Page 6 of Cassio

I wasn’t sure what she was trying to say. Not sure if I wanted to know. I could see her mother was at a loss too.

“What do you mean, baby?” The way her mother asked the question, I got the sense she was scared to get an answer.

The girl’s body retched again. In her state, I worried how much pain she was causing herself. If a hug hurt her, this was ten times worse. She gagged and threw up again, nothing but acid.

“Baby, please,” her mother’s words were barely a whisper. “Please calm down.”

“I said nothing,” she whispered through her soft sobs. “They- the men… “ her throat was bobbing as she tried to swallow hard. “I said nothing,” she repeated, whispering. “I-I didn’t save them.”

Callahan came up to them, clenching his fists. Luca stood beside me, ready to lose his shit and punch something, and I… all I wanted to do was take this girl’s pain away and then go back and torture every single one of those motherfuckers.

Heavy silence fell over the room. Her mother pressed her hand against her mouth, silencing her whimpers. She was desperately trying to be strong for her daughter that was falling apart in front of our eyes.

“That’s behind you now,” her mother attempted.

“I didn’t say a word to save them,” she repeated desperately again, agony in her voice. “I should have tried… I didn’t say a word.”

She was fourteen for Christ’s sake.

I vowed once the mother and daughter were dropped off safely wherever they were going, I would return. Those men would regret ever laying their eyes on the women. Luca and I locked gazes. No words were needed, he nodded and we knew we were coming back.

The mother cried, her own body shaking. She stood up and buried her face into Callahan’s chest. Fuck that! She should take care of her daughter, be strong for her. This kid had been to hell and back; she needed her mother now.

I shot a glare in her direction. Callahan caught it and there was warning in his eyes. Yes, this fucking man cared for this woman still. What did he think he would get with her? She was the prime minister’s wife, for Christ’s sake.

I took a step forward and knelt onto the floor, putting my hand on the girl’s back. The motion felt unfamiliar, clumsy. My hand was too big and too rough to offer comfort. I couldn’t recall the last time I offered it to anyone.

“Listen to me,” I started softly. Hopefully, I was doing this right. I didn’t want to cause more trauma to the poor kid. “You have bruises and cuts, but you are going to be okay,” I told her. “You are strong. Those men are cowards. They will die.”

Her body stilled, and I could have sworn she held her breath.

Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale.

Slowly, she lifted herself and sat on her folded legs. My hand was still around her. After everything she had been through, I was scared to let her go.

Her bruised, deep blue eyes met mine, her split lip trembling as she asked. “Will you kill them?”

I heard her mother’s sharp gasp, but right now, nobody mattered but this hurt little girl.

“Every single one of them,” I vowed.

One heartbeat passed. “Good.”

Yes, this girl was strong.

ChapterOne

CASSIO

Nine Years Later

For nine years, it has been one shit show after another. My friends, my brother, and I have been focused on building alliances, instilling fear in our enemies, establishing our territories and names. Luciano, Nico, Raphael, Alessio, Luca, Alexei, and me.

These men have been by my side every single day for years. They had my back, and I had theirs. This alliance we had built was one of the strongest around, and my father had nothing on this. But we paid a big goddamn price. Nico lost his sister. Luciano lost his mother and sister. His wife too. I wasn’t even sure if she was alive, though he was certain that she was. The whole thing with his wife might have been his last straw.

Nico, Luciano, Alexei, Luca, and I were all outside the warehouse in New Jersey, one of Luciano’s docks. We had seized another shipment of women. Raphael was our inside guy to the Santos Cartel and the only reason we were able to intercept the cargo before these women got into Benito’s clutches. Raphael’s father was a cruel prick, participating with my father in trafficking women and selling them like cattle.

It was safer that Raphael was nowhere near this state when we went after the shipment. So he was currently in Florida, feigning ignorance, while we tried to figure out what to do with these women now. They ranged from ages fourteen to forty. It just fucking churned my stomach.