Chapter 25 - Leon

Denis is sitting next to me in the car, his fingers flying over the keys of his laptop as he traces Carlo's phone call.

Even if he can only get a semi-accurate location of where the bastard is, that's better than nothing. I'll find Carlo, and then I'll rip his head off. He'll know exactly what"ll happen if he thinks he can touch and take what's mine.

"How much longer until you have an exact location?" I snap and take a turn that"s too sharp, throwing the car slightly to one side before it straightens up again.

He does not work fast enough. The landscape blurs past us as I drive, but there's still no definite location on Carlo. Walking into this blindly is the last thing I want to do, but right now, it looks like it"s the only option we might have.

Denis grabs the laptop before it goes flying off his lap. "It should only take another minute or two. Just keep driving."

I press harder on the gas pedal, leave the city behind me and drive into the countryside. Vineyards line both sides of the road. The houses are set back on the land and are hidden by fruit trees that grow next to the vineyards.

If Carlo's hideout is anything like these houses, it will be easy to surprise him.

I want to keep the upper hand with this attack. I have no idea what I'm getting myself into, but I'm sure he has no intention of letting Natalie or me go alive. He'll want to kill as many of my men as possible, and I don"t want to let that happen.

My knuckles turn white on the steering wheel as I take a winding road and approach the location Denis has programmed into the navigation map.

"I'm in his messages now," Denis says as he scrolls. Words appear and disappear on his screen before he finally stops and leans forward to program a new address into the navigation system.

"Are you sure he's there?" I ask, looking over at him. "We can't be wrong. If you're wrong, I'll kill you for it."

Denis swallows hard and puts his laptop in the back seat. "I'm not wrong about that. He sent the address to one of his men about ten minutes ago. Judging by the messages, there are a dozen men with him."

I glance in the rear-view mirror as six cars follow behind me. "We have almost double the number of men. When we get there, we'll park down the road. We'll move quickly and quietly and kill anyone who isn't Natalie."

Denis nods, one hand on the dashboard to brace himself as I take another bend a little too tight. "You'll kill us before we get there if you keep driving like this. You must stay calm now."

"There is no calm about this. The bastard has kidnapped my wife. He thought he could take her from me, and there's no telling what that sick fuck is doing to her right now."

"I know, but from what I can tell, she seems like a woman who can handle herself, at least when she knows you're coming for her."

"She knows that there's no way I'm leaving her alone in this." I speed faster down the road, needing to get to her. The last thing I want is for her to think I"m abandoning her.

There's no way that's ever going to happen.

She is my wife. I swore to protect her and keep her safe. I've already failed to do that once today, but it won"t happen a second time.

As we approach Carlo's hiding place, I slow down and park at the vineyard next door instead of his.

My men park behind me, grabbing weapons as I grab my gun from the glovebox.

I get out and look at them. "There are a dozen men inside, but there could be more. We'll sneak through the vineyard. You kill anyone who isn't Natalie but leave Carlo for me. That bastard will pay for kidnapping her."

The men nod, split into pairs, and jog on Carlo's property. They disappear between the trees and the vines.

I put the silencer on my gun and run with Denis, who quickly takes the lead.

When we reach the house, Denis steps to the side of the front door and waits for me to open it. My hand closes around the doorknob, and I turn it, and a man rushes forward.

I step in, press my gun to his temple, and pull the trigger. Denis catches his body before he can hit the ground. He drops the man on the floor and drags him to a corner as screams ring out from inside the house.

Italian curses flow through the hall and grow louder as I run in that direction.

It must be Carlo who is shouting. My men wouldn't allow the others to make noise and alert Carlo to our presence. The shouting continues, but it sounds like the commotion is dying down as I hurry down the hallway, stopping at each door long enough to listen.

As I stop in front of one of the white doors, faint voices can be heard from the other side.

"If you come any closer, I'll ram this right into your throat, you filthy bastard."

Yep, that's my wife.

Denis is standing behind me; his gaze is serious as I kick the door open.

There's food scattered on the floor; Natalie is standing in the corner, shards of glass at her feet and a bottle in her hand. Carlo stands in front of her with a bloody cut on his face.

My chest swells with pride as Carlo turns and looks at me.

His smug grin stretches from ear to ear. "I was wondering when you would join the party. I was hoping to have a little more fun with your wife first, but she's not a very obedient woman."

My gaze falls to the gun on his hip before I glance over at her. "Get the fuck away from her."

Carlo quickly pounces on her and tries to put his hands around her neck. I fly after him and ram my gun into the side of his head while Natalie screams and slashes him with the broken glass.

