Alright. So what’s the plan?”

Drake stands, signaling that he’s done with this conversation. “We will tell Natalia and handle the three people in the warehouse. I just wanted you to know because I’m imagining this will be a tough pill for her to swallow. Although you”re expecting a baby soon, she will probably need Giada. I’m not sure how much she’s going to let us help her.”

Domenic shakes his head at me in disgust, “You just couldn’t leave her alone?”

My response is simple and true, “No more than you could leave Giada alone.”

Drake and I walk to the door and I turn back to Domenic. “We’re taking her with us. You should be prepared to answer your wife”s questions.”

We make it back downstairs and find Natalia and Giada giggling in the kitchen about baby names. Drake grabs her hand and pulls her away from our sister-in-law. “Come on, Pretty Girl. It’s time to go.”

“My car,” she complains, but Drake shakes his head, telling her not to argue. “We’ll have it brought home.”

Giada looks at Natalia and I know our girl hasn’t said a word when Giada’s mouth forms an ‘O’ from shock as a few pieces of the puzzle slide into place for her. As Drake pulls Natalia to the front door, her friend yells, “Text me!”

She walks with Drake in front of me, and my eyes can’t help but focus on the swaying of her full hips as she steps closer to the vehicle.

“Sunshine.”

Natalia stops and turns to me. I motion for her to come to me and she does. Taking her face in my hands, I lower my head and press my lips to hers. She grabs onto my shirt, fists it and pulls me closer as I push my tongue into her mouth. A little moan slips out of her and speaks directly to my cock.

Drake growls loudly, “Let’s go, you two.”