She delivers a large cut to his arm. Her hand trembles as she holds the bottle tighter and takes a step back.

Carlo ignores her, grabs me, and pushes me back against the wall. He reaches for my gun, but I"m quicker and whip it in his face again. His nose crunches under the impact.

He spits blood in my face, laughs, and pulls me away from the wall before slamming me back against it again. "You always were a vicious bastard, weren't you, Leon?"

I pull my knee up and slam it as hard as I can into his balls.

"Fuck!" He groans and falls away from me.

I yank the gun from his holster and toss it to Denis. "Get Natalie the fuck away from here."

Denis storms into the room, grabs Natalie, and leads her out.

Carlo smirks as he stands up again and clenches his hands into fists. "You know, you're not like your brother. He was too weak for this world. You thrive in it. Look at you; you're practically salivating with the thought of killing me. You bloodthirsty bastard."

"You laid your fucking hands on my wife. You have kidnapped her. You will pay for this."

I walk toward him, dodge one of his blows, but take another on the jaw.

Even though I have the gun, I want to kill him with my bare hands. After everything he's done to Natalie, I need to see the life drain from his eyes, and I need to know he can never hurt her again.

I toss the gun aside before lunging at him again. "You're a fucking bastard."

As his body hits the ground, I wrap my hands around his throat.

He smirks at me and rams the heel of his hand into my jaw. Pain floods through me, but I hold on and squeeze harder until his face turns deep red.

He struggles under me, claws at my hand, and cuts me with his nails. He fights harder and swings his fists, but there"s no more power behind the blows.

I press my thumbs into the sides of his esophagus. "You're a weak man, Carlos. You thought you could only win this fight by taking a woman. What a fucking coward."

Chuckling, I loosen my grip enough for him to take a gasping breath. A brief glimmer of hope lights up in his bloodshot eyes before I tighten my grip again.

Killing the Italian Don will bring nothing but hell to my family, but I don't care. Any one of our guys would do the same for his wife. They would not stand idly by and watch harm come to the woman they married. None of them would.

We can deal with whatever comes our way, but tonight, Carlo Mancini dies.

"You didn't think I"d let you live?" I scoff as his face turns dark red again. "You took my wife and our unborn child from me. You thought you could hurt her."

He flinches and claws at me again, but his grip is loose and clumsy. He can't get a proper grip; the life is draining out of him fast.

"You're nothing but a pathetic excuse for a man, Carlos, and you're going to burn in hell where you belong."

I squeeze harder; his airways collapse under my hands.

His eyes grow cloudy as he gasps for air, but it's too late. He signed his death certificate the moment he set his sights on Natalie.

After a few more moments, I stand up and wipe the blood from my hands on his jacket. I pick up my gun and tuck it into my waistband before going to find my wife.

Denis is sitting in the kitchen with Natalie. She is sitting on a bar stool and has a white towel wrapped around her hand, although the blood is seeping through the fabric quickly.

She takes a deep breath and looks at me. "Is he dead?"

Her expression is blank, her voice devoid of emotion as she waits for me to answer.

Denis gently guides her hand higher than her heart again as it drops lower. "You must stay this high, so you don't lose more blood."

I go over to her. "He is dead. He will never be able to hurt you or our child again. I took care of him, solnyshko. Everything is going to be okay."

I speak softly and reassuringly, taking her hand and unwrapping the towel. The cut is deep and still bleeding. "New towel."

Denis reaches into a drawer, pulls out a new one, and hands it to me.

I take the new towel and wrap it tighter around her hand. She winces and rests her forehead on my sternum.

I wrap my arms around her; I need to feel her close. I need to know that she is safe and here with me.

As I hold her, she mumbles something into my chest, but I don't quite understand her words.

"Come on." I lift her from the chair and carry her to the car.

I don't know if I can ever let go of her again.

Denis follows us, and the rest of the men start clearing up and setting fire to the corpses. When my men are done here, it will look like it was nothing more than a tragic accident.

Natalie's gaze is distant as I help her into the car, shutting the door behind her and turning to Denis.

He glances at her before meeting my gaze. "Do you think she's going to be alright?"

"She's a tough cookie. She's going to be fine."

Denis sighs and turns to look at the fuckery behind us. "The Italians will want revenge. They won"t take this lightly."

"Tell Maxim and the others back home to be ready. We will face whatever comes."

I circle the car and get in on the other side, looking at Natalie. She holds her hand in the air, but the blood has already soaked through the towel.

As I rev the car, I can only think about what will happen if I don't get her to a doctor in time. "We'll be at the hospital soon."